On Guns and Firing ranges

 

(Image AI generated. no resemblance to any place, scene, equipment and any living or dead person)

 Anywhere in the world, one of the favourite playthings for young boys is a simple toy gun. This simple toy is not something new. It has been always a popular toy ever since guns were invented and used by mankind.   I guess, before that, a simple toy bow with arrows must have been very popular, though they are still popular to some extent.  A bow could easily be made from a bamboo strip and arrows from bamboo sticks. Whereas a toy gun is far more complicated and cannot be easily made at home. Toy guns can be something as basic as a shot gun, an automatic gun, a machine gun or a revolver. These days, newer toy guns like laser guns or those fancied as used by astronauts and aliens in science fiction movies also are available. 

The first toy gun I ever had was a present, from my grandfather on Diwali day, when I was just 8 years old. The gun had a wooden butt like a real gun, a trigger and a barrel. The barrel had a long slot along the length from which a bolt protruded out. There was a long spring inside the barrel, which would be pressed when the bolt was pulled inside towards the butt. When the trigger was operated, this spring would be released. It would expand in the barrel and hit a cork press fitted in the mouth of barrel. The cork would fly off, but its travel limited to a foot or so only, as it was attached to the barrel by a thread. This gun was thrilling enough for us young boys  for playing “Thieves and Police” (चोर-शिपाई, चोर-पोलिस) but, it was very clumsy or unhandy to use. Another toy gun that was very popular in those days and remains so, even now, is the Diwali time Pistol or revolver, which fired small caps. It used to be shaped like an automatic revolver and when the trigger was pulled, there would be a small bang with sound and some smoke. A later version could accommodate a roll of caps and therefore could fire repetitively like a real automatic revolver.

 

As I grew older, I found these toy guns no fun. Then a friend showed me a book that explained with diagrams about making a cardboard pistol. I found this pistol or gun just great fun at that age. It consisted of three cardboard pieces. Two of them of  pistol shapes and the third one shaped like a trigger piece. These three pieces were held together with a brass split rivet usually used for pinning together loose paper sheets. This brass rivet ensured that the trigger cardboard piece would only move between two pistol shaped pieces over a limited range.  A rubber loop, usually cut from a bicycle tube, would be attached to the front of the pistol and the pulled out to the other end snapped in a notch cut on two pistol shaped pieces. When the trigger was pushed, the other end of the trigger piece would move up and push up the rubber band, releasing it. A thick paper strip folded several times and then bent in a ‘U’ shape, would be kept hanging on the rubber band.  When the rubber band was released, the paper ‘U’ piece would just fly off like a shot, and hit the targeted area.

The front and rear cardboard covers of our exercise books were of the right thickness to make the carboard pistole.  It goes without saying that  they all were  converted in pistols within short time. For everyone in the classroom all exercise books were now left without cardboard covers.  Whenever teachers were absent from the class, due to some reason or other, this gun used to be of great fun to fight wars in classrooms.  Surprisingly this gun is very popular even today after eighty years or so, as can be seen from number of How to do   it?  Videos, that are listed on You Tube.

Even though I played with such toy guns, I was no stranger to a real gun. Ever since I was a small boy, my father used to own a 12-bore single barrel shotgun. Usually, I was not allowed to touch it even, except on one day every year. On the day when Dusshera was celebrated, it used to be my duty, to clean the gun with kerosene, polish the barrel with special wire brush provided by the manufacturer and finally wipe it clean with a cloth piece dipped in special oil. After that, I would do ‘Pooja’ (पूजा)  of the gun with flowers and then return the gun to its canvas carrying bag.

(Image AI generated. no resemblance to any place, scene, equipment and any living or dead person)

No one knew why this gun was called 12-bore. Later I found out that the barrel diameter also had nothing to do with 12 as it was 0.73 inches.   The reason for it being called 12-bore is very funny. It seems that if you make lead metal balls (which were used as bullets for this gun initially) of 0.73-inch diameter, 12 such balls would weigh 1 English pound and hence the bore was called as 12 bore and the gun as 12-bore gun.

(Image AI generated. no resemblance to any place, scene, equipment and any living or dead person)

My father’s 12 bore was made by B.S.A. (Birmingham small arms), a famous English company that made small arms, bicycles and even motor bikes. The bullets were made from thick cardboard tubes with a brass flange fixed at one end. At the center of this brass flange, there would be a small copper spot. The trigger hammer would hit this copper spot and explode the explosives packed inside the bullet. At the front end, lead or steel shots would be packed inside, and they would be sealed by a cardboard disc.  There used to be a few options for bullets depending on number of shots and their size. For arming the gun for a shot, it was necessary to fold or break it, as they say! to open it in the middle, when an internal spring would get compressed and locked. When the gun was folded back and snapped fit in normal position, it would be armed and when the trigger was pulled, the spring would be released, making the hammer hit the copper dot to explode the ammunition inside the bullet. 

By Wikidudeman - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3445119

 

My father had acquired this gun for some obvious reasons. In the first place, our house was somewhat lonely in those years, located on a roughly 2-acre plot, much outside the town. In those days, incidences of dacoity were not all that rare and it was felt that a gun is a must for personal and family safety.  The other reason was that sudden appearances of snakes or cobras were not very uncommon in our plot of land, as a water canal flowed on one side adjacent to our plot. These creepers crossed our compound many times to take refuge in a cooler hiding place to avoid summer heat or while searching for prey. .  Those days there was no ‘Friends of snakes’ (सर्पमित्र) movement and everyone believed that if we encounter a snake or a cobra anywhere, anytime, it must be immediately eliminated. I have personally seen several snakes and cobras killed by my father with our 12-bore gun.  In fact, that was the only living creature that I had seen being killed by our gun. So powerful was the impact of our gun that a long snake would be literally cut into three or four pieces.

Prof. D.G Dhavale, was a friend of my father. By profession, he was a professor, who taught Physics to degree students at Fergusson College Pune. However, he was a great multifaceted person.  He was obviously not very rich, yet had so many interests. His interests included guns, hunting, automobile engineering, flora of Pune and many other things.  He was the person who taught me how to drive a car.  My father sometimes went with him to have some firing practice with our 12-bore gun. They had found a perfect place for the firing practice, that was very near and safe.

Most of the readers, who are from Pune, must have seen the hilly area west of Senapati Bapat Road that lies to west of the present Meridien Hotel. Just near the foot of this hilly area, there used to be a Sheep Breeding Farm in those years (1950s). I have no idea whether this breeding farm exists now or not. Near this farm, a narrow mud track went up the hill, all the way up to the ‘Wetal Peak’.  A small climb on this track would take the climber to a small pond, that used to have water for at least 8 to 10 months in a year. This pond was surrounded by steep rock faces 30 to 40 feet high on all sides except North. During monsoon months, a regular waterfall could be seen here on the south face of the cliff.  My father and Prof. Dhavale, would stick a newspaper on this  dry waterfall face as a target and would do firing practice with their guns from the north side of the pool. I used to accompany them sometimes, and found this firing practice very interesting.

Obviously, I was not allowed to fire this gun till I crossed into twenties. However, I had my experiences with a real gun and firing practice a few years earlier.  The first real gun I handled and fired was something very simple. Many may not even call it a gun. It was called an air gun. My childhood friend, Late Madhav Gadgil, who later became a famous environmental and ecological expert, had an air gun in his house. He sometimes would allow us to take a shot or two. The air gun shots were made from lead and were shaped like a sand clock.  There were no explosives, and these guns were considered quite safe and did not need any license. They could be used to get rid of small animals and birds.  Many people had these guns in past. Much later in my life, I had an opportunity to shoot a more advanced type of air gun, where compressed gas was used to impart more kinetic energy to the bullet. More about these guns and their firing range later in this article.

(Image AI generated. no resemblance to any place, scene, equipment and any living or dead person)

 

During school years, my father insisted that I join a scheme of military training run by central Government. This was known as Auxiliary Cadet Corps or ACC. This scheme was different from National Cadet Corps or NCC. Some schools in Pune had opted for NCC, Jr. Div.  However, our school had opted for ACC. We were mostly taught military drills and allied subjects and were supposed to do some social work. There was, however, no arms training included. One of the highlights of this scheme, however, was the yearly training camp held at some suitable place during Diwali holidays. For those few days participants could taste the hard life of a soldier. We used to live in a tent. Sleep on cotton durries with a blanket to protect us and use a haversack as a pillow. Take bath in open, under a tap. Eat and drink from enameled plates and mugs.  And relieve ourselves, in primitive trench latrines.  Still those camp days were such a great fun, that we were never even slightly bothered  with the hard life involved.

I got my first chance to fire a real gun in summer of 1959, during  summer holidays after I had completed my Secondary School Certificate Examination. I was sent by my parents to Nashik city to attend the summer course in military training run by ‘Bhonsala Military School’, Nashik, for a duration of 5 weeks. In this course, we were taught drills, map reading, horse riding and other military skills. We also handled real rifles, though having a smaller bore of 0.22 inches.  Every week a new platoon commander was appointed by our teacher from the boys. I also had a chance to experience this responsibility for one week.

The main difference between a rifle and a shot gun is in the finish of the barrel bore.  Shotguns have a smooth bore in the barrel. A rifle has helical grooves called rifling, cut or formed on the inside of the barrel. This groove gives the bullet a spin, as it travels through the barrel. This spin is supposed to stabilize the bullet by what is called gyroscopic motion. A rifle therefore is more accurate and gives a greater range than a bullet fired from a smooth bore shotgun.

‘Bhonsala Military School’ at Nashik had their own firing range for rifle shooting practice. Around that time (1959}, the public confidence in products made in India used to be quite low. This was natural after centuries of British dominance. ‘Bhonsala school’, therefore, not only had British rifles, but even the ammunition they used was made in England.   The school firing range must have been about 60 feet wide and fair length, located on plot of flat barren land with yellowish natural soil. There were tall trees all along the perimeter except for one side, where a tall stone wall stood solidly as protection against any stray bullet fired. Towards one end of the plot a brick platform, about 3 feet high, was built. It was completely covered with tapering soil. Around 8 or 10 blue-coloured durries would be spread on this platform at equidistance in such a way that any person lying on these durries in prone position, would directly see the stone wall. Towards the stone wall end of the durries, sandbags would be kept as a resting place for hand.  During shooting practice, at one time, 8 to 10 schoolboys would be lying in a prone position on durries. They would have their left legs kept straight and right legs folded inwards. They would be holding their 0.22 sports rifles aimed at the target boards erected at 100 meters from the platforms. The stock of the rifles would be pressed firmly against shoulders. The left hand would support the rifle from below and right hand on trigger.  The target boards would have several concentric circles and a bull’s eye marked at center, on them. All the boys would wear school uniform with shoes.  Each of the boys would be given 5 bullets and scores recorded later.  

(Image AI generated. no resemblance to any place, scene, equipment and any living or dead person)

This prone position is believed to be most stable position for firing a rifle, though sitting and standing postures are also used. All guns always give a solid recoil shock, though for a 0.22 rifle it is somewhat less.  For a 12 bore shotgun, this recoil is quite high as I found later.  It is therefore very important to keep the rifle butt or stock at correct location on the shoulder, so that any mishap can be avoided. The regular infantry rifle gives a very heavy recoil shock, and we were told by our army instructor that even a regular army soldier may feel fatigued after firing a larger number of bullets from these rifles.

(Image AI generated. no resemblance to any place, scene, equipment and any living or dead person)

0.22 rifle bullets are much smaller and shorter. They consist of a brass enclosure closed at one end, where a small copper spot would be brazed in center. Just like a shot gun, the rifle bolt pin hits this very spot generating heat that causes the ammunition to explode and gives kinetic energy to the steel bullet in front.

 

By Divingpetrel - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25901403

 

During my college days, I joined NCC or National Cadet Corps for a couple of years. This programme was more advanced version of the school ACC programme but more rigorous and advanced.   Besides military training, we were taught to handle more advanced arms used by Infantry division of Indian army and had a chance to actually fire these arms on an army firing range. I believe that NCC have their own firing range now in Pune. In my college days, there was no such facility, and we were taken in army trucks to one of the garrisons in Pune.  A thoroughly enjoyable experience for me.

(Image AI generated. no resemblance to any place, scene, equipment and any living or dead person)

As I mentioned earlier, much later in my life, I had an occasion to shoot a new type of gun on a firing range couple of times. One of my elderly relatives had then taken a fancy to shooting a gas charged air rifle. This was essentially an air gun, which meant that there were no explosives of any kind in the bullet. The gun was armed by breaking the barrel in middle, which compressed a spring provided in the gun. When the trigger was pulled, the spring was released, which then would hit the pellet. Gas-charged air rifles, including nitro piston (gas ram) and pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) types, utilize compressed nitrogen or air rather than a metal spring to propel pellets. They offer improved accuracy, reduced recoil, quieter operation, and the ability to remain cocked for longer periods.  The compressed gas was stored in a bottle kept in the butt of the gun.

By Ari x, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1094715

During those days, Walchand Industries group had built an Air rifle firing range in their factory on old Mumbai- Pune highway, which could be rented on hourly basis. My relative used to rent this range occasionally. I had an occasion to accompany him couple of times and could try my hand on firing. This firing range had a range of 25 or 100 meters and for air rifles with .22 pellets, this was good enough. The target bords were movable as they were fixed on a steel rope-pully arrangement. After the shooter had fired the shots, he could pull the target board towards himself and count his score.

To end this narrative, I must mention that despite varied exposure  to rifle shooting over the years, I was at the most could be called a poor shot. My best attempts never exceeded the outermost circle on the target board.  Rifle shooting needs a very steady hand, which I lacked. It also needs very powerful forearms and an ability to deeply concentrate. In Mahabharata, there is a popular story that Guru of Pandawas and their cousins Kauravas had placed a dummy parrot figure on a tree to give archery practice to his disciples. The archers were supposed to shoot the eye of the dummy parrot.  To each of his students, Guru Dronacharya asked to concentrate on the target and then asked them, what did they see? Almost all of them had replied that they could see many things such as the tree, the parrot etc. It was only the great archer Arjuna, who had replied that all he saw was the eye of the parrot.

This story tells us that besides physical strength, the most important requirement for a shooter is the uncanny ability to concentrate on the target. Today we do not shoot arrows with a bow but even for a modern gun, the basic principle remains same.

I consider myself somewhat luckier to get exposure to real guns and firing ranges during formative years. Today’s young are so protected from reality that they can only see a gun in a video game. Only if they have a military career, will they get a chance to handle guns.  A person can never tell when he might face a situation where he must defend himself or someone else in real life. It cannot be denied that exposure and opportunity to have military training and handling real guns builds up certain amount of confidence within oneself. Many of present generation unfortunately miss this experience.

(Note- All information given in this blog is from personal experiences with equipment and organizations from public domain. All images are imaginary and generated by AI or from public domain sources.)

 

15 February 2026

 

 

 

 

 

The relevance of Jehanpora Excavations (Jempur, Gopura, गोपुर)

 

Map source Wikimedia commons 

 Last month, (Decmber 2025), our PM, during his monthly broadcast “Mann ki baat”, made a mention of recent archaeological excavation work being done in Kasmir’s Baramulla region. According to him this excavation, being done at a place known as “Jehanpora”, near town of “Baramulla” in the Zhelum river valley, was very significant from the  point of history of this region. He also mentioned that our archaeologists developed an interest in this place as one of them happened to see, in a museum in France, blurred images of some mounds, photographed at this place. Considering it as a breaking piece of news, electronic media picked it and within days came up with many videos about the excavation. Probably the most significant of these videos was an interview of Dr. Mhammad Ajmal Shah, who happens to lead the team of archaeologists doing excavation work at this site.    Dr. Shah gives in this interview details about the site and its historical importance.  It is quite possible that “Jehanpora” could turn out to be a major discovery of a large Buddhist establishment that was set up at the beginning of our era or even earlier before that.

On a more personal level, the name” Jehanpora” struck a note of familiarity in my mind. After a little thinking, I remembered that this was one of the villages that existed on the banks of Jhelum River, mentioned by an explorer, Charles von Hügel, who had extensively travelled in northern India during the 1830s. Hügel was an Austrian nobleman, army officer, diplomat and a botanist. His travelogue in German, named as “: Kaschmir und das Reich der Siek (literally Cashmere and the Realm of the Sikhs) “was considered as an extremely important description of Maharaja Ranjitsingh’s empire, in 19^th century.   He however does not call it by the name “Jehanpora” but rather as “Jempura”. This name has no meaning in Sanskrit, and it could be probably a distortion of the original Sanskrit name “Gopura” (गोपुर), which means a main Gate (मुख्य द्वार) in Sanskrit.  To me, “Gopura” appears to be the most appropriate name as things become clearer in following paragraphs.

However, before we go further, let us try to see first some geographical details of Kashmir and this specific area.  We all know that The Vale of Kashmir is well protected from all sides with extremely high mountain ranges. From the South or West, there are only three mountain passes by which a traveler can enter Kashmir.  The most frequently used pass  after formation of Pakistan, is the southern Banihal Pass. The second pass is known as Pir-Panjal pass and gives a traveler entry, to Shopian in Kashmir valley from southwest or from Jammu via Poonch- Rajouri region. This way is also known as Mughal Road. The third and probably the most important pass, until formation of Pakistan, was the Baramulla pass.  The river “Vitasta” or Jhelum exits Kashmir valley at this point and descends downwards towards Muzaffarabad.  There have been two cart roads on both banks of the river. The southern or left bank road goes to “Uri” town. Here it branches off towards Poonch area via “Haji Pir Pass”. The other branch continues towards west eventually to Muzaffarabad. The road on the northern or right bank of Jhelum, is easier to traverse than the southern road and has always been historically, the main artery between Taxila and Baramulla until formation of Pakistan. Not only that, but this northern route was also part of the southern silk route, as traders from Central Asia and China would travel via Kashgar, Karakoram Pass and Kashmir to northwest India by this route. Its importance can be judged from the fact that Emperor Ashoka, ordered one of his edicts set up at “Mansehra” city in Hazara district of Pakistan situated west of Muzaffarabad, on this road.

It becomes clear from above discussion, that “Jehanpora” Buddhist monastery was set up purposefully  so as to be in the vicinity of  this important trade route. Any one, who has studied the locations of Buddhist monasteries in hilly terrains would realize that this  common  pattern was repeated by Buddhist organizations, not only in Kashmir but in western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, in Afghanistan and even in Chinese Turkistan or Xinjiang.  Typical examples can be, monasteries of Karle, Bhaje near Pune, Bamiyan in Afghanistan or Su-bashi monastery on Kucha River in Xinjiang.

 

An eminent scholar of twentieth century, Late Dr. D.D.Kosambi, has given an explanation for this practice. The Buddhist monks in those days were supposed to follow strict discipline and code of conduct. This code of conduct was stipulated in an ancient text known as 'Vinaya.' This code of conduct stipulates firstly that for monks, nuns and preachers of law any possession of property is strictly forbidden. They were not allowed even contact with gold, silver, jewels and such precious commodities. Secondly, they were supposed to eat food that was given to them after begging and they had to wear robes stitched by themselves from discarded rags.

It would puzzle anyone that with such strict rules, how could monasteries located on remote places and  mountain slopes, housing hundreds  of monks, could survive, particularly in the winter months when any contact with outside world was almost impossible. This problem of sustenance of the Buddhist monks living at such Monasteries, was solved by novel ways, in which Vinaya rules were modified by the monasteries without deviating from the letters. These monasteries survived on, besides financial help received from the King, the donations and endowments received from the traders and travelers on these trade routes.  In return, monasteries offered many services such as guidance about the difficult routes, protection, escorts and even keeping traders’ money safe.

This would explain the presence of Buddhist establishment at “Jehanpora” near the northern bank road. The southern bank road mentioned above, which reached Uri town, was surveyed by famous archaeologist, M.A. Stein. He has reported at least three Buddhist establishments between “Huskapora or Uskara” town and “Uri”, namely, “Kechama or Kitshome” (कृत्याश्रम), “Fattegarh”, “Sir or Sherri” and a ruined temple at “Buniar”.  M.A.Stein  did not survey  any place on the northern bank road, where a Buddhist monastery might have been.

The earliest traveler, who reported about his journey on this road was the Buddhist monk Xuan Zang, who made a journey from Taxila to Baramulla on this road in 7^th century CE.  I have described this journey in my yet unpublished book ‘A journey Impossible’ Book II, (https://www.facebook.com/100065415402488/). I quote below from my book.

“After crossing the Krishna ganga River, travel over a short distance would have taken the monk to the north bank of Vitasta River, which flowing in western direction so far, turns sharply to south over a great bend, below its confluence with Krishna Ganga. The town of Hindu-Shikri (Muzaffarabad) was located about 134 Kilometers west of the entrance to Kashmir valley and a climb of about more than 3000 feet (1000 meters) was needed from here to reach there. The road that was laid out all along the northern bank of Vitasta River was a difficult stretch. Hui Li describes the journey on this road as “climbing precipitous passes and crossing iron bridges”. He probably refers to the passes on ridges that stretched in north-south direction and extended right up to the river and iron bridges constructed over deep crevices and narrow valleys formed by rivulets rushing down to merge with Vitasta from north.”

It becomes clear from this description that Xuan Zang must have taken 3 or 4 days to complete this journey to Baramulla and must have stayed in some Buddhist establishments on the way situated on the north bank road, during nights.  It is therefore important to note that he does not mention existence of any large Buddhist establishment like the one at “Gopura” (Jehanpora).  This would mean that Jehanpora establishment was not in existence at all in 7^th century CE and obviously was abandoned or destroyed before that. There could have been small Buddhist temples set up later and Xuan Zang could have stayed there. In fact, two later travelers, who traveled on this road in Nineteenth century, do report existence of such small establishments.

Who possibly could have destroyed “Gopura” or “Jehanpora” monastery in the period between 3^rd Century CE and 7^th century CE? Only one name comes to my mind.  It would be the second Hun King “Mihirakula” ( मिहिरकुल, Chinese: 摩酰逻矩罗 Mo-hi-lo-kiu-lo), who ruled northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent between 515 and 542 CE.  According to Xuan Zang, Mihirakula was totally against Buddhism, He massacred monks and destroyed monasteries. Hindu kings Yashodharman and Gupta Empire rulers by 530 CE, ended the Mihirakula era. He conquered Kashmir after fleeing India. Kalhana mentions in Rajatarangini, him as a king of Kashmir, who later expanded his rule and was cruel to Buddhists there.

We shall now move forward in time and come to Nineteenth century CE. Godfrey Thomas Vigne, born in 1801, travelled extensively in Kashmir and Ladakh between 1835 and 1838,  just as Charles von Hügel, mentioned earlier.  Vigne traveled on both the banks of Vitasta. Hugel, however traveled on the northern bank only, while exiting Kashmir.

Both Vigne and Hugel report independently, about “Jehanpora” structures.  I quote from works of both of them.

Hugel describes:-

“Three buildings in Jempura attracted my curiosity. The first, in the form of sepulchral  (tomb) monument, was a circular edifice about thirty feet in height, on which stood a square chamber. The walls were massive, and the whole structure seemed to refer to a race whose monuments were all of the same solid proportions.

A few miles onward we came to three small forts, Atalgurh, Shenkargurh, and Messekur , which together with a fourth already passed near Kechama , and another by Jempura, were evidently constructed to protect the natives against the attacks of predatory bands.”

AI creation of structure described by Hugel

 Vigne mentions having seen forts but does not name the places. He, however, describes the North bank structures in more details in these words:-

“The first object worthy of notice on the way, is the little pyramidal building in the water, called “But Dul” ( बुत दल,Vigne explains it as Lake of an Idol. However, it can also be interpreted as, Idol of the lake or Idol Lake or Buddha Lake). Further on, upon the banks of the river, and close together, are the remains of three other buildings; the first of which originally appears to have been a tomb, the second a temple, and the third a fort. I could not by any means ascertain their age, nor does it much signify, as they are built of mud and loose stones; those in the door of the temple being large and massive.”

Ruins of none of the structures mentioned by Hugel or Vigne exist now, except for the possible ruins of two structures, which Dr.  Ajmal Shah calls as “Apsidal structure” and “Enclosure wall”.  What happened to these structures seen by Vigne and Hugel, in last two hundred years?   Surprisingly, no one knows. No record exists of these structures even in archaeological documents of Kashmir Darbar or in any publications of archaeologists like Ramchandra Kak in pre 1947 era.  Perhaps these structures were considered unimportant.  It seems to me that these sites were either destroyed in the 1948 invasion by Pakistan sponsored tribals from northwest or in canal construction. I have tried to locate the three earthen mounds and Apsidal structure found by Dr. Ajmal Shah on Google earth image attached here.

Now let us ask a few awkward questions.

When two mounds were snapped by photographer John Burke in Nineteenth century and are easily available on net.  . Why Kashmir archeologists never referred to John Burke’s photographs? Why were the structures mentioned by Vigne and Hugel  never investigated? Why Dr. Ajmal Shah had to go to France to see some bleary photo in a Paris museum, when the mounds, well documented and photographed by John Burke, were standing on outskirts of Baramulla?

Source Wikimedia commons

Whatever may be the case, the taking up of excavations in “Jehanpora” is certainly a most welcome step and we should expect it to shade some new light on an unknown historical era.

I note another point of interest. Dr. Mohammad Ajmal Shah has been working on this project for last few years. In 2023, he published a research paper in a symposium in Delhi about “Jehanpora” ruins. With this being the case, why suddenly PM highlighted the project in his broadcast? Is it a simple case of encouraging and promoting a young archeologist doing good work? Or there is some political angle also to it with Indian Railway promoting extension of Srinagar- Baramulla railway line to Uri?. Well! Only the time will tell.

Before I finish, one last point. Why “Jehanpora” might have been called as “Gopura”. The answer is obvious. It was really the Gateway to Kashmir. Vigne answers this rather well. He writes. “People of the Kashmiri race extend about one day’s march down the valley, and after that one comes to the tribes called Kakka and Bamba”

Vitasta valley downstream: source Godfrey Thomas Vigne; Circa 1842

Vigne adds further and says. “The first 25 miles of the gorge is through extremely fine scenery, of wooded mountain slopes, broken by cliff-surfaces, that rise to great heights above the path. Some of the forests are of Deodar. Villages are met with at intervals; after Baramulla the houses are no longer of the fashion of Kashmir but are flat-roofed.” Downstream after “Buniar” the river gorge becomes narrower and deeper. Vigne describes it as, “The villages are upon alluvial plateaus, at a considerable height above the river: on these plateaus too, there is a great deal of rice cultivation”

Do you know where one day’s march would end starting from Baramulla? Answer is  somewhere ahead of “Jehanpora” on north bank and “Temple of Buniar” on south bank.    Was this the reason for Indian Army to stop its advance in the Vitasta valley at “Uri” in 1948?  Think!

12 January 2026

 

A recollection- Visiting Col. Leslie King

 

( Image created by AI has no resemblance with any real life property)

One of my happy childhood memories, when I was about 10 years old lad, has always been those rare visits to Col. Laslie King’s household along with my father. Col. King was my father’s fellow amateur radio enthusiast and a friend. He used to stay in a bungalow allotted to him by Indian Army southern command, in Pune Cantonment area somewhere near today’s Dr. Koyaji Road.  To add to my excitement of the visit to his house, there was always that  pillion seat ride on my father’s AJS motor bike.

Col. Leslie king must have been much elder to my father, who was in his late thirties then. However, he used to be so friendly with us that I never realized it then.   He was a great Amateur Radio enthusiast (HAM) and actively participated in all their activities. His call sign was VU2AK.  He never believed in buying gear (Radio receiving and transmitting equipment) and was always keen to build his own gear (home-brewed stuff).  His posting in Pune perhaps helped him, as lots of WWII electronic equipment left over by Allied forces in Pune Air Force station was being scrapped and sold in local market.  He had many friends in Air Force, and he would know what stuff is going to be sold in advance. I remember giving him very exclusive items to my father such as Klystrons and a small 2-inch CRT tube, as gifts.  

(An Amateur Radio enthusiast's shack)

My father was also a keen Amateur Radio enthusiast (Call sign VU2EJ) and that was probably the only connection to their friendship. They would discuss for hours their home brewed stuff, and I would watch them fascinated, without saying even a word.  SSB (Single side band) was the latest thing in HAM radio then and they would discuss circuits, parts, tubes for that.

“Leslie uncle”, as I used to call him then, had a very specious bungalow. There were a large veranda  and a hall. There were two wings on the sides. His Amateur Radio station or shack was in the right wing and was full of electronics stuff, old ARL magazines and notebooks. His wife Audrey   was a typical army wife (XYL in HAM jargon). Perfect in manners and most gracious.  I was supposed to call her “aunty”, but she always insisted to my embarrassment, that I must address her as Audrey only. In any case, my conversational skills in English, at that time, were almost equal to none and I mostly kept quiet in her presence.  King’s only son then, had gone  to England and I remember Audrey telling me that he does not want to return to India and wanted to settle there.  She could not talk or communicate with her son often as telephones were just primitive.  So she had finally decided to become an Amateur Radio enthusiast (HAM) herself and earned a call sign VU2YL.  In this way she could communicate with her son for as long as possible.  My only regret now is that I could never communicate with Audrey properly with my extremely poor  English speaking skills.  

Audrey made wonderful cakes. Sponge cake was one of her best recipes. My mother always wanted to learn to make cakes, and Audrey gladly taught her recipes. With Audrey’s guidance my mother became expert in making delicious cakes.   During my visits to King household, Audrey’s cakes used to be a prime attraction.  

Leslie Uncle was really my father’s Guru in HAM world and guided him to build his basic stuff, Antenna etc. He also suggested purchasing the Hallicrafters radio receiver, which my father did.  Hallicrafters model SX-28 was very popular with Indian HAMS at that time, with both Leslie Uncle and my father owning it. Another popular radio was RCA AR-88. 

I recently found from net that ‘Leslie uncle’ was later promoted as a Brigadier and posted to Bangalore. He continued his HAM activity there and made improvements to his SSB gear.  After he moved to Bangalore, my father lost all contact with him, except for occasional talk on radio.  I have no information about when he retired from army and whether he settled in India or moved to England afterwards.  Yet I have a gut feeling that he might have migrated to England as I never heard Leslie Uncle’s name from my father in later years.

Visits to King household remain a great childhood memory for me. I would end this call by saying “73” (with best regards in HAM jargon) and end this “QSO” (Call).  

24/12/2025