References about Samahni
In the nineteenth century a large number of Europeans travelled through Samahni valley during their visits to Kashmir. They used the most popular Moghul road from Bhimber to Rajouri through Samahni and Nowshera. (Nowshera is now located in the Indian controlled territory of occupied Kashmir which is aprox. 12 Km away from Samahni town and can be viewed from the rising mountains of Samahni) This road was well maintained all year round due to the frequent visits by the Kashmiri rulers, therefore was favourite amongst the travellers too. There was a chain of sarais and bawlies(A drinking water facility) built along the whole strech of the road to facilitate travellers. The remains of this road and its facilities can still be seen at different intervals.
An external view of Sarai Sada Abad
William Moorcroft who visited Kashmir in 1823 subsequently wrote a book under the name of “Travel in Himalayan province of Hindustan and the Punjab” published in 1841. He passed through Samahni valley on his return from Kashmir and stopped at Bhimber. He includes Samahni and Mangla Davi (village near Nowshera) in Bhimber’s, territories. He also explains how Raja Sultan Khan has been deposed by Ranjeet Singh and kept away from Bhimber by giving him a relatively smaller jagir of Samahni where he believed he was still residing in 1823. (Some historians might not agree with Moorcroft)
Famous English traveller G.T Vigne visited Kashmir three times and by this route at least twice, once in 1835 and then again in 1837. He has compiled his experiences in a book called “Travel in Kashmir Ladakh and Iskardo” which was written in two volumes published in 1842 and 1844.
Most of the content relating to Samahni valley are recorded in Mr Vigne's first volume of “Travel in Kashmir Ladakh and Iskardo”. Here are some noteable extracts from his book. After leaving Bhimber for Kashmir he says,
“The first summit of a ridge is about 8 miles from Bhimber and about 1000 feet above the plains of Punjab. Jungles are covered with jujube and mimosas. The ash, the Himalayan oak, the wild mulberry trees and the pinus longifolia (cheer trees) soon begin to make their appearances and the latter becomes very common, the hills are covered with it throughout all the way to Rajawar(rajouri). On the summit which is known Adatak(Adidhak) is a small custom house."
(The author is referring to the summit approx mile and a half in the easterly direction of Jandichontra ,coming from Bhimber via moghul road , this was the highest point, it was from here that the road started descending into the valley) Upon reaching this summit the Author also witnesses two prisoners of Maharaja Gulab Singh who was the Raja of Jammu and most of the hill states were effectively under his control. These prisoners were kept in this remote place so that travellers could learn a lesson from their fate. He says
“The heads of two of the prisoners, I saw grinning from iron cages over the path at adatak by way of affording a wholesome lesson to all travellers.”
Author's stay at Sadabad sarai near Bandala.
Refering to his previous visit to Kotli through Samahni he say's.“Proceeding from Adatak by the Rajawar(Rajouri) road for about five miles, I arrived at the sarai of sadabad built, I believe by Akbar or Jehangir, and it still afford a shelter to the travellers. It is like all the caravan sarais of the East, a large square building ,covered in the centre, with deep nitches ,which may be turned into rooms for separate parties,around the wall on the inside and there is a flat roof on which a person can walk around the whole square.The architecture is usually saracenic. A bazaar in which flour and other necessaries are purchased,is attached to the sarai.”
“The first march I made was from Bhimber to the village of Sumani. A peasant brought me a profusion of wild yellow raspberies."
( “aakhray” fruit, found abundantly in the mountains of samahni.)
Another view of Sarai Sada Abad
“The Calcutta review” published by the university of Calcutta in 1859 gives a combined account of the five people including two ladies who set out on a journey to explore Kashmir and its inhabitants. Here is what they think of the valley.
“Leaving Bhimber you cross at once over a low mountain range name Adutak (adhidhak) then a rich plain called Sumaree valley (they have mispronounced Samahni). Though the climate is hot, you feel yourself transported from the fiery atmosphere, the driving dust and the scorched plains of the Punjab into the interior of Himalayas with clear atmosphere, running streams and varied foliage”
The group has clearly drawn a moderate comparison between the atmosphere of Samahni and the Himalayas.
Mr. A.H. Irby during his Kashmir expedition passed through Samahni valley in 1860. He has also written a book “The diary of a hunter from the Punjab to the Karakurm Mountains”. The following section has been taken from this book.
“The path this way leads over the hill, on which is a station of the Raja in a narrow pass, where are officials to examine passengers and take toll (referring to the custom house already mentioned above in Mr. Vign’s account). The path thence descends roughly and irregularly to a small valley, in which is the halting place, built I believe by Akbar.This place is called Saidabad(sadabad) and though, perhaps as hot as the plains of the Punjab, being very confined, the pines and the firs, the variety of foliage, green crops and the verdant grassy slopes, with hills around you and the mountains in the distance tend much to lessen the sense of heat”.
William Henery Knight who crossed this valley to reach mainland Kashmir, is an author of a book “Diary of the pedestrian in Kashmir and Tibet” 1863. He spent a night at sarai Sadabad and gives a brief description of the dilapidated state of the sarai and his stay there before his next march towards Kashmir.
W.Wakefield's name is another adition to the long list of travellers who travelled through this valley and stayed at Sadabad sarai. He started his travel with his wife in 1875. His book is called “The happy valley: Sketches of the Kashmir and the kashmiris” His description of the sarai is not very much different to Mr. Vigne's except he gives it an additional name of “Samani sarai” because of its association with the Samahni valley. He has also mentioned about a Hamam which, he believed to have been used by the families of the emperors.
Apart from the influx of European travellers in the 19th century, there is sufficient evidence available to support the claims of Mogul passage through this valley. In fact the very first march on Kashmir by the Mogul army (headed by Qasim Khan) in 1586 which resulted in the Mogul occupation of Kashmir was lead through this valley. Emperor Akbar set foot in Samahni valley in 1589 during his first visit of Kashmir. He chose the same route again in his second visit to Kashmir in 1592. Akbar’s son Jehangir, who was a great admirer of the natural beauty of Kashmir, paid several visits to Kashmir including the last visit of his life in 1627. He too followed the footsteps of his father. Emperor Aurangzebe Alamgir also visited Kashmir by Samahni route in 1665. French traveller Francois Bernier was among those who travelled with him. In his book “The travel in the Mogul empire” he has described the Emperor’s journey from Lahore to Bhimber in great detail. Though he talks about the astonishing beauty of the area between Bhimber and the snowy mountains of Pir Panjal but he has not mentioned any particular place by its name.
Other books of interest:
“Amb Da Boota” An autobiography of prof Manzoor Ahmed Khan, 1999
This book is written in urdu and is an excellent recollection of the personal and collective experiences of the people of Samahni during and after the harsh events of 1947. This book also covers history, lifestyle, culture, prominent personalities and uphill struggle for institutions in the valley.
“Raja Shadab Khan” by Raja Iftikhar Ali Khan, first published in 1997. This book again is an urdu language book .Though most of its content is about Baba Shadi Shaheed, but it has a considerable amount of information about Samahni valley too.
Mr Ved Parkash Gupta
(Memories have no border restrictions)
As has already been established in the introduction of Samahni town, a mixed population of Hindus and Muslims existed in the town before the partition of the Sub-continent. Hindu families had to migrate amidst the chaos of events. Mr Ved Parkash Gupta’s family was also amongst the migrating families. He was 22 years old at that time. Though he was settled hundreds of miles away in District Udhampure of Indian Kashmir he always remembered his birth place and the friends he had left behind. It was only after a guestbook entry on this site we came to know that Mr Ved Parkash is still enjoying his life with his family. Somehow we have established a contact with him and have taken the following interview from him for the interest of the visitors. [This interview was conducted in urdu language]
Q-Could you please tell us where were you born and what was the name of your father?
Yes, I was born in Samahni village in 1925 and my fathers name was Sh Lakhmi chand.
Q- Where did you receive your early education?
I got early education from Primary school Samahni .After that in 1936 I had to go to Kotli for further education. I passed my 8th class exams and returned to Samahni in 1940. I also got married in the same year.
Q-Do you remember any of your teachers in Samahni?
Yes, I do. One of them was Sh. Amer Nath Ji who used to live near simble graveyard in the east of Samahni village.
Q-Do you have any memory of your class or school mates?
Yes I remember Raja Tuffail khan, (currently living in Scotland) Yousaf shah and malik Ram were in my class. I also remember Raja Sarwar khan, Raja Abdul Rehman(s/o raja budday khan) Khadim Hussain shah,Mushtaq Hussain shah,Jagmohan, DharmVeer, Sardaree Lal, Jia lal, Tilak Raj, Inder Jeet, Raja Rustam khan, Raja Zrayat khan, Late Raja Ikram Ahmed and Raja Nazeer khan being in my school. All of us used to play with each other during and after school times without any fear or religious divide.
Q- You said you were 22 years old when you left samahni. How was your relationship with the rest of the muslim youths in Samahni?
I had very good relations with Muslim boys. In fact majority of my friends were muslims. During that time Kabadi and Beeni were very popular sports amongst the youths. I used to go to Samahni Kass with rest of the muslim friends to practice. At times we used to contest with the neighbouring villages. I really did enjoy both my childhood and youth in Samahni. I would regard that time as the happiest time of my life.
Q-Could you also describe the state of Hindu Muslim relations in general?
Before the partion Hindus had been living in Samahni for generations and both the communities were very accommodating to each other. They had mutual trust and understanding .They invited each other in the weddings too.My father was a close friend of Raja Zaman Ali Khan (Raja Buddhay Khan) In fact out of respect I used to call him chacha because he was a bit younger than my father.My father was also close to Major Raja Fateh Mohammed Khan. One of my sisters was married in Kotli. I remember whenever they went to kotli they always visited my sister to find out how she was.
Q-After the migration did you have any contact with the people you knew?
Yes, Raja Zaman Ali khan and my father both stayed in contact with each other for a long time and I somehow managed to stay in touch with different personalaties of Samahni including Late Nazar Mohammed wafa saib Raja Mohammed Tuffail saib Late Khadam Hussain shah saib and Raja Sarwar Naz saib. Samahni being my birth place is very close to my heart. This is the place where I spent first 22 years of my life. It gives me a great pleasure to talk and to hear about this place.
Q- I know it has been such a long time since you left Samahni but do you remember any other personalities of that time?
Yes I still remember Raja Mohammed Khan, Raja Munshi Khan. Raja walayat Khan, Shrif hajaam, Barkat kasai, Raja Akbar khan of prati and many more
Q-Could you tell us approximately how many shops were there in Samahni town, who owned them and the nature of their businesses?
There were around 25 to 30 shops on both sides of the bazaar.I remember Nand Lal,Sain Das, Tarlok chand,Hazari lal, Prithvi Chand and Kundan Lal, all had karyana shops. While Sat Ram and Manohar Lal had halwai shops. Molvi Nazir Mohammed and Sardar Ali both had pansari shops. There were many other shops I have forgotten. I must say that most of the shops were owned by Hindu community. My father also had a pansari & karyana shop next to chitti hatti where some times I used to work to help my father.
Q-Do you know where rest of the Hindu families were migrated.
Some of them moved to Noushera, some settled in Jammu and other places.
Q- A few months back I sent you a copy of Amb da boota book on your request. You must have red that book. In that book Mr Durga Daas’s name appears as a highly educated man. Do you know any thing about him?
Yes Durga Daass was an educated man who had studied law. His father’s name was Hazari Lal. After the migration he moved to Delhi and became a lawyer. He passed away a few years back. The rest of his family is living in Himachal pardesh now.
Q- Would you like to share some information about your family with us?
After the migration we moved to Udhampur.For years we have been running a successful cloth store.I have two sons and two daughters. All of them are married and living happy lives.Both of my sons have their own businesses
[I am thankful to Ved Parkash saib who has provided us with this valuable information]
