Beginning of the transfer from Mughul to Afghan rule.

Nadir Shah’s presence in Afghanistan and his subsquent invasion of Hindustan exerted an unfavourable influence on all provinces, particularly Kashmir, which was not far away from Afghanistan, the home of Ahmad Shah Durrani, Kabul and Qandahar being included in the Subah of Kashmir under Akbar. When Nadir Shah placed the crown of Hindustan on the head of Muhammad Shah, The Emperor bowed and offered the provinces of his empire west of the river Indus from Kashmir to Sind. Kashmir proper, however, does not appear to have been annexed by Nadir Shah. But the Tarikh-i-Kashmir by Mulla Khalil Marjanpuri and the Tarikh-i-Hasan by Pir Hasan Shah assert that Fakhr-ud-Daula obtained order of appointment as Subadar of Kashmir in 1152 A.H. = 1739 A.C. from Nadir Shah and ruled for forty days in Nadir’s name and gave currency to Nadir’s coin as well. Subsequently, however, Fakhr-ud-Daula, probably on revised orders from Delhi, accepted ‘Inayatullah Khan the second as the Subadar of Muhammad Shah and left Srinagar.

Circumstances then combined further to unsettle authority, and caused anarchy to become rampant in Kashmir. The situation did not improve under Ahmad Shah who succeeded Muhammad Shah on the throne of Delhi in 1748 A.C., a year after Nadir Shah’s death.

Such was the condition of Kashmir when, in 1747 A.C., some of the nobles wrote to Ahmad Shah Durrani, who had taken the place of Nadir Shah, to annex Kashmir. When this letter fell into the hands of Afrasiyab, the Mughul proconsul, these nobles broke out into open revolt, and asked Ahmad Shah, the Mughul emperor of India, to appoint a governor. Consquently, Mir Muqim Kanth was appointed as such, as a temporary measure, but he was soon driven out by Abu’l Qasim, the son of Abu’l Barakat. In 1752 A.C., when Ahmad Shah Durrani was at Lahore preparing for an invasion of Hindustan, Mir MUqam and Khwaja Zahir Didamari of Kashmir craved his assistance. Thereupon, Ahmad Shah Durrani dispatched ‘Abdullah Khan Ishak Aqasi with a considerable force. After some ineffectual negotiations, Abu’l Qasim, the Mughul Nazim, fought the Afghans at Gund-Ni’mat (near Shupiyan) for fifteen days. His commander-in-chief, Gul Khan Khaibari, deserted him, whereupon Abu’l Qasim, the last Mughul governor of Kashmir, fled and was taken prisoner. The valley of Kashmir passed on to the Afghans.

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