Although archaeology and history are today independent disciplines, any work in the archaeology of Kashmir eventually have to address issues stemming from historical texts of the region. Students of the history in general and Kashmir history in particular need to beware of a common naive assumption regarding the relationship between history and archaeology: Archaeology serves to complement history and to support or falsify the historical record. This assumption is an expression of the commonly held priority that is given to literary texts for history of Kashmir. Literary evidence often sets the agenda for the research of non-literary material culture. The corollary to this assumption is that non-literary material culture is mute, cannot speak, without an appropriate context supplied by literary evidence. Unfortunately, this assumption expresses a naivete about the role of material culture (symbolic expressions) for constructing meaning about the past. Indeed, it is because of the inherent deficiencies of historical texts for understanding the society, economy, and religion of an ancient people that archaeology provides such a valuable resource. But the material remains of archaeology are not subordinate to the textual record for historical study. Like texts themselves, material remains are symbolic expressions encoding messages about the past. They similarly require a critical interpretation before they can be used in understanding the past. Material remains are thus not mute; rather, the historian must learn to “hear” what they “speak” about the past in dialogue with the questions posed to them. For example, floral and faunal remains “tell” about the economy of a people, about their vocations, about their diet; architectural structures “give witness” to the social and gender stratification of society and to the kinship structures and relations within a village or a habitat; cultic artifacts “speak” about the theology and religious practices of an individual, a family, or a community. Since archaeology has wide boundaries to include not only Prehistory but the different multi-dimensional cultures. Archaeology provides comparatively a different kind of evidence than literary texts, such as the Nilmatpurana, Rajatarangini or medieval Persian texts etc. In contrast to these texts that have undergone several generations of revision through different translations in varied contexts, and to other literary texts whose content has been selectively chosen by an author, archaeological evidence is analogous to primary sources. It is frozen in time, attesting to the ancient or medieval world first-hand. Archaeological evidence has not been subject to the secondary reformulation that is characteristic of the literary process. Archaeological remains are random and unintentional. They constitute, therefore, an external witness to the past. In this way, archaeological evidence is more “objective.” The paper is an introduction to research techniques or methods used by historians of Kashmir for reconstructing the histories of pre-literate societies, including those groups embedded within larger literate ones by employing the archaeological data besides interpreting the literary sources.

Archaeology is for and about people but beyond that, the science of archaeology is comprised of both theory and method and in the research of historical themes both are prerequisites. Research in history of Kashmir is mostly accumulation of facts and data or even a portrayal of past events. It is a flowing, vibrant report of past events which involves an analysis and explanation of these occurrences with the objective of recapturing the nuances, personalities and ideas that influenced these events and keeping the other things constant which seems irrelevant to the research context. Conducting historical research about Kashmir history involves the process of collecting and reading the research material collected and writing the manuscript from the data collected. The researcher often goes back-and-forth between collecting, reading, and writing i.e., the process of data collection and analysis are done simultaneously are not two distinct phases of research. The research about Kashmir history is analytical in that it uses logical induction and has a variety of foci such as issues, events, movements and concepts. But, the multidisciplinary nature of modern archaeology can make research in Kashmir history more objective, valid and authentic by taking help from biology, chemistry, physics, geology, mineralogy, paleontology, philology, paleoclimatology, paleo-botany, archaeozoology, remote sensing, GIS, GPS, cartography, etc. and absolute dating techniques can help in constructing a chronologically more accurate history. In other words the concept of historical archaeology should be used as an effective tool in the research of Kashmir history. As Historical archaeology is the outcome of the rich play between word and object, text and artefact.

Most of the written history of Kashmir tells us only about the particular events, “high status” individuals and elite happenings and even then, there are many aspects of the lives of notables and events for which we lack information. And there are many aspects of day to day life which were considered mundane or routine that they were not recorded, many individual events which together form a compelling social pattern have likewise gone unrecorded. By investigating this patterning, archaeology serves to modify an otherwise biased view of the past by placing the present in a more accurate historic context. It allows us to discover cultural patterning not otherwise recoverable. The lives of most women, children, people in lower socio-economic classes, ethnic and racial minorities and people living in more geographically isolated locations are conspicuously underrepresented in the written records. The emerging emphasis on social archaeology has attempted to correct the imbalance and possesses the ability to find answers to important questions. Archaeological investigation of associated physical remains is extremely important, since archaeology is the only available means to identify and “read” these sites and their histories.

Kashmir has been the abode of man since Paleolithic times, followed by Neolithians, Harappans, Mauriyas, Shakas, Kushanas, Hunas, Karkotas, Utupalas, Loharas, Sayids, Chaks, Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs and Dogras. So the archaeology can provide the specific material context for many of the events narrated in literary texts, much of which the narratives themselves do not address. There are hundreds of prehistoric and historic sites in Kashmir which are in shambles. We have a fertile field for scientific historical research with both material remains and the texts. What we require is a broad understanding of method, theory, and historic preservation, use of archaeological and literary sources for a good research. What I mean to say is that research in Kashmir history employs literary sources and material remains that have been excavated decades ago. There are negligible attempts to recover more archaeological data. We need to use archaeology as a tool to take full advantage of the information that material remains embody. Archaeology touches on the entire spectrum of human behaviour and so inspires a never ending series of questions to reconstruct history of Kashmir from different frames of reference and diverse cultures. The multidimensionality of the discipline of archaeology has great significance and implications for both resource management and research decisions. The archaeological material has historical significance, research and scientific significance, ethnic significance, geographic significance, public significance etc. In these contexts the use of archaeology in the research of history can yield fruitful and objective annals of Kashmir history.

Archaeology has long been accepted as a scientific discipline providing tangible evidences with intangible context for building up the superstructure of history. In fact, its claim is accepted as supreme especially in such periods where written records are absent or have remained undeciphered. Where, however, written records exist, the archaeological material remains turned up by the spade convey in a telling manner the import of the written word. Archaeological material of all historical time periods must be used in historical research warranted by written facts, aids in complete objectivity and serves the very purpose of scientific enquiry into history. The valley of Kashmir has a rich and diverse history including prehistory, ancient, medieval and modern history with expanding and varied historical processes. Unintentional and formal explorations, surface and chance findings substantiate the validity and role of archaeology for scientific research in the history of Kashmir. Archaeological remains illuminate the daily life of the peoples living in the past and even in present, which supplements the literary texts. Only from archaeology can we learn about the planning of the Kashmiri villages, towns and cities; the architecture of palaces, houses,temples, Mosques and public buildings; figurines, altars, and other cult objects; tombs and the different peoples’ treatment of their dead; luxury items such as jewellery, carved stones and wooden objects, metal and stone vessels, arts and crafts, imported items; and common tools and weapons. Archaeology enables us to reconstruct every aspects of the society, economy, and religion of the ancient, medieval and modern peoples that are sometimes neglected by the textual tradition. Furthermore, because archaeological evidence is random –its preservation is by chance, unaffected by human selection – it provides an alternative perspective from which to view the literary narratives.