Why we are Pandits

Pandit Nehru on his Mekhal,
 carrying a Mulberry stick 

This is a 'Did you know it was all thanks to Bhan Saheb!' post.

[...] the circumstances under which the Brahman Bhattas of  Kashmir came to be called Pandits. Briefly, it would seem that, after the incorporation of Kashmir into the Mughal empire, quite a few of those Brahmans who migrated out of Kashmir attracted attention and even rose high at the imperial court, first in Agra and then in Delhi. In recognition of their sevices to the emperor or their scholarship, or both, suitable titles were conferred upon them. These were similar to those conferred upon distinguished Muslims. One such successful emigre, Jai Narain Bhan, was elevated to the status of a Raja. It was he who reportedly asked that Kashmiri Brahmans should be addressed as 'Pandit' and not by such honorifics as 'Khuajah'. The request was granted by emperor Muhammad Shah (1719-49) (Sender 1988: 43 [Henny Sender's The Kashmiri Pandits: A Study of Cultural Choice in North India (Delhi, 1988)]). Subsequently, 'Pandit' became established as the community name of Kashmiri Brahmans living outside Kashmir. In more recent times it has emerged as on of the ethonyms of the Bhatta of Kashmir.

~ from The T.N. Madan Omnibus

Tinsel Workers. Kashmir-Jammu.Then-Now.

"Photograph of tinsel workers in Jammu & Kashmir in India, taken by an unknown photographer in the 1890s. This image shows three seated workers with the tools of their trade. The tinsel wires are made of silver, or silver coated with gold leaf, and made into a bar in the shape of a candle, which is then forced through a series of holes on a steel plate to obtain increasingly fine-gauged lengths. Traditionally the wire was then wound onto a reel, as seen in the photograph, attached at the other end to a jantar, another steel plate, which allowed for futher refining of the gauge, and wires no thicker than a hair were obtained this way. A tola (180 grains of metal) usually produced 600 to 1,200 yards of wire."
via: British Library

The frilly things seen dangling  in the above photographs are the Atah worn by Kashmiri pandit women in their ears (more often around the time of marriage festivities). These are not usually made of metal wires anymore, instead they are now made of synthetic (Sulma/Tilla) threads. And since there aren't many Atah wearing Pandit women left in valley anymore, the trade of these shiny things (along with some other shiny things like 'shiny golden' Kangri, employed for some ceremonies during marriage rites) has now moved to Jammu.

2012. Link Road. Jammu.

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Gold Diggers of Jammu

Not as famous as the giant gold digging ants of our state, these guys scavenge the drains of Jammu city's Jain Bazaar for gold that inevitable finds its way into the drains while being processed in shops. The drains of Jain bazaar are leased out to various people for gold digging.

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