HASSAN SHAH (1472-1484 A.D)

Followed the of death of Haidar Shah in 1472 A.D. his son Hassan Shah ascended the throne with the active support of a powerful noble Ahmad Aswad who lieu of his services was given the title of Malik and elevated to the post of Prime-Minister. The latter tactfully eliminated his rivals and strengthened his position further by entering into the matrimonial alliances with important nobles.He recalled Baihaqi Sayyids, who had earlier been exiled and allowed them to play a dominant role in Kashmir politics, so as to check the growing power of his rivals. But this act proved to be a fatal mistake on the part of Prime-Minister, as the Baihaqi Sayyids after becoming powerful imprisoned him and latter killed him along with his sons. Thereupon, they installed Sayyid Mirak Hassan Baihaqi on the seat of Prime-Minister.

In the early years of his reign Hassan Shah endeavoured to revive the practice of Zain-ul-Abidin. Himself a well-read man,he patronized a good number of Sanskrit and Persian scholars and got many Sanskrit works translated in to Persian. He was interested in studying religious and literary works of Hindus and as per Sirivara’s statement learnt the six schools of philosophy. The Sultan was also found of Music and his court had 1200 Hindustani musicians and an equally large number of concubines.

The History of Kashmir after the death of Hassan Shah (1484 A.D), till its annexation with the Mughal Empire,is a sad tale of wars of succession,rebellions, and conflicts among different factions of nobles. The courtiers and nobles, in order to gain upper hand in state affairs, would see their favourite prince on the throne.They even did not hesitate to muster support from outside the country for the prince of their choice. The position of Sultans was reduced to mere figure-heads, always looking forward to the support of one or the other group in the court. The welfare and prosperity of the subjects, which, during the times of Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin was the main priority of the government, was a little cared for.

The trouble,infact,started when Sayyid Hassan Baihaqi installed Mohammad Shah the minor son of Hassan Shah on the throne of Kashmir. And himself acted as a regent. His growing influence at the court, coupled with indifferent attitude towards Kashmiri nobles aroused considerable jealously and animosity among them and they began to organize themselves against Baihaqi Sayyids. With the support of the ruler of Jammu, they succeeded in killing Sayyid Hassan Baihaqi and, thereby,minimized the influence of Sayyids in state politics. But their own lust for power further worsened the situation when the Magreys, Dars, Rainas and Chaks fought to gain more and more power in the country.Their leaders, Jahangir Magrey, Saif-din Dar,Idi Raina and Shams Chak for some time, shared power as joint regent of boy Sultan, but Spurred by ambition to get full control of the administration, tried to eliminate each other, Jahangir Magrey was first to succeed in the tussle for power and occupied the post of chief Minister. The other factions, in order to that functioning of the system, tried to create confusion in the empire when they invited Fateh Khan,the grand son of Zain-ul-Abidin, to make a bid for the throne of Kashmir and provided all moral and material support to him.

The wars of succession between Mohammad Shah and fateh Shah continued for a long time till the death of Fateh Shah in 1517 A.D., and during this period both of them became the kings of Kashmir three times,each time one being deposed by the other. Even after Fateh Shah’s death, Mohammad Shah was twice placed by the nobles on the throne of Kashmir and he finally died in 1537 A.D., to be succeeded by his son Shams-ud-Din II.

The new Sultan, and his successors namely Ismail Shah-I and Ibrahim Shah-II also proved incompetent enough to control the growing influence of the nobility and there was confusion all over. Outside the court and the country, some important developments were taking place which had far reaching impact on the political, social and religious life of the people. A new group of missionaries led by Mir Shams-ud-Din Iraqi arrived in Kashmir in 1492 A.D., from Khurasan and succeeded in winning over a good number of people to new religious sect,popularly known as Shiaism. A new group of nobility, led by Musa Raina emerged in state politics and tried to capture power in Kashmir. The rivalries sometimes, resulted in sectarian clashes, adding to the miseries of the people of Kashmir.

Instability in Kashmir, encouraged war lords in the neighbouring countries to gain a foothold in the valley. In 1531 A.D., Kamran, the Mughal Prince conquered Kashmir but had to withdraw his forces when the local army,under the leadership of kaji Chak, waged guerrilla warfare against the Mughals. Next to try his fortune, was Abu Said Khan, who in the company of his commander Mirza Haider Dughlat conquered Kashmir but had to retreat when his army suffered heavy losses in various encounters at different places in the valley. He had to contend himself with the terms of an agreement arrived at between him and Sultan Mohammad Shah which laid down that Khutba would be read and coins struck in the name of the Sultan Said Khan.

But again, the internal dissensions among nobles paved the way for external invasion. Abdal Magrey and Regi Chak,in order to dislodge Kaji Chak, invited Mirza Haider Dughlat to invade Kashmir, who this time, had entered the service of Humayan and was wandering in wilderness along with his master.Both of them were in search of a base to launch an attack to recover the Indian empire which was captured by Sher Shah Suri. Considering Kashmir as suitable base for his operation,Mirza Haider Dughlat accepted the invitation and occupied Kashmir in 1540 A.D., with a little resistence from the local army.