I have always wondered about this term "Kashmiri Pandits". Why do we never hear any terms like kashmiri yadav? Kashmiri Luhar? Kashmiri Chamar? Kashmiri Sunar? Kashmiri Tribal? Or Kashmiri BC or Kashmiri Scheduled Caste? Were all Kashmiri Hindu's only Pandits? If yes, Why? If no, what happened to the others? SOMEONE ON REDIFF, PLEASE CLARIFY!!!!!!!
RE:Kashmirir Pandits.
by Sachin Pednekar on Dec 22, 2007 09:32 PM Permalink
Manjula, The reason you never hear about any other castes in Kashmir except the Pandit (Brahmin) caste lies in history. In the 13th century due to continued Islamic onslaught and torture of the Muslim rulers of Kashmir, most of the other caste people were forcibly converted from Hinduism to Islam including many Pandits also. Only those who resisted the pressure till the limit (mostly Pandits) remained Hindu.
