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38
ADAM KHAN
1636 TO 1650
Adam Khan, as already related,
appointed Mirza Khan of Kharmang as his deputy to administer his
kingdom. During this period, it appears that Singe Namgyal, the
Ruler of Laddakh invaded Purik (Kargil), a part of Baltistan. In the
‘Badshah Namah’ reference has been made to this happening in the
following words:-
“The conquest of Little Tibet, the
captivity of its ruler Abdal, and the appointment of Adam Khan to be
governor, have been previously mentioned. Adam Khan now wrote to Ali
Mardan Khan, the new governor of Kashmir, informing him that Sangi
Bamkhal, the holder of Great Tibet, . . . had seized upon Burag in
Little Tibet, and meditated further aggression. Ali Mardan Khan sent
a force against him under the command of Hussain Beg. On the meeting
the two forces, Sangi’s men were put to flight. He then sued for
forgiveness, and offered to pay tribute”.
Now Mirza Khan the deputy of Adam
Khan, became obsessed with power and wealth and soon declared
himself independent of Adam Khan. Adam Khan sent for his nephew
Murad Khan. With the permission of the Emperor Shah Jahan, Murad
Khan was married to the daughter of Adam Khan. A Moghal Force under
Adam Khan and Murad Khan invaded and recaptured Skardu. The Moghal
Historian Abdul Hamid Lahori writes:-
“Twenty-fifth year
of reign, 1061 A.H. (1650 A.D.) Subjugation of Tibet: On the 23rd Jumada-s-Sani, which the time fixed for entering Kashmir, the
Emperor alighted in safety at the royal apartments of the fort. On
the 12th of this month, Adam Khan’s munshi and his nephew
Muhammad Murad, as well as the sons of Salim Beg Kashghari, who
ranked amongst the auxiliaries serving in the province of Kashmir,
and had stood security for the two former individuals, were
appointed to proceed to Tibet, with a number of Zamindars, to
exterminate a rebel named Mirza Jan, and subdue the fort of Skardu,
together with the territory of Tibet, which had escaped out of the
possession of the servants of the crown. On the 27th of
Shaban, it reached the ear replete with all good, through Adam
Khan’s representations, that the rebel Mirza Jan had no sooner heard
of the arrival of royalists, than he evacuated the fort of Skardu,
and became a wanderer in the desert of adversity; where upon the
fort in question, together with the territory of Tibet, came a new
into the possession of the servants of the crown. The gracious
Monarch
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