In the reign of Asoca, about the 4th century before Christ, Buddhism was introduced, and after remaining for some time, under Tartar princes, the religion of the country, was again succeeded by Hindooism.
The first Mahomedan king of Cashmere is believed to be “Shahmar,” who came to the throne in A.D. 1341, and during the succeeding reigns Thibet appears to have been first subdued, and was annexed for a time to the kingdom.
The next monarch, who appears notably on the stage, was “Sikunder,” who, influenced by a certain Syud Alee Humudanee and other religious fanatics recently arrived in the country, began to destroy the Hindoo temples and images by fire, and to force the people to abjure idolatry. Previous to this influx of zealots, the country was in a transition state as regards religion and Mahomedanism then began to make some head in the valley.
After this period nothing of very great importance occurred in the kingdom of Cashmere until the year 1584, when the great Akbar summoned the then king “Yûsûf Shah” to present himself in person at the court of Lahore. Finding his orders not complied with, he despatched an army of 50,000 men to enforce obedience, and Yûsûf Shah, preferring apparently to die than fight, delivered himself up, and was sent to Lahore.
The imperial army was afterwards, however, repulsed in attempting to subdue the country, and it was not finally conquered for two years, when Akbar, overcoming all resistance, took possession of the province. [[378]]
The purity of the emperor’s motives in annexing the territory, and his opinion of his conquest, are amusingly shown in the following letter to his minister Abdûllah Khan:—
“On the mirror of your mind, which bears the stamp of Divine illumination, be it manifest and evident, that at the time when my imperial army happened to be in the territories of the Punjab, although I at first had no other views than to amuse myself with sports and hunting in this country, yet the conquest of the enchanting kingdom of Cashmere, which has never yet been subdued by monarchs of the age, which for natural strength and inaccessibility is unrivalled, and which, for beauty and pleasantness, is a proverb among the most sagacious beholders, became secretly an object of my wishes, because I received constantly accounts of the tyranny of the rulers of that region. Accordingly, in a very short time, my brave warriors annexed that kingdom to my dominions. Though the princes of that country were not remiss in their exertions, yet, as my intentions were established on the basis of equity, it was completely conquered.
“I myself also visited that happy spot, the possession of which is a fresh instance of the Divine favour, and offered up my praise and thanksgiving to the supreme Lord of all things. As I found myself delighted with the romantic bowers of Cashmere, the residence of pleasure, I made an excursion to the mountains of that country and Thibet, and beheld, with the eyes of astonishment, the wonders of the picture of Nature.”
This visit was in A.D. 1588.
The emperor then appears to have entered the valley by the Peer Punjal Pass, and to have been received with every demonstration of joy by the people in whom he took [[379]]such a fatherly interest. The loyalty of his children, however, was but short-lived, for about the year 1591 he again writes to Abdûllah:—