THE TREMBLING WILLOW
AN EXTINCT WONDER-TREE OF KASHMIR
Khalid Bashir Ahmad
Counting the phenomena of Kashmir, Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat Beg (1499–1551), better known as Mirza Haidar Dughlat, writes about a wonder-tree that he had sighted at Nagam, a village in central Kashmir, 12 km short of the pilgrim town of Tsar-i-Sharief where lies the mausoleum of Kashmir’s patron saint and poet, Sheikh Nuruddin Noorani. He describes the tree as very tall — as tall as its top would not be reached by an arrow if one was shot at it — with peculiarity of shaking feverishly if only a branch was touched. An arrow not reaching the top of the tree is only a poetic exaggeration to convey that the tree was quite tall. Dughlat writes:
“Further, in Nagam, a notable town of Kashmir, there is a tree which is so high that if an arrow be shot at the top, it will probably not reach it. If anyone takes hold of one of the twigs and shakes it, the whole of this enormous tree is put in motion.”[1]
Dughlat, it may be recalled, was a military general, historian and maternal cousin of Zahir-ud-Din Babur, founder of the Mughal dynasty in India. In 1533 AD, he invaded Kashmir but was pushed back. Seven years later, he returned with his troops and captured the Valley. A king was installed on the throne but the real power was wielded by Dughlat. In 1551 AD, during a rebellion by Kashmiri forces led by Idi Raina, Dughlat was killed. He lies buried in a cemetery within the premises of the tomb of King Zainul Aabideen’s mother in old Srinagar city.
Dughlat’s Tarikh-i-Rashidi, a vital and valuable history of the Mughals and Turks of Central Asia, is the first mention of Kashmir’s wonder-tree since no reference on it is forthcoming from the preceding histories including the Kalhana’s Rajatarangini. Significantly, Dughlat does not mention the name of the tree and restricts himself to offering an idea of its size and its quivering peculiarity.
Next, we come across a mention of the tree in the Aain-i-Akbari recorded by Abul Fazl (1551–1602 AD), King Akbar’s court scribe. He identifies the village in which the tree was found as Halthal in Pargana Lytch. Pargana is a group of villages, a tehsil or a sub-division. Abul Fazl writes:
“In the pergunnah [pargana] of Lytch [Yech?], in the village of Hulthul, is a tree, of which if the smallest twig be shaken, it agitates the whole tree from the very root.”[2]
Abul Fazl further mentions the tree in Akbarnama where he informs us about Akbar’s stay at the Khanpur sarai and a Halthal tree standing on one side of the road. He observes its strong trunk and countless branches and leaves. He again mentions its peculiarity of getting quivered in whole if a branch was shaken. Significantly, he writes that there were several trees of this specie but none possessed this trembling peculiarity. Khanpur, known by Kashmiris as Khampur, is a village on the road to Srinagar that the Mughals used to arrive in Kashmir. Ruins of a sarai (traveller’s inn) are still in place here.
Akbar’s another court scribe, Abdul Qadir Albadaoni, also finds the tree at Khanpur. His description in terms of size and height of the tree do not match with the picture painted by other chroniclers. He describes the tree as a wonder and records its peculiarity of trembling if one of its branches was shaken. He writes:
“Among the wonders which the [Mughal] soldiers saw in the country of Kashmir is a sensitive tree in the village of Khanpur, the width of its stem is two arash [cubit, an ancient measurement of length, 18 t0 20 inches] and its height more than a gaz [0.91 meters], and its branches are like an inverted Bed-i-Majnun [weeping willow], and for all that if a child do but take hold of one of its branches and shake it, the whole tree trembles and shakes.”[3]
Akbar’s son and successor, Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim Jahangir (1569- 1627 AD), takes further the family tradition of introducing the trembling willow to the readers of their memoirs. His account is more elaborate than his predecessors’ and he claims to have found another tree of the same kind in the same village. The King records in his Tuzk-i-Jahangiri:
“On Sunday, the 7th, I rode to the village of Chardara [Chadura or Chadoora] which is the native country of Haidar Malik, to hunt partridges. In truth this is a very pleasant spot of ground, and has flowing streams and lofty plane-trees. At his request I gave it the name of Nurpur (city of light). On the road there was a tree called halthal, when one takes one of the branches and shakes it, the whole of the tree comes into movement. The common people believe that this movement is peculiar to that tree. By chance in the said village, I saw another tree of the same kind, which was in similar movement, and I ascertained that it was common to that species of tree, and not confined to one tree.”[4]
Jahangir, a keen observer, it may be recalled, has extensively described flora and fauna of Kashmir. He is known to have collected 21 different varieties of flowers from Gulmarg. Likewise, he writes about the village of Rawalpur in the outskirts of Srinagar city, “2.5 koss from the city towards Hindustan”, where there was a plane-tree, burnt in the inside. He recalls:
“Twenty-five years before this, when I myself was riding on a horse, with five other saddled horses and two eunuchs, we went inside it. Whenever I had chanced to mention this people were surprised. This time I again ordered some of the men to go inside, and what I had in my mind came to pass in the same manner. It has been noted in the Akbar-nama that my father took thirty-four people inside and made them stand close to each other.”[5]
Haidar Malik Chadura, a contemporary and a close confidante of Jahangir, is the first Kashmiri historian who mentions the wonder-tree. He was in Jahangir’s service from 1605 till his death in 1627. His Tarikh-i-Kashmir is an authentic source of information on medieval Kashmir. He narrates:
“In the Pargana Yech, Moza Hal Thal there are black willow trees in abundance which are very strong and huge. In spite of their huge size, if any one holds one of its branches and shakes it, the whole tree shakes so vehemently as though it will be uprooted.”[6]
That Malik Haidar had close proximity with Jahangir is borne out by a story recorded in the Bagharistan-i-Shahi according to which he and Aiba Chak, killed Nur Jahan’s husband, Ali Quli Istajlu known as Sher Afgan, at Burduan in Bengal following which Jahangir married her.[7] After Afgan’s murder, Jahangir gave the custody of Nur Jahan to Haidar Malik till she agreed to marry the King. The future queen of India was lodged at Malik’s mansion at Chadura, a town in central Kashmir 16 km from Srinagar. After the marriage was solemnized, Malik requested Jahangir to rename Chadura as Nurpur after the new queen. Godfrey Thomas Vigne, author of The Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo, quotes Farishta to narrate a belief among the Kashmiris that Nur Jahan was “a native of the valley: a daughter of the Malek of Chodra.”[8] He writes:
“The only fact that I heard of, that could by any possibility be brought forward in support of this assertion, is, that near Chodra there are some ruins, said to be those of a house that once belonged to her; but in which there is nothing in any way remarkable.”[9]
In the series of chronicles mentioning this wonder-tree, we have possibly the last in the form of the 18th century AD local historian, Muhammad Azam Dedmari’s Waqaat-i-Kashmir. Dedmari breathed his last in 1765 AD. He describes the tree as a huge silver coloured Ar-ar (juniper) in the Halthal village of Pargana Ach [Yech?]. Referring to its massive size, he adds that a large group of people could stay under its shade. He writes:
“In the Halthal village of Pargana Ach is an enormous silver coloured pine juniper. Its shade can accommodate a large group of people. Despite being so huge in size if one of its branches is shaken all other branches and the whole body [of the tree] trembles.”[10]
Dedmari quotes a Persian couplet of an unidentified poet that establishes the name of the tree as Halthal. The verse goes like this:
Ba nisar yaka ba dastash na budaim diram
Tanash az faqah balarzad chu darakht-e-haltal
(The hunger-stricken body of the one who has no money in his hand quivers like the Trembling Tree.)
The picture of the tree that emerges from the description offered by the above quoted chronicles is that it was considerably tall and had strong and enormous size, and numerous branches and leaves. It looked like an inverted weeping willow. The tree was present in abundance. It was either of silver or black colour. Its shade could accommodate a large number of people. What made the tree stand out in the plant species of Kashmir was its peculiarity of trembling from the root to the top when someone shook even its single branch. From its height it appears resembling a poplar and from its shade a fully grown common willow. There is a great confusion among the chroniclers on the name Halthal. While some (Albadaoni, Haidar Malik and Dedmari) ascribe the name to the village where the tree was found, others (Jahangir) call the tree itself by this name. Abul Fazl ascribes the name Halthal to the village in the Ain-i-Akbari and to the tree in the Akbarnama. The location of the tree identified by the chroniclers does not match with one another. For Dughlat it was Nagam, for Albadaoni it was Khanpur and for Abul Fazl it was both Halthal and Khanpur. However, one thing is obvious that the tree was found in central Kashmir — precisely in today’s Budgam district — only. There is no evidence of its presence in south or north Kashmir. Another interesting thing about the tree is that we know of its existence only during the Mughal period. No account preceding or succeeding the Mughals has mentioned it.
Kashmiri scholar and author, Muhammad Yusuf Taing, names the tree as Tchente Kuj that translates into ‘Kowtowed Tree’ or ‘Prostrated Tree’. He links the name with that of a mound situated on the old pathway between Nagam and Tsar-i-Sharief. The mound is known as Tchente Kuj. According to him, there existed this trembling tree on the mound upon which it got its name Tchente Kuj. He believes that “due to landslide caused by an earthquake or incessant rain, the tree must have disappeared.”[11] That, however, is not corroborated by local legend which provides an entirely different etymology of the place. According to Ghulam Nabi Adfar and Inayat Gul, who have researched on the life and poetry of Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani, the spiritual giant and his disciples, including Baba Nasr, on their way to Tsar-i-Sharief, would take rest here and the Sheikh would tell his disciple, “Wale Nasr tchent dimav” (Nasr! Let us prostrate, meaning let us offer namaz (prayers) upon which they would collectively offer prayers there. A sapling, which according to Adfar was a chinar (plane-tree), planted here thus came to be known as Tchente Kuj. Pertinently, kuj in Kashmiri means ‘a plant’. Adfar recalls that the Sheikh had also used the phrase tchent dien in his poetry in the context of namaz and recalls its repetitive use in a long poem thus: Tchien to tchente dinas phal kya tai (Recognize the fruits of offering namaz). Gul argues that tchent dien is a typical Kashmiri phrase for offering namaz. However, now it is sarcastically used to convey the meaning of offering prayers without humility and shedding one’s vices.
An important question that arises here is where were village Halthal and Pargana Yech situated? Aurel Stein (1862–1943), archaeologist, explorer and English translator of Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, thinks that Halthal is the corrupted form of Salasthala, a place where a battle took place between Ananta, the ruler of Kashmir from 1028 AD to 1068 AD, and his adversary, Tribhuvana. However, he does not identify the location of Salasthala. He writes:
“Salasthala is evidently the older form of the name Halthal which Abu-l- Fazl gives as that of a village in the Yech Pargana. A village Halthal seems to be known in the Yech Pargana, but I have not been able to trace its position. The same place is probably meant by the Salasthala (sic) mentioned Fourth Chron.225 in connection with a rebellion in the neighbouring district of Nagam.”[12]
An idea of the location of Halthal village is provided by Mulla Muhammad Shahabadi who translated Kalhana’s Rajatarangini into Persian language during Akbar’s reign and added extensive annotations on places and names to update these according to his own times. According to Shahabadi, the ruler of Kashmir during olden times, Raja Ajitapeda granted five villages to his mistress, Jayadevi. The villages included Halthal, Nowgam and Methan from rural areas and two other villages, Armalnu and Salnu, close to the Srinagar city.[13] Nowgam and Methan, the twin quarters in south Srinagar, earlier part of Budgam district, were included in the Srinagar municipal limits recently. The description suggests that Halthal could have existed in their proximity. Salnu could be Soluin or Solina which is today an uptown quarter of Srinagar city and falls on way to Nowgam and Methan, 6 km short of Nowgam.
As of today, no village and pargana known as Halthal and Yech, respectively, are found in Kashmir. However, Nagam, Khanpur and Chadura still exist in the Budgam district with the same names and are situated in close proximity of one another. An important thing to note here is that about 10 km from Chadura en-route the district headquarter of Budgam lies a tiny village known as Yechgam. Gam in Kashmiri language means ‘a village’ and Yechgam translates into ‘Yech village’. It is possible that this village had been a pargana in the olden times and, due to administrative reorganization over the centuries, was reduced to the status of a village. The fact that old references like Nagam, Khanpur and Chadura in the proximity of Yechgam being still alive cannot be lost sight of.
The wonder-tree has since disappeared from the landscape of Kashmir and now exists in history and lore only. The tree must have disappeared due to human intervention like wanton felling or climatic change. Kashmir having lost the tree for ever, in North America, from Canada to central Mexico, there is a plant species named Populus tremuloides, commonly known for its quivering peculiarity as Quacking Aspen, Trembling Aspen and Trembling Poplar, and is widely found. Like the Halthal, the tree has a long trunk, up to 82 feet tall, with smooth pale bark, scarred with black. Botanists say that quacking or trembling of the tree is due to the flexible flattened petioles. However, there are many popular legends about why the tree trembles. According to one prevalent in Germany, “when the Holy Family — Joseph, Mary and Jesus — were walking in the forest all the trees bowed down in respect. But the aspen tree did not bow. So, nature cursed the tree, saying it would tremble all its life.”[14]
REFERENCES
[1] Dughlat, Mirza Muhammad Haidar, Tarikh-i-Rashidi, (Trns. E. Denison Ross, edited with commentary and notes by N. Elias), p 428, published by Sampson Low, Marston & Company Ltd., London, 1895.
[2] Fazl, Abul, Ain-e-Akbari, (Trans. Francis Gladwin), vol II, p 134.
[3] Albadaoni, Abdul Qadir Ibn-i-Mulk Shah, Muntakhabu-t-Tawarikh, (Trans. George S. A. Ranking) Vol. II, p 438, Atlantic Publishers, Delhi, Reprint 1990.
[4] Jahangir, Tuzk-i-Jahangiri, (Trans. Rogers), vol 2, p 163.
[5] Ibid., p 164.
[6] Malik, Haidar Chadura, Tarikh-i-Kashmir (Trans. Raja Bano), p 173.
[7] Taing, Muhammad Yusuf, Kaeshir Ajaibaat, Sheeraza, Vol 22, №6, J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, p 54.
[8] Vigne, G. T., The Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo, Vol II, p 80, published by Henry Colburn, London, 1842.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Dedmari, Khawaja Muhammad Azam, Waqaat-i-Kashmir, (Trans. Shamsuddin Ahmad), p 435.
[11] Taing, Muhammad Yusuf, Kaeshir Ajaibaat, Sheeraza, Vol 22, №6, J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, p 56.
[12] Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, Vol. I, Book VII, p 280.
[13] Taing, Muhammad Yusuf, Kaeshir Ajaibaat, Sheeraza, Vol 22, №6, J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, p 53.
[14] Dutta, Swapna, Aspen: The Trembling Tree [www.boloji.com/articles/50534/aspen-the-trembling-tree] accessed on 31 May 2022.