City of Kashmir

Description

City of Kashmir offers readers a journey into the 2,000-year history of Srinagar, exploring its written history, legends and oral traditions to take a living pulse. In exploring the city’s geography, it maps the daily rituals of life and the accompanying material culture, as well as the crafts for which Srinagar is justly famed worldwide. Based on twenty years’ research in Srinagar as a heritage consultant, Sameer Hamdani’s narrative is shaped and populated by glimpses of the historical built environment and other rich personal reflections, as well as selected translations of Sanskrit, Persian and Kashmiri poetry from the medieval and early modern periods.

Hamdani provides a detailed overview of the origin and development of Srinagar on a scale never previously attempted, covering the entirety of the pre-Muslim and Muslim eras in medieval Kashmir, with a focus on the cultural life of the city. Richly illustrated with drawings, sketches and other images, this inviting book will be a timely addition to our expanding knowledge of regional cultures across South Asia, especially as witnessed through their material production and legacies.

Reviews

‘In an erudite journey through the history of Srinagar, Hamdani captures the glorious, layered richness of the city’s past without drifting into romanticism.’ — Myra MacDonald, journalist and author of White as the Shroud: India, Pakistan and War on the Frontiers of Kashmir

‘Hamdani’s account reveals a Srinagar retrieved from scrolls and stones, from art and poetry, from memories of lost streets and pleasure. Few histories are able to move so effortlessly between such an incredible range of sources.’ — Ipsita Chakravarty, author of Dapaan: Tales from Kashmir’s Conflict

‘In this tender and deeply learned account, Sameer Hamdani explores Srinagar’s architecture and urban geography, customs ranging from poetry to picnics, and adds glimpses of his own upbringing, weaving this into a rewarding study of his home city. If you haven’t yet been to Srinagar, you will yearn to after reading Hamdani’s elegant history.’ — Andrew Whitehead, former BBC India Correspondent, and author of A Mission in Kashmir

‘Its very name conjures up images of paradise, but Srinagar’s history is marked by the scars of contestation. Hamdani brilliantly and lucidly negotiates the vast space between these two extremes, bringing to life a city whose survival against the odds has inspired writers and artists for centuries.’ — John Zubrzycki, author of Dethroned: The Downfall of India’s Princely States and The Shortest History of India

‘A sweeping, panoramic survey. Written by a citizen, this is a very readable guide to the many pasts and hidden histories of Srinagar, and a useful resource for contextualising the culture, society and politics of present-day Kashmir.’ — Sumantra Bose, author of Kashmir at the Crossroads, and Professor of International and Comparative Politics, Krea University, India

Author(s)

Sameer Hamdani is an architectural historian based in Srinagar. His previous books include Shi'ism in Kashmir: A History of Sunni-Shia Rivalry and Reconciliation and The Syncretic Traditions of Islamic Religious Architecture of Kashmir.