Antiquities of The Chenab Valley in Jammu (An Old and Rare Book)

Chenab as Chandrabhaga of Asikani, finds mention in various Hindu Scriptures including Rigveda and Purans and indicates its importance in ancient times. However its antiquarian value and importance, till date, has very little been studied or explored. We hardly come across any book pertaining to the region, although considerable study material, in terms of Iconography, Paleography, Inscriptional Material, Temple Structures, Archaeology and other related subjects, is available from numerous high lands valleys and mountain hutmets of the valley in the hills and mountains of Jammu. We know that unlike Kashmir, from where not a single Brahmi Inscription or Sharda copper plate has been traced, we have recorded three Brahmi Inscriptions, one Sharda copper plate, numerous inscriptions and copper plates in Sharda, Tad and Devnagri, as also important Sanads, Grants, firmans, official letters and the like, written in the aforesaid languages. The need to collect, classify, decipher and evaluate all such record is no less an important task, for the researchers as well as scholars. Inscriptions, copper plates and similar other records are the most authentic sources of information for the study of regional topics. It is in this context that an attempt is made by the author, in this Monograph, to evaluate the antiquity of the region, and valuable material in terms of some 150 items of inscriptional record, copper plates, Sanads, Pattas, Grants, official Certificate and Firmans etc. have been treated. All these pertain to the valleys of Chenab and its tributaries in the mountains of Jammu.

Dr. P.K. Kaul, born at Bhadarwah in J&K, is a research Scholar of repute, having to his credit some 35 years of research experience, in diverse fields of regional study. Being a science graduate in Physics, Chemistry, Geology and Bio-Science, and Science teacher in Secondary Schools in earlier part of his professional career, he has developed a logical approach in dealing with the topics of his study. He later worked, in various state colleges, and retired as a Professor of Hindi from Govt. Women's College Gandhi Nagar, Jammu. Presently he is working as Principal Investigator of specified and unspecified Pahari dialects of Jammu, a University Grants Commission Project. He Writes both in Hindi as well as in English, and his works include a dozen of research publications (books) on diverse regional topics including linguistics, folk lore, biographies, history and culture and paleography also. In addition he has contributed scores of research articles published in various magzines and newspapers from many parts of North India. He has to his credit two poetic collections also. The author is presently settled at Jammu.

It gives me real joy to present before you this monograph on the antiquities of the Chenab Valley in the Province of Jammu, and its adjascent Himalyan Valleys, the mountainous regions of Kagtwar, Rajouri, Poonch, Bhadrawah. Basohli, Ballawar, Chaneni, Banihal, and Udhampur. A lot of Research and evaluation work on the Antiquities of the region adjoining Chenab; the Kashmir Valley, Chamba, Himachal, and Ladakh stands already published by various Scholars like R.C. Kak, J. Ph. Vogel and Hutchinson, Nevin and Mankodi, and B.L. Kaul Deambi; in addition to the valuable, basic and scholarly works of Bulhar and Auril Stien, under various titles. But, except few scattered petty references, no work in details has ever been attempted on the Antiquities of the Jammu region, particularly on the Inscriptions and other similar records, Iconography, wooden art and archetect by any scholar so far.. And I feel greatly satisfied to present this study on historical, Palaeographical and epigraphical aspects of some 41 Inscriptions, 109 items of records like Copper Plates, Pattas, Sanads, Grants, Political Agreements, official letters and the like, in diverse scripts (Brahmi-Sharda-Takri-Persian-and Devnagri), 45 Photo Plates, 50 Annexures, and some comperative Palaeographic Tables; and then spread over long period of nearly one thousand and five hundred years i.e. from 3rd-4th century A.D. to the present century. All this makes this work a valuable document in the feilds of regional study and research work and, I hope that it will be of good use and benefit to the research scholars and the students o$ Language, History and Culture of the region.