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by order of Chah Jehan gave him powerful succor and put to death or flight all the other pretenders and left this man in possession of the country”.

Vigne also refers to the quarrel in the following words, “When he (Ali Sher Khan) and his son, and successor, Ahmad Khan, were dead, Abdul and Adam Khan, his other sons, quarreled, and Abdul Khan so oppressed the neighboring Rajahs, that they sought assistance from the Mogul Emperor of Delhi, Aurangzeb, who sent an army from Kashmir. Upon which, Abdul Khan made his submission, and the brothers then went in person before the Moghul, who told them to divide the succession; but they died on their return in Kashmir.” Vigne was further told by Ahmad Shah that “That Killah was in vain besieged by the troops of Aurangzeb; that they brought elephants with them (which I can scarcely believe to have been the fact) and that he had now in the castle some old guns, drums, armors, etc, and implements of wars, which they had left behind them, and which, by some mistake, I neglected to see”.

It may be added that there is a place called “khalangphocho Khata” near the Chirkati Pari. “Khalangphocho Khata” means “ the place where the elephant was struck”. It is impossible to believe that elephants could have been brought to Skardu on the paths and tracts of those days. Even today some of the paths and tracts in Baltistan are so narrow and dangerous that a goat can hardly cross it.

Vigne is of the opinion that the invasion of Baltistan took place during the reign of Aurangzeb whereas it is fully established that it was Emperor Shah Jehan who sent an army to Skardu in aid of Adam Khan etc. as regards the end of Abdal Khan, opinions differ. Vigne says that he died in Kashmir while Hashmatullah’s version fortified by local tradition is to the effect that he remained a prisoner in Shigar where he died and was buried there. His tomb is reported to be present in Shigar, but the version that Abdal Khan died on his way back from Kashmir seems to be more correct.

Abdal Khan is know for his ferocity and blood thirstyness; he has earned the nickname of      ‘MI-ZOS’ or the ‘maneater’. The man who had audacity to measure sword with the Great Moghal and in doing so inflicted a crushing defeat on the invading Imperial Army, must have been a man of talents and prowess.