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This picture was taken in 1903. |
Very recently, a well to do retired resident Kashmiri Pandit belonging to a well-respected and well-known and highly educated family began looking out for a suitable match for his doctor-daughter. Given the times, he sent out the matrimonial details in some community journal and also put this matrimonial post in a couple of community WhatsApp groups to solicit response. As it turned out, a Kashmiri Panditfamily settled in the US responded to ascertain Kolawali of the girl’s family and soon it dawned on them thatgirl’s family was a Gor family. Feeling enraged and deeply insulted the boy’s father responded to the girl’s father by way of a WhatsApp message informing him how dare he had approached for this alliance because they being a Karkun family.
As if this wasn’t sufficient, the boy’s father next called the girl’s father on phone warning him that he should never again mention to anyone that he had approached their family for such an alliance; and should this ever leak-out within the community circles, the consequence that would follow for the girl’s family would be dire and disastrous. The intimidation was appallingly demeaning and humiliating. These exchanges have left the girl’s father distraught and deeply hurt. He is inconsolablebut hasquietly pocketed the insult. Ever since, the gentleman is smarting with this social blot without knowing where the healing lies.
After, I learned about this incident, it sent me too into rage. We claim ourselves to be highly educated and emancipated community; living across all continents; all doing nearly well; living and enjoying most modern standards of life, but still carrying this social scourge in our mindswhich is totally unacceptable. While both the sects of the community are no less than the other in any walk of life, I feel compelled to find the answer. Perhaps, the present-day Gors are much ahead of many Karkuns. This riddle of social dichotomy sent me on a searching journey to understand this apartheid in the community. However, before I go any further,I must inform the readers that I am a Karkun Kashmiri Pandit married to a Rajput Dogra girl (since deceased). I am also the only Kashmiri Pandit in the entire history of the community to have married a Rajput girl!
Having lived all my life in Jammu, I was unaware of this social dichotomy in our society till very late which was removed further far in my psyche for having married a Dogra Rajput girl. In fact, when my son grew to a marriageable age, I tried my best to marry him with a Kashmiri Pandit girl, no matter a Gor or Karkun one. However, all my efforts yielded no results and after a wait of more than two years, I married my son to a Dogra girl. So, ours is a family that is half Kashmiri Pandit and half Dogra.
I began my search to understand the Gor-Karkun dichotomy in the community by scanning the extant literature. The earliest reference I could find survives in Christian Missionary doctorWilliam Elmslie’s work in which he counts five hundred Gor families to be living in Kashmir sometime about 1862. He further writes the Karkuns are “numerous”. Of the Kashmiri Pandits in general, says Aurel Stein: “They are called “gens religiosissima”;people who are more superstitiousthan the average Hindus. The generally recalled account on this community dichotomy is also preservedin Pandit Anand Koul’s version that it began in Zain-ul-Abi-Din’s time when those who studied Persian and took to government service came to be calledKarkuns and those who continued to remain “versed in astrology, draw up calendars, cast horoscopes, profess to prophecy future” and also performed ritual ceremonies and religious rites; “functioned as priests and received alms and other offerings connected with funeral obsequies” became the sect of Gors or what was called Bachabhatas. However, going beyond this fine classification, Anand Koul even makes mention of Jotshisand Panyechh as sub sects of the Gors.
However, if one goes a little behind in history, we again come across to Aurel Stein’s reference in the Rajataranginiabout the Gor-Karkun controversy when he wrote in 1900:
“I am afraid the Bachabhatta of Tulmul have no better position now a days than the rest of the fraternity at other sacred springs of the valley. Even in Kalhana’s time the Purohita (priests)at Tirthas (sacred shrines) were a body receiving butscant respect from the rest of their Brahman caste-fellows”.
This completely different account given by Aurel Stein on the discrimination of theBachabhattaa(Gors) Purohits or Priestsby other Kashmiri Brahmans takes this apartheid behind by two centuries. This nails down Anand Koul’s theory that Gor- Karkun dichotomy arose during Zain-ul-Abi-Din’s time; i.e. the 14th century, while Aurel Stein takes this social dichotomy within the community to Kalhan’s period in the 12th century.
Here, we must not lose sight of the fact that Aurel Stein was a far accomplished historian than Anand Koul.However, notwithstanding this chronological variance in the origin of Gor-Karkun dichotomy in the community, one thing is beyond doubt that the two sects do not intermarry barring a stray case in more recent times. There are no reported cases of inter-marriage between the two sects in earlier times. This tradition prevails even today.
Attesting to this general social trend within the Kashmiri Pandit community, the far-famed German Indologist Georg Buhler wrote in 1875 that the Gors and Karkuns have a commonanna vyavharaand vidya vyavhara(meaning they eat together,inter-dine and transect learning and education together, but there is no yoni sambadha,the practice of marriage between the two sects.
Coming to the practical aspects of the mutual relationship between the two sects of the community, the superficial relationship between them is more than cordial even in the present times It is also true that there is no open discrimination of the Gors by the Karkuns in any walk of life; at least something that is not visible or can be complained about in general. Also, since the time of migration, this awareness of the community dichotomy has diluted further particularly among the younger generations and yet intermarriage between the Gors and Karkuns is no common place occurrence. Even improved education and economic status of both the sects have not bridged this gap.
However, deep within the Kashmiri Pandit psyche there is an acute aversion of the Karkuns not to marry Gors unlike the reverse being true. A deep unspoken hatred seems to operate. The Karkuns spurn the Gors and often comment in private with invectives like Gora Dalla, (a pimp)Bakhybooz (one who lives on alms and funerary gifts) or as derogatory a term as Bretheyo-mut-Gor(the senileGor).Theseare of course exchanges between the Karkuns when they refer to Gors in their private conversations, never before the Gor in open. However, if an altercation may occur between aKarkun and Gor, use of such terms against the Gor by the Karkun is no prohibition to demean and cursehim besides giving him an impression that he is inferior to him by all considerations, both social and economic. To this discrimination, the Gorin private, consoles by using the expression: yiman chali na ye kiul zanh ti meaning they (the Karkuns) will never rid themselves of this inherentbias and sense of discrimination caused by their sick minds.
For this conduct of the Karkuns says the eminent ICS and former diplomat who sometime in the past also served as the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir B.K. Nehru: “They are turncoats”.It needs no emphasis to state that, in the present times, many Gors have outclassed the Karkuns by a yard; proved themselves better than them in all walks of life.
Notwithstanding the period of this social dichotomy that arose in the Kashmiri Pandit society; whether during the time of Zain-ul-Abi-Din Badshah’s time or it existed much before during Kalhana’s period, the Karkuns even in the present times, are always on the lookout for a veteran Gor of the classical type to conduct Mekhla, marriage, Shrads, Shadmos, Vaharvaer,Voharvod Pooja, Havans or any religious ritual or even supervise and conduct any other religious ceremony. They go to any length to find such a Gor. It is equally well known that some of the effluent Karkuns settled abroad and various cosmopolitan cities in India, like Delhi, Bombay Bangalore,Calcutta, Hyderabadetc. do not hesitate to defray their expensive travel fares to and from to satisfy their religious sentiment in this regard; even though in the heart of their hearts theydespise, scorn and hate him as a class to no ends.
The question then arises whythe Karkuns have so much aversion for the Gors. This again set me out to find the reasons embedded in history. Some riddles are answered by the anthropological attributes of the Kashmiri Pandits that prevailed in their society in the earlier times. I have gained much from the insights of well-read sociologists and anthropologists both Kashmiri and non-Kashmiris from whose understanding I conjuncture a possible reason for this apartheid in the community.
It is suggested by them(names withheld to maintain their desired anonymity) that soon after the traditional Kashmiri Brahman society wasdivided into the Karkuns and Gors sects, the Karkuns took to many avocations like service, trade and other types of jobs which on several occasions demanded their men to go to other places for short and long durations of the time.
As a result, their women were left alone in their houses but the traditional ways of social life remained by and large unaltered. This included several such occasions that necessitated the visit of the Gor in connection with some or the other religious matter be that performing a birthday pooja, drawing a horoscope of a new born, matching of tekni (birth charts) for a matrimonial alliance, performing a pooja and reciting mantras to ward off evil spirits, curing a displaced diaphragm called naaph mootrawaen or prescribing an amuletfor cure of disease and as the all panacea for auspicious outcomes for an individual.
In a way, with such broadlicense the Gor had always an unhindered and unsuspected access to visit the house of his Yazman even in his absence when he was away from home. No matter a Gor or Karkun, human beings are human beings, the situation provided an easy and safe indulgence of the Gor men with Karkun women whether their intimacy may have begotten children or not is hard to say. However, the probabilities would have been high in the absence of scientific methods of contraception during those early times.
In such a scenario, it would not have remained secret for long for the Karkun men to know that how the Gor had entered into their lives and household in their absence and replacedthem like the proverbialPharsuks(assistant husbands) of the Ladakhi Buddhist societyduring temporary period of their absence attending service or trade away from home while the Gor rendered some religious obligations in exchange of some conjugal favours from the Karkun woman. Evidently, it is here that the seeds of animosity appear to have been sown in which the Karkuns began to shun the Gors, insult them in hushed tones only because they could not have afforded to make a public hue and cry of these situations. The Karkunssmouldered deep within them, bore their agony completely muted and helplessly witnessed the obscene metamorphosis of the Kashmiri Pandit society.
Perhaps, it was here that the only revenge the Karkun could extract for this stigma is that they boycotted entering into marriages with the Gors.Perhaps also, there was no other way to avenge the disgrace they suffered. Divorces were unheard of in those days. Societal orthodoxy was iron clad. Hence, from then onwards, the Karkuns carrythe scar in their psyche against the Gors. It may no longer be hurting them now but the pain it has caused them is perineal. Its scar is impressed in their race memory.
From these possible reasons, the Karkuns know that they carry some blood of the Gorshence also avoid intermarriage with Gors, even up to the present times,to keep the Gotra sanctity unadulterated. In a way, this is good to prevent inbreeding in our society.
If the logics of biology, anthropology and sociology are not spurned because of ignorance and false notions of egoity, then it may also be acknowledged that when the Kashmiri Pandit society was not divided into these two main sects and the entire community followed a single code of life, then what the Gors did exclusively at a later time was also whatKarkuns followed without any such classification and led the same way of life. At that point of our history, we were all Gors.
It is only when the dichotomy was created, some us remained racially pure Gors. But those who became Karkuns, some of them over a period of time would have become Gor -a-Saendcarrying mixed blood over many generations. Yet there is no denying the fact that there haveremained pure Karkuns and their lineages still carry that racial purity. After all, all their women would not have obliged the Gor for keeping ritual traditions alive in exchange for carnal favours.
As against this, the Gorscan be stated to carry no Karkun blood because never after the creation of these two sects in the Kashmiri Brahmin society, theGors have had any yoni-sambandah with the Karkuns who all along have spurned such matrimonial alliances to avenge some sort of retribution against the blasphemy of theGors.
It is requested with folded hands that I have meant no offence for anyone in the community.But having opened the issue with no bars hold, I do expect many reactions. All readersare welcome to raise any doubt or question this understanding and no one should forget I am a declared Karkun though unsure if I am a pure Karkun or a descendant of a Gor-a-Saend.
It must also be admitted that there is no shame acknowledging the anthropological and social facts caused by historical forces.Together, we can find the final answer to this social scourge. The sole objective of this open article is to obliterate the age-old dichotomy in our society particularly when all of us have progressed quite well in our lives, both individually and collectively.
I hope the article will help remove prejudices and parochial attitudes. Given the difficult times the community is passing through as an anthropological entity of great historical and ethnic merit, it is time to acknowledge our collective mistakes and historical sins; rise above them and leave behind their bad memories.Kashmiri Pandits are a distinguished community. Let us have no internal dichotomy that was forced on us as a result of the raw hand dealt to us by history. It is never too late to correct those fault lines in modern times. Let us write our own new history by unhindered matrimonial alliances between the two sects of our society belonging to the same racial stock. Doing so is both honourable and desirable. Let us celebrate such a prospect and prove the doom-sayers wrong. There is no room for rigid social orthodoxy in modern times. No Gor; no Karkun but one single community, the Kashmiri Pandits. Let us take the pledge. Cowardice has no rewards. History belongs to the courageous.
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| Bushan Parimoo (The writer is a Jammu based environmentalist and a regular contributor to this Website.) (Feedback at: blparimoo@gmail.com) Ph.No: 9469163100 |
Swami Lakshman Joo's sister's son fell in love with a Gor girl whom he was keen to marry. Relatives raised eyebrows and the matter was raised before Swami ji. He reprimanded the relationship and blessed the would-be couple. After marriage they have lived a long blessed happy life.
We 'karkun' battas are very shortsighted to create such differences not realizing and understanding all are one.
Read relatives instead of relationship in 6th line
Well researched article. It is very important for new generations to know real facts and shortsightedness of so called intellectual community.