A Kashmiri Pandit diplomat, a spy and a Historian of yesteryears buried in Delhi !

(www.kashmir-rechords.com Exclusive)

Pandit Mohan Lal Kashmiri  alias Mirza Quli Kashmiri alias Agha Hassan Jan Kashmiri—–  sounds interesting! But that is how this polyonymous from Zutshi clan had  lavishly lived and  typified  himself  in first half of 19th century as a traveller, a spy, a writer, a diplomat, a polymath, a polyglot    and a  scholar  but  ultimately had to spend his last phase of  life in obscurity!

In 1845, when Queen Victoria had invited Agha Hassan Jan Kashmiri alias Mirza Quli Kashmiri to the Royal Hall in London, it was to the surprise of all to know that this genius, who was functioning as a spy and had assumed Agha Hassan Jan Kashmiri as pseudonym, declared his real name as Pandit Mohan Lal Kashmiri. This revelation had stunned everyone.

Researches based upon the life and works of Pandit Mohan Lal Kashmiri connect him to the Zutshi Pandits of Kashmir. His ancestor, Pandit Lachdii Ram Zutshi had in fact migrated from Kashmir to live in Delhi during the reign of Emperor Shahjahan. The extended Zutshi family was since then living in Sita Ram Bazar of Delhi where this Polyonymous Mohan Lal was born in 1812.

It was in Delhi English College where this young Mohan Lal under the encouragement of his father Brahm Nath Zutshi (also known as Budh Singh) had received his education in both English and Persian.

Brahm Nath Zutshi had a Sikh mother who would affectionately call him as Budh Singh. This Budh Singh was married to a Pandit wife, who belonged to Kouls of Gwalior and was bestowed by two sons– Pandit Mohan Lal and his younger brother Pandit Kedar Nath. While Mohan Lal had assumed multi-dimensional personality, his younger brother, Kedar Nath, who died in 1855,   was a Deputy Collector in Ambala, Punjab Province.

Mohan Lal Kashmiri as a Spy

Fate often acts in strange ways and so did it for Mohan Lal. In 1831, the British East India Company had appointed Sir Alexander Burnes as its chief spy to gather information in the countries lying between India and the Caspian. His deputation was a part of great design of the British to penetrate into Afghanistan, Central Asian Sultanates and Tibet. It was the British Secret Service, which selected through Charles Travelyan, this very brilliant and ambitious student, Mohan Lal Zutshi (Kashmiri) to accompany Sir Alexander Burnes. Having joined the British Secret Service in 1831 at a tender age of 19, Mohan Lal assumed the name of Mirza Quli Kashmiri as the Persian interpreter to Sir Alexander Burnes.

The first task of Pandit Mohan Lal, (now Mirza Quli Kashmiri) was to recruit his agents to bring about defections among the Afghan resistance movement. He accomplished this extraordinary task with great tact and intelligence. Posing himself as a Kashmiri Muslim, Mohan Lal Zutshi had married a girl from the Royal House to facilitate him in spying.

Mohan Lal Kashmiri as a traveller

Both Sir Alexander Burnes and Pandit Mohan Lal explored Central Asia between 1832 to 1834 for procuring political and military intelligence. During his travels, this Kashmiri Pandit, now Mirza Quli Kashmiri would first seek a wife from the influential family of the region so that his matrimonial alliance would provide him with ample protection. Many of his marriages were outcome of sheer compulsions of reaching inner circles of Britishers’ adversaries. He had also married in royal families of Afghanistan and Iran.

After his return from Central Asia, Pandit Mohan Lal published a journal of his tour in 1834. Twelve years later, this work was re-published with the addition of his travels in Europe. At this same time, he had also published a work on the life of Dost Mohammad Khan, the Amir of Kabul, in two volumes.

After his Central Asian tour, Mohan Lal Kashmiri alias Mirza Quli Kashmiri was promoted as the Commercial Agent for the British on the Indus and Political Assistant to Sir Burnes in Kabul. During the first Anglo-Afghan War, he was instrumental in setting up and expanding the British intelligence network in Afghanistan. On November 2, 1841, the residence of Sir Alexander Burnes in Kabul was stormed by a mob and both Alexander and his brother Charles were killed. But Pandit Mohan Lal saved his life by posing himself as Mirza Quli Kashmiri. He was awarded the Order of the Empire and made a Knight of the Persian Lion.

Later, during his interaction with the Shia Muslims of Iran, he had felt highly impressed with Persian history and culture and  embraced Islam. It was here he assumed another name to identify himself as Agha Hassan Jan Kashmiri.

In 1843, Mohan Lal retired at the age of 32, disappointed that he had not been properly rewarded for his contributions to the British cause in the First Anglo-Afghan War. He later embarked on a long journey to Egypt, England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium and Germany. After his European tour in 1846, he published a revised work of his travels in Central Asian countries and Europe.

Hyderi Begum —  Last wife of Mohan Lal Kashmiri

His favourite Wife, Haidri Begum, the last one, was a Shia Muslim and a scholar. During the turmoil in 1857, she maintained a daybook, recording vividly the happenings and events in Delhi describing the atrocities committed by the British on the last Mughal Emperor. Her diary was later seized and confiscated by the British Government in India.

Mohan Lal Kashmiri’s later years were spent in obscurity and financial troubles. He became a highly frustrated and isolated person because of his total boycott by his own community members, followed by his death in 1877 at the age of 65. He is believed to have been buried in Delhi in his garden called  `Lal Bagh’, near Azadpur. There is no tomb, but only a platform, said to contain the bodies of both Agha Hassan Jan (Mohan Lal) Kashmiri and his favourite wife Hyderi Begum. Hari Ram Gupta, Mohan Lal Kashmir’s biographer,  in his book “Life and Works of Mohan Lal Kashmiri’’,   gives a detailed account of   this unique personality who lived life on his own terms and conditions.