Prof. G.M.Athar
EXTERNAL AGGRESSIONS IN KASHMIR (1320-1947):- Kashmir was ruled by the king Suhadeva, when Dulacha, a general of the Mongol king of Khwarezm with a huge army consisting of 17,000 calvary and few thousand of foot soldiers invaded the Hindu Kingdom in1320.The Mongol invasion was a turning point in the history of Kashmir. Suhadeva having fled to Kishtwar, the throne of Kashmir remained vacant.There were several warlords trying to sit on it, including Rinchen Shah, Shah Mir and Langar Chak. Rinchen was a Ladakhi Buddhist prince who had fled from Ladakh to Kashmir and settled at Gagangir in Lar area. After acceding to throne in 1320 Rinchen was converted to Islam by Syed Abdul Rahman Turkistani popularly known in Kashmir as Bulbul Shah.Rinchen was renamed as Sultan Sadr-ud-Din to become the first Muslim ruler of the Sultanate of Kashmir from1320 to1323.
The next important ruler of Kashmir was Shah Mir from Panjgabbar Valley (between Rajouri and Budhul) although some historians believe that he was from Swat Valley in present day Khyber Pakhtoon Khaw Province of Pakistan. Shah Mir became the Sultan of Kashmir in 1339 to establish the reign of Shah Mir dynasty that ruled Kashmir for more than two countries before it was replaced by Chak dynasty in 1561. Ghazi Chak the founder of Chak dynasty was a Shia Muslim from Dardistan who had settled in Lolab Valley in North Kashmir. Since, there was a Shia-Sunni sectarian conflict in Kashmir as a result of which Qazi Musa a Sunni religious scholar was executed by the Chak ruler, which compelled the Sunni religious scholars like Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom, Sheikh Yaqoob Sarafi and Baba Daud Khaki to invite the Mughal Emperor Akbar to abolish the Chak rule in Kashmir.
When Mughals invaded Kashmir in1586 Kashmir was ruled by Yusuf Shah Chak, who was forced to surrender before the Mughal Army and deceitfully banished to Bihar in 1587. Towards the middle of the 18th century when ill-governance in Kashmir under Mughal governors reached to its climax, it led to continuous rivalry between Mughal governors and Kashmir nobility. The state of affairs went from bad to worse when Qasim Khan, the last Mughal governor indulged in insensate cruelty and there was wide spread distress in the land. Distressed at the depredation of Qasim, the Kashmir nobility took an impolite step in inducing Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade Kashmir and bring it to Afghan rule in1752.
Following the charges of corruption Birbal Dhar a minister of Afghan government at Kashmir had taken refuge with Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He supplied valuable information regarding strength of Afghans and routes to Kashmir. Consequently, Maharaja Ranjit Singh organized an expedition force under the command of Diwan Chand, Hari Singh Nalwa and Prince Kharak Singh. On 18th June,1819. the Sikh force of 12000,after crossing Dhimber and Pirpanjal passes reachedShopian.Jabbar Khan the Afghan governor of Kashmir with a force of 5000 met the invader. In spite of gallant resistance of the Afghans, victory kissed the feet of Sikhs.The Afghans lost able generals and Jabbar Khan fled to Peshawar and left the land to victorious. Prince Kharak Singh made his triumphant entry to Srinagar. The valley witnessed the Sikh rule from 1819-1846.A.D. During the period of twenty seven years the territory experienced the administrative skills of ten governors appointed by the Lahore Durbar.
But before the Sikh Empire ended Kashmir was acquired by the British as per the Treaty of Amritsar in1846. Gulab Singh became the first Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir after an understanding was reached with the British.The former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir took shape under the Dogra rule from 1846 onwards.The last Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir State, Maharaja Hari Singh wanted to stay independent, following the partition of British India and the creation of India and Pakistan as two sovereign countries in mid-August 1947. Pakistan sponsored tribal raid in Kashmir on 22nd October 1947 which compelled Maharaja Hari Singh to invite the Indian troops on 27th October 1947 to defend the territory against the Pakistani invasion. Pakistan fought four wars with India from 1947 to 1999 but could not liberate even a square yard of land from Indian control over the past 75 years.
THE POLITICAL OPTIONS IN KASHMIR:- The Kashmiri separatist leaders have been demanding separation from India for the last seven decades but nothing could change on the ground in Kashmir. The Kashmiri mainstream political leaders promised autonomy, secularism, democracy and socialism to the Kashmiri nation but in reality there exists nothing of that kind either in the state or the country. So be it pro-Pakistan Muslim nationalists, pro-independence Kashmiri nationalists, or the pro-Autonomy Kashmiri secularists all are suffering from frustration and depression because there in no movement forward in Kashmir.The learned helplessness of Kashmiri nation, can be overcome if the people abandon their opportunism, short sightedness and political disunity.The past seven decades of political experience forces one to conclude that the Kashmiri nation as a whole is a net loser. In order to come out of this humiliation and political stagnation the Kashmiri nation needs to have a thorough self-introspection.
There is no shortcut to achieve the collective objectives but it requires a long political struggle on sustained basis to realise the national goals.Therefore, the first step in this regard is to have a clarity of purpose, whether the people have to struggle for the freedom of Kashmiri nation, become an autonomous province of Pakistan or an autonomous state of Indian Union.There have been different ways of defining the people as a nation and the territory which belongs to them as their motherland.
A CRITIQUE OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR AS A NATION-STATE:- The legal basis for recognising the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir as one political territory is the Treaty of Amritsar signed by Maharaja Gulab Singh with the British East India Company on 16th March 1846. Maharaja Hari Singh wanted the same territory to become an independent country free from both India and Pakistan, that is why he sent the proposal for Standstill Agreement with India and Pakistan through an identical telegram to both the countries on12th August 1947. However, the people of Dogra Kingdom didn’t form one nation but an aggregation of several nations.The Dogra Hindus of Jammu region were represented by Maharaja Hari Singh who wanted to maintain the status quo, so that the Dogra rule continues in the state unabatedly. When Pakistan sponsored tribal raid took place in Kashmir on 22nd October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh was obliged to sign the Instrument of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union with respect to defence foreign affairs and communication on 26th October 1947, to save the Dogra kingdom from Pakistani aggression.
The territorial integrity of the Dogra princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was challenged by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah leader of National Conference who launched ‘Quit Kashmir’ Campaign in mid-May 1946 and raised the slogan, “Bainama Amritsar tod do, Kashmir Hamara chhod do”.Thus National Conference neither believed in the territorial integrity of Jammu and Kashmir State nor the Dogras being the Kashmiries. So Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah for every practical purpose was the leader of Kashmir inhabited by the Kashmiri speaking people.
In Poonch-Mirpur region the ex-servicemen of World War II launched in Spring season of 1947 the ‘No-Tax’ Campaign against the Dogra rule as Maharaja Hari Singh refused to take them into the Government Service following the end of the War.The ‘No-Tax’ Campaign changed into an armed struggle by August and on 24tb October 1947 the rebels declared the formation of Azad Government of Jammu and Kashmir under the leadership of Sardar Mohammad Ibrahim Khan.Thus the Pahari or Pothwari Muslims of the region posed another challenge to the territorial integrity of Dogra Kingdom.
Similarly, the Gilgit Scouts started a rebellion against the Dogra kingdom and took Governor Brigadier Gansara Singh hostage on 31st October 1947 and unfurled the flag of an independent Gilgit-Astore Republic on Ist November 1947. It was the British military Officer Major William Brown who convinced the Gilgit Scouts, Rajas, Mir’s and Mehtars of the local principalities to have the defence of Pakistan, thus the Political Resident of Pakistan took control of the Gilgit Agency on 18th November 1947.
….to be continued
The author can be reached at ghathar@yahoo.co.in
