The privileged
discourse of the modern times has been the documentary evidences as the
discourse of the experts in diverse sphere.
However, in addition to the narratives of the state and those to be
found in institutional collections of private papers, historians are now using
available narratives of storytellers and balladeers, folklorists providing new
perspectives and opening up fresh fields of enquiry in to the past.[1]
These
folk archives and narratives are, however difficult to date and use. They do
not give us any simple, direct access to the authentic voice and history of
subaltern groups. They are in this respect no different from other sources for
the historians. They too need to be read, analyzed for they too are sought
through with cross fertilization of ideas, through contradictory naturalizing characteristics
but can provide a significant support to historical research.[2]
Additionally, the language of elite classes mixed
with folk forms and lower-class motifs, tribal rites, customs, religiosity, usages
and myths, tend to assimilate and further transform them through the pull of
parallel traditions. Hence, instead of treating them as unmediated carriers of
objective truths to recover the traces from the edge, historians need cautious approach
in recovering and representing the authentic voice. However,
the search for or use of unofficial popular sources, poses a different kind of
historical practice.[3]
As
orality had different status, if written, words would become inefficacious,
lose their power and force. Socrates
described writing as inhuman which takes away the dynamism of words. Old
dynamism would lose their force when we resort to written verbalization. He was
of the opinion that written texts are not capable of answering the questions. Verbalization perform different kind of
function for posterity, have the power to present an entirely new perspective
thereby future generations can interpret it freely.[4]
Authorship of the whole corpus of oral
traditions- songs, folklore, stories, and riddles emerged from collective authorship
that all classes of people have contributed in constructing and creating these
traditions. Hence, tradition is important and not the persons who created these
ideas. They were only the part of the process of producing the oral narratives
which represents the first hand testimony of all shades of lived experiences of
the people, telling the inside stories of more nuanced and complex account of
those marginalized in the conventional historiography. Thereby, challenging the
dominant narratives of both hagiographers and critics alike. Many vernacular
texts in south Asia are not actually stable because they function in the oral
realm. Body of Kabir songs emerges with different colors and forms according to
the eco-region/ religious milieu blurring the boundaries and casual breaking of
rules of purity, a part of folk aesthetics as sometimes structure allows easy
substitution and addition without altering the soul of the song.
In
this context, fluidity in authorship and sectarian affiliation and metaphors. Different
lines were added in the songs, as people sit and talk and recapitulate on ideas,
incorporate new lines, leading to collective authorship and making orality a
prime mover of dialectics of these ideas. the forms of oral traditions are not
fossilized but constantly changing with the need of the contemporary situation Harvard
professor Milmen Perry study of pure living tradition of oral epic in
Yugoslavia was used and expanded by albert lord to theorize oral compositions and
performance based on field work in particular cultures.[5]
Alessandro
Portelli
in his seminal work “The order has been carried out” has crafted an
eloquent multi- voice oral history of the massacre by Nazi occupational force
in Rome; elaborates that the purpose of oral traditions in history is not only
to illustrate and add piquancy to a already established narrative but to
interrogate and challenge and to repudiate the narratives. It is not the
rejection of political history, the story of nation and wars but re-examination
of profoundly important moments which give voice to those who lived through
that moment. Their memory and its meaning illuminate the history and identity
of Nation’s popular belief which has been distorted by conservative political force.
The proposed project on Oral Tradition
within the context of Kashmir, is most innovative in embracing the first hand
testimony and as an alternative to the official narratives which are far from
marginal or subaltern in the region’s public life. If welded together would evolve the
commonsense belief of the community. Oral sources in the first place concerns itself
with personnel and private feelings and stories have operated below the level of
attention of most of the historians, cultural institutions due to over concern
with narrow definition of what constitute the ‘fact.’
However, to fill the gaps in historical
construction of the region, forms of oral tradition function as tool that
allows us to reconstruct, to explore the relation between the material facts
and personal subjectivity and to perceive the multiple ways of elaboration by
interrogating ourselves on how and why these commonsense beliefs took place,
its meanings and usages. This is where the
specific reliability of oral sources arises even when they do not tell the
events as they occurred but the overall meaning remains intact.
Further,
exploring the significance of Kashmir’s narrative tradition in multiple
languages – the stories about origin of the land from lake Satisar on which Goddess Parvati sailed in a
pleasure boat from her mountain home on Harmukh , the tale of sage Kashyap , the demon jalodbhava
who resided in the lake and the efforts of the God in draining the water of the
lake to oust the demon . Further,
stories about its sacred spring, its inhabitants, Sufi mystics and Rishis
, its rulers and their policies,
characteristic features of its people,
origin of place names etc. were the popular and shared imagination
in nineteenth century Kashmir.[6] These stories were part of
the narratives that gave it a picturesque graphic quality and became a hall
mark of the distinctive unique Kashmiri historicity through centuries.
Thus Kashmiri oral traditions present voice to the idea of Kashmir as a sacred
space – a paradise on the earth. Moreover, it reflects in some way mutual
relationship between textual and oral narrative traditions prevalent in
Kashmiri, Sanskrit and Persian language texts.
However, the version of the stories changed
with the changing public experiences but the inner essence of the events of
oral traditions somehow in broader terms corroborated with the textual narratives.
For example, stories from Kalhan’s Rajtarangini still narrated in the region,
were taken both from Kashmir’s oral and written tales. In mid-11th century,
Somedev a court poet of Raja Anatadev collected more than 350
stories circulating in Kashmir and assembled them in the famous text katha
sarit sager which became a model in content and style for Kalhan’s Rajtarangini.
Further,
In the Kashmiri popular traditions the origin of Islam in Kashmir occupied an
equally important place. That the region was converted to Islam seven hundred
years ago by the saint Bulbul shah from Baghdad, drew Kashmir into a
larger geography of the Islamic world.
Oral traditions recounted the rule of early Mughal rulers, especially
that of Akbar and Jahangir as largely benevolent, of practicing
religious tolerance and freedom, known for construction of splendid gardens and
one of continuous pageant of pleasure.
Further, oral traditions celebrated the sagacity of rulers who fostered
political and spiritual accommodation between religious communities in the
region. In this context, the laudatory descriptions on the one hand about sultan Zian ul- Abidin, (1418-
70) known as Budshah (great king) by his subjects and on the other hand,
the forced Islamaization, temple breaking activities as well as persecution of
Brahmans by his father sultan Sikander
has been narrated in great detail.
Oral
traditions described the period after sultan Zian- ul Abidin as one of
chaos. Kashmir during Chak rule identified as shias in the stories, were unable
to found stable peaceful dynasty largely due to their intolerant policies,
persecution of subjects of other sects/faiths (Hindus and Sunnis) , despite
being described as brave warriors . The elaborate record of suffering of Kashmiris
under Afghans (1752-1819) and Sikhs rule (1819-46) were preserved in the
oral tradition, makes the Mughal period appear more enlightened by comparison.
The tyrannies of Afghan governors, their imposition of exorbitant taxes,
indiscriminate torturing of subjects of other religious faiths, the deeds of
rape of their daughters were captured and became part of a larger repertoire of
stories devoted to the region. A couplet
recited about their activities captures the level of apprehension
generated by the Afghan rule; “O heart there is all fear
and dread in this city, prepare for the journey; disorder is dominant in this
city.” Further, stories about natural calamities and other disaster- floods, epidemics
created by the ruthless policies of Afghan and Sikh governors of the realm are
the themes of the verses, emerged as a powerful trope within the oral narratives.
Furthermore,
the stories from fifteenth century onwards, supplemented and translated within
regional contexts in Persian narratives emerged with different versions. These
stories were told and retold which disseminated a general idea of history in
the public space. Walter Lawrence, the Settlement
Commissioner of Kashmir has penned down his experiences in his book Valley
of Kashmir about how even the uneducated villagers had acquired the general
idea of history of the region through oral traditions which provided
them the means to experience their regional space and engage with the past.
While discharging his duties as revenue commissioner, he relied largely on oral
traditions; the inseparable part of Kashmir cultural heritage to understand the
complexity of the revenue system, pattern of crop cultivation, system of land
tenure, method of assessment, rent collection, employment and the rampant
corruption etc.
Additionally,
Kashmir’s oral tradition existed largely within a variety of oral performance genre like regional theatrical bhand performers Dastan
Goh , Ladishahs , telling of folk tales, the sayings and verses of mystic
poets. These forms acted as agencies which not only entertained the community through constant recitation and circulation
of the events through characters from both local and universal contexts from
the past but also brought to life the everyday narratives of Kashmir society. This
allowed the people to become the part of and participate in the tradition that
shaped their idea of Kashmir as unique distinctive region. Despite discrepancies within accounts in oral
traditions and oral histories, they do not represent interpretive problem.
Quite contrary, even conflicting stories serve as opportunities to uncover
deeper meanings.
However, there were no wider conflict between the oral and textual narratives and
both productions of public and literary formation, provide valuable insight and
constantly continued to inform each other, playing vital role not for
presenting an objective picture of the past but in broader understanding of contemporary
situations in the absence of professionalization of history in the late 19th
and early 20th century .This has also in some way reinforced oral
culture in carrying political messages in the public sphere.
The public memory sustained through
performances, songs, ballads do not
provide exact chronological time required by historical narratives. For example,
the popular mystics, Lal Ded and Nand Rishi as
historic figure though linked to a particular period within the particular socio-
political context but when functioned in a realm of collective construction and
shared sources, allowed to transcend time and space. The real objective is to capture
the souls’ essence. They are not only evidence about the past but
as windows on ways the past is culturally constituted and discussed. Thus, combination of literacy, and memory
shares knowledge, insight and advice through past and drew the contours of community,
gender and locales in much more inclusive way.
Till late 19th century in Kashmir the
court patronage of Persian, followed by Urdu -developed as language with poetics
was more inclined towards the orality.
Further, the Persian historical narratives were not always constructed
by court historians and scholars but were connected to Sufi orders and their khankas
where intertwining of oral with textual narratives blended approach reflected
the diverse perspectives of the society. The repertoire included the origin of
the land, the bond and negotiation between the spiritual and secular authority,
rulers and their policies towards their subjects, life and practices of
mysticism by Sufi saint like Sayyiad Ali Hamdani or vakhs of LalDed and Nand
Rishi, with different versions in Oral Narratives since 15th
century in the public sphere. These were constantly circulated, much earlier
before they were recognized as indigenous historical personalities in region’s
historiographical traditions.
Though
the region was less impacted by Colonialism as compared to the rest of the
British India, even then communication and dissemination of political ideas of
the past around the public sphere was in much circulation in Kashmir due to co-existence
of oral and textual narratives as overlapping sources. Oral poetries have left
behind recognizable footprints in these silent texts and opened up a multi-
disciplinary dialogue encoding what we call- Anthropology, Folklore, and other
discipline.
Further in this context, Kashmir theatrical
performers bhands communicated the sufferings of the common public
during the reign of Afghans, Sikhs and the Dogras. The contemporary
political issues, events, prevalence of corruption, political vandalism,
aspirations of the commons were performed in the public space, created an alternative
way of circulating and monitoring the happenings at the political social and
religious sphere by harnessing its past.
Additionally, Ladi Shah and Dastan Goh as
other effective oral forms of storytelling remained instrumental in
communicating the insight of the past in simple straightforward manner and
empowered them to understand the contemporary social, political, economic and
cultural surroundings.
Ladi shah’s song on historical events, natural
calamities, miseries and common sufferings of the community were recounted as the
essence of the past and were rightly termed as peoples’ historians as
suppressed voices always found refuge in these oral traditions. Ladishah’s
rendition of these events allowed people to be aware of their historical and
contemporary misfortunes and miseries.
In fact, Ladishah seemed to play a significant role in Kashmiri society’s
memory of past calamities, their impact on people and about their landscape. Thus,
storytellers and other performers formed a vital bridge between the textual
historical repertoire and the people.
This
also widen the scope of oral tradition in shaping regional history and explains
in parts, how the performers of various kinds, despite belonging to socially
marginalized groups retained their position as purveyors of historical memory,
and sometimes even politically subversive messages in Kashmir. Further,
storytelling was firmly entrenched in the routine practices of life, such as harvesting,
weaving, and worshipping and was integral part of earning a livelihood for both
the performers and their audience. Performers
drew their patronage not from the state, but from ordinary people and shrines.
Further popular stories, as part of oral
traditions were employed in the reconstruction of history of the region. Prose
and verse narratives, proverbs, riddles, handed down from generations were
further supplemented and incorporated with contemporary insights have become
the hallmark of unique historicity of the region. Orientalist- Aural Stain, linguist- George Grierson
and J.H. Knowles had attempted to explore this vibrant tradition in vernacular Kashmiri
language, paralleling Kashmir’s multilingual rich textual traditions, as a vital
emerging conduit between oral and textual narratives.[7]
Moreover,
the act of recounting stories was also considered as spiritual and part of God’s
larger plan as the power to remember and recount hundreds of stories was
bequeathed to every story- teller by god. This also reminds of the importance
of Sufism and its shrines in the production, circulation of oral narratives of
Kashmir’s past in common shared public space, consumed by wide section of
society. Thus, ordinary people of the
region could participate in the oral narratives even though could not read
textual narratives by themselves.
