By Justice Markandey Katju
A study of Indian history shows that there are many gaps in it, about which little is known. For instance, we know a few things of the Magadh Empire from the surviving extracts of the book ‘Indica’ by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador of Seleucus Nicator (Alexander the Great’s general who inherited the eastern part of his empire) to the court of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka’s edicts, etc., but there are great gaps in our knowledge about it.
One of such gaps is about what happened to the last independent king of Kashmir, Yusuf Shah Chak after he was deposed in 1586 by Mughal Emperor Akbar, and exiled to Bihar.
We know with certainty that he was exiled to Bihar from 3 sources:
(1) A Persian work Baharistan-e-Shahi, translated into English by Kashinath Pandit
(2) Akbarnama by Abul Fazl
(3) Tareekh-e-Kashmir or History of Kashmir by Malik Haider Chadura
Baharistan-e-Shahi mentions that Yusuf Shah Chak’s son Yaqub Shah Chak, who accompanied his father to Bihar, had association with the Mughal Governor of Bihar, Raja Man Singh. It also mentions that Abul Ma’ali, who accompanied King Yusuf Shah Chak to Bihar, brought Yaqub’s body to pargana Biswak (in present Nalanda district of Bihar), where he was buried in a village called Kashmir Chak, near his father’s grave.
In 1958-59 Prof. Hasan Askari of Patna University, an eminent historian, visited Biswak in Nalanda district, Bihar, and recorded the tombs identified by locals as those of Yusuf Shah Chak and his son Yaqub. He also recorded the village known as Kashmiri Chak, and the local tradition of its Kashmiri origin.
In 1977 Sheikh Abdullah, then Chief Minister of Kashmir, visited the graveyard in Kashmiri Chak, and was hosted by Abdul Rashid Khan, grandfather of Aamir Rashid Khan (mentioned later in this article).
My interest in the matter arose in an unexpected way. I had written an article on the great Urdu poet Mir Anees, whose mazaar in Lucknow was neglected and in a sorry condition
Commenting on this article, Aamir Rashid Khan, whom I had never known before, wrote:
“Same here. For over a decade, we have been drawing the attention of the concerned authorities to the poor and neglected condition of the graves of the last king of Kashmir Yusuf Shah Chak, Habba Khatun and their other relatives at Kashmiri Chak, Beswak. With limited response, we did what was best possible from our side. At the moment no government is serious about preserving history! Politics alone is on their agenda!”
I contacted Aamir Rashid Khan, and he told me a remarkable story.
He and his younger brother Yasir Rashid Khan claim to be descendants of either King Yusuf Shah Chak or one of his companions who came with him to Bihar (they are not sure which), when Yusuf was exiled.
Aamir is presently in Muscat, Oman, where he teaches medical lab science, including surgical pathology (analysing biopsy, etc.), and he previously worked with Tata Memorial Hospital. His younger brother Yasir works as a radiographer in JNMCH, Bhagalpur.
There is a mosque and graveyard in Kashmiri Chak, Biswak, Nalanda district, which is registered as a waqf, allegedly containing the graves of Yusuf Shah Chak, his son Yaqub, Habba Khatun, etc. (though no names are written on the graves), and the ancestors of Aamir and Yasir have always been its mutawallis (managers). The present mutawalli is Yasir.
Though they were born in Bihar, and grew up there, Aamir and Yasir proudly call themselves Kashmiris, though they cannot speak the Kashmiri language (like Kashmiri Pandits such as me whose ancestors migrated from Kashmir to the plains of India a long time back, and forgot the Kashmiri language).
After his exile, Yusuf Shah Chak was given a jagir (large landholding) in pargana Biswak, in present day Nalanda district in Bihar.
In their family history there is a long gap between 1586, the time when Yusuf Shah Chak, his family members, and companions came to Bihar when Yusuf Shah Chak was exiled, till the time of Aamir and Yasir’s great grandfather Yusuf Khan, who was also a large landholder in Biswak.
Yusuf Khan lived in a village which his ancestors had named ‘Kashmiri Chak’, which indicated their link to Kashmir (since Chak is a typical Kashmiri name). Yusuf Khan’s son, Dr Abdul Rashid Khan (grandfather of Aamir and Yasir) was an eminent medical doctor, who hosted Sheikh Abdullah when he visited Biswak and Kashmiri Chak in 1977.
Knowledge of all this was a pleasant surprise to me, particularly since I too pride myself in being a Kashmiri. It was like discovering a rare bird thought long extinct when walking through a jungle, and it shows how little we know of our own country India, and how much research is yet to be done.
However, academic rigour and requirement of strict scientific proof must be insisted upon in this research. For instance, though it is claimed that the grave of Habba Khatun, the Nightingale of Kashmir, whose songs are even today on the lips of many Kashmiris, has her grave in the graveyard in Kashmiri Chak in Biswak, Nalanda district Bihar, there are 3 other places in Kashmir which are said to have her grave.
