Arnimal: Kashmir’s Forgotten Poetess of Resistance and Resilience

Arnimal: 8th Century Poetess of Kashmir

Kashmir - the paradise on earth is famous for giving birth to many poets and poetesses from ancient time. One of the famous and inspiring poetess of 8th century was Arnimal. She did poetry on the tradition and style of the most famous and great poetess Habba Khatoon who is  household name in Kashmir. Arnimal was born in village Palhalan Pattan Kashmir near Srinagar. She was married at a very young age to one Munshi Bhawani Das Kachroo. Arnimal was born in 1737. She was known for her heartfelt and simple kashmiri poetry. Unfortunately her husband Munshi Bhawani Dass Kachroo abandoned her and left for the Afghan court in Kabul. All this misfortune pained and shocked Arnimal and she began to do poetry on the pangs of her separation from her husband. She expressed the pain of separation from her husband in her poetry.

Theme and Contents of Arnimal's Poetry:

In her poetry, she in fact expressed longing and sorrow of her separation which she could not tolerate and started doing poetry. The base, content and subject matter of the poetry of Arnimal was the deep sorrow which she suffered because of her being abandoned by the husband. In fact her poetry draws from her sorrowful experience, following the tradition of the mystic and great poetess Habba Khatoon. Her simple and unornamented poetry got her recognitions as a great poetess who was attracted to poetry because of her being deserted by her husband. The older Kashmiri still remember her poetry. Her poetry is revered as consisting of beautiful pieces in Kashmiri literature. She was married at very young age as was the practice in those good olden days to a respectable Persian scholar and poet in the court of the Afghan Governor. Her husband deserted her and he went to Kabul to serve in the court of Afghan governor. Her abandonment inspired her to become poetess as she started to do poetry revolving her pain, discomfort and separation from her husband. She was immensely shocked because of her abandonment by her husband. Separation and the emotionalism associated with her abandonment inspired her and she began to do poetry. 

Arnimal's Seperation from her Husband 

The Kashmiri Pandit couple were living together with love but he deserted her and went to Kabul to serve the Afghan Governor. The separation created pain and suffering in the life of Arnimal and she thus gave vent to the suffering in her poerty. 

Arnimal’s poetry hence holds three main themes.

1. As a deserted wife, Arnimal used her poetry to regain her husband’s affection. Given that her husband was also a poet in the Afghan court of Jumma Khan, his poetry was well-known at the time. Since his poetry was his mistress, Arnimal attempted to use the medium to draw attention back to herself, to make herself worthwhile in his eyes. This was unsuccessful, and Munshi Das Kachroo abandoned Arnimal, leaving her to return to her parental home. Yet, Arnimal’s verses of longing outlasted his. Arnimal’s simple, love-lorn poetry survived the test of time, interweaving with Kashmiri folk music over the years and being renowned for their poignant depictions of love and longing. 

2. Grief. As Arnimal returned to her parental home, her poems, while still about him, became the epitome of sorrow and grief. Her verses depict a woman scarred deeply by her husband’s rejection, and she spends the rest of her years writing about her pain. In a society where a woman’s worth was simply as a wife and as a mother, Arnimal had failed to fulfil these expectations. Her grief was insurmountable. Poetry acted as her outlet, and her verses after that period used metaphors and imagery to describe her anguish. 

3. Nature. Arnimal describes the beauty around her, that she experienced in both her childhood and adulthood. Her poetry often uses metaphors of these natural artefacts around her, then not destroyed by the rapid industrialisation of today’s time. The flowers, shrubs and natural vegetation around her are frequent motifs in her poetry, giving her writing an earthy feel and tone. 

Arnimal's Legacy 

Arnimal’s legacy is unchallenged in its groundbreaking nature. In popular folklore, she is known as the inventor of the santoor, the 100-stringed instrument central to later Indian music, but there is no compelling evidence to back up this narrative. While Arnimal’s poetry has stood the test of time, very little of her writing has survived the historical upheavals since her death. Very few of her poems remain, some in the form of ghazals and songs painstakingly transcribed by scholars on the subject.

Meanwhile, a descendant of Kachru speaking to Professor J.L. Kaul claimed that some of Arnimal’s salvaged poetry had been buried to protect it from Afghan invaders. While the well is still present in Srinagar, it is unclear what exists within it. While historical records of Arnimal’s poetry are scarce, they are not insufficient. Yet, some believe that Arnimal did not exist at all. Mr Amin Kamil, for instance, announced on Srinagar Radio in 1998 that Arnimal’s existence was a myth, despite contradiction by several scholars on the subject. While much of Arnimal’s life is a mystery, it is clear that she existed, she loved, and she wrote, and any attempt to erase her from the nation’s history is blatantly misguided.  The poetry of any Kashmiri woman, in this case, Arnimal, cannot be considered without considering the context at the time of authorship. As Miriam Schnier points out, “Centuries of slavery do not provide fertile soil for intellectual development and expression.” 

Meaning of her name "Arnimal"

She was 18th century Kashmiri Bharmin Poetess whose poetry is even today on the lips of older Kashmiris both Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims. The question rises what is meant by word Arnimal. Arnimal literally means "the garland of Arni rose.’’ It also means a wild pale flower abundant in Kashmiri periphery.Arinimal was a chivalrous Kashmiri Hindu girl born in 1737 in a village of Palhallan in north Kashmir. Like Lalla Ded and Habba Khatoon her unhappy life became an inspiration to turn to poetry. One Zareef Ahmad said and narrated how deeply shattered Arnimal became by the abandonment by her husband.In fact Arnimal found refuge in poetry, aiming to get her husband back by her poetry. Like Habba Khatoon,the Arnimal’s poetry also draws inspiration from reality. In her poetry we can see varied emotions flowing from a wounded heart of a pained women of the 18th century. Arnimal spent 17 years in her parental home to wait for the return of her husband but he actually did not returned to embrace her. It created immense heartburn and pain in her mind and she lamented and cursed her luck. 

Conclusion:

She mixed her the passion for her estranged husband with her poetry. It is unfortunate and an irony as well that Arniml’s poetry /works are not properly recorded and in future there will accrue threat to her poetry and it my fade away from the society. Let me conclude this blog with her following couplet - "Arni Rang Goom Shrawan Heya Kar Yeeah Darshun Dyea". But still her lyrics and songs are sung by traditional singers and it is so good and a befitting tribute to the great poetess. Her whole poetry has the fragrance of reality.

(Vivek Koul)

Link to some older posts: 

1. https://vivekkoulinsights.blogspot.com/2025/01/famous-cave-shrine-of-peer-kho.html

2. https://vivekkoulinsights.blogspot.com/2025/02/need-to-preserve-bhimgarh-fort.html