DID JESUS CHRIST VISIT KASHMIR ?

                                                                           

DID JESUS CHRIST VISIT KASHMIR ?

Appears incorrect .Not substantiated by Various authentic Historical sources . May be I am little equipped with knowledge on the subject to comment ? But then if you Read Holger Kersten's Book “Jesus Lived in India”You enter a different world telling you that ;

1

 “After this Jesus appeared to his disciples a few times, then left with his mother Mary to travel gradually, over a period of sixteen years, back to India. The by now elderly Mary died on the way, but Jesus continued on to Kashmir, and lived and taught there till he was about a hundred years old.”

2

“As Jesus gradually moved through Persia, he increasingly became known as "Yuz Asaf," meaning "leader of the healed." Tradition says he preached throughout Persia, and converted vast numbers to his creed. Accounts such as Agha Mustafai's Jami-uf-Tawarik (Vol II) claim Yuz Asaf and Jesus were one and the same man, and the court poet of Emperor Akbar of India later backed this up when he called Jesus Ai Ki Nam-i to: Yus o Kristo, or "Thou whose name is Yuz or Christ."[24]”

3

“After this Jesus supposedly traveled on to Kashmir, from where he made periodic journeys to other parts of India. There is a grave in the middle of Srinagar's old town which many people believe to be the grave of Jesus himself. The building later erected around the grave stone is called Rozabal, meaning "tomb of a prophet." Above the passage to the actual burial chamber is an inscription explaining that Yuz Asaf entered the valley of Kashmir many centuries before, and that his life was dedicated to the search for the truth. Within the inner burial chamber there are two long gravestones, the larger for Yuz Asaf, the smaller for an Islamic saint of the fifteenth century. Both gravestones point north-south in keeping with Muslim custom, but they are in fact only covers: the actual graves are in a crypt under the floor of the building. There is a tiny opening through which one can look into the true burial chamber below, and see that the sarcophagus containing the earthly remains of Yuz Asaf points east-west in keeping with Jewish custom. This clearly indicates Yuz Asaf was neither an Islamic saint nor a Hindu.[26] ”

Another European Suzanna Olsson, the author of the book, Jesus, Last King of Kashmir moves further on this theory .She informs about her visits to Himalayas , Afganistan and Kashmir for her research work covering post-crucifixion life of Jesus Christ.

Fida Hasnain Noted Historian of Kashmir and a former Director of Archeology of J&K State does not rule out this theory in toto. He believes that there are many similarities between Israel and Kashmir in terms of language and traditions. He wants more scientific research on the subject .He does not call the Hypothesis that Kashmiris are the lost tribe as totally baseless. In the past teams of researchers from Israel, Germany and other parts of the world conducted studies on the subject but could not find any scientific verification of the hypothesis. They visited the Rozabal in Khanyar as well .

During my college days, one teacher would say “ Kashmiris are Jews or the lost Tribe from Israel" . He would also say that some words in kashmiri and Hebrew are common . Say Hoon in both the languages means a dog. Wife is also called Ashein I have heard him saying that Joo added to a names of elderly kashmiri persons( Both Pandits and Muslims ) to show respect like Ram Joo , Ahmed Joo , Govind Joo, Qadir Joo has its origin from word Jew .

I don't believe that there is any verifiable , historical or other evidence for this theory even if some writers say that kashmiris are the lost tribe of Israel.

According to Dr Shashi Shekhar Toshkhani Linguist and Scholar:

“Joo” is an honorific word used throughout the Hindi-speaking belt to express regard or affection for a person the same as Ji. Braj Bhasha poetry is replete with its use. In Kashmiri also, it was used for the same purpose. It has nothing to do with the word “Jew”. The word Kosher means food prepared according to the rules of the Jewish law. It has no relation with “Koshur”. Koshur means a person belonging to Kashmir and the etymology of the Hebrew word Kosher is in no way linked to it. Phonetically too the words “Kosher” and “Koshur” are quite different— the basic word in the latter case being “Kashir”. Kashmiri, it must be emphasized, has descended from vedic sanskrit through Prakrit and Apabhramsha . It has no links with Hebrew . Chance Resemblances of sounds of some stray Vocables belonging to totally Unrelated word stocks do not in any way indicate affiliation with any Language or Linguistic Group "

I have gone through some books on the subject . A couple of such books were in english and some in Urdu. The authors have picked up some common village names from Israel and Kashmir. One author goes on to add that “Half roasted fish called phar in Kashmir is the favourite dish of both the Israelis and the people of Kashmir,” Another book goes on to add that Kashmiris are the Lost tribe from Israel. They wandered along the Silk Route into the countries of the East, to Persia and Afghanistan, until they reached the Vale of Kashmir and settled there. As per one author twelfth century Arab Historian Al Beruni had written: “In the past, permission to enter Kashmir was given only to the Jews.”

Till anything conclusive with scientific research comes out , the shrine at Rozabal Khanyar believed to be the final resting place of Jesus Christ in Kashmir ,continues to be thronged by visitors from Europe , America and other parts of the world.This place is just 100 yards away from the highly revered ziyarat of Dastgeer sahib.The Ziyarat of Dastgeer sahib is on main road while the Rozabal shrine is in a Lane .
I must have visited the shrine at least 10 times and found it always locked. The structure of the building . its windows , the main door is similar to various Muslim Shrines of Kashmir .Nothing more is needed to be commented on the theory put forth by some people in west which is not refuted altogether by Kashmiris .

So Long so mucch ..

( Autar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.