Abstract: Earthquakes have occurred regularly over centuries in Kashmir and people have learnt to live with it. Two old construction systems known as taq and dhajji-dewari exist here side-by-side and both have tested quake-resistant features. The recorded cultural history of Kashmir dates back 3,000 years. The oldest known remains of monumental buildings are the earthquake-damaged ruins of early Hindu and Buddhist temples built of large blocks of stone. Later medieval structures, some of them religious buildings constructed by the Muslim community, were made of a more economical and lightweight combination of mud, stone and brick, well tied together with timber. This construction system with its use of masonry laced together with timber, which is mentioned in texts from the 12th century, was the beginning of the urban architecture in the Vale of Kashmir as we know it today. In our time, Srinagar and other cities and villages in Kashmir are distinguished not only by their great monuments, but first and foremost by their vernacular residential architecture. It is an architecture generated out of a distinctive use of materials and way of building which are adapted to the local climate, culture and natural environment, principally the soft soils and the earthquake risk in the region. At the beginning of the 19th century the systems evolved to become the two main traditional construction systems: taq (timber-laced masonry) and dhajji dewari (timber frame with masonry infill). In Pakistan, timber-laced masonry is known by the Pashto word bhatar. This remarkable vernacular architectural heritage of Kashmir is, however, under threat and is rapidly being lost, especially now, following the earthquake of 2005. Its inherent qualities and great architectural expression, together with its unique construction, are insufficiently recognized or considered important by the citizenry today. Thus this architecture is rapidly being displaced by non-indigenous reinforced concrete buildings, many of which are constructed in a way that has proven to be particularly dangerous in earthquakes, as was demonstrated in 2005. This paper would breakdown the false narrative of traditional construction taq and dhajji-dewari as absolute, insubstantial and symbolic of poverty. Infact paper would argue the taq and dhajji –dewari constructions are not just old buildings waiting to be scrapped and replaced, with a few worth setting aside in a theme park or museum: they are buildings that embody distinctly modern construction features – features that can save lives once they are fully researched, understood and embraced.
Title: Traditional Earthquake Resistant Systems of Kashmir
Author: Mohd Akeeb Dar, Sajad Ahmad
International Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering Research
ISSN 2348-7607 (Online)
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