Part 2, Medieval and Modern Kashmir

Massacring Pandits.

Part 2, Medieval and Modern Kashmir

Martand Sun Temple, Biggest Temple Complex at that time
on the earth, destroyed by Sikandar Butshikan.

By : Shivansh Ganjoo

Part 1 ended with the beginning of Shah Mir's rule. Shah Mir could be named as the chief architect of Islam in Kashmir. He allowed several Sufis, Mullahs and Islamic Preachers to penetrate into the valley. He made Islam the court religion of Kashmir, removed Sanskrit and implemented Persian. Kashmiri hindu officials were removed from their posts with immediate effect. He implemented certain rules for Pandits such as no new Temple shall be constructed and no restoration of destructed temples would take place, Muslims shall be honoured by Pandits and many such. Pandits were now being converted to Islam violently at a war footing. Further rulers implemented tyrannic laws in Kashmir. Frustated Pandits revolted for the first time. On one fine night(date unknown) Pandits marched and set fire to 2-3 mosques. Enraged, the Sultan targeted their temples. Several Kashmiri Temples were destroyed during this time. Fine piece of architecture with delicate hand carvings on walls were destroyed. How can someone be so uncivillized to destroy such beautiful piece of art ?
The oldest structure on the subcontinent, The Vijayeswara Temple in Bijbehara was destroyed partially after 3800 years of it's construction. An old account about Shah Miri dyansty, written in Persian was found in Iran. It mentions about the destruction of the famous Awantiswami Temple in Awantipora, Anantnag. It mentions that during daytime, when Pandits were worshipping to the God, forces of Sultan entered the temple premises, desecrated the gold and silver idols, massacred each and every Pandit in the premises, broke the walls of the temple, looted the treasury and got involved into the destruction of the building. The chief priest of the temple, unable to defend the temple from barbaric Islamists, climbed the Shikhar of the temple, which used to touch the sky, jumped from there and committed suicide. This incident could be related to the Jallianwallah Bagh Massacre in Amritsar. A beautiful piece of architecture was again leveled to ground. Such incidents became common.

Many Kashmiris from other castes gave up to conversion and got easily converted to Islam either by fear of death or by greed of money and power. But, The Brahmins or The Pandits remained adamant and stuck to their 10,000 year old religion they have been following. 1389 AD saw the rise of Sikandar Butshikan. He was the 9th Sultan of Shah Miri Dynasty. Considered as the most tyrannic ruler of Kashmir, he is also known as the Iconoclaust. He took up the work of destruction of more than thousand temples all over Kashmir. 13th century philosopher and author of Rajatarangini -2, Jonaraja says, “ The Sultan forgot his kingly duties and took delight day and night in breaking images … He broke images of Martanda, Vishaya, Ishana, Chakrabrit and Tripureshvara …… There was no city, no town, no village, no wood where Turushka left the temples of the gods unbroken.” One of the biggest destructive mission of Sikandar was the demolition of 700 year old Martand Sun Temple. It took around 12 months or 1 year for his army to demolish the temple. Still, they could not destruct it completely, such strong the building was. Annoyed, Sikandar ordered to destroy the stone foundation and fill it with with lots of wood and then set fire to it. The ruins of great structure still stand in Martand, Anantanag. A masterpiece of architecture, which was constructed in mixed styles of Gandharan, Kashmiri, Greek, Roman, Gupta, Chinese and Syrian architecture was demolished. Pandits faced brutal cruelity. Kashmir saw the first mass exodus of Pandits during this time. Six were on the way. Sikandar's tyrannic and cruel rule ended after 24 years, but was succeeded by a 6 year long barbaric rule of his son. Brahmins were now disallowed to practice their culture. We were not allowed to apply the Tilak. We were not allowed to wear shoes, we were not allowed to wear our headgear, the Dastar. Our houses were raided, sacred texts buried or burnt. Those brahmins who opposed the cruelity were tortured and killed. They were cut into pieces, burnt alive, packed in leather bags and were drowned in the freezing Dal Lake. Our women were raped, daughters abducted and transported to Arab as slaves. One day, as usual, some 800 Pandits were massacred by barbaric Islamists. For immersion of their ashes in Harmukh Ganga, some 10,000 pandits went. All of them died due to a hailstorm.

By this time, Islam would have gained majority in the Vedic Land. Kashmiri Buddhists were now a thing of past. Their race became extinct. The legendary Brahmins burned themselves alive or poisoned them to save themselves from the cruelty of barbarians.  Second Mass exodus also took place under Sikandar's son's rule. Pandits were given 3 choices. 

Pandits in their traditional dress.

1. Accept Islam
2. Leave Kashmir
3. Die
People started leaving Kashmir. However, many of them perished on their way at Pir Panjal mountains (The mountain range seperating Kashmir and Jammu). Main roads were blocked by Army and they were forced to leave through deadly mountain passes. Many of them when reached the Plains for the first time died due to severe temperature or snake-bites.

At the beginning of 16th century, A Persian Shia Propagator, Shams-ud-din Araqi visited Kashmir. His main motive was to convert the Brahmin population to Shia sect of Islam. He ordered his armies to bring at least 2000 Pandits every day to his house. Pandits were forcibly converted to Islam and were made to eat beef. Many of them preffered to die instead of eating beef. Pandits did not have an option to leave Kashmir this time. Crossing the border without Sultan's permission was illegal and the permission wasn't given to Pandits. Pandits, if caught crossing the border were tortured and then killed. During this period, our properties were confiscated, women abused, temples destroyed. Jazia was imposed on Pandits. In pain of loss of their dignity and culture, they cried "Na Batoham", means I am not a Bhatta(Kashmiri Pandit) in sanskrit.

The tyrannic rule of Shahmiri Dynasty came to an end after 222 years in 1561, when Akbar, expanded the Mughal rule to Kashmir. Pandits could breathe properly after 3 centuries.
Akbar abolished Jazia, abolished all the laws which confined the freedom of Pandits. Helped in reconstruction of temples. He even declared rewards for those, who respected Pandits. Kashmiri Pandits, for the first time in the past 5 centuries were offered high administrative posts in the court. Their dignity and respect were restored. But, the major problem arising was the official language in use. It was Persian. Pandits were scholar in Sanskrit language and Sharada script. Intelligent Pandits grasped the knowledge of Persian very soon. But, this was a major blow to our culture. Usage of Sharda script declined. After Akbar's death, rule passed on to Jehangir and then Shah Jahan. They were not as good as Akbar, but also not bad as previous barbaric Islamic rulers. They allowed Pandits to follow their customs and rituals, but after paying taxes. However, positions alloted to Pandits in administration were scrapped.

Black era returned in 1658, when Aurangzeb ascended the throne. Aurangzeb followed the policy of desecration of temples, forced conversions and massacres of Pandits. Situations turned worse when Aurangzeb implemented much harsh laws on Pandits and kept on increasing taxes on them. A group of Pandits went to the 9th Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur ji for help. Guruji challenged Aurangzeb, who was desperate to convert a majority of Brahmins. He asked Aurangzeb to convert him. If he and his followers converted, the whole Pandit community would convert into Islam. Aurangzeb used brutal methods and tortured him a lot but, Guruji and his followers remained adamant and kept on refused to convert. Enraged, Aurangzeb beheaded Guruji. It was a great sacrifice made by the Sikh Community for the Pandits. We owe a lot to them and are thankful to them. However, Aurangzeb kept on converting Pandits. 1707 saw death of Aurangzeb. Mughal Empire started to decline. From south, The Great Maratha empire almost ate the Mughal Empire. Unfortunately, from north, The Afghans or The Pathans conquered large areas of Mughal Empire. Kashmir, was now under Afghan rule or the Durrani Empire. It turned out to be disastrous for us. The same things happened to the community which were occuring to us past 4 centuries.

A cartoon depicting the condition of Pandits during this period.

Later Afghans left Pandits deprived from their basic rights. Education of Pandit children was a crime. Pandit women were being sold on the streets of Srinagar. Anarchy took over everywhere. Muslims were given full liberty to treat Pandits as their slaves. Pandits were forced to respect Muslims. Any Muslim could jump on a Pandit and take a ride. Pandits were tied to trees and pot full of dung was placed on their heads. pot was then pelted with stones until it would break and poor Pandit would become wet with flith. As the lands were confiscated and distributed among Muslims, many Pandits had to search for a new living. Most of them now got engaged with very small business works to fill their stomach. Pandits, now found it difficult to preserve their culture and traditions. For preservance of Kashmiri culture, Sanskrit literature in Sharda script and Vedic knowledge, a group was carved out. They are known as "Gors". They preserved our culture for a long period of time. Presently, they are our family priests.

There was a person called Birbal Dhar. He turned out to be a saviour of ours. He made his wife and daughter hide at a trustworthy Muslim friend's house and went to Lahore, Punjab with his son to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He requested Maharaja to attack Kashmir and save it from the Durranis. Maharaja knew about the Afghan atrocities in Kashmir and was willing to save Pandits from Durranis. But, was suspicious at the same time. He feared that it might be a trap for the Sikh army. Birbal Dhar, offered the beheading of his son, whom he left in Lahore only, if all this turned out to be a trap. Maharaja, now convinced, marched with his mighty army towards Srinagar, Kashmir. The Durrani ruler had appointed a new governer of Kashmir, Jabbar Khan. He came to know about Birbal's action. Enraged, he raided each and every house of Srinagar to find his wife and daughter. Unfortunately, they both were caught. His daughter was most probably sold to an Arab or was tortured and killed, with his mother. However, Birbal, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his army reached Kashmir, fought with the Afghan forces in the Battle of Shopian on 3rd July, 1819 and gave them a crushing defeat. Kashmir, was now under a Non-Islamic empire after a long period of 500 years.

Sikh rule gave relief to the Pandits. Sikhs constructed several Gurudwaras in Kashmir and many started following Sikhism, thus paving way for Sikhism in Kashmir. The Sikh Government helped the Pandits by re-distributing their confiscated lands and re-construction of several demolished temples. Also, the Sikhs enacted some laws such as Shutting down of Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, Ban on azaan and cow-slaughter. Some laws, which were welcomed by Pandits by heart and considered as oppressive by Muslims. Things changed after death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839. His successors were weak and Kashmir was again prone to Afghan attacks. However, 1849 saw the defeat of Sikh Empire by the British and annexation of Punjab by British. Gulab Singh, a General of the Sikh Army proposed to buy Kashmir from the British. He paid a whooping sum of 75,00,000 Nanakshahee rupees, which would go in trillions today. Gulab Singh was a Dogra Rajput from northern areas of Himachal Pradesh. His uncle, Zorawar Singh too was a General in the Sikh Army and died in an expedition to Tibet. Gulab Singh started the Dogra rule in the newly formed state of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir, for the first time merged with a Punjabi region (Jammu), both culturally and administratively.

The Dogra rule, however a Hindu rule over Muslim majority Kashmir was considered as biased. People from Jammu were preferred in each aspect over Kashmiris. The Kashmiris, both Pandits and Muslims were discriminated. Power resided in the hands of the Dogras.
Gulab Singh died in 1857 and was succeeded by his son Ranbir Singh. Ranbir Singh is considered as the modern architect of Jammu and Kashmir. He initiated the Darbar move in 1872, where the capital shifts from Jammu in winters to Srinagar in summers. Kashmir remained somewhat peaceful till 1925, when Hari Singh ascended the throne after death of his uncle, Pratap Singh. Hari Singh implemented several new laws such as prevention of child marriage, allowance to lower caste people to enter temples and many others. However, Kashmiri Muslims considered his rule as somewhat oppressive. In 1930s, riots broke out in Kashmir, leading to death of several Kashmiri Hindus and their properties vandalized. Pandits were once again tortured and killed. One such instance is of my grandfather's uncle. He used to work at a good administrative post in Dogra rule. He was caught by the Muslims and pummeled in a mortar, until his body got deformed and he died. Such instances became common in the valley during that time.

As the Dogra rule favoured the people of Jammu, Kashmiris were left behind many a times. Kashmiri applicants were not given jobs and people from Jammu were preffered. Such an incident occured with a young Kashmiri Muslim man in his 20s. He had all the qualifications for a specific post but wasn't given the job in the Dogra government. This fool thought that the Dogra rule was discriminating Muslims, whereas whole Kashmiri community was being discriminated. Oh ! I forgot to mention his name. Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah (Aaloo bab of Kashmir). He organized several road shows in Kashmir to make people aware about discrimination done to them by the Dogra rule. He got actively involved in politics and considered himself to be an activist, who fought for the rights of Kashmiri Muslims. He started the Muslim Conference in Kashmir, which is known as National Conference as today. 1930s and 1940s saw several riots against Hindus. Kashmiri Pandits started migrating to other parts of India to escape human right violations.

India fetched it's independence on 15th August, 1947. More than 1000 princely states were given an option to either remain independent, merge with India or Pakistan. Mysore became the first state to accede to India whereas, Jammu Kashmir was among the last states to do so. Maharaja Hari Singh wanted neither to accede to India, nor to Pakistan. He chose to be independent. The Indian government was content with this decision but the Pakistani government had a problem. Kashmiri Muslims turned against the Maharajah and wanted to accede to Pakistan. However, Sheikh wanted Kashmir to accede to India as he saw his own benefit in it. Kashmiri Muslims blindly followed Sheikh and chose to accede to India, but the Maharajah was still willing to remain independent. Pakistan, enraged by the decision of Kashmiri Muslims violated the standstill agreement and stopped the supply of petroleum and salt to J&K. The railway line connecting Jammu and Sialkot was blocked. Within few days, J&K ran out of resources. Adding much to the problem, Pakistan trained a group of tribe from North West Frontier area, which attacked Kashmir in 1947. Known as Kabalis, they marched towards Srinagar and destroyed each and everything they could see in front of them. They didn't spare Muslims even. They brought trucks with them, looted and plundered many towns and sent the items back in trucks to Pakistan. Their first target was Muzaffarabad. Whole town was plundered and looted. Women were raped and taken along with them. The great seat of knowledge, The seat of Goddess Saraswati, Sharadapeetham was brutally plundered and destroyed. It still lies in a pathetic condition in PoK. Their second major target was the Uri Power house. It was the second oldest Hydroelectric project in Asia after the Krishnarajasagar Dam in Mysore state. Kabalis destroyed the Powerhouse, scrapping the power supply to whole region of Kashmir. Kashmir went powerless that evening. Maharajah was helpless. His army was not capable to defend their state from barbaric Kabalis. He urged the Indian Union to intervene. Indian government agreed to help, but at one condition, Maharajah to sign the Instrument of Accession and accede to India. After a day's time, Maharajah Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession on 27th October, 1947 and J&K became a part of Indian union. Indian troops landed on the morning of 28th October and the First Indo - Pak war started. Cease Fire was declared by the United Nations on 1st january, 1949, leaving 1/3rd of Kashmir to Pakistan.

Pandits now became the central target of Jihadists in Secular Democratic Republic of India.

Sheikh Abdullah wanted to have special provisions for Kashmir in the Indian constitution. He urged Prime Minister Nehru to add a provision in the constitution to provide J&K some special rights. Nehru asked him to go to Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Head of Constituent Assembly. Dr. Ambedkar strictly refused to add any such provision. He said that It would be a treacherous act towards India if he adds any such provision. Abdullah, disappointed, moved to Gopalaswamy Ayyangar, who was also former Prime Minister of Kashmir in Hari Singh's court. A special provision, Article 370 was added in the constitution of India, giving the state of J&K a semi-autonomous status in the country. However, Ambedkar, as he promised, boycotted the Assembly, which passed such law. The dual-citizenship formula, according to Sushil Pandit, was smuggled into the Constitution. Thus, Kashmir became a part of a Diverse Democratic Republic of India. Kashmiri Pandits were happy as they thought that all the miseries they suffered in past 600 years would end now. Unfortunately, nothing such happened. During 1947-1989, around 4 lakh Kashmiri pandits migrated silently from Kashmir. Sheikh Abdullah was arrested around 4 times during this time, for provoking anti national elements. By this time, he must have understood that he committed a blunder by acceding to the Indian Union. Sheikh died in 1983, leaving the reign in the hands of another fool, rather I would call him a coward, Farooq Abdullah, his son. Things turned mysterious after 1985 in Kashmir.
To be continued in 3rd part.