Iftikhar Khan (governor)

Iftikhar Khan
Iftikhar Khan
Subahdar
	Painting of Iftikhar Khan containing a Perso-Arabic inscription on the border, ca.1650–1675
Reign	1671 – 1675
Tenure	Governor of Kashmir province

Iftikhar Khan (also spelt as Iftikar Khan) was the Mughal governor of the Subah of Kashmir from 1671 to 1675.^[1]^[2]

^ Singh, Trilochan (1967). "Chapter XXII". Guru Tegh Bahadur, Prophet and Martyr: A Biography. Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. pp. 293–300. 'During the forty-nine years of Aurangzeb's reign Kashmir was administered by no less than fourteen governors sent from Delhi. Most of them were broad-minded and efficient. They dispensed justice and carried on the administration well. In times of unforeseen calamities like famines, floods, and fires they gave succour, and relief to the suffering people.' Unfortunately a bigoted, and cruel administrator, Iftikar Khan, was appointed governor in 1671 A.D., one who tyrannised over the Brahmins to such an extent that it is said that he sent to the Emperor bundles of sacred-threads of Brahmins, he had either converted or forcibly killed.
^ Dahiya, Amardeep S. (2014). Founder of the Khalsa: The Life and Times of Guru Gobind Singh. Hay House. ISBN 9789381398616. He gave orders that no Hindu should be allowed to wear janeu or tilak (the marks of a devout Hindu) in Kashmir and those who refused to give them up should be put to death. Iftikhar Khan, the governor of Kashmir (1671-75), as bigoted as his emperor, set out to implement Aurangzeb's orders with a vengeance. (In his book, The Sikh Religion, Max Arthur Macauliffe refers to the governor of Kashmir as Sher Afghan Khan but most historians including Kirpal Singh and Kharak Singh call him Iftikhar Khan.) Thousands of Brahmins were thrown into jail and the process of a systematic genocide was launched. Those who had not yet been arrested sought safety by fleeing from the state. Only a handful of Brahmins had converted to Islam, it was obvious that soon the rest would either have been exterminated or would have fled the state.

[:22-1] Singh, Trilochan (1967). "Chapter XXII". Guru Tegh Bahadur, Prophet and Martyr: A Biography. Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. pp. 293–300. 'During the forty-nine years of Aurangzeb's reign Kashmir was administered by no less than fourteen governors sent from Delhi. Most of them were broad-minded and efficient. They dispensed justice and carried on the administration well. In times of unforeseen calamities like famines, floods, and fires they gave succour, and relief to the suffering people.' Unfortunately a bigoted, and cruel administrator, Iftikar Khan, was appointed governor in 1671 A.D., one who tyrannised over the Brahmins to such an extent that it is said that he sent to the Emperor bundles of sacred-threads of Brahmins, he had either converted or forcibly killed.

[:0-2] Dahiya, Amardeep S. (2014). Founder of the Khalsa: The Life and Times of Guru Gobind Singh. Hay House. ISBN 9789381398616. He gave orders that no Hindu should be allowed to wear janeu or tilak (the marks of a devout Hindu) in Kashmir and those who refused to give them up should be put to death. Iftikhar Khan, the governor of Kashmir (1671-75), as bigoted as his emperor, set out to implement Aurangzeb's orders with a vengeance. (In his book, The Sikh Religion, Max Arthur Macauliffe refers to the governor of Kashmir as Sher Afghan Khan but most historians including Kirpal Singh and Kharak Singh call him Iftikhar Khan.) Thousands of Brahmins were thrown into jail and the process of a systematic genocide was launched. Those who had not yet been arrested sought safety by fleeing from the state. Only a handful of Brahmins had converted to Islam, it was obvious that soon the rest would either have been exterminated or would have fled the state.

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[2]