I know the sweaters are spelled "cashmere." But, I'll bet you don't know where cashmere comes from. To find out go to the Secret Decoder Ring page.
Go ahead. You can look. No one will know. That's why it's called the SECRET Decoder Ring page. There is also information about mohair and angora to complete your winter outwear education.
Now, to Kashmir.
Pakistan is not an ancient country. It is not even an old country. Like many of the countries over which so much blood has been, and continues to be, spilled in the region, Pakistan did not exist prior to 1947.
India and Pakistan were, forever, just one country - India. The Brits established a trading post there in 1612 and by about 1800 (according to the Lonely Planet Guide) most of the country was under the rule of the British East India Company.
If you read the details of the history of the Indian sub-continent your eyes will glaze over like apricot jam on a Thanksgiving tart. As evidence, I give you the following excerpt:
"In 1206, when Muhammad of Gour died, Qutbuddin became the Sultan of India. He was originally a slave of Turkestan. The construction of Qutabminar was started during his regime. Since he was very generous, the people called him "Lakh Baksh"."
See what I mean? So, let's skip over the first 3,400 years and cut to 1900.
A serious Indian independence movement gathered steam after the collapse of the East India Company in the 1880's. After the turn of the 20th century, Mahatma Gandhi, who had been educated as a lawyer in England, returned to India after 20 years in South Africa and became the symbol of the independence movement.
India is largely Hindu. But over the centuries Muslims had moved into the sub-continent and were a large portion of the population. After World War II, when Great Britain was unloading its holdings everywhere in the Middle East and Central Asia, the question of how to Partition (an important word in all this) India given the desires of the Muslim population and the much larger Hindu and Sikh populations held everything up.
According to the BBC website, "The Indian subcontinent was partitioned into Hindu-dominated but nominally secular India and the newly created Muslim state of Pakistan after India's independence from Great Britain in 1947. Since partition, the territory of Jammu and Kashmir has remained in dispute, with Pakistan and India both holding sectors."
Pakistan, was divided into West Pakistan (Pakistan of today) and East Pakistan (which seceded in 1971 and is now Bangladesh). Unfortunately for long-term peace the two Muslim-dominated Pakistans were located on opposite sides of India.
By the way, the name Pakistan, again according to the BBC, was formulated from: P for Punjab, A for the Afghanis of the north-west frontier, K for Kashmir, S for Sind and Tan denoting Baluchistan.
Baluchistan? Where the devil is that? I don't know. It's now, I believe, part of Pakistan and, according to the "History of Baluchistan" web site, "only came into existence later with the arrival from Iran of the tribes called Baluch. Just how and when they arrived remains a matter of hot debate."
Yeah. I was just having a heated argument about that with some guy down on K Street not three days ago.
Following the partition, according to the Lonely Planet history, "the greatest exodus in human history took place as Muslims moved to Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs relocated to India. Over 10 million people changed sides and even the most conservative estimates calculate that 250,000 people were killed."
One of those killed was Gandhi who was opposed to partitioning and was assassinated by (according to many sources) "a Hindu fanatic at a prayer meeting in 1948."
The issue of what to do about Kashmir (officially known as Jammu and Kashmir State) was deferred as both India and Pakistan laid claim to it.
Both India and Pakistan STILL lay claim to it, so, if we wake up Monday morning and the Himalayas are glowing in the dark, you'll know how we got here.
A BIG Secret Decoder Ring page today: A map of India and Pakistan showing Kashmir, a pretty funny travelogue about my trip to New Orleans, that business about Angora, and a great photo taken by The Lad when he was in Russia last week.
If you are working at a lobbying firm, a government affairs office, a coalition, or a PAC you should take a
look at this page to see how advertising in Mullings might serve your organization very well:
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