[Reader-list] HISTORICAL TALES - Saviour of Kashmir

[Pawan Durani]

Saviour of Kashmir

Kashmiris groaned under the tyrannical yoke of the Afghans, who ruled
Kashmir from 1750 A.D., when Ahmad Shah Durrani of Kabul conquered the
Valley, for sixty years. Pathans exploited and plundered Kashmiris,
leaving them so many beggars.
George Forster, who visited Kashmir in 1783 A.D., wrote how the Afghan
government raised the revenue from three and a half crorees in the
time of Aurangzeb to twenty crores in the governorship of Jabbar Khan,
the last of the tribe. The regime was cruel and barbarous, one of
"brutal tyranny unrelieved by good work, chivalry or honour"
(Lawrence).
Someone had to bell the cat. Pandit Birbal Dhar-the present writer's
ancestor-a "diplomatic courtier" and revenue collector, took it upon
himself to invite Maharaja Ranjit Singh and thus to finish Afghan rule
of Kashmir.
A 'Judas' betrayed Birbal Dhar, "the pioneer of undaunted per
severance" (Pandit Anand Kaul) and his family -but could not frustrate
his mission.

Afghan rule was at the zenith of its glory in Kashmir. Oppression was
the order of the day. Pathans cruelly treated all Kashmiris, whether
Hindus or Muslims. Kashmiris groaned under the tyrannical yoke of the
ruthless foreigner. They heard many salutary things about the new
kingdom of Sikhs in the Punjab, headed by Maharaja Ranjit Singly who,
it was said, was a just ruler. Would that Ranjit Singh might send his
conquering armies to Kashmir, expel the brutal Pathans and place
Kashmir under his aegis? Every Kashmiri eagerly desired that change
but how could any one dare to go to Lahore Durbar and invite the great
Maharaja to extend his sway over to Kashmir and save the Kashmiris
from the inhuman oppression? Pathans organisedly spied every Kashmiri
who was a somebody. They tracked his every movement lest he should
conspire against the government.
One of these hounded Kashmiris was Pandit Birbal Dhar. He possessed a
large acreage of lands and he was very influential. The Governor
feared him but dared not uproot him, for he could not be sure about
the popular reaction. He knew full well that Kashmiris were fed up
with his tyranny. Spies infested Birbal Dhar's house. He knew that. He
used his family code in his correspondence to his intimate associates
with whom he conspired to overthrow the Pathans. After a long meeting,
it was derided that Birbal Dhar should proceed to Lahore.
Suddenly, the people deputed to spy on Birbal Dhar found to their
chagrin that he had disappeared. No due was available as to the
whereabouts of the fugitive. Azim Khan, the Governor, sent his fastest
cavaliers to track him along the Pir Panchal route to the boundaries
of Kashmir. They returned without their prey. Subsequently, Azim Khan
somehow came to know that Birbal Dhar had escaped in disguise and that
his wife and daughter-in-law were in hiding somewhere in Srinagar. His
anger and lust were aroused against the two ladies. He had heard much
about the beauty of Birbal Dhar's wife. Now the opportunity to wreak
vengeance against Birbal Dhar offered itself in the pleasant form of
dishonouring his wife. He despatched his spies and troops everywhere
in the city to make searches for her. In the course of these raids,
the Pathan troops committed many untold atrocities upon many innocent
Kashmiri families. But no trace was to be found of the missing ladies.

Mirza Pandit sat calm and sedate in his big palace of a home. He was
very anxious about the fate of the mission of his nephew, Birbal Dhar.
Off and on, he received scanty news of his nephew's journey. He was on
tenterhooks all the time but he did not show it.
As he had anticipated, one day Azim Khan summoned him to his court,
where he sat in full state, surrounded by swaggering Afghan officials,
fingering their long, pointed moustaches.
"So you have come, Mirza," sneered Azim Khan.
"Yes, Your Highness, I must obey your summons".
"Will you not tell us where your scoundrel of a nephew has gone to?"
"To me he is not a scoundrel", retorted Mirza Pandit, "nor do I know
his whereabouts".
"You must answer my question on pain of death".
"If I must, here it is", boldly replied Mina Pandit, "If he is
satiated with the world, he has gone to the holy Ganga to spend the
rest of his life there in meditation. Otherwise, he has gone to the
Sikhs to fetch their help against Your Highness".
The Pathan liked this nonchalant reply but, affecting anger, said,
"What must we do to you?"
"Kill Mirza Pandit", was the still bolder reply.
Azim Khan let Mirza Pandit Dhar go.
When Mirza Pandit Dhar left, Azim Khan was upset, very much so. In his
room he paced about like a tiger, held at bay. He shouted aloud, "I
have an idea", and then continued lustily, "I shall still have her".
The orderly outside was puzzled on hearing his master thus talking to
himself. He came in and salaamed just to see that the Governor was all
right.
"Go just now and command Wasa Kak to my presence". The orderly
despatched the messengers who returned with Wasa Kak.
With tottering steps, Wasa Kak advanced to the mighty presence of the
Governor. He was a weak, thin man, who presented a vivid contrast to
the tall and stalwart Pathan Governor, before whom he always trembled
with fear.
"We command you", thundered the Pathan, "to produce Birbal Dhar's wife
and daughter-in-law before us within ten days. If you succeed, we
shall amply reward you. Else we will impose a fine of one thousand
rupees for each day of delay".
With this Wasa Kak was dismissed. He did not know what to do. He knew
that the majority of Muslims were disgusted with Pathan rule, though a
small faction sided with the Governor. He did not want to betray Mirza
Pandit Dhar. Nor would he invite the displeasure of the wily Pathan,
who, he knew to his cost, was extremely unscrupulous.

"Do you know that your brother has absconded?" said Telak Chand Munshi
to his wife.
"Yes, my lord, Birbal Kak is away at Lahore. He is a brave Kashmiri.
He will free us from cruel Pathans".
"That is right. But where is his wife and daughter? Why did he not
send them here?"
"They should have been sent here, my lord, but my brother thought of
your safety. Therefore they are in disguise at the house of Qudus, the
milkman, who is very faithful to my father's family. But, please, you
know, this is a dose secret. I have not broken any trust in letting
you know, because you are as anxious about their safety as I am".
Telak Chand nodded his head, mechanically.

For a long time, Telak Chand Munshi had nourished a secret, gnawing
jealousy against the rising prosperity of the house of his
father-in-law, Mirza Pundit Dhar. He shared their wealth in many ways,
but he was especially sullen at the increasing influence of Birbal
Dhar. Two days after the disclosure of his wife to him, he came to
know that there was a heavy price on the heads of the wife and
daughter-in-law of Birbal Dhar. The idle profession of a banker had
intensified his greed of money. To that was now added the fire of
jealousy, that raged within his Jewish breast. He had an old grievance
against Wasa Kak Munshi and he did not want that Wasa Kak should curry
favour with the court.
The dead of night found Telak Chand Munshi, the veritable Judas of
Kashmir, in the bed-chamber of Azim Khan, to whom he disdosed the
whereabouts of the absconding women, who were immediately arrested.
For such an emergency Birbal Dhar's wife had preserved a potion of
poison. In the small hours, the Afghan police surrounded her house.
She well knew their errand and, before allowing them to talk, said
like a Rajput woman, "Yes, I am coming to the Governor. Let me dress".
She went to a dingy, dark room in the milkman's house and, after
changing her night clothes, gulped down the potion. Her weeping
daughter-in-law came alongside of Qudus, who was handcuffed and badly
maltreated by the bullying Pathan soldiers.
The two ladies were conducted to a gay Shikara which was paddled up
the Jhelum by many a boatman. When they reached the palace ghat and
asked Birbal Dbar's wife to get up, she said her last words, albeit
feebly, "Know that Kashmir has yet a Kota Rani. Remember me to my
Lord!"
The corpse of the heroic lady was taken up the ghat. The plighted
daughter-in-law tore her hair and beat her breast. Azim Khan had not
his eyes on her but on her mother-in-law. He had her sent to his Kabul
harem. He ordered Qudus to be executed on the spot.
The last words of Qudus were: "Wily Pathan, you are already doomed. My
master will revenge this atrocity". That incensed the wily Pathan who
then signed a death warrant for Wasa Kak Munshi for he had failed to
do the Governor's bidding. Later, in the day, he appointed Telak Chand
Munshi to a high post. He held that post for only a fortnight when the
Sikhs, after conquering Kashmir, executed him as well as his master,
Azim Khan. Birbal Dhar, the 'Saviour of Kashmir', was given a big
welcome in Srinagar, by the grateful people.

Source:

Tales of Kashmir

by Somnath Dhar
__________________________________________________