Folk-Tales of Kashmir

Folk-Tales is a subject which requires the most dainty treatment and the careful analysis. Most folk-lorists find it as a source to analysis the practices, ideas and beliefs of the people of ancient and middle ages. In those days fables was popular as it was adopted as medium of instruction. It is believed that an apposite or well-told story would arouse attention where logical argument or abstract reasoning would fail to produce the slightest effect. These fictitious narratives with their moral and religious applications had a very considerable influence upon the literature of those days. Some folk-lorists believe that several tales must be attributed to a mythological origin, but some others believe that many tales must be attributed to historical origin. However, whatsoever the nature of treating the folk-lores, India has abundance of popular folk-lores in its credit, among which the stature of Kashmir is unparallel. Perhaps, Kashmir has not been surpassed in fertility by any other country in the world. But, for centuries the great treasure of these fairy tales of Kashmir had remained unknown to the rest of the world due to its isolated position and difficulty of language. This book attempts to unveil the treasure of fairy-tales that was very popular among the natives of the country. As the author points out, many of the tales in this collection are purely Kashmiri in origin, while others are undoubtedly variants of popular tales current in India and other parts of the world, which have been adopted and modified to suit the language, style of thought and social usage of the country. Indeed, it’s a book of rare-kind that will draw the attention of all readers of all age group.