'Shalbafs or Shawl weavers were crushed under heavy taxes imposed by Afghan rulers (Dad Karim Khan) and greatly compounded by Dogras, which left lakhs of them impoverished. After visiting the valley in 1921, Allama wrote a verse on the poor shawl weavers of Kashmir:
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“Ba resham qaba Khawaja az mehnat-e-oo Naseeb-e-tanash jama-e-taarey: ‘While you are destined to cover your body with rags, The Khwaja’s silken robes are the fruit of your labour.)”
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The poet further lamented: “Sarma ki Hawaon mae uryan hae Badan us ka; Detaa hae hunar jis ka ameeron ko dushala: ‘With his body naked in the flaw of the winter, He offers by his skill shawls to the rich.”
This couplet was in the backdrop of the event when the South
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Indian ruler Tipu Sultan sent a Kashmir shawl to Napoleon who liked it so much that he gifted it to his beloved Queen Empress Josephine.

Later Hafez Jallundhari would lament: "Sheer Se Mehroom Hai Malik Hai Jui Sheer Ka
Ek Pehlu Ye bhi Hai Kashmir Ki Tasveer Ka
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'He who owns the river of milk is denied the milk Kashmir’s image has this side to it too"

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(A detailed article by M. Ashraf Khwaja for Kashmir life)