In 1751, the [[Afghans]], ruled by [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], absorbed Kashmir into the [[Durrani Empire]]. The [[Afghans]] were cruel, especially to Kashmir's Hindus. Durrani was soundly defeated initially by a small army of Kashmiris led by Raja Sukhjiwanmal. The Afghans were decimated and the surviving ones were sent back with dunce caps on donkeys
.! However, late on the Raja lost his Muslim following of Kashmiris and the latter brought in Durrani with outside help.
was a little harsh on the However, Kashmiri historians state that the [[Afghans]] were brutally repressive to all Kashmiris, regardless of religion.{{Efn-ua|Most historians of Kashmir agree on the rapacity of the Afghan governors, a period unrelieved by even brief respite devoted to good work and welfare for the people of Kashmir. According to these histories, the Afghans were brutally repressive with all Kashmiris, regardless of class or religion.{{Sfn|Zutshi|2004|p=35}}}} The Afghans extorted money from the locals and both Kashmiri men and women lived in fear of their lives. The [[Afghans]] sent many Kashmiris as slaves to [[Afghanistan]]. During Afghan dominance, the shawl industry declined, probably due to heavy taxes. According to scholars Chitralekha Zutshi and Janet Rizvi, the Afghan brutality caused many Kashmiri shawl-weavers to flee to Punjab.{{efn-ua|The emigration of Kashmiri shawl weavers to the Punjab had begun as early as the 1810s, when they fled Kashmir as a result of Afghan policies.<ref name="Zutshi2004">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlBjzE-1ML8C&pg=PA84|title=Languages of Belonging: Islam, Regional Identity, and the Making of Kashmir|date=January 2004|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=978-1-85065-694-4|pages=84–|author=Chitralekha Zutshi}}</ref>}}{{efn-ua|The brutality and misrule of the Afghans, who ruled Kashmir from 1753 to 1819, had already forced many of the skilled weavers to flee from Kashmir to various cities of the plains-Amritsar, Nurpur...<ref name="Rizvi2001">{{cite book|author=Janet Rizvi|title=Trans-Himalayan Caravans: Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in Ladakh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XsRIAAAAYAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-565817-0|page=60}}</ref>}} However, due to the administrative experience of [[Kashmiri Pandits]], the Afghans utilised their services. [[Kashmiri Pandits]] were not prevented from entering into government service. George Foster, who visited Kashmir during the Afghan rule, documented the oppression of Kashmiris by Afghans. He writes:{{Sfn|Chen|Shih|2015|p=43}}<blockquote>The Afghans would never issue an order without a blow of the side of hatchet (battle axe). Karim Dad Khan in a mood of enjoyment would tie up the inhabitants by back in pairs and drop them in the river.</blockquote>By 1819 the [[Sikh Empire]]'s [[Ranjit Singh|Maharajah Ranjit Singh]] finally succeeded in taking [[Kashmir Valley|Kashmir]]. Initially, Kashmiris felt relieved as they had suffered under the Afghans.{{Efn-ua|In 1751, the Afghans, ruled by Ahmad Shah Durrani, absorbed Kashmir into their expanding empire. The names of the Afghan governors who ruled Kashmir are all but forgotten but not their cruelty, which was directed mainly towards the Hindus. Oppression took the form of extortion of money from the local people and brutality in the face of opposition. Both Kashmiri men and women lived in fear of their lives. Many were captured and sent as slaves to Afghanistan...During Afghan dominance, the shawl industry declined, probably due to heavy taxes...Despite the religious oppression, to which many Hindus were subjected, they were, however, useful to the Afghans because of their administrative experience. Kashmiri Pandits were not prevented from entering into government service...In 1819, the 'Lion of the Punjab', as Ranjit Singh became known, finally succeeded in taking Kashmir, initially to the relief of the local people who had suffered under the Afghans.{{Sfn|Schofield|2000|p=4-5}}}}
