The Literary Heritage Of Kashmir

The Literary Heritage of Kashmir is an excellent and an indispensable book on the literature of Kashmir. This is mainly because so far, no book on Kashmir literature has either been written, of edited by anyone. No doubt Kashmir owes a lot to various Western travellers who, striken by wander-lust and braving all perils, paid a visit to the vale considered as Paradise on Earth, since ages past, and recorded their impressions about the social, economic, historical and political conditions of the people of this valley. But very few of them, excepting Stein and Grierson, have focused attention on the cultural and literary attainments of the valley. It is shocking to find that Wakefield has, out of ignorance, remarked in his book, ?The Happy Valley? (1879) that except for ?Rajatarangini? Kashmir?s culture and literary past is bleak. The Kashmiri Literature is still unknown to the outside world, and even to the local people. The present volume will, therefore, serve as a useful guide not only to the scholars conducting research in Kashmiri Literature but also to the common readers and even to laymen. The book sufficiently proves the merit of Kashmiri literature; one can proudly say that it is in no way inferior to the literature of any other States of India. The editor-cum-author, Prof. Kalla deserves credit for the arduous task of collecting and coalescing the material from various writers, including their copyright material. The book, therefore, fills a missing gap in the literary history of Kashmir which was being felt for long. It is hoped that this book would be widely welcomed by the readers.