Historical Documents from High Western Himalaya: Lahul and the Areas Surrounding

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The present work is a collection mostly of karchhags, a kind of document prepared at the moment of celebration of a ceremony held in honour of a certain important person deceased in some wealthy household, which records the salient facts of the occasion. They are as important as any other historical document because they record the name of the prominent historical figure of the time in the area and are closely dateable. They cover uniformly the three valleys consisting of the four cultures of Lahul for the period starting from the sixteenth century continuously to the end of the British period. It also includes some other kinds of documents, like decrees, inscriptions, etc. The original documents are in the scripts of Bhoti, Tankri, and Sharda. They relate, besides Lahul, to the areas surrounding it, like Spiti, Zanskar, Kinnaur, Kullu, Mandi, Pangi, and Guge.

It has been over fifty years since the work of collecting the material began. By now, some of the original documents have been lost permanently. Some others may not be accessible or traceable any more.

Tobdan (1944) belongs to Lahul in Himachal Pradesh. His studies are concentrated on Lahul, its various aspects like history, languages, social customs, etc., and the areas surrounding it. He writes in English, Hindi, and Bhoti. His works include History and Religions of Lahul (1984), The People of the Upper Valley (The sTodpas of Lahul in the Himalaya), (1993), Exploring Malana (2011), Spiti: A Study in Socio-Cultural Traditions (2015), Ancient Lahul and Himalaya (2021), etc. He had been associated with the 'People's Linguistic Survey of India, in the English and Hindi volumes on Himachal Pradesh. He had been a member of the Governing Body of the Himachal Pradesh Arts, Culture, and Languages Academy, Shimla.

The present work is a collection mostly of karchhags, a kind of document prepared at the moment of celebration of ceremony held in honour of some deceased person in a wealthy household. They record the salient facts of the occasion. Even though the documents are generally not dated but most of them contain at least a name of a prominent historical person, as such they are not less in importance in any way from any other kind of a historical document. Besides it also includes some other kinds of documents like decrees, inscriptions, etc. The documents being mostly under private ownership were collected mostly from the individuals or individual households. The original documents are in the scripts of Bhoti, Tankri and Sharda.

These documents cover the subjects of social, economic, religious, political, etc. kind, spanning a long period of about five centuries of the medieval and modern period. It covers uniformly the three valleys including all the four cultural zones of Lahul.

It has been over fifty years since the work of collecting the material began. I am aware that by now some of the original documents have been lost permanently. Some others may not be accessible or traceable any more.

Here there are some words used from vernacular languages. The same item is named differently in different cultures. The articles and the words are mostly not in use now. The words cannot be found in the lexicons. Only a few old men, who can be searched with much difficulty, know a few words concerning their own culture. The valuable knowledge will be lost along with them.

(a) Karchhag: The tradition of writing karchhags existed in all the three valleys of Lahul since long past. Earlier ceremonies were performed in honour of certain worthy members of a few wealthy families at a much grander level. Preparations had to be made for it from long time before to gather and accumulate resources. This was presumed to be a great virtuous task. Those who had performed such a ceremony had attained and entered a class in the society more elite. There were only a few such households in a village or in the area. In the large village of Sindhwari, known as the village of Brahmins, there was one family who had performed the ceremony of Pung-ying and they were renowned as such. It was also an opportunity for the households to exhibit and establish the status of their prosperity and popularity in the area. A great number of people were invited to attend the ceremony. In the ceremonies it is said that people came from all over Lahul. Even though this is interpreted generally restrictively, there is an instance which authenticates the fact. In the ceremony performed by Thonu, the great Kharpon, in c. C.E. 1840, at Jahlma, it is recorded that valuable articles were distributed among the people and feast was given to all the people of the three valleys of Lahul to the full satisfaction of them all. According to the Census of 1901, the population of Lahul was near about 6,000.

The ceremony could be for one or more and could be both for male and female members. In the records these persons are known in relationship such as father, grandfather, mother, grandmother, etc. and many are found named. In the Brahminic tradition, followed by a class called as Songlā inhabiting more in the lower part of Pattan, it was called Pung-ying (Pun-yin) a vernacular corrupt form of the Sanskrit word Punya.