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Durrani conquest of Kashmir

VictorDurrani AfghansAbdullah Khan Ishk Aqasi, for Ahmad Shah Abdali
1752vs
Mughal governor of KashmirAbul Qasim Khan

After taking Lahore in 1752 Abdali sent an army over the Pir Panjal that won Kashmir from its last Mughal governor. Sixty-seven years of Afghan rule followed.

Date: 1752Where: Kashmir valley, SrinagarType: Campaign
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
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Cite

MLA

“Durrani conquest of Kashmir.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/durrani-conquest-of-kashmir-1752/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). Durrani conquest of Kashmir. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/durrani-conquest-of-kashmir-1752/

Result

The Mughal governor was defeated and Kashmir became a province of the Durrani empire, which held it until Ranjit Singh’s conquest in 1819.

01Over the Pir Panjal

Mughal authority in Kashmir had collapsed into rivalry between local nobles and short-lived governors. When Lahore fell in March 1752, some Kashmiri nobles invited Abdali in. He sent Abdullah Khan Ishk Aqasi with an Afghan army across the passes. Abul Qasim Khan, the Mughal governor, came out to meet it and was beaten after a short fight. Srinagar opened its gates and the valley was annexed to the Durrani empire.

02Under the Afghans

Abdullah Khan stripped the valley of money before handing it to a deputy. Kashmiri memory of the Afghan years is dark, and the Pandits above all remember heavy exactions and humiliation. A Hindu, Sukh Jiwan Mal, served as a governor in the 1750s and for a time ruled almost on his own account, until the Afghans removed him in 1762. Durrani rule lasted until 1819, when Ranjit Singh’s army entered the valley.

Why it matters

Kashmir was cut off from the Indian empires for two generations, a period its Hindus remember as one of the hardest in their history.

People 1

Maharaja Ranjit SinghRuler
1780–1839 CE; Maharaja 1801–1839

Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Founder of the Sikh empire

Places near the battlefield 7

Srinagar (Pravarapura)Standing
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Srinagar (Pravarapura)

The city of Shri, Lakshmi, on the Vitasta. Kalhana’s Rajatarangini records its founding by Pravarasena II; it was the seat of Kashmir’s Hindu kings, then of sultans, Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs and the Dogras.

Shankaracharya Temple, SrinagarStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Shankaracharya Temple, Srinagar

A stone Shiva temple on the hill that rises about 300 metres above Srinagar and the Dal lake, linked by Kashmiri tradition with Adi Shankaracharya’s stay in the valley.

Pandrethan Shiva Temple, SrinagarStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Pandrethan Shiva Temple, Srinagar

A small, nearly complete Kashmiri stone temple standing in a spring-fed tank at Pandrethan, the site of Puranadhishthana, the old capital of Kashmir. It is one of the best-preserved temples of the valley.

Kheer Bhawani, TulmulStanding
Renaissance and the struggle for Swaraj

Kheer Bhawani, Tulmul

The spring of Mata Ragnya Devi at Tulmul, the kuldevi of many Kashmiri Pandit families, worshipped with offerings of kheer poured into the water.

ParihasapuraRuined
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Parihasapura

The city that Lalitaditya Muktapida built on a plateau above the Jhelum near Srinagar, with temples of Vishnu as Parihasakeshava and Muktakeshava and a great stupa raised by his minister. Only the platforms and broken stones are left.

Avantiswami TempleRuined
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Avantiswami Temple

The Vishnu temple built by Avantivarman, founder of the Utpala dynasty, at his new town of Avantipura on the Jhelum. Its plinth, colonnade and carved gateway survive.

Payar Shiva Temple, PulwamaStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Payar Shiva Temple, Pulwama

A small complete Shiva temple of the old Kashmiri style in Payar village, built of a few huge blocks of stone, with a linga still in its sanctum. The Muslim families of the village have looked after it for generations.