Kashmir8217;s quot;tremblingquot; tree

MUMBAI, Sept 28: The Tsentu-kuj quivering tree, which is believed to have existed in Kashmir 230 years ago and attracted the attention of...

MUMBAI, Sept 28: The Tsentu-kuj quivering tree, which is believed to have existed in Kashmir 230 years ago and attracted the attention of many kings and historians of the era, remains unknown to the world of botanical science. Though it has become extinct, its existence in Kashmir has been established on the basis of topographical evidence.

Known by various names like Hal-thal trembling tree, Bade-mujnoon and Bade-larzan, the tree had a peculiar feature 8212; the whole tree would start trembling even if a small branch was shaken.

According to renowned historian Aurel Stein, in Kalhana8217;s Rajtarangini an ancient historical document of Kashmir there is mention of a trembling tree in the village Shila Thalla, where a battle was fought during the reign of Maharaja Anant. Quoting Abul Fazl, another authority on the subject, Stein says that Shila Thalla was also named Hal Thal and it was situated in Yacha Pargana. But this village does not figure in the Survey of India map and Fazl has not been able to trace its topography.

However, among the history books that have been handed over to the present generation, an eyewitness account of the existence of this tree has been referred to in Mirza Hyder Douglat8217;s book Tarikh-i-Rashidi 1551. Douglat describes a tree in Nagam Sarai, an important town in Kashmir, which would start trembling as soon as some one struck one of its branches with an arrow.

A detailed reference of the tree has been given in Ain-i-Akbari and Akbar Nama, the books authored by the prime minister and court historian of Mughal emperor Akbar. He too has mentioned that in village Hal Thal, situated in Yach Pargana, there is a quivering tree: 8220;If we touch even its tiniest shoot, the whole tree begins to shake.8221; These historical details have been brought out in Shiraza, a research journal published by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. According to Sir George Cunningham, the tree could belong to the species called prineous trequlla.