Introduction

Kashmiri literature which started in the 12^th century, is full of folklores and tales. During the 12^th to 14^th century a lot of writers like Acharya Sitikantha, Lal Del and Shaikh Nuruddin etc. emerged and enriched the Kashmiri literature with their writings, poetry and sayings which is called ‘Shruks’ in Kashmiri language. In this blog we are going to discuss the kashmiri folklores and their importance.

Folklores

The folklore has a very important place in Kashmiri literature. These folklores depict the past glory of Kashmir. They also describe the culture, customs and traditions of Kashmir and its people. The Kashmiri folklores are about the traditions and legends of the past days of Kashmir. These folklores, in fact, describe the histories and experiences of common Kashmiri people in the form of stories. Besides folklores, the Kashmiri literature is also enriched with folktales which are full of lessons and wisdom. ‘The Panchatantra’ is the oldest collection of the folktales which was perhaps written in the 1^st century Indo-Aryan language, Sanskrit.

Origin of Kashmiri Language

In fact the Kashmiri language is an off shoot of the Anglo-Aryan or Sanskrit language. When Muslim rulers came to India, the Kashmiri language borrowed many words from Persian and Urdu and thus it became an amalgamation of Sanskrit, Persian and Urdu and today it is popularly known as Dogri language spoken by near about three million people in the valley.

Songs and Ballad

If we explore the Kashmiri literature, we find that the songs and ballads are the main things in it. Even today the traditional singers in the rural Kashmir sing the folklores accompanied by a musical instrument, an iron rod with loose iron rings on it which is called ‘dhara’ in local dialect.

Themes

Kashmiri folklores have a variety of themes and forms like opera and dance, pastoral lore, romantic ballads and mystic songs. There are also traditional folklores like wedding songs, lullabies, dirge etc. which are sung during the different occasions and seasons. All these folklores contain different moral stories rooted in the local traditions.

Folktales

The Kashmiri literature is also very rich in folktales. Some famous folktales like ‘Zohra Khatoon and Haya Bund’ ‘Gulal Shah’, ‘Himal Nagray’ etc. are purely Kashmiri in origin and from the time immemorial. The other two famous collections, ‘Wazie Mal’ and ‘Lal Mal’ are fairy tales in pure Kashmiri dialects.

Conclusion

Thus we see that the Kashmiri folklores and tales are purely Kashmiri and people of the valley still enjoy them. The Kashmiri people have great respect for their folklores and folktales because they are very enchanting and glorify and signify the history of Kashmir.

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Prof. Asghar Ali Ansari
School of Languages , Literature&Society
Jaipur National University, Jaipur, India