As Habib Shah was the last of the Shah Miris, the descendants of Sultan Shams-ud-din Shah Mir, Yaqub Shah was the last of the Chaks. On his accession, Yaqub made ‘Ali Dar, a prominent official, his minister, and himself took to a life of ease and plaasure. Misrule naturally followed.
‘Ali Dar, the first minister, rebelled, fled the city, and suffered death by drowning. The second minister, Muhammad Bat, relentlesslly persecuted the Sunnis. Qazi Musa, the chief Qazi, was ruthlessly done to death by Yaqub Shah. Yaqub, it seems, wanted the Qazi to retain the name of Caliph ‘Ali to the exclusion of the other three Caliphs of the Prophet in the public prayer. Qazi Musa objected to it. He said that temporal rulers had nothing to do with spiritual matters. Yaqub was offended. He sent for the executioner and put Qazi Musa to death. Qazi Musa’s house was also plundered. The Sunnis were naturally so larmed that Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi and Baba Daud Khaki petitioned Akbar for help and entered into the following covenant with him:
1. That the ruling prince shall not interfere with religious affairs, the purchase and sale of commodities, and the rates of cereals.
2. That the dignitaries and officials of Kashmir shall have no Kashmiri, male or female, Hindu or Muslim, as slave.
3. That the nobles of Kashmir having been a source of mischief shall have, for the present, no share in the administration of their country.
Qasim Khan was ordered to march on 28th June, 1586 A.C., upon Kashmir with an army of forty thousand horse and twenty thousand foot. He entered Rajouri and proceeded to Srinagar. Yaqub made several attempts to retrieve the situation, but met with no success. Mirza Qasim entered Srinagar in 995 A.H. (1586 A.C.). From the date Kashmir came under foreign domination.
Reference:
Sufi,G.M.D (1996). Kashmir Under The Mughals. Kashir: Being A History Of Kashmir(pp.233-235) Delhi:Capital Publishing House.
