KASHMIR
UNDER VARIOUS RULERS
The Mughals
1. The king of Kashmir, Yusuf Shah Chak
made a secret agreement with the invading Mughal army which led to the conquest of the valley in 1586.
Yusuf Shah was later taken prisoner and exiled by the Mughals. Kashmir became
the northern most territory of the Mughal Empire for the next two centuries and
became a melting point of cultures, politics and economics.
2. However, as soon as the Mughals
withdrew, Yusuf Shah’s son, Yaqub Chak, crowned himself King of Kashmir. His
reign was unpopular and the hated ‘Jaziya tax’ was levied on non-Muslims.
Sunnis were persecuted during this period. Therefore, on a petition by
suffering Kashmiri nobles, Akbar ordered the conquest of Kashmir. By Sept 1586,
Akbar was proclaimed Emperor. The Chaks continued to resist the Mughals but
were finally subjugated in 1589 and subsequently became breeders of cattle
(Galwans). Akbar’s rule over Kashmir was secular and he visited the valley in
1587, 1592 (during Diwali) and finally in 1597.
3. It was Jehangir (who ascended the
throne in 1605) who laid over 700 gardens, prominent among them being Shalimar
(abode of love) and Nishat (garden of gladness). Shah Jehan ascended the throne in 1627. Some
of the significant developments during the reign of the Mughals are highlighted
below :-
(a) A Governor was appointed by
the Mughal Court to administer and demand taxes in the kingdom.
(b) Land reforms were
instituted.
(c) A relative period of
relative stability
and prosperity was ushered.
4. Aurangzeb ascended the throne in 1658
and he was the last Mughal emperor to have any significant impact on Kashmir’s
history. It was during this time that king Deldan of Ladakh renewed an earlier
promise of offering tribute to the Mughals, thus implying a vassal status of
the kingdom of Ladakh. In 1700 A.D a strand of beard of Prophet Mohammed, the
Mo-I-Muqaddas, was brought to Kashmir and housed in Khanquah Naqshbal in
Srinagar, then in Asar-I-Sharif and
finally in Hazaratbal. During Aurangzeb’s reign the Hindus and Shias
were persecuted against and the Pandits were specially targetted.
5. The Mughal rule in Kashmir declined
after Aurangzeb’s death in 1707. There was a serious escalation of conflict
between Hindus, Shias and Sunnis in 1720 and tyrrany against Hindus and
Pandit’s was at its peak. This led to an exodus of Hindus from the valley. In
1746, a terrible flood followed by a famine is said to have killed
three-quarters of the people living in the kingdom.
The Afghan Rulers
6. Due to the increased oppression of the
people under Mughal rule, the Kashmir nobles led by Mir Mugum Kanth and Khwaja
Zahir requested the Afghan ruler Ahmed Shah Abdali, to conquer Kashmir. It was
in a battle at Shopian that the invading Afghan army attained victory in 1753
and Kashmir came under Afghan rule.
7. However, Afghan rule turned out to be
even more despotic, cruel and brutal and Hindus were specially persecuted. As
before, governors (appointed by the Afghan king) ruled Kashmir and they soon
began to rebel against Afghan authority. In 1762, alongwith the Dogra Rajput
ruler, Raja Ranjit Dev of Jammu, the Afghans captured the governor. When Ahmed
Shah Durrani died in 1772, the Governor, Jawan Sher upsurped power and let
loose a rule of tyranny and destruction.
8. Durrani’s son Timer Shah recaptured
Kashmir (the valley areas) and subsequently Skardu and Jammu was also annexed
and Karimdad was appointed as governor. The period of tyranny and cruelty
continued unabated; Shias and Hindus were discriminated and their towns
destroyed, extortionist taxes levied on even the poor. Many Brahmins converted
to Islam and Pandits were ‘tied up two by two in grass sacks and sunk in the
Dal Lake’. This abject misrule
continued under successive governors and to the woes of Kashmiris were added an
earthquake in 1804, a devastating flood in 1805 and a severe winter in 1806.
9. A governor, Ata Mohammed Khan declared
independence from the Afghan king in 1809. This provocation prompted the
Afghans to defeat Ata Mohammed and install another governor Sardar Mohammed
Azim Khan in Feb 1813. The rule of the Afghans, for over fifty years is
highlighted by misrule and tyrrany and a decline in industry. However, Kashmiri
Pandit families such as Dhars,
Kauls, Tikkus and
Saprus, etc were
included in governance
due to their
administrative
abilities. It was due to their terrible suffering at the hands of the Afghans,
that the Kashmiris sought help from the foreign rulers once again, this time the
Sikhs.
The Advent of the Sikhs
10. In 1814, the Sikhs under the leadership
of Ranjit Singh attacked Kashmir for the second time, which failed due to
adverse weather conditions. The Kashmiris by this time, were now determined to
end Afghan rule due to continued despotism and misrule. Therefore, in 1819,
when Ranjit Singh marched on Kashmir, he found popular support among the local
rulers. On 3 July 1819, the Afghan forces (under Jabbar Khan) and the Sikhs
engaged in battle near Shopian. The Sikh army routed the combined Afghans and
Kashmiri forces and Kashmir came under Sikh rule.
11. The Sikhs ruled Kashmir for 28 years, as
before, through a succession of Governors-Dewan Moti Ram, Hari Singh Nalva,
Chunni Lal, Dewan Kripa Ram, Bhama Singh Ardli, Prince Sher Singh and Colonel
Mian Singh Kumedan. However the living conditions of the Kashmiris deteriorated
further. The Sikh rule was marked by excessive revenue collection, extortion,
intolerance and a series of natural calamities including a severe earthquake
and epidemic in 1833. It is reported by the noted historian, Prem Nath Bazaz
that “the effect of Sikh rule dealt a severe blow to the pride of the local
people” and “the people of valley gradually forgot their glorious martial
traditions and became timid and cowardly”. However there were reforms in the
administration such as the introduction of a new postal system and
encouragement of Kashmiris to take up commercial ventures.
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