A Crusader in Kashmir Dr

A CRUSADER IN KASHMIR DR. ARTHUR NEVE AS MAJOR IN THE R.A .nl.C. A CRUSADER IN KASHMIR 'BEING THE LIFE OF 'DR .ARTHUR NEVE, WI'l'H AN .ACCOUNT OF THE {MEDICAL {MISSIONARr WORK OF TWO 'BROTHERS fs I'l'S LATER 'DEVELOPMEN'l'S DOWN TO THE PRESENT 'DAr BY ERNEST F. NEVE, M.D. C.M., F.R.C.S.E. Author of "Beyond the Pir Panjal," &c., Cl'C, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS London Seeley, Service & Co. Limited 196 Shaftesbury Avenue 1928 Printed in Great Britain by The Rinrside Press Limited Edinburgh TO THE UNDYING MEMORY OF ARTHUR NEVE FOR THIRTY-FOUR YEARS HEAD OF THE KASHMIR MEDICAL MISSION THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGR ARTHUR NEVE-EARLY DAYS 17 CHAPTER II EVOLUTION OF A MEDICAL MISSION CHAPTER III A PRACTICAL IDEALIST • 33 CHAPTER IV ARTHUR NEVE, PIONEER e!f TRAVELLER 43 CHAPTER V THE CAMPAIGN EXTENDED 49 CHAPTER VI ' LAST YEARS OF SERVICE • 61 CHAPTER VII MEDICAL MISSIONS : THEIR UTILITY e!f INFLUENCE 68 CHAPTER VIII MEDICAL MISSIONS: THEIR PLACE e!f POWER 77 CHAPTER IX THE KASHMIR MISSION HOSPITAL . CHAPTER X IN THE WARDS . 99 CHAPTER XI FULL SPEED AHEAD 108 7 Contents CHAPTER XII PAGlt THE PROBLEM OF LEPROSY n9 CHAPTER XIII Is LEPROSY CONTAGIOUS? 128 CHAPTER XIV CAN LEPERS BE CLEANSED? 134 CHAPTER XV AMONGST THE VILLAGES , 141 CHAPTER XVI A LAND OF RIVERS & MOUNTAIN PASSES 154 CHAPTER XVII A MOUNTAIN CLIMB 169 CHAPTER XVIII FURTHER AFIELD 177 CHAPTER XIX NEAR THE ROOF OF THE WORLD. 190 CHAPTER XX Arns & ACHIEVEMENTS 204 INDEX :216 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Dr Arthur Neve as Major in the R.A.M.C. Frontispz'ece PAGE The Monastery of Triktse, in Little Tibet 60 The Evolution of a Mission Hospital 92 An Ancient Mosque 92 Venice of the East II2 In the Wilds of Kashmir . 120 Mount Kolahoi, the Kashmir Matterhorn Interior of a Tibetan Temple A Monastery Band 200 9 AUTHOR'S NOTE I HAVE to thank Mr Ed ward Arnold for his kind permission to make extracts from the late Dr Arthur N eve's delightful volume, Thirty Tears in Kashmir. I have also quoted from my own publication, Beyond the Pir Panjal. Both of these works have long been out of print. 10 INTRODUCTION AS the Church of Great Britain, using the word in its widest acceptation, at all adequately heard H or acted upon the call to go over and help India? Has there ever been manifested more than a minute fraction of the zeal in carrying on a modern crusade in India which was shown by the heroic and chivalrous but misguided hordes who poured Eastward to recover an empty Sepulchre and who fought the Moslem with his own weapons? Taking India as a whole, the Church of Christ is in contact chiefly with three great groups of peoples the Hindus, the Mohammedans and the Depressed classes. It is common knowledge that the last group is very accessible to Christian teaching. Many thousands have been baptized both in the south, where the work of the Indian Bishop of Dornakal is well known, and also in the north, where the chief numerical additions to the Church have been from this class. This has also been the case in the Jammu Province of the Maharajah of Kashmir, where, since 1891, the increase has been over 600 per cent. Among the depressed classes there are unlimited openings for Christian teachers. The door is wide open. In many districts there is no opposi tion. The work is relatively easy. Although, owing to hereditary tendencies and mixed motives, many of the Christians are only partially weaned from evil ways, and there are too many unsatisfactory members of the Church, still, from all sides, comes testimony to the great II Introduction uplift and to the higher standards of conduct and life which have followed the acceptance of the Gospel. There has, in time past, been, on the one side, too great a tendency to seek to stimulate missionary zeal by cheering records of success and reports of the in gathering of numbers. On the other side, the difficulty and impossibility of the work has been accentuated, and much emphasis has been laid upon failures and the shortcomings of so-called converts. There has always been danger lest missionaries should attempt to garner unripe harvests, and lest missionary societies should be too insistent upon early and tangible results for the encouragement ofhalf-hearted supporters. In science, patient and laborious research work often appears singularly devoid of practical value. And then suddenly, in the course of experimental activity, a "Rontgen" discovers rays, which prove to be of in finite utility, or a "Lister," with the intuition of genius, illuminates the work of Pasteur, and applies it to the greatest relief of human suffering which the world has ever seen. So also the true missionary should pursue his path of service and witness, without impatience or doubt. He should never forget that even if, as is sometimes the case, he sees little immediate result, great success may be imminent. There are at all times sowers who reap not and reapers who have not sown ; while many " who sow in tears shall come again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them." Work among the depressed classes, although rela tively easy, is not without its grave anxieties and dis appointments. We can, however, never be unmindful of the early days of Christianity when the great Apostle said : " Not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called." It may be that from 12 Introduction amongst these, as in olden days, those shall arise who shall bear witness with power to Hindus and Moslems. It cannot be denied that hitherto, in comparison with the depressed classes, the evangelization of both Hindus and Mohammedans in India has made much less apparent progress. The numerical results ha.ve been comparatively small. This has been in spite of the fact that from the time of Carey until the present day there have never been wanting men and women of true piety, zeal and ability to carry on the torch. It is open to us to say that their ideal was an impossibility, or that their methods were faulty. The former alternative is incom patible with the Christian position. If the latter be urged, it must be admitted that missionaries are fallible and liable to make mistakes ; but many of them have been, and are, experts, highly qualified by training and experience. Repeated testimony has been borne to the value of their work by very many impartial observers. So we are driven to the conclusion that it is the inherent difficulty of the problem which accounts for the scanty apparent success. Both the Hindu and Moslem religions are peculiarly resistant to the impact of Christianity. This is well known. In Hinduism, the system of caste, with its disciplinary control, the powerful ties of family, and the extent to which the whole life of the community is regulated and permeated by Hindu religious observance and cere mony, fix each individual very firmly in the system, and make it most difficult for him to assert his individuality. There are other factors-the high mental attainments of so many Indian gentlemen, who tend more and more to occupy positions of great importance in political life and administration, and in the Indian universities 13 Introduction and colleges. Many of these bring great influence to bear in favour of conservatism. The Hindu mind works on a different plane to that of the Western scholar, whose logic is apt to leave the Hindu mind unconvinced. To some extent, a Hindu who embraces Christianity is considered, not only to have abandoned his religion, but also to have abjured his nation. This attitude has, however, been somewhat changed since many Indian Christians espoused the Nationalist cause. That India has been profoundly influenced by Chris tianity is indisputable. But the profession of that faith, with all that is entailed thereby, is unpopular. Many of those most attracted think it possible to believe in Christ and to accept, to a greater or less degree, His standards of moral conduct, and yet outwardly to conform to the Hindu religion. Hindus do not see inconsistency as we do. The accentuation of Nationalism and the recent intensification of communal strife in connexion with the altered conditions arising out of the Political Reform Scheme have not made the position any easier. With regard to Moslems, many of the same factors come into play. The Islamic brotherhood is very real. The religion is not without its elements of loftiness. If the great majority of Mussulmans do not even live up to the moral standard of their own religion, it is hardly surprising that they do not feel the need of a higher ideal. The great need in India is constructive friendship. Theological dialectics between opposing religions are of little value. Religious controversy is more apt to engender hatred than love. If men cannot be attracted by the love and sympathy of Christ, history and logic will not succeed. For the continued presentation of Christianity to Hindus and Mos/ems there is no more potent agency than the work 14 Introduction of Medical Missions. The successful evangelization of a block of 320,000,000 may be regarded as the dream of an enthusiast. But the idea of, let us say, 320 medical missionaries, each ministering and witnessing to 1,000,000, no longer seems so wildly impracticable! In the following pages I aim at describing a Medical Mission which has been carrying on this work in one Indian Native State for more than a generation-the Valley of Kashmir, embowered in the Himalayas, on the North-West Frontier.

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