An untold Kashmir story: Artefacts not traced, FIRs gathering dust

Of the J&K artefacts at the Met, which reflect the region’s once-flourishing cultures of Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Buddhism, 24 are linked to an American mathematician, the late Samuel Eilenberg, who had been an associate of a US-based antiques dealer on the radar of investigative agencies.

Three of the artefacts — two sculptures and one painting — are linked to Subhash Kapoor, the smuggler who is serving a 10-year jail term in Tamil Nadu on charges of idol smuggling and theft.

The Met’s inventory of J&K sculptures show that an eighth-century idol of Kamdev and one of its five tiles (third or fourth century) from the Harwan Buddhist monastery on the outskirts of Srinagar were acquired from Kapoor’s New York gallery, Art of the Past (AOP), in 1993 and 1992, respectively.

The list also includes 15 sculptures of Vishnu and some of the other gods and goddesses such as Chakrapurush, Sharada, Gajalakshmi and Kartikeya, apart from Shivlings and sculptures of Buddha, Standing Surya and others — many of them dating back to sixth-eight century. This includes a particularly striking piece titled “Diadem with Kinnaris (Half-Bird, Half-Female Creatures)” from the 9th–10th century made of “gold inset with garnet”.

According to RTI records obtained from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), 11 floral tiles from Harwan were reported missing in 1998 and a Gandharva figurine sculpture was reported missing from the Fatehgarh temple in Baramulla in 2008.

RTI records show that only 1,795 antiquities from J&K have been registered under the Antiquities and Art Treasure Act, 1972.

B R Mani, former Additional Director General of ASI, estimates that 65 terracotta human heads excavated from Ambaran in Akhnoor district, 28 km from Jammu, are being held by various museums in India and abroad. He said he was not aware of any piece being held by the Met. Mani led an excavation at the site in 1999-2000 as Superintending Archaeologist. Records show the site was first excavated by Hungarian archaeologist Charles Fabri in the mid-1930s.

According to J&K’s Directorate of Antiquities, Archives and Museums, the list of missing idols and sculptures includes: “Seated Buddha” (wood), “Standing Tara” (bronze), “Jain Tirthankar” (brass) and “Buddha”. Their records show that these antiquities were stolen on August 10, 1973 and that in April 1975, the case was tagged as “not traced” and closed.

There are many more, including a miniature painting of Shah-i-Hamdaan that was reported stolen on September 27, 1969.

Besides, a copy of the Quran with the stamp of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb has been reported missing since September 11, 2003. Records show that an FIR was registered and the case transferred to J&K Police’s Crime Branch — a separate case was registered by the CBI as well. All these cases were later closed as “not traced”.

Records show artefacts missing from Ladakh, too: “22 gold copper statute and two stupas made of crystal and elephant teeth” were reported stolen from Zanskar Gonpa (District Kargil) in the year of 1998”, when the area was part of the erstwhile J&K state. This case was also closed as “not traced”.

Says R L Bhat, who authored the book “Hindu Shrines of Kashmir” (2014), “In the many cases of loot of antiquities, FIRs were not possible as people had to leave their homes during the militancy to save their lives. Most relics from our shrines have been smuggled out. Our agencies must now act using our own law and international laws.”

On October 16, 2018, hearing a PIL was filed by Imdaad Saqi of the Valley Citizen Council (VCC), the Jammu and Kashmir High Court directed the then state government “to ensure that adequate care is taken in future for safety and preservation of Archaeology sites as well as artefacts”.

“State authorities have abdicated their responsibility of guarding against loot of our rich heritage. All complaints of missing antiquities, which have been closed as non-traceable, must be re-investigated and agencies must look beyond the country’s borders in order to trace them,” said Saqi.

International guidelines framed for museums after that convention, on “Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property”, state: “When acquiring an object, whether by purchase or donation or any other way, museums should exercise due diligence in verifying the object’s history and provenance.”

In a statement emailed to The Indian Express, the Met said it “goes to great lengths to ensure that all works entering the collection meet the laws and strict policies in place at the time of acquisition”.

Before his death in 1998, Poland-born Eilenberg was known as a prominent collector of Asian art. Court records investigated by ICIJ show that he was an associate of antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford who was under investigation in the US for alleged trafficking in antique objects before his death in 2020.

The Indian Express x ICIJ investigation on lost antiquities in a nutshell:

🔎 The Indian Express’ Shyamlal Yadav looked at the catalogues of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts (Met) in New York and found that at least 77 of its oldest antiquities and 59 paintings are somehow linked to infamous art smuggler Shubhash Kapoor.

🔎 While you are here, check out a full list of the antiquities in the possession of the Met that are linked to Kapoor, who is currently in jail in Tamil Nadu on charges of burglary and idol theft.

🔎 Okay, so artefacts have been stolen from India and taken abroad. Why can’t we just bring them back? Well the biggest challenge India is facing right now is the gap between the artefacts that have been “officially” declared missing and what is surfacing in global markets and being found in museums.

🔎 What are antiquities and what are the laws that protect them? Read our explainer.

🔎 In part 2 of his investigation, Shyamlal looks at how over 90 antiquities from Jammu and Kashmir landed up at the Met. About two dozen have been linked to an American mathematician, an associate of a US-based antiques dealer on the radar of investigative agencies. Meanwhile, three are linked to Subhash Kapoor.

🔎 The road to recovering stolen antiquities has been a long and arduous one. But nothing better illustrated the challenges faced by India better than the wall it hit to get a J&K painting back from the US for over six years. Here is what happened.

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🔎 Curious about these antiquities from J&K? Here is a full list of the items.