Deliverance from the Cross — Page 143
among the upland villages. Here the Israelitish shepherd tending his flock and herds may any day be seen. 20 On first seeing the Kashmirians in their own country I imagined from their garb, the cast of their countenance which was long and of a grave aspect and the forms of their beard, that I had come across a nation of Jews. 21 seen - Immensely strong are those picturesque, broad-shouldered Kashmiri peasants, and yet docile and meek in temperament. One thing about them strikes you with enormous force. They seem more perfectly Jewish than the present Jews you have ever not because they wear a flowing cloaklike dress that conforms to your ideas of Biblical garments, but because their faces have the Jewish cast of features. The curious coincidence - or is it a coincidence? - is that there is a strong tradition in Kashmir of connection with Jews. For a good many years there have been afloat in this land rumors that Christ did not really die upon the cross, but was let down and disappeared to seek the lost tribes, and that he came to Kashmir, Ladak and Little Tibet and died and was buried at Srinagar. Kashmir legend, I have been told, contains references to a prophet who lived here and taught, as Jesus did, by parables - little stories that are repeated in Kashmir to the present day. Of recent years certain 20 Ibid. , p. 130 21 George Forster, Letters on a journey from Bengal to England, Vol. II, R. Faulder, London 1808, p. 20 143