Arnimal : A Leading Light
Jai Kishori Pandit
Arnimal
was the wife of Munshi Bhawani Das, an erudite Persian scholar in the court of
Jumma Khan, who was the Afghan Governor of Kashmir from 1788 to 1792 AD. Born in
the eighteenth century, nearly two hundred years after Habba Khatoon, Arnimal
followed in the wake of the tradition of her predecessor and made the love
lyrics adopted by Habba Khatoon more of a plaintive wail. Arnimal's lyrics are
masterpieces of Kashmiri language. The word pictures of delicate sentiments
drawn by her are so vivid, real and charming that very few Kashmiri poets have
reached the standard set by her. Most of these lyrics have been set to music and
are sung even now by Kashmiri minstrels with great interest and gusto.
In the sub-continent of India,
it is the unique distinction of Kashmir that she has produced poets and writers
who have, from early times, left literary compositions in verse and in prose to
enlighten us about their respective times and their own lives. But with the
Afghan rule in Kashmir in the eighteenth century, the Kashmiri Hindu woman had
lost much of her talent and zest for life. Historically the position of Kashmiri
women was in many ways better than her counterparts in other regions of the
country. Traditionally the Kashmiri woman had enjoyed a certain freedom in
society. She had wielded power, exercised responsibility and enjoyed a high
status up to the end of the 13th century. But towards the 14th century, she was
no more educated; she had ceased to dabble in politics, she was denied the
pleasure of singing, dancing and other creative arts of self-expression but even
in such pitiable conditions a Kashmiri Pandit woman preserved the right to free
movement. So when queens and ladies of the upper strata surrendered before the
fanaticism of men, the women and men of lower classes stuck to their resolve of
defending their rights of freedom, however, restricted. According to research by
a Kashmir woman scholar, Momeen Jan, in the beginning of the 14th century, some
powerful Muslim rulers introduced the system of purdah and the upper class Hindu
women followed suit. The introduction of purdah, according to her, signalled a
decline in the status of Kashmiri women, who began to be confined in their
houses. A great blow was dealt by the Afghan rulers, who would humiliate and
molest Kashmiri women. Under these conditions purdah began to be used more
vigorously. The women in the middle ages fought for their right of free movement
and self-expression. Little wonder that it was in these classes that heroines
were born during the middle ages. Lal Ded, Habba Khatoon and Arnimal were known
celebrities, who stood above the rest in stature and who achieved undying fame
in philosophy and shrewdness in poetry. These heroines sprang from no soil of
respectability but were the progeny of poor and toiling parents.
Under the Mughals, the
Kashmiri women lost their liberty; their rights and privileges were snatched
away partly by law and mainly by discouragement and disapproval of the ruling
class.
In the eighteenth century, in
the year 1752 AD, the Afghan adventurer Ahmad Shah Abdali, captured Kashmir from
the Mughals and with the Afghan occupation the ease loving people of this heaven
on earth passed through severe trials and hardships. The women were the worst
sufferers. Shri P.N. Bazaz writes in his Daughters of Vitasta, "Horrifying
are the tales related of the barbarities, which were perpetrated on women whose
very fault was that they happened to be handsome in appearance and graceful in
form." To save womenfolk from the wild behaviour of the cruel masters, the
Kashmiris introduced the practice of wearing veils. Within the four walls of the
Hindu homes young women had to conceal their faces by sleeves of their long
loose gowns (Pheran) from the gaze of men. It was known as Nor Dion (concealment
by sleeve). This confinement snatched away all the charm and intellect from
these Kashmiri women. Their intellect rusted and their physical charm faded
away. Yet the undying embers occasionally threw out a spark, which illuminated
the darkness around. It is in this context that Shri P.N. Bazaz sees "two
brave souls" as two leading lights of the dark age in Kudamal and Arnimal.
Kudamal appeared on the scene
in the time of Sardar Mohamad Azim Khan, a heartless Afghan governor, who ruled
Kashmir from 1813 to 1819 AD. His ruthless methods of inhuman torture and
savagery to collect new taxes levied on Kashmiri Hindus were limitless. The
lawlessness of the Afghan mercenaries remained unchecked. Eminent Kashmiri
Pandits were forced to perpetrate a rule of terror on people for not paying
taxes. Many Pandits became the target of Azim Khan's ruthlessness and arrogance.
Pt. Birbal Dhar, who was a high official and revenue collector under the Afghan
government became the chief victim of Azim Khan's wrath. In consultation with
other patriotic and influential people of his time Pt. Birbal chalked out a plan
to liberate the valley from the clutches of uncultured Afghans. So he along with
his son Raj Kak tried to approach Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab. When Azim
Khan learnt about the plan hatched by Birbal Dhar and some Muslim feudal lords,
orders were issued to apprehend and produce in court the wife of Birbal Dhar (Kudamal)
along with her teenaged daughter-in-law. In spite of the protection given to
these ladies by the loyal Muslim friends of Birbal Dhar, both the ladies were
located and seized. Kudamal was an experienced and politically conscious lady.
She made up her mind to end her life and not to surrender to the shameful and
brutal behaviour of the Afghan governor. The brave lady gulped a piece of almas
(a precious stone), which was studded to her gold ring. It had its effect and
she breathed her last after declaring the bitter truth to the very face of Azim
Khan. She spoke to him bravely that the days of his tyrannical regime were
numbered and the deliverance of Kashmir from his rule was certain. The prophecy
of Kudamal was fulfilled by the subsequent events after her death
Another great woman belonging
to the same dark age was Arimal. She deserves praise and admiration for her
boldness in facing misfortunes and for the invaluable contribution which she
made to Kashmiri literature though her ordeal and heroism were of a different
kind. Daughter of a respectable family and wedded to a person of a great family,
Arnimal (1737 - 1778) was pretty, imaginative and accomplished but all through
her life she suffered pangs and torments of separation from her beloved husband,
Bhawani Das Kachru. Jumma Khan was no less a harsh Pathan Subedar than others
but he patronized learning and respected scholars. It was during his days that
Munshi Bhawani Das Kachru a Pandit literateur, flourished as a Persian poet. As
a common practice in the Afghan days, Arnimal was married in her childhood.
Before attaining the bloom of her youth, she was deserted by her poet husband
for some unknown reasons. J. L. Koul writes, “It is curious that the three
most famous women poets of Kashmiri (Lal Ded, Habba Khatoon and Arimal)
separated from one another by intervals of about two centuries, should have
suffered domestic unhappiness at their husbands' homes and thus learnt in
suffering what they sang in their songs."
The separation from her
husband proved painful and tormenting for Arnimal and her emotions were terribly
stirred. As a result of this sorrow and unhappiness was born the most melodious
poetry full of pathos and grief. Here I am reminded of the immortal lines from
the poem, Ode to Skylark, written by P.B. Shelley, a great romantic English poet
of the nineteenth century. He writes:
"We look before and
after,
And pine for what is not;
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of
saddest thought."
The importance of the love-lyrics
written by Arnimal lies in this that they reflect the sorrow, sufferings,
passions and longings of common Pandit women of the valley of Kashmir. Lamenting
the absence of her beloved husband, Shri Bhawani Das, Arnimal said :
Shri P.N. Bazaz has transtated
the lyric as:
(Owing to the pangs of
separation) my complexion
"Which was like July jasmine
Has assumed the pallor of the yellow rose
O, when will he come to let me have
A look at his beloved face!"
Arnimal thinks that people,
devoid of fine feelings and sensibilities, cracked jokes at her expense. She has
become the object of taunts. But all this does not change her mind. The
intensity of feelings made her complaints deeply touching. She continues to long
for her beloved husband with great devotion and love. She says :
Prof. Jai Lal Koul translates
the lyric as follows:
I have filled cups on
cups for love
Go and cry out to him
Across hillsides and meadows green
I send him tender thoughts
Like deer he roams the woods afar
And leaves me here to grieve
Go and cry out to him
Arnimal's lyrics are musical; it
has melodious music with its musical rhymes and ever-recurring refrains, its
alliterations and its assonances that come most spontaneously from the depth of
her heart. All her songs deal with human emotions and are intensely subjective.
Many people who enjoy listening to music and seeing paintings, find it difficult
to appreciate poetry and a suggestion as how to approach a song or a lyric is to
read it aloud. Poetry uses the musical sounds and rhythms of words. Though the
printed words on the page may seem flat but the actual sound and rhythm of the
spoken words help the lines to come alive. It is best when reading or hearing a
song that its significance begins to dawn on us. A poet uses images and we need
to pay close attention to the words and sounds of poetry. A poet also loves to
transpose his or her experience into a setting which is familiar to him or her.
Arnimal uses images and settings most familiar to her. "Arnimal" for
instance, literally interpretted, means in Kashmiri "the garland of Arni
rose," the wild pale rose common in the country side. She weaves a delicate
imagery out of her own name when she says:
A summer jasmine I had
bloomed
But now have turned a yellow rose
When will my love come unto me?
Born in the picturesque village
of Palhalan, thirty kms away from Srinagar, Arnimal was just fitted to voice the
fears and frustrations of a suppressed Kashmiri woman as she was brought up in
the charming surroundings of broad leafed chinars, tall slender poplars, calm
lakes and majestic mountains at her father's place. Her lol-lyrics have captured
the hearts of almost all Kashmiri knowing people. All her songs have been set to
music and their imagery and pathos are moving to the extreme. The music and
pathos in the following lines are very touching :
Shri P.N. Bazaz translates the lyric as:
When will thy feet touch
lay courtyard
I will place them on my head, O come!
For love I left my home and hearth
And tore the veil, O come!
Again she says
May Love, my jasmine, I long for thee
Come O come, I long for thee
I plighted when young my troth to thee
Why didst thou break thy plighted troth?
O sweet, O dear, I long for thee
Genuine love is abiding and
perennial; it can never die or disappear; it knows neither dismay nor
frustration. The sole desire of the lover is that the beloved may be happy
wherever he is. The hope that both will be re-united sustains Arnimal through
thick and thin. The thought of such future re-union gives her joy and courage to
endure the mocks of friends and sneers of foes. She says :
"My rivals are
throwing taunts at me
Since the beloved has ceased to talk to me
Won't he come for a short while and show me
His face, so that I should offer
My arterial blood as sacrifice for his safety?
The poetry of Arnimal is devoid
of the mystic touch and of religious experiences. It speaks of the heart of the
human soul. After separation from her husband, the spinning wheel became her
constant companion and she composed her songs in tune with the sound of the
revolving wheel. Its sound could not but remind her of the tragic story of her
own life. She sang :
In English it is rendered
as:
Murmur not my spinning wheel,
Thy straw-rings I will oil
From under the sod, O Hyacinth,
Raise thy stately form
For look, the narcissus is waiting
With cups of wine for you
The jasmine will not bloom again
When once it fades away
Arnimal's songs are poignant in
their pathos, helplessness and resignation to one's fate but there is no malice
found any where in them. There is an undercurrent of quiet fortitude which is
characteristic of the age-old suffering of a Kashmiri Pandit woman especially
when she is unhappily married or due to ill luck separated from her beloved
husband. There seems to be little doubt that Arnimal, deserted and maltreated by
her husband, lived at her father's home for long spells of time. In most of her
songs, therefore, she expresses frustration. She always craved for the nearness
of her husband. She pleaded him with all sweet things in life but he always
duped her. She pleads :
I treated him to candy
sweet
He took my heart and I was duped
Now he is gone, and I am made
A laughing stock for an to see
Will no one tell him what I feel?
Let us arise at early dawn
And seek my love
On hills and mountains high
I wait and wait expectantly,
When will my love come unto me?
Besides fortitude and
resignation, these lyrics breathe a note of dissatisfaction if not revolt
against the age-old custom which condemned the Hindu woman of Kashmir if she
experienced unhappy marriage and unfaithful love. Thus her lyrics give voice to
many voiceless Kashmiri women of her time and these lend the same musical and
spontaneous voice to all such women who suffer silently in all ages. Composition
of songs became a spontaneous mode of expression with Animal. Gradually she
acquired mastery over words and invented a unique style of expression. Some of
these lyrics have become classics in Kashmiri language. She surpasses some of
the most talented English poets in the use of alliteration and imagery. Just
listen to the lyric she wrote :
Tell me, O Friend, who
can trust whom?
What deception he worked on me!
Pulling at my wrists in deep sleep,
He hurt my very vitals.
Taking away, all my gold,
What deception he worked on me!
In English poetry one comes
across instances of such intense emotions coupled with an intense display
of imagery and alliteration. John Keats, a great poet of the romantic era of the
nineteenth century scintillates his odes with many verbal gems. Like Animal, he
experienced frustration in love and knew the pain and fever of passion. In his
Ode to Autumn, he makes use of alliteration spontaneously. He
writes :
Seasons of mists and
mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom friend of maturing sun
The lyrics of Arnimal and
odes of John Keats traverse the entire range of emotions, including protests,
love, sorrow and weariness. Both of them succeeded in transferring their
personal trials and tribulations into universal ones. In this way, Arnimal has
become one of the leading lights of the Kashmiri Hindu women who are the best
examples of self-sacrifice and embodiments of love. A cursory study of her life
and lyrics is enough to establish the poetical genius and mastery of technique
achieved by that unlettered woman who belonged to the dark age of Afghan rule in
Kashmir in the eighteenth century and yet she stands as the leading light of the
unhappy period of history in the life of Kashmiri Pandits, both men and women.
Bibliography
1. Daughters of
Vitasta by Prem Nath Bazaz
Pamposh Publications, New Delhi.
2. A History of Kashmir by Prithvi Nath
Koul Bamzai,
Metropolitan Book Co (Pvt) Ltd.
New Delhi ( 1st edition, 1962 ).
3. Studies in Kashmiri by Jai Lal Koul,
Kapoor Brothers, Srinagar, Kashmir.
4.
5. Palgrave's Golden Treasury.
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