Kashmir under Afghan (Pathan) rulers
(1752AD - 1819 AD)
The Pathan rule is the darkest period in the history of Kashmir
The people of Kashmir could no longer tolerate the misrule of Moghul satraps, and accordingly, when Ahmad Shah Abdali of Kabul was at Lahore in 1752,
Two Kashmir noblemen Mir Muquim Kant and Khwaj'a Zahir Didmari, waited upon him at Lahore and requested him to bring Kashmir under his control.
Little did they know what was in store for Kashmir post that
This was the time when Afghans ruled Kashmir and unleashed a reign of terror on the Kashmiri people, especially the Kashmiri Pandits.
Under persecution, most of the KPs migrated to places outside Kashmir.
Those who stayed back were either forcibly converted to Islam or ruthlessly killed. Killing & Conversions continued till a time when
It is said that only 11 KP families survived death.
Pursidam az kharabiye gulshan zi baghban, Afghan kashid guft ki Afghan kharab kard (I enquired of the gardener the cause of the destruction of the garden
Drawing a deep sigh he replied, “It is the Afghans who did it”)
The Afghan behaviour was beautifully summarised in a Persian couplet which read as "Sar buridan pesh in sangin dilan qul chidan ast" (These stone-hearted people thought no more of cutting of heads than of plucking a flower)
More on this in the coming days.........
Abdullah Khan Isk Aquasi 1753-1754 - first Afghan chief
1. He lined up all the well-to-do noblemen of Kashmir and asked them to surrender their wealth or face the worst possible death.
2. He extracted one crore rupees from local merchants, and some traders committed suicide.
3. Houses of the poor and rich were plundered.
4. All the prosperity of the valley was gone, and the people could not even move on the streets, for fear of being robbed of even their scanty clothing.
5. Mass migration of people particularly Kashmiri Pandits also took place in this era.
6. Huge fines were imposed on people even living in poverty.
7. Any displeasure resulted in brutal death.
8. Pandits started a custom of "pot maharaz" during this period, an additional boy would join the groom, in case anything happened to groom "pot maharaz" would take place, In this period it became a mandatory custom because the invariable groom was killed by Pathans.
9. They showed the worst possible inhumane behaviour to the Pandits, Shias & Bombas of Jhelum Valley.
10. Pandits & Shias were tied up in grass \ leather bags and then sunk in Dal Lake for mere pleasure.
11. There is even a location which is still called "Bata Mazar " - Graveyard of Pandits
12. Red hot iron bars were applied to the body of a rich Muslim nobleman, Jalil by name.
13. Another, Qazi Khan had to pay an enormous fine of a lakh of rupees, but suspecting that he had not surrendered his all, his son was put to such physical torture that he ended his life by drowning himself in the river.
14. Pandit parents shaved the heads of their daughters & cut the noses of their daughters to destroy their beauty to avoid the wrath of Afghans as much as possible.
15. The Jazia poll tax on Pandits was revived.
16. Kashmiris wear pheran ( long cloak). Afghans made it mandatory to have two pockets on either side. It was for Afghan soldiers to mount on their shoulders and keep their feet in these pockets for ease, particularly during crossing rivers.
17. Faqir Ullah Kanth wanted to avenge his father's death, For a week, the furious Bombas, the traditional enemies of Kashmiris, satiated their thirst for murder and arson on the poor citizens.
18. Shrieks of orphaned children and the wailing of old and infirm women rent the sky.
19. For weeks, the streets of Srinagar emitted nauseating odour from putrefied bodies
20. Faqir Ullah Khan who ruled the Valley for one year (1767), slew a large number of leading Hindus and forcibly converted 2000 Hindus to Islam.
21. To escape Khan's fury, many left Kashmir leading to a fresh mass exodus of Pandits to the plains of India
Haji Karim Dad Khan 1776-1784 AD
1. He also imposed a heavy tax on Kashmiri shawl trade, innovating the system of Dag Shawl or excise tax on shawls, which later on became such a heavy burden on the poor shawl weavers that they preferred death to the weaver's profession.'
2. He levied numerous taxes and reduced the populace to utter poverty.
4. For the sake of sheer pleasure, he got the numberless Kashmiris drowned in the Dal Lake.
5. Nobles had to pay a tax called Nazrana, which amounted to four and even six times their income.
6. The traders and shopkeepers had to pay Zari Ashkhas, a sort of levy on goods imported into or exported from the Valley.
7. The farmers had to pay an enormous tax on their produce
8. The peasants cut down all the fruit-growing trees in the villages, selling them as firewood.
Within a month, the whole Valley was denuded of its fruit wealth.
Some historians suggest that the Iron Pillar at Delhi originally stood at Udayagiri.
As per the inscriptions, Udayagiri was called Vaishnupadagiri - the hill of Vishnu's footprints.
In Kalidasas Meghdoot he quotes Udayagiri as Nichairgiri
Udayagiri consists of 20 rock-cut caves on a sandstone hill.
Out of 20 - 18 are related to Hindu & 2 to Jains.
Cave 1
Located on the southern part of the hill has a Jain pratima inside.
This is what remains of a 10th-century Vishnu temple in Gyaraspur.
Hindola-Toran: The pillars are beautifully carved with 10 incarnations of Vishnu: Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vaman, Parshuram, Ram, Krishna, Buddha & Kalki.
Char-Khamba: 4 pillars near Hindola toran, they look like part Mahamadapa of an ancient temple which doesn't exist now.