Ali Sher Khan (Ruler of Skardu, Baltistan or small Tibet)
Ali Sher Khan (also known as Ali Rai, Ali Rāy, Alī Rāī, Raja Ali Mir Sher, Ali Mir, Ali Sher and Ali Zād) was one of the most important rulers in Baltistan , with Skarduthe core area of his rule. As a member of the Makpon ruling family of Skardu he ruled in a period around the turn of the 16th to the 17th century. With regard to his reign, the year 1591 should be mentioned as the term ante quem. For his year of death, the year 1622/23 is secured as a term postquem. He maintained close relations with the court of the Mughal Emperors of India, without giving up his political independence. Ali Sher Khan is considered the builder of the great fortresses of Kharphocho and Kahchana in Skardu and went down in history as the conqueror of Ladakh. An invasion attempt of a force of Moghul Emperor Jahangir he successfully fended off. The glorification of his rule is reflected in numerous folk songs, which still today, 400 years after his reign,
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With the conquest of Kashmir by the Mughal emperor Akbar (1556-1605) in 1586, the rulers of Baltistan grew into a powerful neighbor. In 1689 Akbar undertook his second journey to Kashmir. On this journey the decision was made to send ambassadors to Little Tibet (Baltistan) and Greater Tibet (Ladakh), since, as Abu'l Fazl boldly writes, the rulers of these two countries did not have the courage to stand before the august imperial one Court to appear in person, after the noise of the conquering army had reached their countries. Haji Mirzā Beg Kābulī was sent to Baltistan, while Mullā Tālib Isfahānī and Mīhtar Yārī were sent to Ladakh. According to Abu'l Fazl, the transmitted missives should have contained "soothing and encouraging words", which apparently means that these were primarily diplomatic journeys for the establishment of relations (Abu'l Fazl 1, Vol. III, p. 838). Two years later, imperial ambassador Haji Mirzā Beg Kābulī, on behalf of the imperial court, traveled to Baltistan in 1591 to visit Ali Sher Khan, ruler of Little Tibet, who in the chronicle of Al-Badaoni (vol. 2, p. 388) was Ali Rai is mentioned by name. Haji Mirzā Beg Kābulī brought from this mission a daughter of Ali Sher Khan to the imperial court, where she was married to Prince Salim, later Moghul Emperor Jahangir. This marriage is also confirmed by Abu'l-Fazl (p. 323), who lists in the list of women of Jahangir as the eighth wife a daughter of the ruler of Little Tibet Ali Ray, the Jahangir in the year 999 Mohammedan Era 1591 AD, married. In parallel, Mullā Tālib Isfahānī also traveled for the second time as ambassador of Akbar to Ladakh. Both ambassadors wrote a report describing the customs and religious sects of Tibet.
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Figure 2: The Mughal Emperor Akbar
Figure 3: The Mughal Emperor Jahangir (formerly Prince Salim) marrying a daughter of Ali Sher Khan
The marriage between Prince Salim and the Princess from Little Tibet is not only a great honor for Ali Sher Khan. It also sheds light on his outstanding position in power politics, which he held from the point of view of the Moghul imperial court in Baltistan. Apparently, Ali Sher Khan was viewed by the imperial court as the only relevant power factor in Baltistan.
That Ali Sher Khan did not seriously subjugate the Moghul emperor's dominance is shown by events in 1603. Ali Sher Khan attacked the Kashmir border district, prompting Akbar's immediate military reaction. Muhammad Quli Khan Turkman defended against him with imperial troops, whereupon Ali Sher Khan withdrew (Abu'l-Fazl: p. 529).
Of historical importance was the conquest of Ladakh by Ali Sher Khan, although we know with certainty that this happened before 1603. The Ladakh king Jamyang Namgyel (` Jam-dbyangs rnam-rgyal) intervened militarily in a conflict between two local rulers of Purik. After the invasion of the Ladakh warriors in Purik, Ali Sher Khan suddenly appeared with his troops from Baltistan, who achieved a complete victory over the Ladakh troops, capturing the Ladakh king. The now defenseless Ladakh was overrun by the warriors Ali Sher Khan, Buddhist monasteries were looted and destroyed and burned holy books. Ali Sher Khan then retired to Baltistan, carrying the defeated King Jamyang Namgyel as a prisoner (Francke, p. 106).
In Baltistan, a marriage took place between Ryoal Kha-thun, a daughter of Ali Sher Khan, and the imprisoned King Jamyang Namgyel. As a result, Ali Sher Khan Jamyang Namgyel re-established as King of Ladakh. The marriage between the Baltistan princess and the Ladakh king resulted in a son, Sengge Namgyel ( Seng-ge rnam-rgyal ), who, as the grandson of Ali Sher Khan, became one of Ladakh's most important kings. Since we have a deed of honorby Sengge Namgyel from 1610 (Schuh, p. 15), the described events must have taken place between about 1590 and 1597. This can be verified by a description of Emperor Akbar's third visit to Kashmir in 1597 by Abu'l Fazl. Emperor Akbar sent ambassadors to Tibet from Kashmir. A plan to conquer Tibet has not been put into action. In this context, Abu'l Fazl provides information about Baltistan and Ladakh, which he had obviously collected in 1597 during his stay in Kashmir.
Afterwards Rājū Rai, who is described as a commander of the Ladakh army, had instigated a rebellion against Kokaltāsh, the king of Ladakh. The latter mobilized his troops and took away Raja Rai his lands. Ali Sher Khan (here mentioned by Abu'l Fazl as Ali Zād) intervened in this conflict, succeeding in capturing the king of Ladakh, marching to his residence, and salvaging a great deal of money. Ali Sher Khan was able to incorporate a large territory in his sphere of influence. When Ali Sher Khan learned of the arrival of the imperial army in Kashmir, he re-installed Kokaltāsh as ruler of Ladakh and returned to Baltistan (Abu'l Fazl 1, Vol. III, p. 1091). There is no doubt that Kokaltāsh is identical to Ladakh King Jamyang Namgyel. The description in the Akbarnāma basically confirms the description of Ladakh sources. At the same time, it gives the year 1597 as the term ante quem for the conquest of Ladakh by Ali Sher Khan and the reinstatement of Jamyang Namgyel as king. This conclusion is corroborated by a report by the Shiite theologian and biographer Nûrullah Shustarî, which Wolfgang Holzwarth presented in English translation in his work on Islam in Baltistan (pp. 27f). According to Holzwarth, this report was written in 1602. At this point, this report, which is of great importance for the portrayal of the Islamization of Baltistan, is of importance only insofar as it states and confirms as the year of the conquest of Ladakh by Ali Sher Khan 1591/1592,
For the 18th year of Jahangir's reign, Mutabid Khan reports in his Iqbal Nama-i-Jahangir (Afridi, p. 63) of a visit by Ali Muhammad, a son of Ali Sher Khan (Ali Rai), to the Moghul Emperor's court. This visit was made on the instructions of Ali Sher Khan, who thus ruled in 1622/23. The details of this source, which is not accessible to me and is quoted here in reference to Afridi, are confirmed by a note in the memoirs of Emperor Jahangir, which can be found in the work of Tûzuk-i Jahāngîrî and to which Wolfgang Holzwarth (p has drawn attention to the detailed quote. After this Ali Muhammad reached the imperial court in 1624. According to this account of Jahangir, the now-elderly Ali Sher Khan had sent his son Ali Muhammad, whom he preferred as his successor, to the imperial court, to protect him from the persecution of his older brothers. The Emperor mentions that Abdal Khan, the eldest of these brothers, had allied himself with the ruler of Kashgar in order to take over power in Little Tibet after the death of his father with the help of the Kashgar ruler.
Finally, there is a failed attempt by the Mughal emperor Jahangir (1605-1627) to conquer Baltistan. 'Abdu-l Hamíd Láhorí reports in his Bádsháh-náma (p. 62) that during the reign of Jahangir on imperial order, a large force led by Háshim Khan, a governor of Kashmir, advanced to Baltistan. The attack resulted in a defeat and the imperial troops had to retreat after great losses and with great difficulty to Kashmir. Since, according to Mohammad-ud-Din Fouq (p. 394), Háshim Khan held the governorship from 1609 to 1612, there is no doubt that it was Ali Sher Khan who fended off this invasion attempt.
The idea that Ali Sher Khan completely conquered Baltistan and also ruled Gilgit and Astor, comes from the folk literature of Baltistan and can, as long as there are no serious historical sources, only inspire the imagination. But it is true that the construction of the great fortresses Kharphocho and Kahchana above the village Skardu is attributed to him. However, this means that the headquarters of the Makpon rulers before the reign of Ali Sher Khan must be assigned to another place in the Skardu valley. Perhaps this was Shigri (Shagari of modern maps), where there was not only a large fortress, but also a large stone on which the ceremony of the coming of age of the respective heir apparent was completed (Vigne, p. 251).
The father of Ali Sher Khan, the published, genealogical lists of the Makpon rulers of Skardu called a person by the name of Ghazi or Ghazi Mir. Hashmatullah Khan (p. 13f) and Afridis (p. 40) explanations of the life of this ruler are not proven by any sources and therefore not scientifically usable. Of the sons of Ali Sher Khan, four are known by name: Ahmad Khan, Abdal Khan , Adam Khan and Ali Muhammad.
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literature
Abu'l-Fazl: The Ā'in-i-Akbarī. Translated from the original Persian by H. Blochmann. Second edition, Vol. 1. Calcutta 1827
Abu'l Fazl 1: The Akbarnāma (History of the Reign of Akbar Including an Account of his Predecessors) Vol. I-III. Translated from Original Persian Manuscripts by H. Beveridge. Kolkata 1907. Second reprint March 2010
Banat Gul Afridi: Baltistan in History. Peshawar 1988
Al-Badaoni: A History of India Muntakhab ut-tawarikh by Abdul-Qadir Ibn-i-Muluk Shah. Known as Al-Badaoni. English Translation Selections from Histories by George SA Ranking. Vokume II. Reprint, New Delhi 1990
Francis Bernier: Travels in the Mogul Empire. Translated from the French by Irving Brook. Vol. II, London 1826
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Ahmad Hasan Dani: History of Northern Areas of Pakistan. Second Edition. Islamabad 1991
Mohammad-ud-Din Fouq: [Mukamal Tarikh-i-Kashmir] A Complete History of Kashmir. The Ancient Hindu Kings; The Muslim Kings; The Khalsa Kings. Translated by RK Bharti. Srinagar 2009
A.H. Francke: Antiquities of Indian Tibet. Part (Volume) II. The Chronicles of Ladakh and Minor Chronicles. Texts and Translations, with Notes and Maps. (Reprint) New Delhi 1972
Wolfgang Holzwarth: Islam in Baltistan: Problems of Research on the Formative Period. In: The Past in the Present. Horizons of Remembering in the Pakistan Himalaya, edited by Irmtraud Stellrecht. Cologne 1997, pp. 1-40
Hashmatullah Khan: History of Baltistan. Lok Virsa Translation, Islamabad 1987. The original in Urdu was published in 1939 by
Luciano Petech: The Kingdom of Ladakh. C. 950-1842 AD Roma 1977.'Abdu
-l Hamíd Láhorí: Bádsháh-náma. In: The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan period. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir HH Elliot. Edited and Continued by Professor John Dowson. Vol. VII. First Indian Edition. Allahabad 1964, pp. 3-72
Francis Robinson: The Mughal Emperors and the Islamic Dynasties of India, Iran and Central Asia. London 2007
Dieter Schuh: Early relations between the Ladakh dynasty and the southern 'Brug pa school'. Saint Augustin 1983.
Godfrey Thomas Vigne: Travels in Kashmir, Ladakh, Iskardo. The Countries Adjoining the Mountain Course of the Indus and the Himalayas North of the Punjab. Volume II, London 2005. Reprint of the 1842 edition
Author: Dieter Schuh, 2010. Complemented 2011
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