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| Iftikhar Khan | |
|---|---|
| Subahdar | |
_of_Kashmir_Subah_(province)_in_the_1670%27s,_ca.1650%E2%80%931675.jpg) Painting of Iftikhar Khan containing a Perso-Arabic inscription on the border, ca.1650–1675 | |
| Reign | 1671 – 1675 |
| Tenure | Governor of Kashmir province |
Iftikhar Khan (also spelt as Iftikar Khan) was the Mughal governor of the Subah of Kashmir from 1671 to 1675.
Governorship of Kashmir
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He was appointed as governor of the Kashmir province in 1671 and is said to have enacted discriminatory policies, on the orders of Aurangzeb, against the local Hindus of Kashmir, including destruction of Hindu temples, indiscriminate killings, and forced conversions. Many girls and women from the Kashmiri Hindu community were seized for the Islamic harems during his governorship period. His policies pushed the Kashmiri Pundit community to the brink and made an organized group 500-strong from the community seek divine help from Shiva at the Amarnath shrine. According to traditional lore, after the appeal made to Shiva at Amarnath, one of the participating Kashmiri Pundits had a dream of Shiva instructing the group to seek assistance from the ninth Sikh guru, Tegh Bahadur, to put a stop to the oppression. This was taken by the group as a divine sign from Shiva to seek the assistance of the Sikhs. A delegation of around five hundred Kashmiri Pundits, led by Pundit Kirpa Ram, sought the Guru's help at Anandpur Sahib and detailed the genocidal policies enacted against the Hindus of Kashmir under the governorship of Iftikhar Khan.
The genocidal actions against the Kashmiri Hindus during his reign was noted and documented by the Kashmiri historian, Prithivi Nath Kaul Bamzai, in his works.
His reign as governor of the subah lasted until 1675.
References
- ^ Singh, Trilochan (1967). "Chapter XXII". Guru Tegh Bahadur, Prophet and Martyr: A Biography. Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. pp. 293–300.
'During the forty-nine years of Aurangzeb's reign Kashmir was administered by no less than fourteen governors sent from Delhi. Most of them were broad-minded and efficient. They dispensed justice and carried on the administration well. In times of unforeseen calamities like famines, floods, and fires they gave succour, and relief to the suffering people.' Unfortunately a bigoted, and cruel administrator, Iftikar Khan, was appointed governor in 1671 A.D., one who tyrannised over the Brahmins to such an extent that it is said that he sent to the Emperor bundles of sacred-threads of Brahmins, he had either converted or forcibly killed.
- ^ Dahiya, Amardeep S. (2014). Founder of the Khalsa: The Life and Times of Guru Gobind Singh. Hay House. ISBN 9789381398616.
He gave orders that no Hindu should be allowed to wear janeu or tilak (the marks of a devout Hindu) in Kashmir and those who refused to give them up should be put to death. Iftikhar Khan, the governor of Kashmir (1671-75), as bigoted as his emperor, set out to implement Aurangzeb's orders with a vengeance. (In his book, The Sikh Religion, Max Arthur Macauliffe refers to the governor of Kashmir as Sher Afghan Khan but most historians including Kirpal Singh and Kharak Singh call him Iftikhar Khan.) Thousands of Brahmins were thrown into jail and the process of a systematic genocide was launched. Those who had not yet been arrested sought safety by fleeing from the state. Only a handful of Brahmins had converted to Islam, it was obvious that soon the rest would either have been exterminated or would have fled the state.
- Chitkara, M.G. (2002). Kashmir Shaivism: Under Siege. Ashish Publishing House. pp. 132–133. ISBN 9788176483605.
- ^ Bhat, M.L. (2017). The Odyssey Of Kashmiri Pandits: Destination-Homeland-Panun Kashmir. Notion Press. ISBN 9781947586253.
History is a witness that under the commands of Aurangzeb, Iftikhar Khan was using torture towards the Pandits in Kashmir, and was forcibly converting them to Islam. He also used to seize pretty Panditani girls and make them over as gifts to the Musalmans for their harems. Some pious men among the Pandits met and decided to go to AmarNath and invoke mercy of Siva there for deliverance from the tyrannies of this bigot. At the Amar nath Cave one of the pandits saw Siva in a dream who told him to go to Teg Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru in the Punjab and ask for his help to save the Hindu religion. He spoke to his companions about this revelation.
- Singh, Patwant (2007). The Sikhs. Crown Publishing. ISBN 9780307429339.
How Guru Tegh Bahadur took up cudgels on behalf of the pandits of Kashmir is best explained by a contemporary Kashmiri historian, P.N.K. Bamzai, in his History of Kashmir: 'Iftikhar Khan ... was using force to convert the Pandits in Kashmir to Islam. Some pious men among the Pandits then met and decided to go to Amarnath and invoke the mercy of Siva there for deliverance from the tyrannies of the bigot. At the Amarnath cave, one of the Pandits saw Lord Siva in a dream who told him to go to Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, in the Punjab, and ask for his help to save the Hindu religion. He spoke to his companions about the revelation about 500 proceeded to Anandpur where Tegh Bahadur lived.'
- Bakshi, S.R. (1997). Kashmir: History and People. Kashmir Through Ages. Vol. 1. Sarup & Sons. p. 130. ISBN 9788185431963.
Iftikhar Khan (1671-1675) won a lot of notoriety by unnecessarily torturing Hindus and the following account will throw light on his policy.
Sources
- Patwant Singh. The Sikhs (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000) p.45.