History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c84.s5.t1.14

v5.c84.s5.t1.14

The villagers were half-naked boors, living in abject poverty, ignorance, and filth. The townsmen, too, had not a much happier lot, though for a different reason. The sudden and dangerous floods to which the lake is subject, forced them to build their homes in the cramped high ground above the edge of the river of the lake. The frequency of earthquakes made it necessary for their houses to be light wooden structures. The intense cold of the country made fires necessary in every household day and night for several months. The natural consequence of this chain of causes was that fires were frequent, and when they broke out they spread from one end of the city to another, making a clean sweep of these crowded human warrens of timber and grass. To its inhabitants Kashmir was often a very unhappy valley, and their utterly degraded condition would be the standing disgrace of the Mughal administration if we were to judge it by modern standards of the duties of the State.