THE CRUEL AFGHAN RULE IN KASHMIR

                                   

( A painting by artist Ravi Dhar shows Pandit Birbal Dhar and his son in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh at Lahore )

The Cruel Afghan Rule in Kashmir (1753-1819)

The Afghan rule in Kashmir began with the collapse of Mughal authority in India. Ahmad Shah Abdali, the founder of the Durrani Empire in Afghanistan, saw the rich valley as a prize. His forces first raided Kashmir in 1747 under Abdullah Khan, and by 1753, Kashmir formally passed from the Mughals to the Afghans. For the next 66 years, the valley was ruled by 28 Afghan governors appointed from Kabul, and this period is remembered by historians as the most oppressive in Kashmir's history.

The Afghans ruled Kashmir as a conquered colony meant only for revenue extraction. Heavy annual tributes, often up to 20 lakh rupees, had to be sent to Kabul. To meet this demand, governors imposed unbearable taxes on everything - on shawl weavers, farmers, fruit growers, and even on boatmen. Zamindars who could not pay the fruit tax cut down their own orchards, destroying the famous Mughal gardens around Dal Lake to sell the wood. Merchants and nobles were fined arbitrarily, their wealth confiscated, and many were forced to migrate. The oppression was not just economic but deeply brutal. Historical accounts record public torture, executions for minor reasons, and humiliation of the common people. Afghan soldiers carried a hatchet as a symbol of authority and, as foreign travelers like George Forster who visited in 1783 noted, rarely issued an order without a blow of it. People became so fearful that they hid any sign of prosperity, lived in rags, and lived under constant dread.

The people grew desperate and began appealing for outside help. Finally, in 1819, Pandit Birbal Dhar visited Lahore and invited Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab to liberate them from cruel Afghans . Maharaja Ranjit Singh sent a strong force under Misr Dewan Chand and Hari Singh Nalwa. At the decisive Battle of Shopian, the last Afghan governor, Jabbar Khan, was defeated. This ended 66 years of Afghan tyranny and marked the beginning of Sikh rule in Kashmir. Only three instances shall mentioned at pages 238, 239 and 240  in the book: "Kashmir Through The Ages" (Chapter XIX.) gives an idea about the extent of Afghan cruelty in Kashmir.

(1)

"Abdulla Khan invaded and occupied Kashmir in 1747 A.D. He introduced a queer and irksome administration. There arose a great hue and cry among the people against his illegal exactions his high-handed measures and the deceit and pillage which were practised under his rule. Treasure and secreted wealth of gold and silver, stores of carpets and silver and golden articles, which the Moghuls had maintained in the country, were taken possession by him for his personal use. He exacted heavy fines and indemnities from the big merchants and respectable gentry of the country. Once some of his minions branded a leading person of the country with red-hot sword. Unable to bear the torture, this man succumbed to his injuries. Abdulla Khan richly rewarded the perpetrators of this cruelty. Quazi Khan, another respectable citizen, was forced to pay a fine of one lakh of rupees and yet his son was subjected to inhuman harassment. Unable to stand this brutality, the young man sought escape in suicide and jumping from the Zainakadal bridge, drowned himself in the River Jhelum."

(2)

"After Amir Khan, Haji Karimdad Khan Bamzai came at the head of the Government of Kashmir in 1776. He appointed Mir Fazil Kant in charge of revenue and administrative work. After a few months he accused Kant of neglecting the collection of revenue and ordered his execution. Along with this all the members of the Kant tribe were destroyed. Karimdad Khan also got displeased with Tarkuli Khan and got him executed too. A rope was tied to his feet and he was kept suspended by the feet under the Habakadal bridge till he died.

Throughout the reign of Karimdad Khan the entire county remained plunged in absolute misery and fear. During this period everybody, high or low, rich or poor, was fleeced of all he possessed. He ruined the chastity of a thousand girls of both Hindu and Muslim communities and thus ruined their lives for ever. He exacted such heavy taxes and duties from Mansabdars and Jagirdars, as exceed by far the value of their possessions. All these people were reduced to utter penury. Many of them chose to dispose of their possessions and migrate from the country. He appointed the most heartless people to collect taxes from the people. Heavy fruit tax was imposed on zamindars. Since they could not meet this heavy demand, they cut down their fruit trees and sold the wood to meet the demand of the Government. In this way all the beautiful gardens in the city and rural areas, and particularly those which had been planted by the Moghuls around the Dal Lake, were denuded of all fruit trees. The lambardars and nobility were reduced to dust by the heavy exactions made from them by the Subedar. It is said that one of the tax collectors named, Aslam Harkara, was blind in both eyes, and so he sued to go in a Palki from place to place to collect taxes. He treated the people most cruelly. People were reduced to such destitution that, robbed of their hearths and homes, they had to lie on the bare ground under the open sky."

(3)

"At this time no less than 20,00,000 rupees are extracted by the Afghan Governor who, if his tribute be not regularly remitted to Court, is allowed to execute with impunity every act of violence. This extreme rigour has sensibly affected the department and manners of the Kashmirians who shrink with dread from the Afghan oppression and are fearful of making any display of opulence........ During my stay in Kashmir, I often withnessed the harsh treatment which the common people received at the hands of their masters who rarely issued an order without a blow of the side of their hatchet, common weapon of the Afghans, and used by them in war as a battle-axe"......Report of Forster (1783 )

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.