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Seismic risk reduction through indigenous architecture in Kashmir Valley
Author’s Accepted Manuscript Seismic Risk Reduction through Indigenous Architecture in Kashmir Valley Bashir Ahmad, Akhtar Alam, M. Sultan Bhat, Shabir Ahmad, Muzamil Shafi, Rehana Rasool www.elsevier.com/locate/ijdr
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S2212-4209(16)30284-9 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2016.11.005 IJDRR448
To appear in: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction Received date: 16 June 2016 Revised date: 8 November 2016 Accepted date: 9 November 2016 Cite this article as: Bashir Ahmad, Akhtar Alam, M. Sultan Bhat, Shabir Ahmad, Muzamil Shafi and Rehana Rasool, Seismic Risk Reduction through Indigenous Architecture in Kashmir Valley, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2016.11.005 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting galley proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Seismic Risk Reduction through Indigenous Architecture in Kashmir Valley Bashir Ahmada, Akhtar Alamb M. Sultan Bhatc Shabir Ahmadd Muzamil Shafie Rehana Rasoolf a Department of Geology, Nawakadal School, Safakadal, Sekidafar Road, Srinagar-190002, India. b,c,d,f Department of Geography & Regional Development, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar-190006, India. e Shah-i-Hamadan Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar-190006, India. [Tectonics and Natural Hazards Research Group] * Corresponding Author: Bashir Ahmad E-mail: [email protected] Tel: + (91) 9419011778 Fax: + (91) - (0) 194- 2450047 Abstract Since its inception, Kashmir Valley has been characterized by intense seismicity that has left a strong imprint on the country’s landscape, heritage and traditions. In fact, its architectural heritage is largely shaped by the interrelationship of the natural with the human and of the physical with the social. Beginning with classical stone architecture during the first millennium, followed by a period of building with wood, Kashmir finally witnessed vernacular (mixed mode) architecture in the form of Taqq and Deji-i-Dewari from the last two centuries. Taqq and Dhajji-Dewari architecture reflects seismic risk reduction to earthquake threat through the use of timber-braced frame with masonry infill. Sporadic occurrence of earthquakes in Kashmir over the centuries led Kashmir society to learn that to fight earthquakes we ought to know them: how they cause damage, where they occur repeatedly and more importantly how to minimize the seismic risk. This seismic risk reduction was necessitated by available technology, resource use option and risk management strategies. Even the dialectics often reflects how the people were influenced by the seismicity of the region they lived in. Key words: Seismic Architecture; Kashmir History; Dhajji-Dewari Taqq; Risk Reduction 1. Introduction Over the past few decades, considerable amount of knowledge has been accumulated on how humans perceive hazards. The human perception of hazards is closely linked to the adjustment people make to them. The variety of hazards make the devising of strategies for risk reduction more variant; and the process of adjustment is influenced by individual personality, culture and physical environment [1]. In this context, earth and climate scientists and engineers tend to focus on monitoring, predicting and calculating probabilities and parameters of extreme natural hazards [2]; while as, social scientists are interested in how people and societies perceive the potential danger and how they adjust to possible threats [see for the review 3,4,1,5]. Individuals and societies said to have a low perception of risk allegedly adjust poorly to possible risks [2]. People and communities considered to have high risk perception are assumed to adjust well to natural hazards [4,6,7,8]. This ability to adjust and adapt reflects resource use options and risk management strategies to prepare for, avoid or moderate, and recover from exposure effects [9]. It is essentially synonymous with human occupance as used by Robert Kates [3]; or normalization of threat as described by Gregory Bankoff [5]; and is influenced by the characteristics of the human system including social institution, experience with previous risk, the range of technologies available for adaptation and adjustment [10]. Earthquakes are an excellent case in point. There has been a great amount of risk perception among the residents of seismically active areas [see for the review 5,3,11,12]; and in turn humans seek to adjust to damages by planning for them in order to minimize damage through structural adaptation rather evacuation remains the normal precautionary measure [3]. Kashmir was not immune to such practices in the past and the archival records provide us enough evidence that seismic requirements in buildings and care in construction to reduce seismic risk were in force in Kashmir Valley during historical times. Consequently, seismic perspective has made evident how causal earthquakes have been responsible in bringing about cultural transformation. Present study explores the seismicity of Kashmir thereby providing an opportunity to study the influence on the evolution of indigenous architecture of Kashmir over the centuries. 2. Seismicity of Kashmir Valley Seismicity in the Himalayan region predominantly results from collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates, which are converging at a relative rate of 40-50 mm/yr [13]. Apart from increased stresses in the NW-SE loop of the HazaraKashmir Syntaxis (HKS), caused by the MW 7.6 2005 Kashmir earthquake [14,15,16,17,18]; several severe earthquakes have also been reported to have occurred in this region in the preceding 1000 years, most notably in 1501, 1555, 1669, 1
1736, 1779, 1824, 1828 and 1885 [19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. Historical earthquake data reveals important information about their occurrence and felt area. The seismicity appears to have occurred in close space-and-time sequence; for example, the seismic events of 2082-2041 BC, 844 AD, 1828 AD, 1863 AD, 1877 AD and 1885 AD had a marked tendency to cluster in northwest Kashmir Valley. Moreover, major advancements in understanding earthquakes were spurred by the occurrence of catastrophic seismic events like 1555 AD and 1885 AD that attracted the attention of contemporary scholars of the time. These earthquakes have caused destructive effects on natural and built environment. These seismic events provide some degree of understanding that there was a marked tendency for the earthquakes to cluster in space around northwest Kashmir Valley thereby clearly depicting a source zone of historical earthquakes. Spatio-temporal characteristics involved in these seismic events impelled natives to coin and give currency to the word "watrubunil" in the local parlance. Based on an appended footnote (1424), the subtext for word “watrubunil” is clearly given by Hassan Khoihami in his book Tarikh-i-Hassan [26]. In fact “watrubunil” is a compound word comprised of “watru” and “bunil” which means "north" and "earthquake" respectively and thereby brought to light sociolinguistic application of the term. It also connotes the historical process by which a country was regularly affected by earthquakes. We still find merit in this view, sequel to historical earthquakes, instrumental seismic data [27] (Fig.1) shows earthquake swarms (seismic events where a local area experiences sequences of many earthquakes striking in a relatively short period of time) located in NNW and SSE extensions of the Kashmir Valley; noticeably corresponding to the direction of strike-slip along Central Kashmir Fault (CKF) [28,29]. Thus, earthquake record of the Kashmir Valley (whether instrumental or historical) is enough to guide us (unambiguously) to the source zone of seismicity and becomes increasingly precise as we go back in time.
Figure 1 Spatial distribution pattern of historical seismic events (stars) and instrumental (circles) (NEIC-catalogue, 1900–2013) in and around the Kashmir Valley [27].
3. Kashmir Architecture The architecture of Kashmir, having large variation both in terms of construction methodology and style influenced by alien and indigenous styles, has a long history and evolved through various stages. The architecture of Kashmir can be broadly classified into three distinct styles: Stone, Wooden and Vernacular. 2
3.1 Stone Architecture: Kashmir Valley witnessed the development of its classical stone architecture of the Buddhist-Hindu Period that flourished during the first millennium AD. Up till now, the extent of architectural remains had overwhelmingly been in the form of stone temples made of large dressed solid stone blocks cut out of rocks. Only isolated remains of this architecture continued to create its great monuments across the Kashmir Valley (Fig.2). The characteristic features of Kashmir temples consist of fine cloisters and the temple they contain. These temples, with their fluted pillars, proportioned bases, Doric capitals, massive square architraves to the doors and elegant trefoiled arches with capstone although desolately ruined, still show the old classical architectural style of Kashmir (Fig.3). Barring Buddhist temple Jyeshteswara (built by Jaloka, son of Asoka, who reigned about 220 BC with octagonal plan) situated at the Shankaracharya hillock, these stone temples form a complete and homogenous group, singularly uniform in their style (Fig.3 B) with square plan. The principal features of these temples are the chiseled trefoiled arches ornamented on the exterior walls at regular intervals depicting basic architectural elements found in all stone temples of Kashmir.
Fig. 2. Isolated remains of stone temples of Kashmir. (1): Deta, Bandi (2): Buniyar (3): Sankaragaurisvara (4): Sugandhesa(5): Parihansapura (6): Naranag (7): Drang (8): Watalkadal (9): Shiva (10): Pandrethan (11): Avantiswami (12): Mamal (13): Payar (14): Martand
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Figure 3: A. Martand Sun temple constructed by the King Lalitaditya Muktapida. in the 8Th century AD desolately ruined by the shaking of many large historical earthquakes in the past. B. These isolated stone temples form a complete and homogenous group, singularly uniform in their form and style. C. A keystone slid past in an arch enclosed symmetrically by dressed capstones. D. Zoom out view of the inner chambers of the Sun Temple. E. Colonnade characteristic features of Kashmir temples with their fluted pillars, proportioned bases, doric capitals, massive square architraves to the doors and elegant trefoiled arches with capstone although miserably ruined, still show the old classical architectural style of Kashmir.
None of Kashmir's stone temples has survived without damage. It is certain that most of this damage was initiated by earthquakes. A common feature is the loss of arches made of wedge-shaped blocks (keystone) and monolithic capstone roofs of temples. Speaking of these stone temples, Moorcroft [30] says, "It is scarcely possible to imagine that the state of ruin to which they have been reduced has been the work of time, or even of man, as their solidity is fully equal to that of 4
the most massive monuments of Egypt. Earthquakes must have been the cause of their overthrow." In the recent past, while discussing the 1885 Baramulla earthquake MW 6.7, Walter Lawrence [31] an eye witness to the seismic event records, ".... it must be remembered that the temples of pattan and palace of Srinagar suffered in 1885 earthquake"; followed by Ernest Neve (a medical missionary), [32] in his book Beyond Pir Panjal records, "...and at Pattan, half-way between Srinagar and Baramulla, an old Buddhist temple in ruins was nearly destroyed.". Lately, Anantnag earthquake of 1967 Mw 5.7 caused heavy damage to eighth century Martand temple [33] constructed by the King Lalitaditya Muktapida.
3.2 Wooden Architecture: Although the wooden architecture is prominently associated with advent of Muslim rule (1400 AD) in Kashmir, there is no doubt that the mode that was largely used had an ancient history [34]. Even during the Buddhist and Hindu period, religious and secular buildings were constructed with timber, as is evidenced by several references in Rajtarangani written by Pandit Kalhana in 1149 [35], to the founding of towns and cities, of which due to the impermanence of the material used in their construction, there is now no trace. The technique of woodwork of Kashmir consisted in the elementary set-up of laying one log horizontally on another, usually crosswise in the form of headers and stretchers producing not only the walls, but also on occasions the piers for the support of any superstructure. Single tree trunks were generally employed in case of ordinary pillars. The simplest method of such log construction may be studied in the series of bridges which span the river Jehlum at Srinagar. All of these bridges were built on the cantilever principle and illustrate a system of bridge building which has probably been in practice for many hundreds of years. The main supports, or piers, take the form of a massive wooden structure, in general appearance resembling an inverted pyramid with its truncated apex resting on a solidly built masonry cutwater. Each pier is built up of layers of logs, in alternate courses placed transversely at right angles, in such a manner as to make it sufficiently strong to withstand a fair flood current below and to carry a reasonable load above. It was on this system that most of the wooden buildings in Kashmir were produced, but refined and elaborated to suit their more architectural appearance. The mosque of Shah Hamadan in Srinagar is a typical example of the wooden architecture of the country (Fig.4). The main architectural elements of such an architecture consists of a cubical structure or a body of the building containing a hall or a chamber, a pyramidal roof, often in tiers; and over the whole a slender spire. Much of the walling of the lower portion of this structure is formed of logs, trimmed square and laid in alternate courses (as already described), the log ends producing the effect of a diaper pattern on the sides of the exterior. Speaking of this wooden architecture, Mirza Haider Daughlat in Tarikh-i-Rashidi [36] writes, "In the town there are lofty buildings constructed of fresh-cut pine. Most of these are, at least, five storeys high." Similar mention is made by Abu’l Fazal [37] and Farishta [38]. Later, Francois Bernier (personal physician to Aurangzeb) who in summer of 1665 accompanied Aurangzeb's court to Kashmir left us in his Ninth Letter to M. de Merveilles, an accurate account of Kashmir. Bernier gives a graphic picture of the buildings in a travelogue later translated by Archibald Constable [39], "In the town there are two wooden bridges thrown over the river; the houses, although for most part of wood, are well built and consist of two or three stories. There is however plenty of very fine free stones in the country; some old buildings, and a great number of ancient idol-temples in ruins, are of stone; but wood is preferred on accounts of its cheapness, and the facility with which it is brought from the mountains by means of so many small rivers”. Similar views were expressed by Bellew in 1875 [40] while traveling from Kashgar to Kashmir notes, "The very general use of timber for house-building in Kashmir, and the loose putting together of the beams and logs, is said to be necessitated by the frequency of earthquakes in the country. It seems, however, that other causes are not without potent influence in determining the preference". The general use of wood, however, has been reported more susceptible to fire hazards at frequent intervals which has made havoc with these inflammable edifices, many of which on this account at one time or another having to be rebuilt [41 Hassan]. Finally there was a short interval in the sixteenth and the seventieth centuries when the Mughal emperors brought into state their own style of stone architecture.
A
Figure 4. A. Wooden architecture of Kashmir. B. consisted of elementary set-up of laying one log horizontally on another crosswise in the form of headers and stretchers producing the walls as depicted in part c in the right side.
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3.3 Vernacular Architecture: Most of the vernacular buildings in Kashmir came into existence since the beginning of nineteenth century and can be divided into two basic construction systems. The first system, referred to as Taqq, consists of load-bearing masonry piers and infill walls, with wood "runners" at each floor level used to tie the walls together with the floors (Fig 5). A
Fig. 5. A. Referred as Taqq construction. B. This system of architecture consists of load-bearing masonry piers and infill walls. C. With wood "runners" at each floor level used to tie the walls together with the floors.
Taqq refers to the modular layout of the piers and window bays, i.e., a10-Taqq house is 10 bays wide, thus forming the basic structural bay of the building. The piers are almost always 2.5 to 3 feet, and the bays are approximately 3 feet in width. The super structure usually rests on a 3-4 feet high stone plinth constructed in rubble random masonry. A series of twin wood tie beams called dass separated the stone masonry from the burnt brick masonry of the superstructure and acts as an isolated diaphragm in between two layers. The second system, known as Dhajji-Dewari construction, consists of a braced timber frame with masonry infill. The term Dhajji-Dewari comes from the Persian language and literally means "patchwork quilt wall" which is an appropriate description for the construction to which it refers (Fig 6). Dhajji-Dewari consists of a complete timber frame that is integral with the masonry, which fills in the opening in the frame to form walls. The infill is usually of neat brickwork made from fired or sundried clay. Both Taqq and Dhajji-Dewari of Kashmir are similar to hatil and himis construction of Turkey respectively, beyond its boundaries, perhaps in part because of the widespread influence of Ottoman Empire [31,42]. Dhajji-Dewari and Taqq construction based on square plan evolved for similar economic and cultural reasons that led to the development of similar forms of construction around the world. Its continued common use until 1980 in the Kashmir Valley, most likely, has been in response to the availability of wood and its good performance against seismic shaking [43,44,45]. Very few buildings exist today whose construction is based entirely on this system. Walter Lawrence [31], an eye witness to the 1885 Baramulla earthquake, recorded the perception of people about traditional architecture and states, "... the inhabitants of the valley claim that the apparently frail structures escape when heavier and more massive buildings would succumb". Similar observations were recorded by Frederic Drew [46] in 1875, ".... wood and brick building of two, three, or at most four stories with frame work of wood which confines the brickwork of the walls. These mixed modes of construction are said to be better as against earthquakes which in this country occur with severity than more solid masonry, which would crack". The superstructure, thus, behaves as a framed structure, and accounts for the considerable success these buildings had in withstanding earthquakes. Occasionally, both these construction types can be found in a single building.
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c
b
c a a Fig. 6. Referred to as Dhajji-Dewari, this system of construction served not only to make the best use of available local materials and technology but also proves to be very vigorous in earthquakes. (a) angle-iron straps at the building comer in the bottom photograph. (b) Traditional construction in Kashmir incorporated a mixture of timber and neat brickwork made from fired clay. (c) The timbers are tied together like horizontal ladders (timber runners) that are laid into the walls with runners timber embedded in them.
5. Discussion In attempting to understand human perception of environment, researchers have focused on natural hazards, "those elements in the physical environment harmful to man and caused by forces extraneous to him" [47]. The most common human response to all natural hazards is to bear the losses when they occur [3]. However, our knowledge about human adjustment to earthquake risk is most complete with regard to the construction of buildings designed to resist earthquake stresses. Architecture, in particular, offers a unique means of examining the human environment interchange [5]. The forms that structures took and the methods and material of their construction are indicative of the degree to which known seismic hazards were considered across the world including pastoral valley of Kashmir. Apart from native historiography, the influx of various European travelers and their attention to historical seismicity and its influence on architectural solidity of Kashmir Valley immensely contributed to knowledge of the architectural legacy and its performance during earthquake shaking. In the first instance, there was the classic, aristocratic and hierarchic development of stone monuments of the Buddhist-Hindu period during first millennium. Their state of ruin to which they have been reduced has been the work of earthquakes; analogous to many seismically active regions of the world [48]. These displaced archaeological relics can be used to find active and earthquake prone faults and further show the direction they slipped in during the earthquakes and establish comparative fault slip rates through archaeoseismological studies. This was followed by a period of building with wood, as illustrated by the more democratic folk architecture which prevailed under the Muslim rule; fire at frequent intervals rendered these inflammable edifices to no trace [41]. Finally there was a short interval in the sixteenth and the seventieth centuries when the Mughal emperors brought into state their own style of stone architecture. However, from the last two hundred years Kashmir has witnessed mixed mode architecture consisting of Taqq system (timber laced masonry) and Dhajji-Dewari system (timber frame with hard-fired brick infill walls). Taqq or timber-laced masonry responds well in earthquakes by “working” along the joints between the infilling and the timber frame; the straining and sliding of the masonry and timbers dissipated a significant amount of earthquake energy [49]; thereby act in response to seismic forces by swaying, rather than by attempting to resist them with rigid components and connections [50]. It is the damping from their inelastic behavior that reduces their resonant response to the ground motion [51]. This internal damping may be in the order of 20% compared to 4% in uncracked modern masonry (brick with Portland cement mortar) and 6%-7% after the masonry cracked as has been observed during the 1967 Anantnag earthquake [52]. Similarly, in case of Dhajji-Dewari (formed of horizontal and vertical cage) walls are braced with diagonal cross member at the corner that lends the entire framing a resistance against shear with greater ductility and damping [53]. The closely placed timber studs prevent propagation of shear cracks. This framing also results in breaking 7
up the upper level masonry walls into smaller multiple panels, each of which are independent. The collapse of any one panel will not result in the complete collapse of the wall, and therefore the structure. Small masonry panels surrounded by timber elements have greater safety against out-of-plane collapse. This type of construction is a variation of shared construction traditions that existed throughout history in many parts of the world [54]. It is also very similar to Turkish hatil and himis construction, which was also common beyond the boundaries of Turkey, perhaps in part because of the widespread influence of Ottoman Empire [34, 50]. In Britain, it marks the Elizabethan era and is referred to "half timber", in Germany, it was called "fachwerk", in France, "colombage", in parts of Central and South America, a variant was called "bahareque" [55 Gulkan]. These types of Constructions in all its local manifestation just represent vernacular architecture. This type of dwelling quite clearly serves as much more suitable basis from which to develop constructive techniques necessitated by available technology (Fig.7), resource use options and risk management strategies appropriate to local conditions. Despite the proven track record of the good performance found in the vernacular forms of dwelling construction in Kashmir, such construction is now rarely undertaken. Replacement of traditional construction forms has been dictated both by market forces and cultural changes. An interesting and timely exception to this was found in Kashmir, where reinforced concrete buildings collapsed in 1967 Badgom and 2005 Kashmir earthquake and traditional wooden houses survived without damage. Although seismically suitable, use of timber is declining in building construction even where it used to be the prevalent material on account of vanishing forests due to population pressure. The situation in many countries of the world has in fact become rather alarming on account of the ecological imbalance. Hence use of timber must be restricted in building construction for seismic strengthening weaker construction such as adobe and masonry. Timber is suitable in those areas where it is still abundantly available as a renewable resource.
Fig. 7. Men at work together using a cross-cut saw, still common in the villages of Kashmir. The crosscut saw reached prominence in the Kashmir Valley during late medieval period but quickly became obsolete when power saws started being mass produced during nineteenth century.
6. Conclusion Viewing seismicity from the spatio-temporal perspective and human adjustment thereof, some peculiarities became obvious. First, earthquake hazards to which all Kashmiris were exposed led them to identify various cultural coping practices that have been developed to come to terms with living under the constancy of earthquake threat and that were shared by people in this country. Historical sources and stress analysis reveal that traditional building typologies (Dhajji-Dewari and Taqq) that evolved over time have a definite seismic resistance. Secondly, historical and instrumental seismicity of Kashmir demonstrates that there was a marked tendency for the earthquakes to cluster around NW and SE segments of Kashmir Valley clearly depicts the source zone of seismicity. As a corollary, seismicity brought about cultural transformation by the introduction of linguistic usage in the local parlance. People in Kashmir were more action oriented, display more adaptive behavior when confronted with earthquake hazard and were more willing to accept available technology. These reflected resource use options and recommended adjustments aimed at risk management strategies. In order that these traditional methods and knowledge of building survive, it is important that the faith of the people who live and use these structures is not only nurtured but is also developed keeping in mind larger issue of seismic risk reduction. 8
Acknowledgement We are very much thankful to Abdul Majid Wani [Technical Officer, in the Department of Geography & Regional Development, University of Kashmir] for helping us with photography in the field. We are thankful to anonymous reviewers, for their meticulous review and valuable suggestions for preparing the draft. Thanks are also due to Mr. Mahmood-ul-Ajaz (chief librarian) Sri Pratap College and as usual Shams-ud-Din Shah and M.Yousuf Alie of Sri Pratap School Library, who helped in collating the details of historical earthquakes. Thanks are due to all people at Women’s College library, MA Road, Srinagar especially Farhat Jahan (chief librarian) and Ms. Yasmeen Wani (chief librarian) Degree College Pulwama, for helping in collating the details of the historical earthquakes. Fruitful discussions with Dr. Sajad A Darzi [Department of History, University of Kashmir], has in many ways improved our understanding of History of Kashmir. Thanks are also due to Prof. Mushtaq Ahmad of IMPA Sgr. for providing us library facilities. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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75-84. [21] Bilham R, Bali BS, Bhat MI, S Hough. Historical earthquakes in Srinagar, Kashmir: clues from the Shiva temple at Pandrethan. In: Stewart TM, Niemi, Altunel. E, editors. ancient earthquakes M. Sintubin, I. S., GSA special paper 471 ISBN 9780813724713.2010. [22] Ahmad B, Sana H, Alam A. Macroseismic intensity assessment of 1885 Baramulla Earthquake of northwestern Kashmir Himalaya, using the Environmental Seismic Intensity scale [2007]. Quaternary International .2014;321 :59-64. [23] Ahmad B, Shafi M. Some more earthquakes from Medieval Kashmir. Journal of Seismology.2014; 18:681–686. [24] Ahmad B, Ahmad S, Alam A, Wang S, Bhat MS. Looking for Missing Links in Kashmir: An Update on Nineteenth Century Seismicity. Seismological Research Letters. 2015; 86 (4): 1219-1224. [25] Ahmad S, Alam A, Ahmad B. Comment on: "Earthquake geology of Kashmir Basin and its implications for future large earthquakes" by Shah (2013) "Kashmir Basin Fault and its tectonic significance in NW Himalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, India" by Shah (2015)" International Journal of Earth Sciences.2015. DOI: 10.1007/s00531-015-1240-9. [26] Khoihami PGH. Tarikh-i-Hassan Vol. I & II [Persian Manuscript], Folios 511 & 263.1885. [27] USGS,http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/global/shake/b000gjhz/download/tvguide.txt (Shake mapearthquake information summary, last accessed, 05 November, 2014).NEIC Catalogue 1900-2013. [28] Alam A, Ahmad S, Bhat MS, Ahmad B. Tectonic Evolution of Kashmir Basin in Northwest Himalaya. Geomorphology.2015a; 239: 114-226. [29] Alam A, Ahmad S, Bhat MS, Ahmad B. Response to the Commentary by Shah, A. A. (2015) and further evidence supporting the dextral strike-slip pull-apart evolution of the Kashmir basin along the central Kashmir fault (CKF) 2015. Geomorphology .2015b; DOI 10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.06.017. [30] Moorcroft W, Trebeck G. Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Punjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz, and Bokhara. Sagar Publication, New Delhi.1825. [31] Lawrence WR. The Valley of Kashmir. 1895. London Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press Warehouse Amen Corner, London. [32] Neve A. Thirty years in Kashmir. Edward Arnold, London.1913: p. 316. [33] Wakhaloo G. L, Rastogi S. P. The Anantnag Earthquake of February 20, 1967 Anantnag District, Jammu & Kashmir. Records Geological Survey of India 108, 1967. [34] Brown P Indian Architecture (Islamic Period) D. B. TARAPOREVALA SONS" CO. PVT. LTD. Dadabhai Naoroji Road, Bombay India. 1942. [35] Pandit Kalhana Rajayatarangani 1149. (Sanskrit). [36] Daghlat, Mirza Haider 1546. Tarikh-i-Rashidi (Persian), Folios 325. [37] Allami A. F, The Ain-i-Akbari. The Asiatic Society, Park Street, Calcutta.1993(reprint) [38] Firishta Hindushah, Mohhamad Qasim 1607. Tarikh-i-Firishta (Persian), Folios 262. [39] Bernier F. Travels in Mughal Empire 1656-1668. trans. by Archibald Constable on the basis of Irving Brock's version, ed. by Vincent A. Smith revised by Archibald Constable, (1891) 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, London.1670. [40] Bellew, H. W, Kashmir and Kashghar. A narrative of the journey of the embassy to Kashghar in 1873-74, 1875 London, Trübner. [41] Hassan P G H. Ta [42] Langenbach R. Of Taqq and Dhaji Dwari: The Earthquake Resistant Mud and Brick Architecture of Kashmir. Proceedings, 10
International Conference on Earthen Architecture, Las Cruces, New Maxico, Getty Conservation Institute, November 1990, re-published in Traditional Southwest Magazine, 1992 [43] Forester, G. [1808] A Journey from Bengal to England, through the northern part of India, Kashmire, Afghanistan and Persia and into Russia by the Caspian Sea. Faulder & Sons, New Bond Street, London [44] Wakefield W. The Happy Valley: sketches of Kashmir & the Kashmiris.1879. [45] Collett J. A Guide for Visitors to Kashmir ( revised and corrected by A. MITRA). 1898. New Man & Company, Calcutta P 204. [46] Drew, F 1975 The Jummoo and Kashmir Territories: A Geographical Account. E. Stanford, London. [47] Burton I, Kates RW. The perception of natural hazards in resource management. Natural Resource Journal .1964;3 (3): 412-441. [48] Shmuel Marco Recognition of earthquake-related damage in archaeological sites: Examples from the Dead Sea fault zone. Tectonophysics 453 (2008) 148–156. [49] A. H. Shah, Dar A. R. G. Shahnaz. Reliability and Experimental Study on the Seismic Resistance Capabilities of Brick Nogged Timber Frame Construction (Dhajji-Dewari). 15 WCEE Lisboa 2012 [50] Langenbach R. Don't Tear it Down? Preserving the Earthquake Resistant vernacular Architecture of Kashmir. UNESCO, New Delhi Office. 2009. [51] Mohd Akeeb Dar Sajad Ahmad. Traditional Earthquake Resistant Systems of Kashmir. International Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering Research Vol. 2, Issue 2, pp: (86-92), Month: October 2014 - March 2015. [52] Gosain, N. and A.S. Arya, 1967. "A Report on Anantnag Earthquake of February 20, 1967,” Bulletin of the Indian Society of Earthquake Technology, Vol 4, # 3, September, 1967. [53] Shah V.R.and Tayyibji Riyaz The Kashmir House its Seismic Adequacy and the Question of Social Sustainability. The 14 th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering October 12-17, 2008, Beijing, China [54] Adem Doğangün Ö.İskender Tuluk Ramazan Livaoğlu Ramazan Acar. Traditional wooden buildings and their damages during earthquakes in Turkey. Engineering Failure Analysis. 13, 6, 2006, 981–996. [55] Polat GÜLKAN and Randolph LANGENBACH. THE EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE OF TRADITIONAL TIMBER AND MASONRY DWELLINGS IN TURKEY. 13th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering Vancouver, B.C., Canada August 1-6, 2004 Paper No. 2297
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PII: DOI: Reference:
S2212-4209(16)30284-9 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2016.11.005 IJDRR448
To appear in: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction Received date: 16 June 2016 Revised date: 8 November 2016 Accepted date: 9 November 2016 Cite this article as: Bashir Ahmad, Akhtar Alam, M. Sultan Bhat, Shabir Ahmad, Muzamil Shafi and Rehana Rasool, Seismic Risk Reduction through Indigenous Architecture in Kashmir Valley, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2016.11.005 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting galley proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Seismic Risk Reduction through Indigenous Architecture in Kashmir Valley Bashir Ahmada, Akhtar Alamb M. Sultan Bhatc Shabir Ahmadd Muzamil Shafie Rehana Rasoolf a Department of Geology, Nawakadal School, Safakadal, Sekidafar Road, Srinagar-190002, India. b,c,d,f Department of Geography & Regional Development, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar-190006, India. e Shah-i-Hamadan Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar-190006, India. [Tectonics and Natural Hazards Research Group] * Corresponding Author: Bashir Ahmad E-mail: [email protected] Tel: + (91) 9419011778 Fax: + (91) - (0) 194- 2450047 Abstract Since its inception, Kashmir Valley has been characterized by intense seismicity that has left a strong imprint on the country’s landscape, heritage and traditions. In fact, its architectural heritage is largely shaped by the interrelationship of the natural with the human and of the physical with the social. Beginning with classical stone architecture during the first millennium, followed by a period of building with wood, Kashmir finally witnessed vernacular (mixed mode) architecture in the form of Taqq and Deji-i-Dewari from the last two centuries. Taqq and Dhajji-Dewari architecture reflects seismic risk reduction to earthquake threat through the use of timber-braced frame with masonry infill. Sporadic occurrence of earthquakes in Kashmir over the centuries led Kashmir society to learn that to fight earthquakes we ought to know them: how they cause damage, where they occur repeatedly and more importantly how to minimize the seismic risk. This seismic risk reduction was necessitated by available technology, resource use option and risk management strategies. Even the dialectics often reflects how the people were influenced by the seismicity of the region they lived in. Key words: Seismic Architecture; Kashmir History; Dhajji-Dewari Taqq; Risk Reduction 1. Introduction Over the past few decades, considerable amount of knowledge has been accumulated on how humans perceive hazards. The human perception of hazards is closely linked to the adjustment people make to them. The variety of hazards make the devising of strategies for risk reduction more variant; and the process of adjustment is influenced by individual personality, culture and physical environment [1]. In this context, earth and climate scientists and engineers tend to focus on monitoring, predicting and calculating probabilities and parameters of extreme natural hazards [2]; while as, social scientists are interested in how people and societies perceive the potential danger and how they adjust to possible threats [see for the review 3,4,1,5]. Individuals and societies said to have a low perception of risk allegedly adjust poorly to possible risks [2]. People and communities considered to have high risk perception are assumed to adjust well to natural hazards [4,6,7,8]. This ability to adjust and adapt reflects resource use options and risk management strategies to prepare for, avoid or moderate, and recover from exposure effects [9]. It is essentially synonymous with human occupance as used by Robert Kates [3]; or normalization of threat as described by Gregory Bankoff [5]; and is influenced by the characteristics of the human system including social institution, experience with previous risk, the range of technologies available for adaptation and adjustment [10]. Earthquakes are an excellent case in point. There has been a great amount of risk perception among the residents of seismically active areas [see for the review 5,3,11,12]; and in turn humans seek to adjust to damages by planning for them in order to minimize damage through structural adaptation rather evacuation remains the normal precautionary measure [3]. Kashmir was not immune to such practices in the past and the archival records provide us enough evidence that seismic requirements in buildings and care in construction to reduce seismic risk were in force in Kashmir Valley during historical times. Consequently, seismic perspective has made evident how causal earthquakes have been responsible in bringing about cultural transformation. Present study explores the seismicity of Kashmir thereby providing an opportunity to study the influence on the evolution of indigenous architecture of Kashmir over the centuries. 2. Seismicity of Kashmir Valley Seismicity in the Himalayan region predominantly results from collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates, which are converging at a relative rate of 40-50 mm/yr [13]. Apart from increased stresses in the NW-SE loop of the HazaraKashmir Syntaxis (HKS), caused by the MW 7.6 2005 Kashmir earthquake [14,15,16,17,18]; several severe earthquakes have also been reported to have occurred in this region in the preceding 1000 years, most notably in 1501, 1555, 1669, 1
1736, 1779, 1824, 1828 and 1885 [19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. Historical earthquake data reveals important information about their occurrence and felt area. The seismicity appears to have occurred in close space-and-time sequence; for example, the seismic events of 2082-2041 BC, 844 AD, 1828 AD, 1863 AD, 1877 AD and 1885 AD had a marked tendency to cluster in northwest Kashmir Valley. Moreover, major advancements in understanding earthquakes were spurred by the occurrence of catastrophic seismic events like 1555 AD and 1885 AD that attracted the attention of contemporary scholars of the time. These earthquakes have caused destructive effects on natural and built environment. These seismic events provide some degree of understanding that there was a marked tendency for the earthquakes to cluster in space around northwest Kashmir Valley thereby clearly depicting a source zone of historical earthquakes. Spatio-temporal characteristics involved in these seismic events impelled natives to coin and give currency to the word "watrubunil" in the local parlance. Based on an appended footnote (1424), the subtext for word “watrubunil” is clearly given by Hassan Khoihami in his book Tarikh-i-Hassan [26]. In fact “watrubunil” is a compound word comprised of “watru” and “bunil” which means "north" and "earthquake" respectively and thereby brought to light sociolinguistic application of the term. It also connotes the historical process by which a country was regularly affected by earthquakes. We still find merit in this view, sequel to historical earthquakes, instrumental seismic data [27] (Fig.1) shows earthquake swarms (seismic events where a local area experiences sequences of many earthquakes striking in a relatively short period of time) located in NNW and SSE extensions of the Kashmir Valley; noticeably corresponding to the direction of strike-slip along Central Kashmir Fault (CKF) [28,29]. Thus, earthquake record of the Kashmir Valley (whether instrumental or historical) is enough to guide us (unambiguously) to the source zone of seismicity and becomes increasingly precise as we go back in time.
Figure 1 Spatial distribution pattern of historical seismic events (stars) and instrumental (circles) (NEIC-catalogue, 1900–2013) in and around the Kashmir Valley [27].
3. Kashmir Architecture The architecture of Kashmir, having large variation both in terms of construction methodology and style influenced by alien and indigenous styles, has a long history and evolved through various stages. The architecture of Kashmir can be broadly classified into three distinct styles: Stone, Wooden and Vernacular. 2
3.1 Stone Architecture: Kashmir Valley witnessed the development of its classical stone architecture of the Buddhist-Hindu Period that flourished during the first millennium AD. Up till now, the extent of architectural remains had overwhelmingly been in the form of stone temples made of large dressed solid stone blocks cut out of rocks. Only isolated remains of this architecture continued to create its great monuments across the Kashmir Valley (Fig.2). The characteristic features of Kashmir temples consist of fine cloisters and the temple they contain. These temples, with their fluted pillars, proportioned bases, Doric capitals, massive square architraves to the doors and elegant trefoiled arches with capstone although desolately ruined, still show the old classical architectural style of Kashmir (Fig.3). Barring Buddhist temple Jyeshteswara (built by Jaloka, son of Asoka, who reigned about 220 BC with octagonal plan) situated at the Shankaracharya hillock, these stone temples form a complete and homogenous group, singularly uniform in their style (Fig.3 B) with square plan. The principal features of these temples are the chiseled trefoiled arches ornamented on the exterior walls at regular intervals depicting basic architectural elements found in all stone temples of Kashmir.
Fig. 2. Isolated remains of stone temples of Kashmir. (1): Deta, Bandi (2): Buniyar (3): Sankaragaurisvara (4): Sugandhesa(5): Parihansapura (6): Naranag (7): Drang (8): Watalkadal (9): Shiva (10): Pandrethan (11): Avantiswami (12): Mamal (13): Payar (14): Martand
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Figure 3: A. Martand Sun temple constructed by the King Lalitaditya Muktapida. in the 8Th century AD desolately ruined by the shaking of many large historical earthquakes in the past. B. These isolated stone temples form a complete and homogenous group, singularly uniform in their form and style. C. A keystone slid past in an arch enclosed symmetrically by dressed capstones. D. Zoom out view of the inner chambers of the Sun Temple. E. Colonnade characteristic features of Kashmir temples with their fluted pillars, proportioned bases, doric capitals, massive square architraves to the doors and elegant trefoiled arches with capstone although miserably ruined, still show the old classical architectural style of Kashmir.
None of Kashmir's stone temples has survived without damage. It is certain that most of this damage was initiated by earthquakes. A common feature is the loss of arches made of wedge-shaped blocks (keystone) and monolithic capstone roofs of temples. Speaking of these stone temples, Moorcroft [30] says, "It is scarcely possible to imagine that the state of ruin to which they have been reduced has been the work of time, or even of man, as their solidity is fully equal to that of 4
the most massive monuments of Egypt. Earthquakes must have been the cause of their overthrow." In the recent past, while discussing the 1885 Baramulla earthquake MW 6.7, Walter Lawrence [31] an eye witness to the seismic event records, ".... it must be remembered that the temples of pattan and palace of Srinagar suffered in 1885 earthquake"; followed by Ernest Neve (a medical missionary), [32] in his book Beyond Pir Panjal records, "...and at Pattan, half-way between Srinagar and Baramulla, an old Buddhist temple in ruins was nearly destroyed.". Lately, Anantnag earthquake of 1967 Mw 5.7 caused heavy damage to eighth century Martand temple [33] constructed by the King Lalitaditya Muktapida.
3.2 Wooden Architecture: Although the wooden architecture is prominently associated with advent of Muslim rule (1400 AD) in Kashmir, there is no doubt that the mode that was largely used had an ancient history [34]. Even during the Buddhist and Hindu period, religious and secular buildings were constructed with timber, as is evidenced by several references in Rajtarangani written by Pandit Kalhana in 1149 [35], to the founding of towns and cities, of which due to the impermanence of the material used in their construction, there is now no trace. The technique of woodwork of Kashmir consisted in the elementary set-up of laying one log horizontally on another, usually crosswise in the form of headers and stretchers producing not only the walls, but also on occasions the piers for the support of any superstructure. Single tree trunks were generally employed in case of ordinary pillars. The simplest method of such log construction may be studied in the series of bridges which span the river Jehlum at Srinagar. All of these bridges were built on the cantilever principle and illustrate a system of bridge building which has probably been in practice for many hundreds of years. The main supports, or piers, take the form of a massive wooden structure, in general appearance resembling an inverted pyramid with its truncated apex resting on a solidly built masonry cutwater. Each pier is built up of layers of logs, in alternate courses placed transversely at right angles, in such a manner as to make it sufficiently strong to withstand a fair flood current below and to carry a reasonable load above. It was on this system that most of the wooden buildings in Kashmir were produced, but refined and elaborated to suit their more architectural appearance. The mosque of Shah Hamadan in Srinagar is a typical example of the wooden architecture of the country (Fig.4). The main architectural elements of such an architecture consists of a cubical structure or a body of the building containing a hall or a chamber, a pyramidal roof, often in tiers; and over the whole a slender spire. Much of the walling of the lower portion of this structure is formed of logs, trimmed square and laid in alternate courses (as already described), the log ends producing the effect of a diaper pattern on the sides of the exterior. Speaking of this wooden architecture, Mirza Haider Daughlat in Tarikh-i-Rashidi [36] writes, "In the town there are lofty buildings constructed of fresh-cut pine. Most of these are, at least, five storeys high." Similar mention is made by Abu’l Fazal [37] and Farishta [38]. Later, Francois Bernier (personal physician to Aurangzeb) who in summer of 1665 accompanied Aurangzeb's court to Kashmir left us in his Ninth Letter to M. de Merveilles, an accurate account of Kashmir. Bernier gives a graphic picture of the buildings in a travelogue later translated by Archibald Constable [39], "In the town there are two wooden bridges thrown over the river; the houses, although for most part of wood, are well built and consist of two or three stories. There is however plenty of very fine free stones in the country; some old buildings, and a great number of ancient idol-temples in ruins, are of stone; but wood is preferred on accounts of its cheapness, and the facility with which it is brought from the mountains by means of so many small rivers”. Similar views were expressed by Bellew in 1875 [40] while traveling from Kashgar to Kashmir notes, "The very general use of timber for house-building in Kashmir, and the loose putting together of the beams and logs, is said to be necessitated by the frequency of earthquakes in the country. It seems, however, that other causes are not without potent influence in determining the preference". The general use of wood, however, has been reported more susceptible to fire hazards at frequent intervals which has made havoc with these inflammable edifices, many of which on this account at one time or another having to be rebuilt [41 Hassan]. Finally there was a short interval in the sixteenth and the seventieth centuries when the Mughal emperors brought into state their own style of stone architecture.
A
Figure 4. A. Wooden architecture of Kashmir. B. consisted of elementary set-up of laying one log horizontally on another crosswise in the form of headers and stretchers producing the walls as depicted in part c in the right side.
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3.3 Vernacular Architecture: Most of the vernacular buildings in Kashmir came into existence since the beginning of nineteenth century and can be divided into two basic construction systems. The first system, referred to as Taqq, consists of load-bearing masonry piers and infill walls, with wood "runners" at each floor level used to tie the walls together with the floors (Fig 5). A
Fig. 5. A. Referred as Taqq construction. B. This system of architecture consists of load-bearing masonry piers and infill walls. C. With wood "runners" at each floor level used to tie the walls together with the floors.
Taqq refers to the modular layout of the piers and window bays, i.e., a10-Taqq house is 10 bays wide, thus forming the basic structural bay of the building. The piers are almost always 2.5 to 3 feet, and the bays are approximately 3 feet in width. The super structure usually rests on a 3-4 feet high stone plinth constructed in rubble random masonry. A series of twin wood tie beams called dass separated the stone masonry from the burnt brick masonry of the superstructure and acts as an isolated diaphragm in between two layers. The second system, known as Dhajji-Dewari construction, consists of a braced timber frame with masonry infill. The term Dhajji-Dewari comes from the Persian language and literally means "patchwork quilt wall" which is an appropriate description for the construction to which it refers (Fig 6). Dhajji-Dewari consists of a complete timber frame that is integral with the masonry, which fills in the opening in the frame to form walls. The infill is usually of neat brickwork made from fired or sundried clay. Both Taqq and Dhajji-Dewari of Kashmir are similar to hatil and himis construction of Turkey respectively, beyond its boundaries, perhaps in part because of the widespread influence of Ottoman Empire [31,42]. Dhajji-Dewari and Taqq construction based on square plan evolved for similar economic and cultural reasons that led to the development of similar forms of construction around the world. Its continued common use until 1980 in the Kashmir Valley, most likely, has been in response to the availability of wood and its good performance against seismic shaking [43,44,45]. Very few buildings exist today whose construction is based entirely on this system. Walter Lawrence [31], an eye witness to the 1885 Baramulla earthquake, recorded the perception of people about traditional architecture and states, "... the inhabitants of the valley claim that the apparently frail structures escape when heavier and more massive buildings would succumb". Similar observations were recorded by Frederic Drew [46] in 1875, ".... wood and brick building of two, three, or at most four stories with frame work of wood which confines the brickwork of the walls. These mixed modes of construction are said to be better as against earthquakes which in this country occur with severity than more solid masonry, which would crack". The superstructure, thus, behaves as a framed structure, and accounts for the considerable success these buildings had in withstanding earthquakes. Occasionally, both these construction types can be found in a single building.
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c
b
c a a Fig. 6. Referred to as Dhajji-Dewari, this system of construction served not only to make the best use of available local materials and technology but also proves to be very vigorous in earthquakes. (a) angle-iron straps at the building comer in the bottom photograph. (b) Traditional construction in Kashmir incorporated a mixture of timber and neat brickwork made from fired clay. (c) The timbers are tied together like horizontal ladders (timber runners) that are laid into the walls with runners timber embedded in them.
5. Discussion In attempting to understand human perception of environment, researchers have focused on natural hazards, "those elements in the physical environment harmful to man and caused by forces extraneous to him" [47]. The most common human response to all natural hazards is to bear the losses when they occur [3]. However, our knowledge about human adjustment to earthquake risk is most complete with regard to the construction of buildings designed to resist earthquake stresses. Architecture, in particular, offers a unique means of examining the human environment interchange [5]. The forms that structures took and the methods and material of their construction are indicative of the degree to which known seismic hazards were considered across the world including pastoral valley of Kashmir. Apart from native historiography, the influx of various European travelers and their attention to historical seismicity and its influence on architectural solidity of Kashmir Valley immensely contributed to knowledge of the architectural legacy and its performance during earthquake shaking. In the first instance, there was the classic, aristocratic and hierarchic development of stone monuments of the Buddhist-Hindu period during first millennium. Their state of ruin to which they have been reduced has been the work of earthquakes; analogous to many seismically active regions of the world [48]. These displaced archaeological relics can be used to find active and earthquake prone faults and further show the direction they slipped in during the earthquakes and establish comparative fault slip rates through archaeoseismological studies. This was followed by a period of building with wood, as illustrated by the more democratic folk architecture which prevailed under the Muslim rule; fire at frequent intervals rendered these inflammable edifices to no trace [41]. Finally there was a short interval in the sixteenth and the seventieth centuries when the Mughal emperors brought into state their own style of stone architecture. However, from the last two hundred years Kashmir has witnessed mixed mode architecture consisting of Taqq system (timber laced masonry) and Dhajji-Dewari system (timber frame with hard-fired brick infill walls). Taqq or timber-laced masonry responds well in earthquakes by “working” along the joints between the infilling and the timber frame; the straining and sliding of the masonry and timbers dissipated a significant amount of earthquake energy [49]; thereby act in response to seismic forces by swaying, rather than by attempting to resist them with rigid components and connections [50]. It is the damping from their inelastic behavior that reduces their resonant response to the ground motion [51]. This internal damping may be in the order of 20% compared to 4% in uncracked modern masonry (brick with Portland cement mortar) and 6%-7% after the masonry cracked as has been observed during the 1967 Anantnag earthquake [52]. Similarly, in case of Dhajji-Dewari (formed of horizontal and vertical cage) walls are braced with diagonal cross member at the corner that lends the entire framing a resistance against shear with greater ductility and damping [53]. The closely placed timber studs prevent propagation of shear cracks. This framing also results in breaking 7
up the upper level masonry walls into smaller multiple panels, each of which are independent. The collapse of any one panel will not result in the complete collapse of the wall, and therefore the structure. Small masonry panels surrounded by timber elements have greater safety against out-of-plane collapse. This type of construction is a variation of shared construction traditions that existed throughout history in many parts of the world [54]. It is also very similar to Turkish hatil and himis construction, which was also common beyond the boundaries of Turkey, perhaps in part because of the widespread influence of Ottoman Empire [34, 50]. In Britain, it marks the Elizabethan era and is referred to "half timber", in Germany, it was called "fachwerk", in France, "colombage", in parts of Central and South America, a variant was called "bahareque" [55 Gulkan]. These types of Constructions in all its local manifestation just represent vernacular architecture. This type of dwelling quite clearly serves as much more suitable basis from which to develop constructive techniques necessitated by available technology (Fig.7), resource use options and risk management strategies appropriate to local conditions. Despite the proven track record of the good performance found in the vernacular forms of dwelling construction in Kashmir, such construction is now rarely undertaken. Replacement of traditional construction forms has been dictated both by market forces and cultural changes. An interesting and timely exception to this was found in Kashmir, where reinforced concrete buildings collapsed in 1967 Badgom and 2005 Kashmir earthquake and traditional wooden houses survived without damage. Although seismically suitable, use of timber is declining in building construction even where it used to be the prevalent material on account of vanishing forests due to population pressure. The situation in many countries of the world has in fact become rather alarming on account of the ecological imbalance. Hence use of timber must be restricted in building construction for seismic strengthening weaker construction such as adobe and masonry. Timber is suitable in those areas where it is still abundantly available as a renewable resource.
Fig. 7. Men at work together using a cross-cut saw, still common in the villages of Kashmir. The crosscut saw reached prominence in the Kashmir Valley during late medieval period but quickly became obsolete when power saws started being mass produced during nineteenth century.
6. Conclusion Viewing seismicity from the spatio-temporal perspective and human adjustment thereof, some peculiarities became obvious. First, earthquake hazards to which all Kashmiris were exposed led them to identify various cultural coping practices that have been developed to come to terms with living under the constancy of earthquake threat and that were shared by people in this country. Historical sources and stress analysis reveal that traditional building typologies (Dhajji-Dewari and Taqq) that evolved over time have a definite seismic resistance. Secondly, historical and instrumental seismicity of Kashmir demonstrates that there was a marked tendency for the earthquakes to cluster around NW and SE segments of Kashmir Valley clearly depicts the source zone of seismicity. As a corollary, seismicity brought about cultural transformation by the introduction of linguistic usage in the local parlance. People in Kashmir were more action oriented, display more adaptive behavior when confronted with earthquake hazard and were more willing to accept available technology. These reflected resource use options and recommended adjustments aimed at risk management strategies. In order that these traditional methods and knowledge of building survive, it is important that the faith of the people who live and use these structures is not only nurtured but is also developed keeping in mind larger issue of seismic risk reduction. 8
Acknowledgement We are very much thankful to Abdul Majid Wani [Technical Officer, in the Department of Geography & Regional Development, University of Kashmir] for helping us with photography in the field. We are thankful to anonymous reviewers, for their meticulous review and valuable suggestions for preparing the draft. Thanks are also due to Mr. Mahmood-ul-Ajaz (chief librarian) Sri Pratap College and as usual Shams-ud-Din Shah and M.Yousuf Alie of Sri Pratap School Library, who helped in collating the details of historical earthquakes. Thanks are due to all people at Women’s College library, MA Road, Srinagar especially Farhat Jahan (chief librarian) and Ms. Yasmeen Wani (chief librarian) Degree College Pulwama, for helping in collating the details of the historical earthquakes. Fruitful discussions with Dr. Sajad A Darzi [Department of History, University of Kashmir], has in many ways improved our understanding of History of Kashmir. Thanks are also due to Prof. Mushtaq Ahmad of IMPA Sgr. for providing us library facilities. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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