Remembering Ornithologist from Kashmir

Prof B L Kaul

blkaul@gmail.com

Master Samsar Chand Koul was born into a middle-class Kashmiri Pandit family in 1883 at Motiyar, Rainawari, Srinagar. He was married to Srimati Lachh Kuji, a pious lady, and is remembered as a renowned educationist and ornithologist of twentieth-century Kashmir. His friends, colleagues, and students affectionately called him "Sam Kak."

A graduate with Persian and Urdu, he taught Geography and Persian at C.M.S. High School, Fateh Kadal, Srinagar (later renamed Central High School), for over forty years. During the course of his teaching career, he developed an interest among his students in natural history and bird-watching, fields of study that were then largely unknown in Jammu and Kashmir. In order to inculcate an interest in nature studies among his students, he took them on field and trekking trips to areas in and around Srinagar and beyond.

Along with his students, he collected eggshells, bird nests, fossils, flowering plants, and plants with medicinal properties. These were later displayed in a room of his school, which he converted into a museum. All those who visited his museum admired his efforts. His work was so well regarded and appreciated by British Government officials, colleagues, and even common people that he became a household name.

The founder Principal of C.M.S. High School and pioneer of modern education in Jammu and Kashmir, Rev. Canon C. E. Tyndale-Biscoe, was so impressed with him that, while writing a foreword to Master Ji's book, Beautiful Valleys of Kashmir and Ladakh, he wrote:

"I am grateful to Samsar Chand for having taught his boys to love birds through his teaching natural history."

A widely travelled person, Master Ji, along with his students, had scaled some of the mountain peaks of the Kashmir Valley, namely Mahadev, Harmokh, and Kolahoi. He had also reached some famous glaciers, including Botkul, Harbhagwan, Harmokh, Kolahoi, and Thajwas. He passed through the beautiful meadows of Kashmir, such as Allapather, Bearam Galli, Bungus, Gurez Valley, Jamia Galli, and Tosch Maidan. He had also rowed through some of the great high-altitude lakes of Kashmir, including Gangabal, Harnag, Kaunsernag, Kolsar, Marsar, Sheshnag, Tarsar, and Vishnusar.

For bird-watching, both local and migratory, Master Ji selected Anchar Lake, Hokersar, Ferozepur Nallah (Tangmarg), the floating gardens of Dal Lake, and the islets covered with dense willows and poplar trees.

Salim Ali, the great "Birdman of India" and renowned ornithologist, joined him in bird-watching at Anchar Lake and Dal Lake. Together, they identified the Brown Dipper, Blue-headed Rock Thrush, Himalayan Black Bulbul, Himalayan Whistling Thrush, Hoopoe, Indian Bush Chat, Jungle Crow, Stoliczka's Bush Chat, Turtle Dove, and Woodpecker.

His floral collection included Aster (Aster falconeri), Windflower (Anemone), Alpine Columbine (Aquilegia), Bird-in-Bush (Corydalis cashmeriana), and Primrose (Primula reptans and Primula rosea). Some of his herbal collections from the high mountain ridges of Kashmir included Wormwood (Artemisia), Indian Indigo (Indigofera), Sage (Salvia), and Indian Costus (Saussurea lappa). These were preserved by him in grass-made baskets and were used for treating ailments such as joint pain, skin diseases, coughs, and colds. All these collections were neatly preserved and displayed in his school museum.

With a strong passion for the outdoors, Samsar Chand's favourite places included Achabal, Anantnag, Gulmarg, Khirbhawani, Nagdandi, and places of special historical interest, including the ancient monuments at Parihaspore, Martand, and Kothyarwon. He travelled across the world with the British and was an avid collector of traditional attire, eggshells, and bird nests from different parts of the world (Wikipedia). His work also earned him an opportunity to travel overseas, including across the Bay of Bengal to Burma in 1935.

He was honoured with membership of the National Geographical Society, Washington; the Royal Geographical Society of Canada; and the Society of World Bird Watchers, England, as early as the 1950s.

Master Samsar Chand was an avid writer and author. His books include:

1. Beautiful Valleys of Kashmir and Ladakh

2. Srinagar and Its Environs

3. Birds of Kashmir (Normal Press, Srinagar)

4. The Mysterious Cave of Amarnath

5. The Kheerbhawani Temple

At the request of his grandson, Utpal Kaul, Late Prof. M. K. Raina, Prof. P. L. Koul, and I revised, enlarged, and updated Birds of Kashmir, with a foreword written by the distinguished British ornithologist Prof. Tim Birkhead F.R.S., University of Sheffield, U.K.

In his foreword, Prof. Birkhead writes:

"Relatively few books are sufficiently enduring and successful to go through successive editions spanning over eighty years, yet this is what Pandit Samsar Chand Koul's Birds of Kashmir is doing. Now in its fourth edition, Birds of Kashmir has been revised, enlarged, and updated by Maharaj Raina, Bansi Kaul, and Pearay Koul. Sadly, the first author, Maharaj Raina, succumbed to COVID after the book had been completed and did not live to see it published.

"Kashmir, the most northerly and wonderfully scenic region of India, supports a distinct avifauna described here in an accessible and enthusiastic way. But this is more than an account of Kashmiri birds; it is, in its own way, a handbook of ornithology. The range of topics…"

Prof. Birkhead further writes:

"Samsar Chand Koul was passionate about birds and concerned with the conservation of Kashmiri birds. I hope that this book will inspire a generation to do the same."

There has been a delay in its release, but we have been given to understand by the publishers that the book is currently in print.

To honour the memory of Master Samsar Chand Koul, the present author dedicated the sixth volume of his internationally acclaimed seven-volume treatise, Advances in Fish and Wildlife Ecology and Biology, published by Daya Publishing House in 2015.

It is interesting that, while the rest of the world was trying to understand the importance of birds, ecology, and the environment, Master Ji had already laid the foundation for these fields in Kashmir. Unfortunately, however, the importance of his work was not recognized, and little was done to consolidate and develop these fields for the overall betterment of Jammu and Kashmir, despite the fact that the region had produced some distinguished personalities in these disciplines.

On the contrary, his British colleagues from C.M.S. High School, Srinagar, appreciated his work and were instrumental in securing for him a small wartime pension from the British Government.

Recently, the great-grandson of Master Ji, Aditya Raj Kaul, a senior journalist, wrote on X and Facebook:

"Thrilled to hear Australia's leading biologist and zoologist, 96-year-old Cecil Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe, speaking about my great-grandfather, 'Babb'-Master Samsar Chand Kaul-in his recent interview with a media house in Kashmir."

I reproduce here some excerpts from his X and Facebook posts:

"Born in Kashmir in 1929, Tyndale-Biscoe went on to become one of Australia's distinguished zoologists, with pioneering work in marsupial biology and reproductive physiology. For the Kaul family, his recollections offer a remarkable link between Kashmir and Australian science and a reminder of the influence a teacher can have across generations.

"His [Master Ji's] interest extended beyond science. He was known for encouraging compassion towards animals and for educating poor students without seeking payment. His interests also encompassed astronomy, Sanskrit, Hindu philosophy, and Kashmir Shaivism." The renowned Australian zoologist Prof. Cecil Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe, in a 1999 interview with Prof. Frank Fenner about his childhood memories in Kashmir, said:

"Kashmir was a wonderful place to grow up. Spring is really a remarkable time there. Some of the Kashmir masters in the school my father and grandfather ran were interested in animals. One in particular, a dear man called Samsar Chand Koul, who wrote several books on birds and flowers of Kashmir, was like an uncle to me as a boy, and I got my first interest in birds, plants, and butterflies from him."

Aditya Raj Kaul further writes:

"It is a beautiful reminder of how a teacher, one mentor, or simply one person who takes the time to share their knowledge can influence a life and sometimes, through that life, the course of science itself."

It is important to mention here that an article by Dr. Amit Sarwal, titled "Australian Zoologist Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe Recalls Kashmiri Mentor Samsar Chand Koul Who Inspired His Love of Nature," was published in The Australia Today on 29 August 2026.

I feel honoured to have been asked to write about Master Samsar Chand Koul, the celebrated teacher and ornithologist who inspired at least three generations of Kashmiris, including myself, to become naturalists and bird lovers.

(My thanks to Prof. Dr. P. L. Koul and Surender  Koul for providing valuable inputs.)