ABSTRACT
Fran~ois Bernier (1620-88), a French physician attached to the Turco-Moghul court (1526-1858) at Delhi in the 17th century, was one of the first Europeans to travel to Kashmir, on which he conferred the title "Paradise of the Indies".2 The whole ground enamelled with flowers wore the appearance of a fertile garden filled with water, canals, lakes and rivulets. That description is still valid today. Ringed by the snows of the Himalayan range, that jewel on the northern rim of India, has attracted the pens of many travellers since then. As recorded by another European traveller, Ippolito Desideri (1684-1733), a Jesuit priest who hailed from the environs of Florence,3 the Kashmiris called their land "Bahisht" meaning terrestrial paradise. Some have claimed that Kashmir excels even the much-adored Switzerland.4
