Yakub Shah Chak

Yakub (Persian: یعقوب, romanized: Yākub, lit. 'supplanter'; Persian pronunciation: [jaʔ.ˈquːb]), born Ya'qūb (Yākūb) Shāh Chak (Persian: یعقوب شاہ چک, Kashmiri: یَعقوب شاہ ژَھک)^[1][2] was the sixth^[3] and the last Chak Sultan of Kashmir Sultanate, who reigned from 1586 to 1589. Yaqub succeeded his father Yousuf Shah Chak, under warlike conditions, after Kashmir was invaded by the Mughal forces in late 1585.^[4]

With an aggressive temperament and a contentious psyche, Yaqub firmly established a well built resistance to foreign invasions. His authority and influence were felt over all of the Northern India, especially in the kingdoms of the Western Himalayas. After the Mughal forces invaded Kashmir, Yaqub adopted a different policy than the one he adopted after he ascended to the throne in 1586. He gathered all his local enemies, including his rivals, and asked them to unite for victory against the Mughals.^[5] Though he was found crippled and defeated, he is still regarded as a bold and powerful King of Kashmir. After his defeat, Kashmir was captured by the Mughals and made into a district and, later on, an imperial province of the Mughal Empire.^[6] Qasim Khan was assigned as the first Mughal Faujdar of Kashmir Sarkar on 15 October 1586.^[7]