Abstract:

Up to 1950s Kashmir was essentially an agrarian society, as more than ninety-percent population lived on agriculture supplemented by other allied pursuits. The agrarian economy consisted of food and cash crops, cattle, trees (both fruit and non-fruit bearing trees) and domestic manufactures especially spinning and weaving of woollen blankets. The staple crop namely paddy and other subsidiary rain-fed crops provided food to the people. The other assets mentioned above were collectively called mal meaning wealth or more appropriately as muhimuk yar meaning the friend in need. Of the above allied/subsidiary agricultural activities perhaps the most significant was the cattle rearing as it not only helped the peasant in need but it helped him in meeting his multifarious demands. The cattle were indispensable for carrying out agricultural pursuits and providing clothing and bedding as well as fuel for cooking purposes. After all, agriculture depends upon cattle for ploughing and manuring of the land. The poor peasantry wore woollen clothes even in summer and the people in general used cow dung for fuel besides using it as the basic manure for their fields. This is besides the fact that cattle provided milk, butter, ghi, and meat along with defraying the peasants’ expense he had to incur on various necessities in the absence of any other non-agriculture source. Given this crucial significance of livestock for the survival of peasantry, it is not surprising that the men and the cattle lived under the same roof. In some cases the family lived on the one side and the cattle on the other side of the house though generally the ground floor was kept reserved for the cattle and the family lived in the first floor, the third floor (keni) was meant for the storage purposes, both for humans and cattle. The hencoop (mud) was also housed in the same structure.

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