By DR.ABDUL AHAD
That Shah-i-Hamdan was the facilitator of Kashmir’s transition to Islam and the principal architect of its Muslim identity goes without saying Although Islam had already entered Kashmir much before his arrival, it had, in spite of its inherent potency, not been able to register its impact and mark thoroughly in the Valley mainly due to its early missionaries fixation on the spiritual and ritual part of the religion and their disinclination to pursue its mamalat side; the most vital component of the faith. These Sufis and Saints-through whom Islam initially reached Kashmir lacked strategic thinking and experience to evolve a line of action that could bring around some tangible changes in the socio-economic system of Kashmir and help its people to overcome their economic melancholy. Although some of them especially Bulbul Shah succeeded in acquiring some patronage for the new faith by converting King Rinchin to their creed, they failed to popularise it the way Shah-i-Hamdan did. Not paying any attention to the mamalat part of Islam, even the zealous and reputed missionaries couldn’t, thus, make Islam the religion of the common masses. Nor could they inspire the converts to shed their ancient complexes and give up the practices that were antagonistic to the new faith.
The mamalat device was subsequently applied by Ali Hamdani the intellectual of great order and the reputed author of varied secular subjects such as jurisprudence, ethics, political science, the science of physiognomy, theology, poetry and prose who had developed tremendous understanding of human affairs through his tours and sojourns that he had undertaken from time to time. By devoting his time and energy to the upholding of the mamalat part of Islam alongside its devine mission and spiritual message, this versatile genius, great theologian, scholar and social scientist opened a new chapter of mass conversion in the history of medieval Kashmir and tuned up its socio economic system to set in motion total transformation of the Valley.
Before his arrival Kashmir was completely weighed down by colossal economic and social depredation. Caused by administrative practices, in particular the taxation system of the times, and the feudal habits of the upper strata of society, the decay of the period was glaringly characterised by the reduction in cultivated land, the decline of agriculture, the downfall of urban life, the fall of morals and the growth of iconoclastic activities, Thus, besides sweeping political volatility, crushing social disintegration and demolition of places of worship, massive immoral terpsichore had permeated the ranks of clergy and nobility. In depravity of their character, Kings, priests and nobles had sunk to the level of animals, violating all norms of morality.
Apart from this, the struggle for power of feudal groups and political factions had encouraged the Damaras, a war like tribe, to intensify confusion by forcing the State to accept their suzerainty over a vast area of land. This had resulted in the expansion of large-scale unconditional land ownership or land grabbing at the expense of the State. Owing to this state of affairs Kashmir had, thus, got beset with crises that didn’t allow it to thrive politically, socially, economically and commercially. There is no denying that the establishment of Sultanate in 1320 A.D. created in Kashmir an atmosphere conducive to peace But for want of expertise, guidance and acumen it failed to reorganise economic structure of the Valley to give relief to the communities looked down upon by upper classes. Being in infancy and without ideologues, the Sultanate couldn’t devise means and methods to renovate economy, refurbish agriculture, organise trade and industry and improve the plight of common masses.
The conditions obtaining in the Valley were, thus, so appallingly critical that Shahi-Hamdan found it irresistible to intervene and remove the longstanding untidy heap and mess with his knowledge, experience, innovations and a functional mamalat strategy. He took keen interest in the Kashmir affairs and provided the infant Sutanate the guidance that it urgently needed to fill the ideological void which had been created by the age-old frustrating socio-economic malaise, With his strong beliefs, religion, understanding and strivings he made available to the Kashmiris what they were yearning for since a long period of time: the material and spiritual opulence and a new epoch of peace and prosperity that became a reality due to his untiring efforts he made to inspire the Sultanate to remodel the socio-economic structure of the Valley. His unparalleled leadership qualities and amazing social engineering skills transformed Kashmir into a great centre of arts, crafts and knowledge. The orderly renovation of irrigation by digging canals, overhauling of agriculture by introducing land reforms, enriching rural life by reducing taxes on villagers, unbeaten mobilization of mineral resources and reorganization of industry on the basis of Karkhana system, and architectural activities and resultant urbanization, which became the most conspicuous features of the Sultanate-i-Kashmir during the Hamadani era, gave a new look and meaning to the Kashmiri personality and identity. The edifice of this identity was built brick by brick with a smooth and stable paste made of: Shariah, Hadith, amal, aqida and aiman. And it was cultivated, nourished and crystallized into a definite attitude in accordance with all other ingredients of Islam so meticulously that ultimately enabled the Kashmiris to step out the desert of despondency, hypocrisy, idleness, haram and wilderness of ignorance and get rid of Kofur, backwardness and deceit and, subsequently, embark upon a more progressive and effervescent pathway of nation building and come forward for assiduous performance of their national duties, their societal commitments and for their self-assertion The most remarkable feature of this rising identity was that it pushed to the vanguard a creative minority of dauntless people to fill up the leadership deficit Kashmir was so agonizingly manifesting for the last so many centuries. These ingenious creatures welded together widely disparate viewpoints that characterised pre-medieval Kashmir and fruitfully fashioned the edifice of its new religious and cultural ethos not by coercion or choice of conversion or death, but by love, affection, humanity and equality. They inspired the formation of a burly and splendid people’s coalition and a united-front against the evil effects of notoriously disreputable primitive socio-economic configuration. They did a lot of social engineering and economic planning to ensure total eradication of grisly remains of the archaic pattern of our preceding identity and building up a new Kashmir. They imbibed a great deal of knowledge at their Central Asian well-wisher’s knee and promptly adopted their economic and industrial model to reorganize their economy. They followed thoroughly and earnestly the most unambiguous instructions singled out by Shah i Hamdan in a rare book of comprehensive knowledge and extraordinarily profound vision on social relations, identity formations and State craft. They infused , thus, a fresh spirit in Kashmiri persona; bestowing on it a rareness which made Kashmir more luminous that its mountains, pastures, lakes, rivers, streams and springs; a real paradise with no traces of agrarian , fiscal and industrial backwardness and ignorance and savage vices in sight.
Dr. Abdul Ahad is a well-known historian of Kashmir. He presents a perspective on the Kashmir issue and talks about Kashmir’s history and individuality and personality.
