Encoded Selves: Human Nature in Kashmiri Proverbs, 1846-1947

Abstract

This article explores Kashmiri proverbs as a vernacular anthropology of human nature in rural Kashmir between 1846 and 1947. Drawing on Subaltern Studies, micro history, and intellectual history, it argues that proverbs are not mere folklore but repositories of moral reflection, social critique, and psychological insight. These sayings reveal a dialectical conception of human beings as simultaneously altruistic and egoistic, biologically predisposed yet culturally shaped, socially embedded yet individually distinct. While many proverbs affirm dignity, compassion, and justice as ideals, others reflect cynicism, duplicity, and opportunism. Taken together, they constitute a historically situated discourse on human behavior, resilience, and moral life under Dogra rule. By foregrounding the intellectual agency of rural Kashmiris, this study demonstrates how oral traditions encoded ethical reasoning and social critique, offering valuable insight into both the history of ideas and the anthropology of human nature. In recovering this subaltern moral vocabulary, the article challenges epistemic hierarchies that privilege elite or written forms of thought. It contributes to a comparative understanding of how marginalized communities across different historical contexts have theorized the human condition-not through formal treatises but through culturally embedded forms of everyday philosophy. Ultimately, the study argues for a broader rethinking of the archive of ideas and a deeper engagement with vernacular modes of historical consciousness.

Keywords: Altruism; Biology; Complexity; Culture; Egoism; Folk thought; Human nature; Kashmir; Proverbs; Virtues.