SNUFF OR NASWAAR WAS QUITE POPULAR IN KASHMIR

                                                                           

(SNUFF  OR   NASWAAR   IN   KASHMIR )

                                                                                           

                    

Snuff or  Naswaar ( Naas in Kashmiri ) became popular in Kashmir since Afghan rule. While Afghan governors were busy in collecting revenue by all cruel means, traders from Kabul brought Snuff and tobacco to Kashmir and carried horse loads of Pattoo, Shawls, and Tosha. An entry in the diary of *John Nicholson dated 19th November 1847 reads as under:-

“ Had some conversation with a group of Afghan merchants from Kabul who were carrying snuff and tobacco to Kashmir wherefrom they would bring Tosh( Shahtoosh ) and Pattoo ( Woolen cloth ) which fetches a very high price in Kabul. ”

And Naswaar is a Pashto word.

In Kashmir, I would see some elderly person suddenly pushing something in his nostrils and then sneezing. Some minutes after that he felt comfortable and relieved. That something turned out to be snuff or Naas or Naswaar.

Snuff is basically cured tobacco leaves ground to a fine powder. The grinding process releases the natural ammonia in the leaves, which gives snuff its pungency. Almost all snuffs are also blended with floral essences, spices or menthol.

I would see many snuff users with shabby and stained teeth. This finely powdered Tobacco that made the snuff would travel to the mouth via the nasal route and do its job. A pinch of snuff was something that could instantly raise the nicotine level in the blood by getting absorbed through nasal capillaries. But surely it did its damage on teeth, gums, nasal passage and oral cavity.

I have seen many labourers, elderly people from good families and some old ladies addicted to it. They would keep this stuff in small boxes, cloth pouches and tin boxes and carry it along.

A woodcutter would stop his work suddenly to push a little of snuff ( held in between the Index finger and the thumb ) in his nostrils. A driver would skillfully manage to put a pinch in his nostrils while driving. An elderly pandit woman would take out the pouch from her Pheran pocket and push a pinch in her nostrils. A Khwaja Sahib would take out a pinch from his beautiful box kept in the waistcoat and push a pinch in his nostrils. A little sneezing, some cough and they would carry on.

Walter Lawrence in his book ‘ The Valley of Kashmir’ writes:-

“ The Kashmiris don’t indulge in smoking to any extent, but men and women alike are inveterate are snuff takers and the great bulk of the tobacco imported into Kashmir comes in that form. The best snuff comes from Peshawar Many of the snuff makers in the city are Kashmiris, who return to the valley in the summers bringing back part of their wages in snuff. Every Wani’s shop has a row of bottles containing snuff, which is sold in small packets  made of birch bark.”

 In Kashmir, I have seen small decorated boxes and coloured pouches being used by men and women to store snuff. Snuff consumption was given total social sanction in Kashmiri society. Accordingly, “Snuff Money “ or “Naasti Haara “ demand was always made by the working class from their employers the way “ Chai “ or “Cigarette “ is sought these days. The masons, carpenters, labourers and other daily wagers asked for “Naasti Kharach” or “Naasti Haara” along with their wages to enable them to enjoy snuff.

I vividly remember having seen PAANCH PHOTO NASWAAR, SAAT PHOTO NASWAAR, SIX PHOTO SNUFF, ELEPHANT, ZAMINDAAR, CHAKALI, DHOLAKIA, ROSE SNUFF, HIMALAYA SNUFF and some other brands of snuff sold in Kashmir. A Punjabi tobacco seller at Batmaloo sold many popular brands. He would sell dry snuff as well as something like a paste in small boxes and bottles. Many other Tobacco shops sold snuff powder. Then there were little expensive scented snuffs as well.

At a point of time, snuff was widely used by upper-class society in Europe. Consequently, expensive gold, silver and ivory snuff boxes were sold in European markets. Apart from so many royals, Napoleon Bonaparte, Queen Charlotte and Samuel Johnson were great snuff users.

Snuff usage was not confined to poor Kashmiris or to a particular section of the society only. Every class of people had snuff users. Both Pandit and Muslim families were familiar with it. Tobacco sellers and general merchants sold it across the length and breadth of Kashmir valley. Some Europeans in Kashmir were also snuff users. I am told that before 1947, some traders in Kashmir imported snuff boxes from Germany. Some families in Kashmir ( who traded in snuff )were nicknamed as Naas or Naasti.

 Noted Scholar Dr Shashi Shekhar Toshkhani adds:

 ‘I don't know how many of us know that Jaishankar Prasad, author of the great Hindi poetic work Kamayani belonged to a family of snuff traders of Varanasi. Snuff was popular in 18th century England also. Dr Johnson, the famous English lexicographer is once said to have asked for a pinch of snuff in these words: "Great Sir, kindly allow me to insert the summits of my digits into this odoriferous concavity to draw out a few pulverized atoms which will cause titillation in my olfactory nerves.’

In Kashmir, usage of snuff was also linked with idlers and quite often with cowardice. ‘Naastih Khan’ was a word used to describe a coward person.

‘ Ya ha chhuyii bael havaan Rustumi.Tchaekki chhu Naastih Khan .’ Or.. ‘He pretends to be a great fighter but in reality he is a Naastih Khan or a coward.’

The lingo that had gained currency during our youth was as under ….

‘ Kyaa Bakwaas chhukh Karaan . Gutchh kar Naas ’

‘ What nonsense are you speaking? Go and use snuff. ’

And presently snuff has almost vanished from  Kashmiri society . One rarely comes across a snuff user in the city now.

( Avtar Mota )

PS

* John Nicholson( 1822- 1857 ) was a very senior political official in British India who rose to the post of a Brigadier General. He was instrumental in the settlement of the North-West Frontier . He was stationed at Peshawar, Moradabad, Benaras, Ferozepur and Delhi. He died suddenly at a very young age and played a major role in the Mutiny of 1857. He was buried in a cemetery in Kashmiri Gate Delhi .

                                                                          

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