The Chak Dynasty (1561 to 1586)

The Chaks were nobles of Dard (Dardic) origin, mainly Shia Muslims. They rose in the confusion after Zain-ul-Abidin and ruled for just 25 years before the Mughals.

Rulers

Yusuf Shah and Habba Khatun

• Yusuf Shah was a poet and lover of music. His wife was Habba Khatun (Zoon, "the moon"), a village girl of Chandrahar (Pampore) who became his queen and a famous poet. She is called the "Nightingale of Kashmir".
• In 1585 Akbar's army forced Yusuf Shah to submit. The Mughals detained him and sent him to Bihar, where he died in 1592. His tomb is at Biswak (Bihar).
• Habba Khatun is said to have left the court and sung of her loss until her death.

The Mughal annexation (1586)

• In 1586 Akbar's forces under Qasim Khan and Raja Bhagwan Das entered Kashmir by the Pir Panjal route. Yaqub Shah fought but his nobles were divided. The Mughals took Kashmir in October 1586, and the Chak rule ended.

Chak rule in detail (1561 to 1586)

Rulers in order (as the exam notes list them)

Background

• The Chaks belonged to Dardistan and settled in Kashmir during the Shah Mir period. Shah Mir recruited them in the army. They established their rule and ruled Kashmir till Akbar captured it.
• Ghazi Chak was the founder of Chak rule and had been commander-in-chief of Habib Shah.

Yusuf Shah Chak

• He married Habba Khatun, the celebrated poetess. He developed Gulmarg and Sonamarg as holiday resorts.
• In December 1585 a Mughal army under Bhagwan Das invaded by the Jhelum valley route. Yusuf Shah was forced to surrender and agreed to be presented before Akbar. His nobles and the locals decided to install Prince Yaqub as the new Sultan, and Kashmiris under Yaqub continued the struggle.
• A treaty was signed between the Kashmiris and the Mughals on these terms:
  1. The Mughal army would withdraw from Kashmir.
  2. Yusuf Shah would keep his throne.
  3. He would accept Akbar as sovereign and read the khutba in Akbar's name.
  4. Revenues from the mint, saffron and shawls would be collected by Mughal officers and paid to the imperial treasury.
  5. Yusuf Shah and Prince Yaqub would appear before Akbar.
• Akbar refused to approve the treaty and ordered Yusuf imprisoned. After about two and a half years, on the request of Raja Man Singh, Yusuf Shah was released and given a mansab of 500 horse, but was not allowed to return to Kashmir. Man Singh took him to Bihar, where he died in 1592 and was buried in the Patna district.

Yaqub Shah (1586 to 1588), the last Chak ruler

• After the Mughal army withdrew he refused the treaty and crowned himself Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad Badshah Ghazi. He was Shia and an intolerant ruler who committed atrocities on Sunnis.
• In July 1586 an army under Qasim Khan Mir Bahr was sent. Yaqub fled to Kishtwar. On 14 October 1586 the Mughals entered Kashmir and it became part of the Mughal Empire (Kabul province).
• Yaqub kept resisting with the help of Kashmiri people. Qasim Khan lost hope and asked Akbar for another commander, Mirza Yusuf Khan Rizvi. Akbar visited Kashmir for the first time in June 1589, after Rizvi had pacified it.
• Rizvi finally defeated Yaqub, who surrendered on 7 August 1589. He was sent to Raja Man Singh in Bihar, kept as a prisoner, later released and given a mansab of 500 horse. He died in Bihar and was buried near his father's grave.

Architecture under the Chaks

• The Red Fort, also called Muzaffarabad Fort, was built by the Chaks.