KASHMIR VALLEYS 237 



Sikander. When this good Sultan died, his kingdom 

 extended over Thibet and the Punjab as far as Sirhind, 

 but, unfortunately, he had not been able effectively to 

 stem, the rise of the Chaks, a people of obscure origin, 

 who for more than a century had gradually been gaining 

 power and influence. 



Northerners by race, they were Shias by religion, 

 and seemed to have possessed the strength and courage 

 of the warlike tribes of Central Asia, coupled with the 

 instability and lack of steadfastness which is the weak- 

 ness of migratory peoples. However, having won the 

 supreme power in the course of the sixteenth century, 

 they made a firm stand against Akbar and his army, 

 and in 1582, aided by the natural features of the country, 

 defeated the invader. But this success was only tem- 

 porary. Those of the Kashmiris who did not follow the 

 faith of their ruler made cause with Akbar, and after 

 many battles and much desultory fighting, Kashmir 

 passed from the rule of Sultans under the power of the 

 Moguls. 



They inaugurated a period of great splendour, 

 and if the country occasionally suffered from the harsh 

 rule of cruel regents, appointed when the emperors were 

 away in their southern capital of Delhi, on the whole, 

 the people shared in the prosperity of their chiefs. 

 Akbar was too much occupied enlarging his boundaries 

 and consolidating his empire to spend much time in 

 Kashmir, but he built the Hari Parbat fort, and 

 encouraged other works, and made a rough land settle- 

 ment. His successors loved the Happy Valley, and 

 made it their regular summer residence. Jehangir built 

 here palaces and planted chenaar groves, the Dal Lake 

 was surrounded with vast terraced pleasure-grounds 

 s 



