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City as Memory: A Short Biography of Srinagar
Sirinagar (as it’s pronounced in Kashmiri), the capital of Paradise on Earth, is known for its lush green valley and picturesque lakes, but also for its troubled past and unsettled present. Founded in 250 BCE by the Buddhist king Ashoka, Srinagar’s chequered history is one of conquest and centuries of foreign rule, characterized by both indulgence and neglect. In independent India, the state’s troubled geopolitics, the growth of tehreek (armed insurgency) since 1989, and the tumultuous quest for azaadi have turned Srinagar into one of the most heavily militarized regions in the world. In City as Memory, Sadaf Wani draws from her childhood experiences in the mid-90s amidst a waning insurgency movement and increasing militarization, as well as her adolescence in the early 2000s during deadly cycles of violence in the wake of civilian protests, to explore how Kashmir’s turbulent history deeply intertwines with memories of home for its people. Wani explores the beating heart of the city through stories of personal remembrance and scholarship, examining questions of identity and belonging to craft an intimate portrait of Srinagar. Her portrayal illuminates the deep wounds on the spatial, temporal, and emotional landscape of this city of contradictions—where scenic views of the Dal Lake coexist with smoke from tear gas.
- GenresHistoryTravelNonfiction
192 pages, Hardcover
Published July 10, 2024
5 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Sadaf Wani
2 books9 followersSadaf Wani is a Kashmiri writer and a senior communications professional. Her writings, both fiction and non-fiction, have been published extensively, including in Himal Southasian, Scroll.in, and Inverse Journal, among others. Her short stories have been featured in two critically acclaimed anthologies published by Aleph Book Company: The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told (2023) and A Case of Indian Marvels: Dazzling Stories from the Country’s Finest New Writers (2022). This is her first book.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 8, 2024
The book is a highly objective and transparent account. It has anecdotes which include feminist perspectives, competing identities of city people and rural people, and the cultural evolution of Srinagar as a city, both in good ways and bad ways. It also serves as a quick rundown of Kashmir’s history. I recommend this book highly!
October 7, 2025
As I read the first pages of the book, ‘City as memory: A short biography of Srinagar’, I found the title to be inaccurate. Because a ‘biography’ of the city should begin with ruler XYZ, who founded the city and forged certain accords that benefited parties ABC. Then his son would succeed him, followed by his grandson, until they were eventually overthrown by some rival dynasty. One of the earliest writings on Kashmiri History is ‘Rajatarangini’ by Kalhana, which literally means Chronicles of the Kings. Even I, as a Kashmiri, had started looking at Srinagar from the third person perspective, as has always been done. Most written accounts of our Kashmiri past are written as travellogues, colonial perspectives or from courtiers. Whoever is concerned about the Das Volk!
Reading about the people of Srinagar felt like home, but not the Srinagar I see documented - only the Srinagar I hear about. Reading this book made me feel the need to document our history by our own selves - lest we be orientalised!
As Mr. Vivek Raina aptly put it: But I don’t love Kashmir for these things( the hills, the rivers and the landscapes). They are there incidentally. Had they not been there, I would have felt the same. I am connected to people, not the landscape.
You hit the nail right on its head.
Capturing a city more when you don't live there - but visit often. I live some 100 kms from Kolkata. Whenever I go to kolkata, i find myself a traveller and a sponge at times - I absorb whatever and everything I can. The views, the conversations I have had with Ola drivers and even random comments passerbies make. The walk on the park street has been embossed in my head because I have tried to remember each landmark as best as I could. I have not been there more than 4 times but it feels so familiar to me that I could sleep there.
Finding philosophy irrelevant when people die. In Milton's paradise lost, when Satan goes to heaven to take revenge, some angels go to a hill and retreat and discuss good and evil. But during war, it simply cannot be afforded. One simply cannot complain about dogs dying on a street when the people are no better.
The Mughals had reduced Kashmir to a picnic spot for recreation; while the Dogras and Sikhs played religious politics in Kashmir. Due to neglect from rulers who focused on filling up their pockets first, srinagar was left to be a breeding ground for diseases. The nineteenth century saw 10 cholera outbreaks. People who visited Srinagar in the nineteenth and eighteenth century saw it as a really dirty city with no drainage and haphazard planning; which was true. With the 1886 Municipality act(Pratap Singh), Srinagar started improving its drainage and new civil lines were built along gogji bagh, karan nagar, jawahar nagar, etc. These places then became a centre for the rich to live in – the residential area for affluent kashmiris. So, the upper class from Downtown migrated out of downtown and dissociated themselves with the ‘dirty’, ‘war-torn’ and ‘conflict driven’ downtown. They wanted to be the harbingers of ‘pure’ kashmiri culture as well as be ‘upper class enough’ to not live in downtown when the bad times started. Downtown has been a place of severe neglect by the authorities in the last 100 years. The intellectual focus of Srinagar had become MA Road, Residency road, etc. A far cry from the perceived notion of the average resident of Habba Kadal.
Reading about the people of Srinagar felt like home, but not the Srinagar I see documented - only the Srinagar I hear about. Reading this book made me feel the need to document our history by our own selves - lest we be orientalised!
As Mr. Vivek Raina aptly put it: But I don’t love Kashmir for these things( the hills, the rivers and the landscapes). They are there incidentally. Had they not been there, I would have felt the same. I am connected to people, not the landscape.
You hit the nail right on its head.
Capturing a city more when you don't live there - but visit often. I live some 100 kms from Kolkata. Whenever I go to kolkata, i find myself a traveller and a sponge at times - I absorb whatever and everything I can. The views, the conversations I have had with Ola drivers and even random comments passerbies make. The walk on the park street has been embossed in my head because I have tried to remember each landmark as best as I could. I have not been there more than 4 times but it feels so familiar to me that I could sleep there.
Finding philosophy irrelevant when people die. In Milton's paradise lost, when Satan goes to heaven to take revenge, some angels go to a hill and retreat and discuss good and evil. But during war, it simply cannot be afforded. One simply cannot complain about dogs dying on a street when the people are no better.
The Mughals had reduced Kashmir to a picnic spot for recreation; while the Dogras and Sikhs played religious politics in Kashmir. Due to neglect from rulers who focused on filling up their pockets first, srinagar was left to be a breeding ground for diseases. The nineteenth century saw 10 cholera outbreaks. People who visited Srinagar in the nineteenth and eighteenth century saw it as a really dirty city with no drainage and haphazard planning; which was true. With the 1886 Municipality act(Pratap Singh), Srinagar started improving its drainage and new civil lines were built along gogji bagh, karan nagar, jawahar nagar, etc. These places then became a centre for the rich to live in – the residential area for affluent kashmiris. So, the upper class from Downtown migrated out of downtown and dissociated themselves with the ‘dirty’, ‘war-torn’ and ‘conflict driven’ downtown. They wanted to be the harbingers of ‘pure’ kashmiri culture as well as be ‘upper class enough’ to not live in downtown when the bad times started. Downtown has been a place of severe neglect by the authorities in the last 100 years. The intellectual focus of Srinagar had become MA Road, Residency road, etc. A far cry from the perceived notion of the average resident of Habba Kadal.
October 28, 2024
An excellent read — although I would’ve also loved to hear about the lived experiences of queer Kashmiris.
August 14, 2024
-Srinagar or Sirinagar?-
Review of ‘City as Memory- A short biography of Srinagar’ by Sadaf Wani
In writing a biography of the city she grew up in, Wani has also written an autobiography of sorts for herself as well. Because what is a city we have lived in but our memories, our experiences, our trauma and our happiness?
Denying that anybody can ever be apolitical while writing about Srinagar, especially after insurgency of 1989, she writes that all accounts of Srinagar or Kashmir are consciously or subconsciously political.
Having studied the continental philosophy of Nietzsche and Sartre, she realized that life equals to safety. She slams the musings of a few privileged white men who questioned the meaning of life, wondering whether they have ever spent their lives in a violent city.
For locals, Srinagar is Sirinagar. Wani notices that most accounts of Kashmir are centered around Srinagar but Kashmir is so much more than just Srinagar. She says that she herself is going through the same ritual.
Her account of Srinagar starts with her visit to a cemetery and spreads towards Haer Parbat Fort. She recounts many such incidents through the book which bind her more to the city page by page.
Review of ‘City as Memory- A short biography of Srinagar’ by Sadaf Wani
In writing a biography of the city she grew up in, Wani has also written an autobiography of sorts for herself as well. Because what is a city we have lived in but our memories, our experiences, our trauma and our happiness?
Denying that anybody can ever be apolitical while writing about Srinagar, especially after insurgency of 1989, she writes that all accounts of Srinagar or Kashmir are consciously or subconsciously political.
Having studied the continental philosophy of Nietzsche and Sartre, she realized that life equals to safety. She slams the musings of a few privileged white men who questioned the meaning of life, wondering whether they have ever spent their lives in a violent city.
For locals, Srinagar is Sirinagar. Wani notices that most accounts of Kashmir are centered around Srinagar but Kashmir is so much more than just Srinagar. She says that she herself is going through the same ritual.
Her account of Srinagar starts with her visit to a cemetery and spreads towards Haer Parbat Fort. She recounts many such incidents through the book which bind her more to the city page by page.
January 28, 2025
I'm glad to see one of the local publishing houses getting such good books on their list. The writing felt so refreshing, especially during this time since most modern writers tend to write in casual tones and end up explaining stuff repeatedly. The author didn't try to fill the book with a lot of jargon but didn't make it simple as well. The cover art succeeded in encapsulating the entire story of Srinagar in it, where the thorned fences can't hide the rich heritage and culture of the city. Another plus point of the book is the fact that it doesn't make you feel like you're reading some mundane informational book. Instead, it conveys the history of and story of Srinagar through narrations of people and wraps them in such a way that it doesn't feel boring at all. I do find repetitions here and there a bit too much. The kind of repetition you do for fulfilling the minimum word requirement for essays by paraphrasing the sentences here and there. But at the same time, I guess that is non-negotiable since that information should be ingrained in the readers' minds if they are reading this intending to know about Srinagar.
August 20, 2024
This book gives a new perspective into a very well documented and written topic, the city of siringar (yes and this is how it's spoken) and the kashmir conflict. The book depicts the degeneration and generation of the city thought the eyes of its residents. The unseen impacts of insurgency, army crackdown,lack of communication etc, are perfectly curated throughout the book. The book feels like an amalgamation of several short stories written through a different perspective. The last chapter is particularly eye catching as it talks precisely about the sutuation and perspectives of women of all ages in this conflict ridden area. Sirinagar is not only a city of conflict but of joy, disaster, serenity, etc.
August 22, 2024
Hooter: Journal of Sirinagar residents' relationship with the city
A short look at the life and times of Srinagar from conversations with various folks who have stayed in Srinagar in their childhood or later as the author shares her experiences and the contrast the city has seen over the years. Starting off with the history of the region , the challenges with local dynasties and the upheaval and pains the citizens have gone through.
She adds the lens of the women in Srinagar in the public spaces is a unique perspective we dont see a lot in written literature. The book is dusty but it helps remove some of the cobwebs from the living history of Srinagar the rest of the world has buried under political and macro factors.
A short look at the life and times of Srinagar from conversations with various folks who have stayed in Srinagar in their childhood or later as the author shares her experiences and the contrast the city has seen over the years. Starting off with the history of the region , the challenges with local dynasties and the upheaval and pains the citizens have gone through.
She adds the lens of the women in Srinagar in the public spaces is a unique perspective we dont see a lot in written literature. The book is dusty but it helps remove some of the cobwebs from the living history of Srinagar the rest of the world has buried under political and macro factors.
November 3, 2025
Unlike the usual socio-political narrative on Srinagar, this book brings to the forefront the intimate relationship between Srinagar and its people.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews