Theos-Talk Archives (May 2006 Message tt00203)

There are a number of primary source documents which show that 
Master K.H. was known as "Cashmere" ("Kashmir" or other variant 
spellings) especially during the years 1875-1878 when H.P.B. and 
Olcott were living in New York City.

In an 1881 letter, Olcott tells Mr. Hume: 

"I have also personally known ---- since 1875. He is of quite a 
different, a gentler, type, yet the bosom friend of the other [i.e. 
Master Morya]." (Quoted from Hints On Esoteric Theosophy, No. 1, 
1882, p. 83.)   

Unfortunately, the name is deleted in the printed version of the 
letter, but from references in this letter and other documents, it 
can be reasonably concluded that ---- is Koot Hoomi. Therefore 
Olcott's statement indicates that the Colonel had known K.H. since 
1875. 

In a letter dated January 12, 1881, William Q. Judge in New York, 
writing to "H.P.B. and Co. . ." in Bombay, says:

"Now I would be very much pleased could I know from whom it [the 
note] came, whether Kashmir or M. or who of all the long list of 
great ones. . . .I was highly favored with a picture of the 
latter. . . ." 

Annie Besant adds a footnote to clarify Judge's reference 
to "Kashmir" and "M." Her footnote reads: "The Masters K.H. and M." 
In other words, "Kashmir" is the Master K.H. while "M." is the 
Master Morya. (Quoted in Annie Besant's The Case Against W.Q. Judge, 
1895, pp. 37-38.)

In refuting a critic of Madame Blavatsky's, W.Q. Judge (in his 1892 
article "Madame Blavatsky in India") brings up the following point:

". . . I may be allowed to say that it [i.e., the name 'Koot Hoomi'] 
was not originally 'Cotthume,' but was one [i.e., another 
name 'Kashmir'] that I and others in New York were perfectly 
familiar with. . . ." (See W.Q. Judge's Echoes Of The Orient, Vol. 
III, p. 203.) 

In a January, 1882 letter to Olcott, the Master Morya tells the 
Colonel:

"K.H.'s conditions are changed, you must remember, he is no more 
the 'Kasmiri' of old." (Letters From The Masters Of The Wisdom, 
Second Series, Letter 35.) 

In a January 6, 1886 letter, Madame Blavatsky, writing to Olcott, 
informs him :

". . . Countess [Wachtmeister is] here, and she sees I have almost 
no books. Master and Kashmiri [are] dictating in turn [portions of 
the Secret Doctrine manuscript]. . . ." (Quoted in Boris de 
Zirkoff's Rebirth Of The Occult Tradition, 1977, p. 23.) 

Also during this same month (January, 1886), Dr. William Hubbe-
Schleiden received a note from the Master M., which reads in part:

". . .the 'Secret Doctrine' is dictated to Upasika [H.P.B.] partly 
by myself & partly by my Brother K.H." (Quoted in Boris de Zirkoff's 
Rebirth Of The Occult Tradition, 1977, p. 16.) 

Collating information from these two letters, H.P.B.'s reference 
to "Master" is to "M." (Morya) and her reference to "Kashmiri" is 
to "K.H." (Koot Hoomi).

Even William Emmette Coleman, one of H.P.B.'s most hostile critics, 
knew that:

"Towards the latter part of her stay in America, H.P.B. introduced 
to Messrs. Olcott and Judge an adept called 'The Kashmiri Brother.'" 

A few lines later, Coleman adds that 

". . . he (K.H.) was known in America as 'The Kashmiri Brother'." 
(Quoted in Theosophy Exposed Or Mrs. Besant And Her Guru, 1893, p. 
26.) 

Daniel
http://hpb.cc