After surviving for centuries as the precious metal in Kashmir, silver did a fading act as the affordability improved with economic progress and gold took over. Now silver is gradually making a huge comeback with new age brides falling in love with its shine and finish, reports Babra Wani
For Zainab, 24, the engagement day went ahead as planned. She had all the aesthetics in place, even the jewellery she wore was her choice. The silver jewellery, her childhood fascination was finally fulfilled. She wore silver jewellery with her beautiful off-white dress.
“It was all dreamy. I fulfilled my dreams and plans. Most importantly wearing silver was a bold choice that I made because Kashmiri weddings are incomplete without gold jewels,” Zainab said. “I wanted to wear silver, so I did. I have been fascinated by the silver jewels since my childhood.”
Silver sells cheaper than gold and platinum. However, Zainab’s choice was dictated by her choice rather than the availability of resources for having gold. She has gold as well but she wore silver only.
“I saw many beautiful and aesthetic pictures of women adorned in silver jewellery,” she said. For her choice, a factor was her granny, “my nani’ who had shown her own pieces of jewellery. So I decided that silver will be a thing on my big day.”
A Silver Love
Just like Zainab, Rahat’s grandmother’s memory instilled a love for silver in her. She was just fifteen when her daadi, gifted her with a silver earring. “It was just one piece, the other one my daadi had lost. She gave it to me and said ye chui myoun tobrukh (this is my blessing for you.)”
It was an antique jhumka, heavy and turned black due to its age. “My daadi had owned it for more than six decades before she gave it to me, the colour of the jhumka had changed entirely. I am telling you it’s a heavy one and has some limitations to it too. I wonder how it looked back when it was fresh.”
Rahat has kept the jhumka with her mother, in her jewellery collection.
Hafsa, another young Kashmir woman, was gifted a silver anklet by her aunt and she made sure to wear it on her wedding day function. She paired it with an antique silver necklace set and rings that she got from Lal Chowk.
“Silver is cheaper than gold but still beautiful,” Hafsa said. “I mean I did not know it until I wore silver on my function. And trust me I was appreciated a lot, people liked the change.”
Saima is an engineer and is all set to get married in October. She has made sure to get silver jewellery for her wedding. “I will wear it for my walima because I think I am madly in love with silver because it is decent,” the young engineer said. “I mean look at the perfect shine, aesthetic and elegance that silver carries. Even the antique Silver that old Kashmiri women used to wear, is all so strongly appealing. And I think everyone in our generation loves silver.” She believes silver is the substitute for decency and elegance.
The Silver Market
A Srinagar jeweller, who also deals with silver, said the people living outside the city mostly from Baramulla, Magam etc purchase silver items. “I think the most demanding jewellery in silver is rings and chains.” The demand, however, is not consistent.
Echoing his thoughts Sheikh Rameez, who runs his family shop dealing with silver, primarily German silver said that the silver jewellery is an in-thing. “Whatever is in trend comes in demand. Mostly vessels made out of silver are famous,” he said, insisting he sold both silver and other metal items.
Asserting that silver is back in trend. For brides, he said they are selling silver vessels like cup sets, soap cases, trays, and baskets. “Even silver jewellery like bangles, rings, bracelets, anklets etc are in demand.”
The reason behind the rise in demand is linked to the variety of the designs available. “In gold, we do not have many designs, but in silver we have,” Rameez said. “Besides, the gold prices are on the rise and people who cannot afford gold prefer silver. Also, silver ornaments are comparatively lightweight.”
During the wedding season silver jewellery and articles both are in demand. “We get these items from different places like China, or Ladakh. And some of the pieces we procure locally from the local artisans,” Rameez informed. “The antique jewellery which is mostly handmade, we buy them from the members of tribal communities, since they possess these jewellery pieces.”
Also with the ever-changing landscape, Silver which is comparatively an affordable metal, is also being picked up not just because of its affordability but more because of the choices that people make. Silver is in because people are choosing it more than other metals.
Centuries of Silver
Though Kashmir silver predates the Muslim period, the craft has indelible influences from the Mughal era. Over the centuries of occupation after the fall of Chak rule, the craft accepted the influences and customer choices from its ‘master societies’ but the indigenous designs survived.
Historical accounts suggest that Ksemandra and Kalhana have indicated that Hindu Kings took their meals in Kashmir silver vessels. Later, Muslim sovereign rulers used silver to manufacture Huqqa (hubble bubble) bases, spittoons and rose water sprinklers. Hari Singh, Kashmir’s last maharaja, used to eat in silver Thaal (rounded plate) that had a hot water steam chamber to keep the food warm.
For most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, silversmiths in and around Srinagar manufactured their artworks mostly for the European markets and the Raj clientele. Like the Shawl, Kashmir’s silver design is distinctive and recognizable by its chased arabesques, mosaic backgrounds and decorative designs derived from the local flora. Ideally, the patterns drawn on silver include the Chinar leaf (also used in Shawl), Coriander leaf and poppy plant to form a background to the arabesque and mosaic line work.
In the latter nineteenth century, Kashmiri silver artworks were a hit in London streets the same way, Shawl was on the Paris fashion high street. Jewellery apart, the items that were exported include beakers, trays, vases and kashkuls. In Kashmir, the silver – costly at the peak of exploitative Sikh and Dogra misrule, was used for making Dejhour, which Kashmiri Pandit women use at the time of marriage; amulet holders, which has remained a precious thing for a superstitious society. The silver items that would go into a Kashmiri woman’s headgear bore striking resemblances to the traditional ornamentation of Central Asian and Afghan women. Kann-e Waej (earring), comprising an assembly of hoops, tied together and hanging on either side of a chain or thread, were very common till recently. Kashmir silver Surma Daani that carries Kohl storage for brides is still in vogue. Kashmir, however, never engraved animal or human images on silver, unlike the rest of India. This tradition was dictated by the religious beliefs of a society.
Till the 1990s, Srinagar had a chain of ‘antique’ shops where the traders would buy and sell old silverware, gemstones and many other things. These shops closed as the militancy erupted marking a long hiatus in the tourist arrivals
The Master Craftsmen
Kashmir has historically been famous for silver jewellery. As the silver moved out of fashion, the artisans shifted to other trades. Still, a few exist. Inside the lanes of Shehr-e-Khas’s Khwaja Bazar locality, a shop still runs with silver. Ghulam Nabi Zargar, its owner, has been a silversmith for more than forty years.
“Roaffe kaem was very common and famous among the people of Kashmir back in the day,” Zargar said. “I mostly make silver vessels like samawaar, kenzi set, kangri, tray, plates and other things. Most of these vessels are used as gifts.”
Zargar’s workplace is a rusted dark room, divided into two portions. In one area he has showcased some of his creations and in the other portion, he sits down to make these vessels. It is his workplace and he is always surrounded by different tools that he requires to mould silver is beautiful pieces of art.
A resident of Khanyar, Zargar said silver does not hold the same value which it once had. “Mostly silver was used by the Kashmiri Pandits and the elite members of the society,” he said. “Back in the day silversmiths were hundreds in number across Kashmir. But because of the hiking prices and shortage of artisans, this craft suffered a lot. Pandits used to gift their daughters silver vessels.”
Zargar asserted the challenges the craft is facing. “I am doing this work alone because it is a difficult one and not many people can survive doing this,” he said.
Till about 20 years ago, Zargar used to work in a kaarkhana in Chinkar Mohalla Habba Kadal, where he worked alongside five more people, “But then I came here and I have been here for more than 20 years now.”
Wazpora, Haba Kadal, Maharaj Gunj, and Rainawari were the hubs for the silversmiths. Zargar’s father was also a silversmith and he inherited the art from him.
He has been working with silver from the age of 15. “When my father passed away I took over the craft. And the entire pressure came on me.”
Now, Zargar might be one of the few top-grade silversmiths in the city who knows the skill end to end. Surrounded by countless tools around, he said he specialises in making “heavier and bigger items” and not jewellery.
Earlier, silver was also used in making cooking ware and dining sets. “People ordered the manufacturing of silver dinner sets and cutlery sets,” Zargar stated while pointing at a samawar set nearby. This samawar set, he showed the shining vessel in his hand, was manufactured as part of a three-piece set on order.
Zargar is skilled in manufacturing soap cases, traem sarposh, isbandh soz, fruit bowls, Qur’an boxes, showpieces, sandals and shoes.“These sandals are mostly worn by the brides. And the other items like kenz or the thaalbaan are mostly gifted to young children.” The sandal set, he said, is valued at Rs 70,000 and the 3-piece tea-set costs Rs 2 lakh.
In the past, Zargar has manufactured silver vessels which were used by people for eating purposes.
“The value of these orders can vary from thousands to lakhs,” Zargar said. “I can manufacture almost all the bigger items because I know the skill in and out. However, this skill is losing its glory because of various factors.”
“Making the silver jewellery is a different skill; manufacturing of bigger items is different. Silver jewellery like rings, chains and others may be back in trend but it is mostly German Silver that is in vogue. I deal with the pure silver.”
Zargar procures the raw material from Zaina Kadal and Saraf.Kadal, “The making of silver items takes a lot of hard work, we have to make the joints called waath in Kashmiri. This waath has to be pure silver.”
When silver faded away from the fashion, Zargar thought about giving up his skill and taking up a different work. “But I could not do that. This is what I knew all my life.”
Zargar has been working on the items in partnership with a naqshegeer from Ganderbal. “I think he is also one of the only artisans who carve out designs on silver items.”
The Loner Silver Drawer
The naqshegeer, Mushtaq Ahmed Saudagar has been carving out designs on silver items for more than thirty years now, “My father was a naqshegeer too, but after he passed away I took over, I learnt from him.”
Besides silver, he also draws naqsha on German silver and Copper items, “but mostly I draw on the items made out of Pure Silver.”
“Now because the work is not much, whatever item comes to me, I draw designs on them. But before that I was mostly into Silver,” Saudagar said. “I carve out designs on tea sets, cup saucers, plates, trays, sandals, Qur’an boxes, and even rings.”
Saudagar’s roappe kaem is going through its share of ups and downs. “Some days the workflow is good, and other days it is near to nothing. But Alhamdulillah, we are managing it somehow.”
His customers are mostly based in Srinagar’s downtown area like Gojwara, Hawal, Nowhatta, and Rainawari.
“Till around 25 years ago the Kashmiri silver was in trend, but now silver items are imported from outside, which mostly are designed by machines and are low cost,” the 43-year-old artisan said. “Most of the orders we received are during the wedding seasons.”
He operates from his home, where he has dedicated a workstation. “Mostly the designs that are in demand are Chinar designs in Kashmir.”
Silver is compensated based on weight. “I mostly received my monetary compensation based on the weight of the item or any other vessels.”
Silver Heals
Many people who use silver vessels and jewellery believe that it has healing power. “I use silver nose pin because my mother said it is shuhul (soft). She says always keep a piece of silver jewellery with you,” Saba, 24, a resident of Old City Srinagar said.
Just like Saba, Aalima also believes in the healing powers of the metal. “My grandmother says that silver keeps you in good health.”
Many aged people also believe that silver has healing powers and can have calming effects on people.
“When I got married I had tonnes of silver jewellery on me. Rings, neckpieces, matha tikka are all always made of silver because it suits everyone,” Sara, 78, a resident of Anantnag said. “During our times silver was the only jewellery that we knew. Roaf chu waariya shuhul aasaan lukkan peath (silver is very good for people.)”
Even Men Use
Now, as the glittering metal is back in vogue, even men choose to wear silver rings for the same purposes as well. “My father gave me a silver ring to wear when I was young, because he believed in the calmness of the metal,” a young man in his twenties stated.
According to Silvermerc Designs silver has been used across centuries and civilizations because of its healing powers. “Silver has positive health benefits on the human body. As a metal, silver has significant health benefits which is why it has been used across cultures for centuries. Silver is a powerful antimicrobial agent. It helps in fighting infections and aids in cold and flu prevention, wound healing, and more. Silver also helps with internal heat regulation and circulation. Studies by researchers have reported improvements in energy levels and balance in moods after wearing silver.”
In Ayurveda as well silver is used as a medium of cure. “Ayurvedic medicine uses silver in small amounts as a tonic and elixir. It is used as bhasma (calcined formulation) to treat neurological disorders, respiratory tract disorders, muscular dystrophy, infertility, urinary tract disorders and diabetes.”
According to Dr Altaf Hussain Shah, Medical Officer, Health and Medical Education, silver has antiseptic properties. “Often edibles like sweets are wrapped or coated in silver foil because it kills bacteria. Besides, it is believed that both eating and wearing silver prevent bacterial infections. Also silver is the only metal which is not allergic. It cleans your guts. It is believed both in Ayurveda and Unani medicine.”
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