By Er. Mohammad Ashraf Fazili
From ancient times the Valley of Kashmir has remained the cradle of knowledge, awareness besides a Centre of social and political activities. In view of a serene natural environment for prayers and meditation, the peaceful land has been attracting the Rishis, Munnis, Zahids, Aabids and pious people. There is sufficient evidence that Kashmiris in ancient and early medieval times had achieved the pinnacle of glory in different walks of life. In historical times, Kashmir has not only been a great seat of learning, but its gifted sons have carried the torch of culture far and wide in the known world. The Kashmir scholars and saints have excelled in all the three periods of Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim rulers. Kashmir should be proud of a galaxy of great men and women who lived in the past as well as are living in the present.
The first Muslim king of Kashmir Sultan Sadr-ud-din Rinchan, a contemporary of Edward III of England, got converted to Islam from Buddhism on the hands of Sayid Sharf-ud-din (Bulbul Shah RA) who was a disciple of Shah Nematullah Farsi, a Khalifa of Suhrawardi order founded by Shaikh Shihab-ud-din Suhrawardy RA.
His two-and-a-half-year rule was followed by 18 years of instability, 211 years rule of Sultan dynasty, 32 years rule of Chak dynasty, 166 years rule of Mughal kings, 66 years rule of Afghan dynasty, 27 years rule of Sikh dynasty, 101 years rule of Dogra dynasty, and now 75 years of public rule right from 1325 AD to 2022 AD, all this spanning about 700 years.
The Muslim period also witnessed scholars, saints, and poets of great repute, who maintained the fame of the region as a great seat of learning.
There was the arrival of 700 Sayids and scholars with Shah-i-Hamadan RA and 300 with his son Mir Mohammad Hamadani RA, who spread in every nook and corner of the valley to teach people the tenants of Islam..
Subject to further research, there passed two Sahabis (companions of Prophet Muhammad SAWS) in 7th century AD through Kashmir on their way to China along the silk route, besides the settlement of an Arab Muslim Hameem the companion of the fugitive prince Raja Dahir’s son at Malchmar Srinagar in 97 AH. There were failed attempts to invade Kashmir by Arabs and Turks on many occasions, settlement of an Arab mercenary Ali bin Hamad Kufi who had served Raja Dahir and sought refuge in Kashmir, was bestowed the territory of Shalakbar by the ruler of Kashmir, which was inherited by Jrhum after his death, who built many mosques there for the Muslims who had migrated there.
In 5th century AH Mahmood Ghaznavi invaded Kashmir twice in 1014 and 1016 AD but failed to penetrate the valley. In 6th century AH Turkish Muslim soldiers of the army of Mahmood Ghaznavi stayed back and settled in Kashmir.
According to a handwritten manuscript, in 7th century AH Sayid Baqir from Iran arrived here with 1200 Sayids and was buried at Thune village Wusan Kangan in 655 AH. By the end of 13th century there was a colony of Muslims established in Kashmir as stated by Morco Polo.
In 8th century Hijri Muslim soldiers were welcomed by Hindu rulers till the establishment of Muslim rule here. Shah Mir established the first Sultanate in Kashmir in 1330 AD.
Regarding Sufi orders, 14 orders of Sufis emanated from Prophet Muhammad SAWS, out of which four orders were destined to be popular in Kashmir i.e. Qadrya, Chishtya, Naqshbandya and Suhrawardya.
The founders of these orders were from Baghdad, Iran and Central Asia and they had their followers in Kashmir. In fact, Kubravi order is a branch of Suhrawardy order as we come to know from their Shajra Tariqat.
Historians say that the magnitude of the change brought about by the advent of so many Sayids into the Valley stimulated the tendency to mysticism for which Vedantism and Buddhism had already paved the way. It has been remarked that Islam does not countenance the enervating type of ’Tasawwuf’. Naturally these type of Sayids influenced the more pronounced Muslim mystics of Kashmir. These Muslim mystics, well-known as Rishis or Babas or hermits, furthered the spread of Islam by their extreme piety and utter self-abnegation which influenced the people to a change of creed.
To mention a few, Saints and Rishis like Sayid Sharf-ud-din (Bulbul Shah), Mir Sayid Ali Hamadani (RA), Mir Mohammad Hamadani, Sayid Husain Simnani, Sayid Taj-ud-din Hamadani, Sayid Baqir, Baba Ismail Kubravi, Shaikh Baha-ud-din Ganjbakhsh, Shaikh Yaqoob Sarfi, Khwaja Habibullah Nowshehri, Mirza Akmal-ud-di Khan Badakhshi Shaikh Abdul Wahab Noori, Shaikh Nur-ud-Din, Baba Nasr-ud-Din, Baba Bam-ud-Din, Makhdum Sayid Jalal-ud-din, Shaikh Hamza Makhdum Kashmiri, Baba Dawood Khaki, Shaikh Ismail Shami Qadri, Sayid Mohammad Shah Fazil Sakhi Qadri, Shah Nematullah Wali, Mir Mirak Shah Andrabi, Alhaj Mir Sayid Mohammad Qasim Mantaqi, Mir Shah Abdullah Qadri, Shaikh Mohammad Cheshti Radho, Sayid Hilal Naqshbandi, Sayid Amin Owaisi Naqshbandi, Khwaja Khawand Mahmood Naqshbandi, Khwaja Moin-ud-din Naqshbandi, Allama Hayder bin Feroz Kashmiri, Shaikh Murad Naqshbandi Bukhari, Shaikh Murad Mattoo Naqshbandi, Sayid Ahmad Kirmani, Sayid Muhammad Hisari, Baba Zain-ud-Din, Baba Latif-ud-Din, Baba Shukr-ud-Din, Baba Hanif-ud-Din, Sahid Ali Aali Balkhi, Shah Vali Bukhari, Khwaja Hasan Qari, (RA) etc., by their example and percept, smoothed the path of Islam in its slow, steady, and systematic conversion of practically the whole valley.
(This is an extract of the paper presented by me at the Three-Day International conference on Culture, Heritage, and Spirituality of Kashmir: Retrospect and Prospect 18-20 October 2022 at Islamic University of Science & Technology, Awantipora Kashmir)
Er. Mohammad Ashraf Fazili is a Former Chief Engineer