Map of Sikh Empire

The simple fact of eighteenth century was that he who seized Punjab was going to control Kashmir. By the turn of the nineteenth century Punjab had fallen to Sikhs under the leadership of charismatic, one-eyed, courageous and military genius, Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was only twelve when he succeeded his father, Mahan Singh, as leader of the Sukarchakia clan, but by 1799, Ranjit Singh had taken possession of both the great cities of Punjab, Lahore and Amritsar.

The Angrez who started as traders in Madras, fought and cheated their way towards the control of most of India. By 1803, British had replaced the Maratha as the paramount power of the North till East of River Sutlej. From this point to the Karakoram became the range of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s power, and the equation was formalized in the treaty of friendship signed between the Sikhs and the British in Amritsar in 1809.

Kashmir fell to Ranjit Singh in 1819. The last Afghan governor, Sardar Mohammed Azim Khan, began his tenure in midst of misrule and famine. Pandit Birbal Dhar, one of Azims principal revenue collectors, a particular target of brother, Raja Dhan Singh was the prime minister of Ranjit Singh. The Sikhs led by Maharaja’s heir Kharrak Singh and his best generals were joined by Gulab Singh at Jammu and took the Mughal route, through Bhimbar, Rajouri and the Durhal Pass. The Pathans were routed in the battle at Shopian. On 15 June 1819, 67 years of Afghan rule finally and mercifully, came to an end. It also drew the curtain on five centuries of Muslim rule.

However, it is worth mentioning that it was a Kashmiri revolt against the brutal Afghans, not a Hindu revolt. A virulent anti-Muslim communalism marked the policies of the new dispensation. Under Dewan Moti Ram, the Jama Masjid in Srinagar was shut down and the aazan was forbidden. Numerous mosques were seized by the state and cow slaughter was made a crime punishable by death. During the term of Ranjit Singh’s son Sher Singh the famine in Kashmir became so severe that its population plummeted from 8,00,000 to 2,00,000 as a result of death or migration. Ranjit Singh was forced to recall his son and replaced Sher Singh with Colonel Mian Singh.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was in decline by now both personally & politically. When floodgates of resentment broke with the Maharaja’s death on 17 April 1841; order began to get restored only in 1842 when the Sikhs sent their first Muslim governor, Sheikh Gulam Mohiuddin. One of his initial decisions was to reopen the gates of Jama Masjid, closed since 1819; in a gesture of parity, he ordered repairs to the Shiva temple on Shankracharya hill. But it was all too late: Sikh rule was fated to end soon. As the Sikh kingdom began to disintegrate, the loss of Kashmir was inevitable.

The Kashmiri spirit seemed to have collapsed under the burden of nearly a century of oppression and slavery. While the weaver starved, the industry controlled by outsiders flourished. The Kashmiri shawl and carpet became a present suitable for kings and queens. By the nineteenth century, Kashmir had been ruled by all three centres of power in northern India: Delhi, Kabul and Lahore. It was now the turn of an immediate neighbour to preside over its fortunes.