The Chingus Sarai

The Entrance to the Sarai

The Entrails of an Emperor : Chingus Sarai

(Advisory : Please use your discretion while reading this Post. Some parts of it might sound distasteful to sensitive people.)

On the Old Mughal Road or the Mughal Road as its called now lies a Sarai called the Chingus Sarai. This was among a series of Sarais built by the Mughals to serve as stop over points on their Journeys to Kashmir via the Pir Ki Gali. Some of these Sarais still exist though in a dilapidated condition on the Road. These include the most well known of these Sarais as well, the Aliabad Sarai which was right below the Pir Ki Gali. The Road and the Sarais on it were built by the Kurdish Governor of Kashmir and Lahore, Ali Mardan Khan

Inside the Chingus Sarai / Fort

Situated at an around 2000 ft the Sarai is around 130 kms from Jammu and around 35 kms from Rajouri. It is situated near the Village of Chingus along the banks of the Sukhtao River. It offers a spectacular view of the snowy Ranges of the Pir Panjals. This was the fifth Sarai on the way from Gujrat (now in Punjab, Pakistan) across the Pir Panjals into the Kashmir Valley and ending at Srinagar. The name of the Village earlier used to be called Khanpur and was established by the Jaral Hill Rajas. So why was the name changed ?

As most of you known that the Mughals were great patrons of Kashmir and none of the Mughals was as enamoured with Kashmir as Emperor Jahangir, also called Saleem, the somewhat rebellious son of Akbar the Great. Yes the same Saleem of Saleem Anarkali fame. As per historians Emperor Jahangir visited Kashmir a total of 13 times. In contrast Akbar visited Kashmir twice and Shahjahan and Aurangzeb once each. The Mughal Gardens in Kashmir are a legacy of the Mughal love affair with Kashmir. Emperor Jahangir himself is credited with the creation of the Shalimar Bagh while the others were laid down by his son, Emperor Shahjahan, who could never really enjoy Kashmir as much as he would have liked to. Jahangir’s grandson, the unfortunate Dara Shikoh was also a great Patron of Kashmir and the Chashmashahi Garden is said to have been a gift for Dara from his father Emperor shah Jahan.

The staying Quarters at the Chingus Sarai

Coming back to Chingus. The word Chingus is derived from the Persian word “Chingan” which means intestines or entrails. So why such a seemingly gory name for a halting Sarai on the way to what the Mughals called the Paradise on Earth. Well it so happened that in 1627 while on his way back from Kashmir, Emperor Jahangir fell ill at a place called Behram Gali (Behramgala) in the Poonch area. He was advised rest and the Royal Caravan decided to halt for a few days at Behram Gali before moving on. It would give the Emperor time to recover from ill health. And so they bade time and soon the Emperor health began to recover. And soon he got back to that Royal favourite past time of Shikar ie Hunting.

One day while on a Shikar it is said that it so happened that one of the Royal attendants was trying to drive a group of Deer into within the hunting Range of the Emperor. Apparently while doing so he slipped and fell down from a certain height on the top of the Hillock. This happened right in front of the Emperor and while he watched a big rock dislodged by his fall fell on top of the attendant and the poor fellow died a painful death in front of the Emperor Jahangir. And tragically the Royal attendants Mother was also present on the scene and after watching her son’s life end so painfully she started wailing and crying as any Mother would do in such a scenario. This chain of events had a great adverse effect on the Emperor.

The Emperor fell ill again and this time the Empress Nurjahan decided to rush him to Lahore. But alas his time had and this time there was no recovery. The Great Moghul Emperor Mirza Nur-ud-din Beig Mohammad Khan Salim aka Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir Badshah Ghazi aka Jahangir died at the age of 58 at the next halting station in Rajouri.

A fairly recent addition, a Mosque inside the Sarai.

The Empress decided to keep his death a secret in order to avoid a war of succession (which was quite vicious amongst the Mughals) before the time that she got to Lahore and took control of the situation. If the news of the death leaked out while she was far away from the Imperial Courts she and the claimants she backed would be at a distinct advantage. And as it is there was a lot of conflict between her and Prince Khurram (who would later become the Emperor Shahjahan) and they were engaged in a bitter power struggle. And she knew once Prince Khurram came to knew of the death of his father all bets would be off. They decided to prop up the body of the Emperor on top of the Royal Elephant so as to give the impression that he was alive.

But there was a slight issue. Now that they were almost in the heat of the Plains the Body would start to smell and it was impossible to hide the smell that emanates from a dead body. A close confidant, a Royal Doctor I assume, suggested that they take out the Intestines and the Entrails of the Emperor so that they can delay the process of the Body decaying and giving off the smell. And hence the Intestines of the Mughal Emperor were removed and buried in what would henceforth be called the Chingus Sarai. The Sarai which holds under its soil the entrails of the Emperor. And while doing so they also made a Grave where they buried the intestines.

The Garve of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir

To cut a long story short they made it back to Lahore and as envisaged a bitter conflict ensued but eventually it was Prince Khurram who emerged on top and was crowned the Emperor and Nur Jahan ended up in prison. However subsequent to that the late Emperor was buried at Shahdara near Lahore. This gave Emperor Jahangir the unique distinction of having two graves, one at Shahdara and one in the foothills of the Pir Panjals at the Chingus Sarai.

The Chingus Sarai has got some attention from the authorities but not really the kind of attention that one of the Great Emperors of Hindustan deserved. And that's the story of the Chingus Sarai.

For those who venture into Kashmir using the Mughal do go have a look. History and its knowledge can even make the most mundane looking old structure suddenly come alive and the same holds true for the Chingus Sarai. There is a Marble Tomb at the place where the entrails were buried.

Pics Credit :Parshati Dutta

The Battle of Basgo

The Battle of Basgo : When the Mughals fought the Mongols

Here is an interesting tale which encompasses a vast myriad of actors and shows how the history of the Himalayas intertwines containing threads that includes the various people living in and around the Himalayas.

Around 1643 Tibet was a dependency of the Mongols and the Mongols played an important part in the power struggle between the various sects of Tibetan Buddhism who seemed to be engaged in a permanent duel. It was primarily a struggle between the Yellow hat sect and the Red hat sect. The Mongols were the military power who decided on the matter of which sect would come out on top in this struggle.

The Mongol Gushi Khan, the ruler of the Dzungar Khanate, put his weight behind the Fifth Dalai Lama, who was the head of the Yellow Hat sect. But as a quid pro quo the whole of Tibet came under Mongol suzernity and was a welcome addition to the Dzungar Mongol Empire, an Empire which strecthed from Tibet to Kazakhstan to the Mongol steppes and well into Siberia. At that time it doesnt seem to have occured to the Mongols or to the Dalai Lama to subjugate Western Tibet (Ladakh) which was a seperate kingdom though which paid tribute to the Tibetan kingdom.

But then circumstances played up and created a situation which caused the Mongols to cast their gaze on Ladakh along with their Tibetan allies.

It so happened that the King of Bhutan was a follower of the Red Hat sect and this got him into a spat with the Dalai Lama who was the most dominant figure of the Yellow Hat sect and his Mongol allies. As it happened the King of Ladakh at that time, Delek Namgyal of the powerful Namgyal dyanasty sided with the King of Bhutan in this spat as the head Lama of Bhutan was his patron Lama as well.

This incensed the Mongol Tibetan rulers of Tibet and soon an army was despatched to Ladakh let by a Mongol Lama named Tsang consisting of both the Mongols and Tibetans. In the first engagement the Ladakhi Army met the Tibeto-Mongol Army near the Pangong Lake and were driven back to their capital and castle which at that time was at Basgo.

It should be noted that the Raja of Bushahr, Raja Kehari Singh also supported the Tibeto-Mongol invasion as he wanted to recover parts of Kinnaur which were claimed by the Namgyals of Ladakh.

Finding himself in the midst of being surrounded in his castle at Basgo by the Tibeto-Mongol, the Gyalpo (Ladakhi word for the King) decided to ask help from the only power he knew could take on the Mongols and the Tibetans. He wrote to the Mughal Governor of Kashmir to come to his rescue in exchange for which he will switch his allegiance to the Moghuls instead of the Tibetans in the future. The Mughal Governor forwarded the request to Emperor Aurangzeb,who agreed to help on two conditions, first the Pashmina trade should be an exclusive Mughal preserve and the Gyalpo should convert to Islam.

The Gyalpo found himself between a rock and a hard place. Atleast agreeing to the Mughla conditions would ensure that he had a good chance of getting through this crisis. Alive. He agreed and soon a Mughal force was despatched to take on the Mongols and the Tibetans.

Interestingly the Mughals themselves were of Turkic-Mongol origin. Infact the word "Mughal" was the Persian word for the Mongols. Emperor Babur was himself a descendent of Timurlane and a princess of the Chagatai order. The Chagtais were descended from Chagatai, the second son of the Great Khan himself. The stage was now set for these Mughlas to meet on the field their long lost Mongol cousins.

As a side act the Raja of Kullu, Raja Bidhi Singh, also sided with the Mughals, as Lahaul and Kullu used to pay tributes to the Ladakh kingdom and as such he was obliged to side with the Namgyals. On a side note the Raja plundered the Zanskar Valley while the stage was being set for the main engagement.

The Mughal force crossed the Indus over two wooden bridges at Khalaste and marched towards Basgo. The two armies met at a plain called Jargyal between Basgo and Nimmu. This is referred to as the Battle of Basgo fought in 1679. And the battle hardened Mughals along with their Ladakhi and Kullu allies proved too strong for the Tibeto-Mongols and their Bushahri allies. The Tibeto-Mongols were pushed back and routed all the way to Spituk where after a brief lull the fighting erupted again until they were driven beyond the Pangong Lake to a place called Trashisgang. They built themselves a Fort and shut themselves in and the Mughal Army now turned back, confident that the Tibeto-Mongols were gone for good. But of course Mongols being Mongols, they were wrong, but more of that later.

In the meanwhile the Gyalpo had moved west to the Fort of Tinmogang, around 30 west of the Fort at Basgo. And the Mughals now turned up to get their pound of flesh. All the Pashmin trade rights were given to the Mughals and as per Mughal chronicles the Gyalpo converted to Islam and took on the name Akbat Mahmud Khan. As a guarantee the Mughals took with them to Kashmir as "guests" a few members of the Royal family including one of his sons.

The Ladakhi chronicles however make no mention of his conversion to Islam. Maybe the King didnt want to reveal this fact to his subjects and especially to the Orthodox Buddhist Lamas who would get extremely incensed at the fact that their King converted to Islam. As per outside historians the King converted to Islam but this information was kept secret and not recorded anywhere in the Ladakhi chronicles. He simply could not afford to face the wrath of the Lamas.

Having been satisfied and their conditions fulfilled the Mughals went back over the Zoji La to Kashmir leaving the Gyalpo in charge as before.

Once the Mughals went back, the Tibetians with new re-enforcements from the new Dzungarian Khan, Galdan Boshugtu Khan, attacked again in 1684. This time the Tibeto-Mongols were victorious and the Gyalpo just didnt have the time or the inclination to call upon his Mughal allies and neither were the Mughlas perpared or interested in intervening again.

In the aftermath a Treaty was signed between the Tibetans and the Ladakhis which set the border between Ladakh and Tibet and it restricted the Kashmir hold on the Pashmina trade only till Spituk. It also set the annual tribute that Ladakh had to send to Tibet.

This fragile peace would hold on for another 150 years till General Zorawar Singh happened. Another story for another day.

References : Francke : History of Western Tibet, O.C. Handa:'Buddhist Western Himalaya: A Politico-Religious History' and Vinayak Razdan who had written a Post on the same and I added more information to his Post.

Kashmir : Between The Mughals and the Dogras

Kashmir ; Between the Mughals and the Dogras

The exalted Vale of Kashmir. The powder keg Kashmir. The enigma Kashmir. The mere mention of this name triggers a huge range of human emotions and reactions that few other words do.

Most people are well aware of what happened after Independence in 1947 but few are aware of the twists and turns of history that the Valley went through to land at that particular juncture in 1947. I try and explain the passage of History right through the Mughals to the Afghans to the Sikhs and to the Dogras. This has been compiled through various sources both offline and online. This is just an attempt at re-creating history without any prejudice to any race or religion or ethnicity. I will try my best and remain neutral to any bias and put things as they happened. My only bias would be towards a character that I have come to admire more than probably anyone in History. You will know when you read the complete story.

As most are aware Kashmir was a great favorite with the Mughals and it was a Mughal province for many centuries till finally the power of the Mughals began to decline and the Governors of the Provinces became semi-independent and began to assert their own whims and fancies.

Kashmir was no different but it had not missed the notice of the Afghans who used carry out their invasions of North India time and again in this period taking advantage of a weak Center.

The Hari Parbat Fort as seen from the Dal Lake

Cutting a long story short the Afghan Ahmad Shah Abdali finally conquered the Valley of Kashmir after the Afghan forces under Abdullah Khan Ashaq Akasi defeated the forces of the local commander and the guy in control of Kashmir, Abdul Qasim. This was in 1753.

Abdullah Khan Ashaq Akasi became the first Afghan Governor of Kashmir but within 6 months he had to go back to Kabul for some pressing business and Abdullah Khan Kabuli was put in charge.But the Afghans had become pretty unpopular because of the aggressive tax collections and eventually he was murdered by Sukhjiwan and Abdul Banday. And Sukhjiwan Mal assumed the Governorship of Kashmir for the next almost 9 years. But he declared his allegiance to the Mughal Emperor, Alamgir and for the same he was given the title of Raja. Another Governor who succeeded him Azad Khan declared his allegiance to the Ottoman Emperor.

Point being the Governor’s of Kashmir though nominally under Afghan rule continued to do mostly as they pleased and the state of affairs in Kabul at that time were such that the Afghan Kings had neither the time or inclination to intervene as they were busy in familial infighting for the right to Rule.

Shah Shuja Durrani

Once such Governor was Atta Muhammed Khan (1803 to 1813) who declared himself pretty much independent after his father was murdered in Kabul by supporters of a certain claimant to the Throne. As it so happened in 1808, the Afghan King Shah Shuja was ousted by the same individual, Muhammed Shah and his minister Fateh Khan. Atta Muhammed Khan invited Shah Shuja to come to Kashmir from where he could still go on ruling as the King of Afghanistan. Shah Shuja took the offer and landed up in Srinagar only to find himself Atta Muhammed Khan’s prisoner at the Hari Parbat Fort.

The new King Mahmud Shah and Fateh Khan realized that the loss of Kashmir would be a great one and they had to settle the score with Atta Muhammed Khan for declaring independence and also they wanted Shah Shuja in their custody. So in 1812 an Army was prepared under the command of Fateh Khan and his brother Azim Khan for a punitive and decisive strike against Atta Muhammed Khan and re-take Kashmir.

There was a problem though. A lot of water had flowed down the Jehlum since 1753 and there was a new power to be reckoned with. And yes you guessed it right, it was my favorite historical character, the Sher-e-Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh (I will refer to him as the Sher in short).

The Sher E Punjab : Maharaja Ranjit Singh

The newly conquered/ aligned territories of the Sher lay in between Kabul and a smooth passage to Kashmir and the Afghans had no option but to ask the Sher for his assistance in return for which they offered suitable rewards. Not that the Sher didn’t have designs of his own on Kashmir. The rewards included the Eleven lakh Rupees and “half” of Kashmir if this amount wouldn’t be paid.

The newly formed Punjab Kingdom of the Sher was sandwiched between the Britishers on the East and the Afghans on the West. Both were formidable adversaries and having done his conquests to the South and the only avenue left for expansion was up North and hence to Kashmir. Kashmir as a territory offered great revenue and was also the center of the Shawl trade. It was also an important trading point for trade into Turkestan, Baltistan, Ladakh and Tibet. But besides all these there was a certain aura attached to this place. The Sher wanted Kashmir.

Till now the Sher had never been in direct conflict with the King of Afghanistan though he had fought Afghans on numerous occasions and was well aware of their military prowess. Nor did he want any confrontation with them till he chose the place and time.

So all things said and done an alliance was agreed upon and a small Sikh force was dispatched under Diwan Mokham Chand to go along with the Afghan forces to teach a lesson to the rebel Afghan Governor of Kashmir (History is never as simple as we are taught or what we assume it to be) and “secure” Shah Shuja from his captivity.

Oh another small thing. The wife of Shah Shuja had offered the Koh-i-Noor diamond to the Sher if he could secure the safe release of Shah Shuja. The Sher was a connoisseur of all good things in life and the Kohinoor would be crowning jewel in his great collection.

The Shergarhi Palace

So soon a combined Afghan-Sikh force marched into Srinagar and took over the main Shergarhi and the Hari Parbat Fort. Both Atta Muhammed Khan (the Sher had taken an undertaking from the Afghan King that he wouldn’t be harmed) and Shah Shuja on being released made haste for the Sikh camp understandably. Point to be noted that both forces reached Srinagar through different Routes

Diwan Mokham Chand now demanded his due as promised but Fateh Khan refused as he said that it all belonged to the Afghans and the Sikhs didnt play any part in it. After due deliberations with the Sher, the Diwan with his forces withdrew but they took along with them Shah Shuja and Atta Muhammed Khan. The Kohinoor was worth much more than Eleven Lakh Rupees. Not that Fateh Khan knew.

After they withdrew from Kashmir, the Sikh forces consolidated and induced Jahandad Khan (who was a brother of Atta Muhammed Khan, the deposed Governor of Kashmir, now in Sikh protection) the commander of Fort of Attock to let them into the Fort and take control.

The Attock Fort

The Sher was ready. This brought him into direct confrontation with the King of Afghanistan. Fateh Khan left Kashmir and a combined Afghan force now attacked the Sikhs at Attock. Joining the Sikh force were the formidable General Hari Singh Nalwa, General Gurmukh Singh, Karam Chand Chahal, the commander of the Sikh Artillery Ghouse Khan besides Dewan Mokham Chand who led the Sikh forces. Without getting into the details let me just say that the Sikhs won this first big engagement between the Sikh and the Durrani Empire.

Coming back to Kashmir. The Sher after his victory despatched a force under General Ram Dayal to fulfil his ambitions on Kashmir in 1814. The Afghans were ready for battle and they met at Hirpura. Fighting in the Pir Panjals in inclement weather was something the Sikhs were not prepared for. They lost heavily in this engagement and then in further engagements. Kashmir still lay with the Afghans. The Sikhs realized they needed expertise in mountain warfare which the Afghans were good at and the Sikhs were defeated in their first expedition into the Himalayas.

Just as it happened a war far away provided a new set of weapons to the Sher. The British had clashed with the Gurkhas around the same time. The Gurkhas were finally defeated in 1816 and what it did was that the fighting quality of the Gurkha soldier was greatly appreciated and many Gurkhas went on to join the forces of the Sher.

Maharaja Gulab Singh

Meanwhile Azim Khan was the new Governor of Kashmir and he tried his best to bring around some stability. His main revenue collector was Birbal Dhar. It so happened that some revenue targets were not met and Azim Khan was unhappy. Anticipating his wrath Birbal Dhar fled to Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu who sent him to the Sher. Birbal Dhar offered inside information on Kashmir and egged on the Sher to launch another attempt on Kashmir.

Soon the oppurtune time came in 1819 and Azim Khan had to leave for an engagement in Kabul leaving Jabar Khan in charge. A new force was prepared comprising of the Sikh Army with its newest element the Gurkhas. A galaxy of the Sher’s Generals were put in charge. These included Misr Diwan Chand, General Hari Singh Nalwa, Raja Gulab, Sardar Jawala Singh and General Akali Phulla Singh and they were assisted by the local Muslim rulers of Poonch, Rajauri and Bhimber. They marched onto Kashmir over the Pir Panjals.

The decisive battle was fought at Shopian. The Afghans fought hard and they fought well. But the cream of the Punjabi’s Emperors formidable and trained on European lines forces finally prevailed in the Battle. On July 15, the victorious Sikh forces marched into Srinagar and finally the Sher had his biggest prize Kashmir. The first son born to the Sher after the conquest of Kashmir was named Kashmira Singh.

Finally the Sher had Kashmir but he would never get to visit it in the next 20 years. The first Sikh Governor of Kashmir was General Hari Singh Nalwa. And then started the period of Sikh rule in Kashmir. In the meantime the ruler of Jammu, Raja Gulab Singh, a vassal of the Sher, started on a campaign in the surrounding areas with a view to consolidate his power in the Jammu Hills and beyond. He pretty soon ran over all the small Hill Rajas around and at the same time he came to assume the powerful position of the Commander in Chief of the Sarkar Khalsa Army (as the Sikh Army was called).

Raja Gulab Singh, a Dogra, had ambitions of his own and his brothers held powerful positions in the Court of the Sher. Raja Dhian Singh was one of the main Wazirs and Suchet Singh was the treasurer. Soon the Court of Punjab was divided into two factions. The Punjabi Sikhs on one side and the Dogras
on the other. Of course none of these factions could gio against the wishes of the Sher. Nobody could so much as whimper in front of him.

In 1839, the Sher passed away. The passing away of such a dominant personality and the factionalism soon led to the weakening of the Empire. The British had been lying in wait and having defeated all the major powers in the sub-continent the only obstacle to their complete domination was the Sher. He was no more. The time had come.

Political Divisions of Punjab after the First Anglo Sikh War in 1846

Finally in 1846 the British met the Sikhs in battle. After several hard fought Battles the British finally emerged victorious. Raja Gulab Singh, conveniently had kept out of all these Battles. A huge war indemnity was levied on the Sikhs and on being unable to pay so they offered in return all the territory between the Beas and the Indus to the British.

Raja Gulab Singh offered to pay the war indemnity of 75 lakhs Rupees in return for all the country between Ravi and Indus to be given to him. Kashmir which was a part of this to be turned onto him. He already controlled Jammu, Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit thanks to the expeditions of General Zorawar Singh. The only missing piece was Kashmir. The crown jewel. The British agreed. And hence was formed the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Hence the Dogras under the newly crowned Maharaja Gulab Singh became the new Rulers of Kashmir. But this was not without drama. The last Sikh Governor of Kashmir, Sheikh Imam-ud-Din offered some resistance but owing to the pressure exerted by the British he soon gave up and the Dogras took actual possession of Kashmir.

Maharaja Ranbir Singh

Maharaja Gulab Singh was succeeded by his son, Maharaja Ranbir Singh and so the Dogras ruled till 1947 and after that we are mostly aware of what happened.