RAJA BIRBAL DHAR – A SAVIOR OF KASHMIR

 

Political Islam conquered power in Kashmir in 1320 CE with conversion of Rinchan Shah to Islam. However, it was in 1339 that the Shahmir Dynasty (1339-1561) established control over Kashmir, followed by the Chak Dynasty (1561-1579), Mughals (1586-1752) and, finally, the Durrani Empire (1752-1819) from Afghanistan. During these almost five centuries of Islamist rule, demography of Kashmir was changed by force and from a near 100% Hindu populace to a Akbar, the Mughal Emperor captured Kashmir from Yusuf Shah Chak in 1586. Till Aurangzeb (1618-1707) was alive, he maintained a tight grip over Kashmir.

However, his successors were relatively weak and, within 50 years of Aurangzeb’s death, the Mughal Empire disintegrated! Its decline was hastened by the attack by Persian King Nadir Shah (1739) which devastated Delhi; this shock was followed by eight attacks by the Afghan King, Ahmed Shah Abdali (1748-67). This was a period of absolute chaos in the entire Indian subcontinent as the central authority stood battered and bruised! Abdali deputed Asmat Ullah Khan to capture Kashmir in 1748 but the attack was beaten back and the Afghan commander was killed. In 1753, a conspiracy was hatched to dislodge the local governor Afrasiyab Khan; the Kashmiri governor was poisoned and Kashmir got thrown into chaos and anarchyin a war of succession.

At this point, two Kashmiri noblemen, Mir Muqim Kanth and Khwaja Zahir Didamari are supposed to have approached Abdaliand invited him to invade Kashmir again. Nobody knows what they wanted to achieve, but this invitation pushed Kashmir into a period of brutal oppression, hitherto unknown to the Kashmiris. In 1753, the Afghan army led by Abdullah Khan Ishk Aqasi attacked Kashmir via Shopian and after a 15-day battle, Kashmiri forces were defeated. The governor of Kashmir was captured and sent to Kabul. Aqasi ascended the throne of Kashmir as a viceroy of Abdali. For the next five months, Abdullah Khan Ishk Aqasi let loose a reign of cruelty and terror rarely witnessed elsewhere in the world.

 Pathans ruled Kashmir for just 67 years (1753-1819) but till date, the horror stories of Pathan Raj are a part of Kashmiri folklore, particularly Kashmiri Pandits. Many historians have chronicled the cruelty let loose on the hapless Kashmiris by the cruel Pathans. Walter Lawrence, a 19th century settlement commissioner of Kashmir, in his book Kashmir Valley has described this period as a time of brutal tyranny. Pathan (Afghan) rulers are only remembered for their brutality and cruelty, and it is said of them that they thought no more of cutting off heads than of plucking flowers. (Sar burin pesh in sangin dilan gulchidan ast). Another saying goes as “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”). Twenty-eight Afghan governors ruled Kashmir during the 67 years of their despotic occupation – each one crueller than the previous one. The bigoted Jabbar Khan, the last Pathan Governor, even ordered Kashmiri Pandits to observe Shivratri in summer (in the month of Aashad). Shivratri is normally observed in winter (Phalgun Krishna Paksh) but the despot was keen to humiliate Kashmiri Pandit’s faith. Folklore has it that on the designated day, weather suddenly changed, causing heavy snow in the valley. We have a saying in Kashmiri,” Vichton ye Jabbar Jande, Haras ti banovun vande,” (loosely translated as ‘look at this idiot Jabbar – because of his stupidity, even the month of Haar (Aashad) has become wintry”. Pathan Governor Azim Khan appointed three distinguished Pandits, namely Sukhram Safaya, Mirza Pandit and Birbal Dhar as revenue collectors. Due to crop failure, Birbal Dhar could not collect the expected revenue and the Governor imposed a fine of Rs1L on Birbal Dhar. Raja Birbal Dhar was aware of the cruelty with which the barbaric Pathans were treating the people of Kashmir, particularly the Kashmiri Pandits.

He knew that failure to collect the desired revenue from hapless Kashmiri peasantry would only bring a flood of misery not only on him but the entire Kashmiri community. Expecting brutal reprisals, some distinguished Pandits met secretly at the residence of Pt Mirza Pandit to chalk out a plan to get rid of the Afghans.It was decided to approach Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the famous King of Punjab, for help to save Kashmir from further disaster. Responsibility for convincing Ranjit Singh was entrusted to Raja Birbal Dhar. Nineteenth century saw the rise of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) in Punjabas a challenge to the Durrani Empire that occupied most of the Western Punjab (up to River Sutlej in East). Ranjit Singh defeated the Afghan army in 1798(Battle of Amritsar) and captured Lahore in 1799. Ranjit Singh continued to nibble at the Afghan held territory, capturing Kasur in 1807, Attock in 1813 and Multan in 1818.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh had earned respect of his subjects due to his just and impartial policies. Hence, Kashmiri Panditshad accurately identified Maharaja Ranjit Singh as a possible saviour of Kashmir. The tough task was to leave Kashmir without alarming the Pathan ruler. Knowing the cunningness of Azim Khan, Birbal Dhar, accompanied by his young son Raj Kak Dhar, took two smart decisions:

 • He left his wife and daughter-in-law in Srinagar in the custody of a trustworthy Muslim friend - Qadus Gojwari. Only one more person, Pt Vasakak Harkarbashi knew about their location.

• He chose to travel to Lahore via Jammu rather than the customary Rawalpindi route because chances of avoiding Azim Khan’s spies were higher on this route.

 Camouflaged as ordinary peasants, the father-son duo walked all the way to Jammu via Devsar to cross the mighty Pir Panjal range. At Jammu, they presented themselves before Raja Gulab Singh who had been in service of Ranjit Singh since 1809.Raja Gulab Singh gave them not just shelter but also arranged for their journey to Lahore with an introductory letter for Maharaja Ranjit Singh; Raja Gulab Singh’s two brothers, Suchet Singh and DhiaanSingh held important positions in the Lahore Darbar! Azim Khan somehow came to know that Birbal Dhar had left via Anantnag-Devsar. He burnt the houses where the father-son due had spent nights and killed the people who had given then refuge but by then, the prey had escaped his reach. Enraged, Azim Khan started looking for Birbal Dhar’s family. He got several prominent Kashmiri Pandit nobles ruthlessly murdered and properties confiscated to extract information. Pt Vasakak Harkarbashi was tasked with locating the wife and DIL of Birbal Dhar with a fine of Rs 1000 per day for delay.

The brave Pandit ultimately had his abdomen ripped open for not disclosing their location. However, a weak person within the family, Pt Telak Chand Munshi, Birbal Dhar’s own son-in-law, is said to have betrayed their location. Birbal Dhar’s wife is said to have committed suicide by swallowing a diamond but his unfortunate DIL was caught, abused, and taken into Azim Khan’s harem. Expectedly, there are some variations in the sequence of events that followed Birbal Dhar’s escape and its consequences. One version says that Vadis Khan Gojwarimoved Raja Birbal Dhar’s family to his own house; when thru his spies Azim Khan learnt this, he ordered the house be set on fire. Pt Anand Koul Bamzai, the doyen of Kashmiri historians, in his book “The Kashmiri Pandit” (published in 1921), says thatBirbal Dhar’s wife jumped into River Vitasta to escape the wrath of Azim Khan. In 1818, Azim Khan left for Kabul; before leaving, he sent his harem, including Birbal Dhar’s DIL to Kabul along with a looted war chest of over 2 Cr rupees. Azim Khan left the administration to his younger brother Jabir Khan, who proved to be the cruellest of all the governors.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh gave an audience to Birbal Dhar but did not immediately react. He understood the importance of Kashmir valley, particularly the revenue that the hawl Trade could generate. Pt. Birbal Dhar even gave an undertaking to Ranjit Singh that in case the mission failed, he would pay for the loss incurred;Birbal also offered his son, Raj Kak Dhar,as a hostage to the Lahore Darbar. After much deliberation and persuasion, Ranjit Singh veered around to Birbal Dhar’s reasoning fortaking over Kashmir by armed intervention. Maharaja Ranjit Singh sent an army of 30,000 troops under the leadership of his top generals- Misr Diwan Chand, Hari Singh Nalwa, Jwala Singh, Shyam Singh and Hukum Singh along with Raja Gulab Singh and Raja Bria Dhar to oust the cruel Pathans! Ranjit Singh’s army started the campaign on April 20, 1819 and after two major battles, entered Kashmir via Shopiyan Plateau on July 15, 1819.

Afghan army was completely routed - Jab bar Khan was wounded and fled away. Thus, Kashmir passed into the hands of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1819. Maharaja Ranjit Singh bestowed honours and favours on Pt. Raj Kak Dhar and sent him back to Kashmir. Sikhsruled Kashmir from 1819 to 1846. The first Sikh Governor was Dewan Moti Ram. Raja Birbal Dhar, thus, proved to be the pivot on which the plan to defeat the Pathan Raj hinged. He paid a heavy personal price for this – his wife died and DIL was taken away to Kabul as a sex slave. History shall remember Raja Birbal Dhar not only for his heroic role in getting rid of the tyrannical Pathans but also for two very noble deeds: 1) Ensuring safe return of the Afghan women and families left behind by the fleeing Pathans, to Kabul under the guardianship of another Kashmiri nobleman, Pt Sahajram.

This gesture of nobility must be seen as a contrast to the behaviour of most of the Muslim invaders exhibited since 1339 in Kashmir! Despite the brutal treatment meted out to Kashmiri women in general and his own wife -DIL in particular, Raja Birbal Dhar displayed his own‘samskaras’by saving the honour of Afghan women abandoned in Kashmir by the fleeing Pathans. 2) Saving two mosques (Shahi Hamadan and Pathar Masjid) of Srinagar that the Sikh generals wanted to blast with artillery in retaliation for desecration of Hindu Temples by various Muslim rulers.

 On a plea by Syed Hassan Shah Khanyari, Raja Birbal Dhar convinced the Sikh generals to avoid destruction of mosques, saying,” Then, what shall be the difference between them (Muslims) and us,”. These concepts of morality are consistent with our hallowed Sanatan traditions. Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Mohammad Ghori multiple times but let him go unharmed every time, given his Rajput tradition of forgiving the vanquished. In the 1192 battle, Ghori won by deceit; he blinded Prithviraj, tortured him before killing him. The barbaric treatment meted out to his wife Sanjokta is too gory to be mentioned here.

Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj refused to touch the daughter of a vanquished Muslim prince, returning her to her family, with gifts. He had issued instructions to his Maratha army not to touch the families of defeated Mughals, including the tyrant Aurangzeb. Perhaps such chivalry is a part of Sanatan culture and brings out the stark contrast with other cultures, particularly Islam.

 The cruelties inflicted on Kashmiri Pandits by Afghan governors like Jabbar Khan, Iftekhar Khan, Hazar Khan, Azim Khan move us to tears but the nobility, courage, and foresight of Raja Birbal Dhar immortalize him. A famous saying in Kashmir goes as: “ Birbal Pandit az sar e Kashmir, Karuth tche duur yi Balaai Azim” –loosely translated “Birbal Pandit, from the crown head of Kashmir, you removed the huge calamity known as Azim Khan)”. Today, history has placed us at interesting geopolitical crossroads again. Our ‘friendly’ neighbour, Pakistan nurtured and groomed the Pashtuns of Afghanistan and NWFP (as Taliban) with the double objective of fighting not just the godless(la-deen) Soviets but also, at a convenient time, to push them into Kashmir to ‘free it from Kafir India. ’On August 15, 2021, as Taliban swamped Kabul to re-establish the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, joy erupted in Pakistan. Events of last 4 years have, however have not gone as per the script for Pakistan.

 TTP, an offshoot of Taliban has been attacking Pakistani forces regularly. Afghan Taliban too have refused to accept the British demarcation of boundary (Durand Line) with Pakistan. Having said that, wisdom says that Afghans are perfectly capable of biting the hand that feeds them. During the Hamid Karzai-Ashraf Ghani period (2002-2021), India invested heavily in rebuilding infrastructure, hospitals, dams etc in Afghanistan but Taliban ransacked Indian diplomatic missions in Afghanistanonce they assumed power in 2021.

Therefore, India needs to be wary of the Afghans. Without getting carried away in anti-Pakistan rhetoric or the Kautilyan concept that enemy’s enemy is a friend, or an outburst of emotional ‘brotherly’ feelings for the Afghans, Indian interlocutors and policy mandarins need to be focused only on safeguarding long term Indian interests.

DISCLAIMER: 

The views expressed in the Article above are SANJEEV MUNSHI views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."

Courtesy: SANJEEV MUNSHI and  Spade A Spade-May 2025