IX 4TH BUDDHIST COUNCIL:

1. INTRODUCTION: The valley of Kashmir lies between 32.20 to 34 N latitude and 73 to 75.40 longitudes and is situated in the north of India. It is an oval shaped valley surrounded by lofty mountains. It is nearly 84 miles long and 20 to 25 miles broad. Heights of the mountains surrounding the valley vary from 12,000 to 18,000, while the valley stands at an altitude of 5,000 above sea level. According to the local tradition, the valley was a vast lake called Satisara, thousands of years back and it was drained by the gods. These gods appear to be none but the tribal chiefs. Babur, the first Mughal Emperor of India, described Kashmir, as a land inhabited by hill-men called Kas and hence the name Kashmir; Kas being the natives and mir means the hills.1 However, the name itself is far more ancient. The Kashmiris use the word Kashir for Kashmir. The legend that the valley was a great lake has been stated at great length in Nilamatapurana, a sixth century text. According to the earliest tradition the lake was called Satisara and was habituated by the demon, Jalodbhava. He used to cause distress to all the neighboring countries. Kashyaps, the ancestral god of all the Nagas, led an attack on the lake along with other gods and Jalodbhava was slain in the battle. Subsequently Kashyapa got it drained and got it settled with the Nagas.2 It is evident that before the advent of the Nagas, Kashmir was inhabited by the tribe of Jalodbhava.

2. ORIGIN OF THE KASHMIRI PEOPLE: Kashmiris are an ancient people and they have preserved continuous records of their history and culture from the dawn of civilization. They have written in Sharda alphabets about Kashmir; its shrines, its villages, its kings and its people. They have written on religion, philosophy, history and various other subjects. Nilamatapurana gives ample details about ancient Kashmir and about the origin of the Kashmiri people. It tells us about various tribes, which came on Kashmir for settlement. Kashmir has been a cradle of many a race, whose languages and cultural patterns were fused into a composite group. It has been inhabitated by Indo-Greeks, the Kushans, the Sakas, and the Huns. The Bhuttas and the Kirats also settled in the valley.3 According to Grierson, the Indo-Aryans of the outer countries came earlier. The latest wave of immigrants is represented by those, who speak the Pishaca languages, like the Kashmiris, the Dardas and the Kafirs of Hindukush.4 It is given in the Nilamata that Pishaca habitated the valley of Kashmir during ancient times. They came from the Pamirs or the Central Asia. They superseded the Nagas. Pishacas or the Yakshas belonged to the same race.5 3. ORIGINAL TRIBES: As nothing is known of the earliest tribes the Nagas are deemed to be the earlier inhabitants of Kashmir. However, the Pishacas, the Rakshas, the Asuras, the Danavas and the Yakshas are the earliest tribes who lived in the valley after the tribe of Jalodbhava. It appears that the Naga tribes habitated the Himalayan belt of mountains. The Pishacas were a clan of the Aryan stock and they had to right the Nagas in Kashmir. There are references to suggest that the Pishacas associated

themselves with the Yakshas, when they grained ascendency in Kashmir. This association, rather subjugation of the Pishacas occurred during the overlord-ship of Kubera, who is also known as Vaishravana and Dhana-da. He was regarded as a god and giver of wealth. His images were created for worship. He associated himself with the overlord of the Nagas in Kashmir. Kubera is considered as a treasurer of the gods in heaven and is also known in Japan as Daikoku-Sama.