Kashmir was administered by different rulers of various faiths. The religion, belief and origin of these rulers had an obvious and unique impact on the architecture of Kashmir. As a run up to the Sikh rule, I have chosen to build up starting from the Mughal rule. 14 Oct 1586 was the darkest chapter in the history of Kashmir when it witnessed the invasion by Mughals through treachery. The Mughals were followed by the Afghans in 1753. Whilst inviting the Afghans to take over the administration of the valley, the Kashmiri nobles had mistaken them as civilized and humane emperors of India. However, on this miscalculation PNK Bamzai has written “Their (Afghan’s) rule reduced the valley to the lowest depths of penury, degradation and slavery.”

Maharaj Ranjit Singh desired to extend his rule to a larger territory and his dream was realised to a great extent with the help of many of his Army commanders that included Sikh, Muslim, Hindus as also Europeans. Wafa Begum the wife of imprisoned ex-Afghan king Shah Shuja had met Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore and sought help for his release. In return she had offered to give Kohinoor diamond to the Maharaja.

In the year 1812, Ranjit Singh agreed to help Fateh Khan with 12,000 troops under Diwan Mokham Chand to invade Kashmir. NK Sinha in his book “Ranjit Singh” writes that “Ranjit’s chief motive in joining Fateh Khan was not so much the lure of a heavy money payment, nor the hope of getting Kashmir itself by some stratagem as the desire to acquire local knowledge for future use. Another motive of Ranjit Singh in participating in this expedition was his eagerness to get Shah Shuja, the ex king who was a closed prisoner of Ata Muhammad Khan in Kashmir”. In the first week of Dec 1812 Sikh forces under Diwan Mokham........

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