by Dr Farooq A. Lone
Scientific evidence from excavations, pollen studies and plant remains shows that agriculture in Kashmir began over 4,000 years ago, evolving from early Near Eastern crops to diverse mixed farming
The quest for food has been the primary struggle for humans, like all other animals on this planet. From being a hunter-gatherer to becoming a farmer has been the real test of the cranial capacity of mankind, a process that saw him grind, polish, fabricate tools and invent fire along the way, giving this species a definite edge over all other animals inhabiting the earth.
It was only around 10,000 BP (Before Present is a chronological scale used for dating past events, mainly through radiocarbon analysis, with a fixed “present” set at January 1, 1950 AD) that humankind reached a significant milestone with the development of agriculture, thereby assuming an ecological role unparalleled in the planet’s history.
From being hunters and food gatherers, humans began to produce their own food. The cultivation of plants provided a more reliable and predictable food source. The sedentary life associated with farming practices encouraged continuous population growth and the emergence of village communities. This stage of human progress is known as the Neolithic Revolution. Once the fundamental requirement of food was secured, humans were able to apply their intellect to other forms of development and to gaining greater mastery over their environment.
Understanding Domestication
The story of cultivated plants begins with their domestication, which reveals not only the environmental conditions surrounding this step but also the economic and social contexts that eventually shaped our civilisation. Archaeological evidence has greatly enriched our understanding of the beginnings and progressive development of agriculture. Ancient grains and other plant materials recovered from excavations allow us to trace the history of crops and their associated useful plants, offering a historical backdrop to the origin and spread of agriculture.
The earliest evidence of agriculture has been found in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East or West Asia, covering Syria, Iraq and the Levant, dating to approximately 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. This includes the domestication of emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, barley, lentils and peas.
In the Indian subcontinent, agriculture began somewhat later. Archaeologically, the last 10,000 years are divided into prehistoric, protohistoric and historic periods. The prehistoric and early protohistoric periods have no written records, so archaeologists rely entirely on material recovered from excavations to reconstruct human–plant relationships.
Kashmir Agriculture
Across the world, archaeobotanical and palynological investigations have been crucial in mapping the origin and history of agriculture. The human shift from food gathering to food production is reflected in the way early agriculturalists altered their environment, clearing land and disturbing natural vegetation. Such early cultivation events can be traced through pollen analysis of lake and swamp deposits. Studies at Haigam and Anchar lakes indicate that agriculture began in the Kashmir Valley more than 4,000 years BP. Around the same time, archaeological excavations also began producing firm evidence of agricultural activity.
The earliest agricultural evidence in the Indian subcontinent dates back to 7,000–8,000 years BP, based on pollen analysis from Rajasthan’s salt lakes, as well as the discovery of wheat and barley at Mehrgarh in Pakistan and rice and barley at Neolithic sites such as Koldihawa and Mahagara in the Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh. This would place Kashmir roughly 3,000 to 4,000 years behind the rest of the world. Yet this assumption requires more excavation, analysis and comparative study before a definitive conclusion can be reached.
The Archaeological Evidence
Agricultural origins in Kashmir have been the author’s area of interest for the past four decades. The first report on plant remains from Kashmiri archaeological excavations came when Vishnu-Mittre of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences identified seeds of certain weed plants from the Neolithic levels at Burzahom and suggested that the inhabitants were still primarily food gatherers.
However, more detailed studies at the Botany Department of Kashmir University in the mid-1980s, later published in the book Palaeoethnobotany: Plants and Ancient Man in Kashmir, revealed the cultivation of wheat, barley, lentils and peas during the Neolithic phase itself. This was further supported by finds from Gofkral and Semthan, where wheat, barley, rice, foxtail millet and broomcorn millet were recovered at slightly later stages.
Evidence from Burzahom, Gofkral and Semthan, covering a span of roughly 4,350 to 1,000 years BP, provides a clear picture of the origin and development of agriculture in the region. Early cultivation in Kashmir centred on wheat, barley, lentil and pea, the same crops first domesticated in the Near East. Later, rice and pulses such as green gram and black gram were introduced, followed by horticultural fruits including walnut, apricot, almond and peach.
Early Cultivation Patterns
Taking the cropping pattern and its evolution into account, a clear developmental sequence emerges. During the third millennium BC, agriculture consisted of single cropping, with only rabi or winter crops, wheat, barley, lentil and pea, cultivated, as evidenced at Burzahom I and Gofkral I.
In the second millennium BC, double cropping appeared, with both rabi crops and kharif crops such as rice and pulses, seen towards the close of the Neolithic period at Gofkral II and Semthan I.
Towards the end of the second millennium BC and into the first millennium BC, mixed cropping emerged, combining rabi and kharif crops with millets, as well as horticultural fruits such as walnuts, apricots, almonds, and peaches, and trees used for fodder and fuel, including willow, poplar, and elm. Later, economically significant trees such as mulberry were introduced, marking the beginning of sericulture.
Wider Connections
Recent studies from sites such as Pethpuran Teng, Qasim Bagh and Kanispura, undertaken by the Centre of Central Asian Studies at Kashmir University in collaboration with researchers from BSIP and the University of Sydney, have not only corroborated earlier findings but have also produced directly dated evidence of West Asian wheat, barley and lentils, as well as East Asian broomcorn millet, indicating their presence in Kashmir around 4,400 BP. These archaeobotanical discoveries indicate early crop movements and interactions between West, South, East, and Central Asia, a subject that will be explored separately.
(Author is a retired IAS officer who was Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission. Ideas are personal.)
