ER.MOHAMMAD ASHRAF FAZILI
The Pari Mahal
The Pari Mahal (or Fairy Palace) called Kuntilon, on a spur of the Zebanwan mountain, is a memorial of the Moghul love for letters. It was a residential school of Sufism built by Prince Dara Shukuh at the instance of his tutor, Akhund Mulla Mohammad Shah Badakhshi as stated by G.M.D. Sufi in ‘Kashir being a history of Kashmir.’
Besides, Prince Dara Shukuh, who wrote his Risala-i-Haqq-numa in 1646 AD while he was in Kashmir, will be remembered for having established the residential school of Sufism for Kasb-i-Mah (literally. Acquisition of the Moon) at the instance of his spiritual tutor, Akhund Mulla Mohammad Shah Badakhshani on a spur of the Zebanwan mountain higher up the present Cheshma Shahi. Shaikh Shah Mohammad bin Mulla Abd Mohammad , commonly known as Mulla Shah or Lisanullah came from Arksa, near Rustak in Badakhshan, to Lahore in 1023 AH/1614 AD and became a disciple of Miyan Mir, the great saint of the time. The Mulla was highly respected by Dara Shukuh who was initiated by him into the Qadri order in 1049 AH/1639 AD After the death of his Pir, Mian Mir, in 1045 AH/1635 AD Mullah Shah retired to Kashmir where he passed many days of his life in this monastery built by Dara Shukuh and his sister Jahan Ara. Mulla Shah died at Lahore in 1072 AH/1661-62 AD. He was of Qadri tariqa of Sufis.
HAZRAT AKHUND MULLA SHAH:
In Tazkira Shuara-i-Kashmir (V1 p426 to 459) Sayid Hisam-ud-din Rashdi has copied from the passages of famous biographies namely Shahjahan nama, Tazkira Nasarabadi, Miratul Khayal Hamesha Bahar, Tarikh-i-Azami (Waqat-i-Kashmir), Ryaz-us-Shuara, Tazkira Husaini, Maqalat-i-Shuara, Suhf-i-Ibrahim, Tazkira Shuara-i-Mutaqadimin, Ryaz-ul-Arifin, Subh-i-Gulshan, Roz-i-Roshan; which are a testimony to the high rank and the inner eminence of Hazrat Akhund Mulla Shah (RA) and whereby it is revealed that the said Hazrat was a mystic of excellence, man of ecstasy, aware of extrinsic and intrinsic knowledge, man of miracles, close to God, besides equipped with excellence, sagacity, wisdom and intuition also. He spent 40 years in Kashmir and resided on the southern foothill of Koh-i-Maran (Hari Parbat). The dilapidated ruins of his residential house besides rooms and the masjid are still existing. The author of Shahjahan Nama has written that the rays of the light of his mystical experience were shining from his face like the rays of the sun on the forehead of daybreak. The king Shahjahan would often say that in Hindustan there are two Shahs (kings) one Shahjahan and the other Mulla Shah. When Shahjahan used to come to see him, Hazrat Mulla Shah would start strolling earlier with staff in his hand and would meet the king while in a standing position or would stand along with the king on his getting up from a gathering and would leave. Despite being a God’s mystic of excellence, he would act with humility. When the body parts of Jahan Ara Begum the daughter of Shahjahan burnt with fire, Shahjahan turned towards Mulla Shah and requested for prayers sending some layers of gold coins. Pir Sadiq Hazrat Mulla Shah said, “This is the time to consult physicians, what will happen with prayers, lift this offering, I cannot be a cheat.”
During the period of Shahjahan, the scholars of Delhi submitted a public representation that Mulla Shah has insulted Prophet (SAWS) in this verse composed by him:
hence he is deserving the punishment of death. When Shahjahan went to Kashmir after meeting him he told him to see the public representation and asked him if this verse was really his? Hazrat Mulla Shah said that from this verse stinks of polytheism because the composer of the verse has made a difference between his self, and God and Prophet (SAWS) and in my religion it is polytheism. Whenever Shahjahan used to come to Kashmir, he would attend in his presence repeatedly and would show obedience and similarly his son Darashakoh and his daughter Jahan Ara Begum and other princes and attendants and women of harem became the disciples and devotees of Hazrat Mulla Shah.
Moulana has written masnavis stating therein the truths and the fields of knowledge. There are his quarantines too and has composed a divan of odes. Tazkira Husaini has written his date of death as 1070 AH. Maqalat-i-Shuara has written his year of death as 1071 AH quoting Tarikh-i-Lahore. The author of Miftah-ul-Tawarikh has written the year of death as 1070 AH quoting Mirat-i- Jahannuma and has stated that the date of death is recorded on his grave at Lahore.
Hazrat Akhund Mulla Shah is buried at Hashimpora in Lahore. In Asrar-ul-Abrar the entries are in accordance with Waqat-i-Kashmir.
Thus the Mulla was a voluminous writer and has left a Divan besides several works on Sufism. The school of Sufism for Kasb-i-Mah, among other things taught penance and devotion, for purification of mind and elevation of soul. By devotional exercises performed at night during moonlight. The beauty of the spot, its solitude, its general magnificent view of the surroundings particularly the dark blue, calm, unruffled water of the Dal for a mile, and the charm of softening moonlight must have had, no doubt, a most ennobling effect on the mind of the devotees. The building had turned into ruins but has been restored to a large extent in recent past. It is called Pari Mahal (the Fairy Palace), after the name of Dara Shukuh’s wife Nadira Begum known as Pari Begum. She was the daughter of Prince Parvez, Jahangir’s son. And is buried in the Durgah of Mian Mir, Lahore.
The Pari Mahal with a domed ceiling had a garden with six terraces watered by a nearby spring. In the uppermost terrace there are two structures, a baradari facing the lake, and a water reservoir bult against the mountain side. In the middle of the second terrace exactly in front of the baradari is a large tank built of bricks. The façade of retaining wall is ornamented with a series of twenty one arches including two of the side stairs The arches are built in descending order of height from the centre. Each of them is surrounded by a niche the height of which increases in proportion as it decreases in the height of the arch. The central arch is covered with a coat of fine painted plaster. A parapet wall screens this terrace. The third terrace is architecturally the most interesting. The entrance is arched in front and behind with a central domed chamber. It is covered with plaster. On either side of it are spacious rooms. The fourth terrace has the ruins of a tank. In the fifth terrace the arcade is double, the upper row of arches faces a corridor running on both sides of the plinth of the baradari. The sixth terrace has a rectangular tank in the middle and octagonal bastions at the ends. One statement attributes the construction of the Mahal to astronomical observations, another to astrological studies under the Mughals.
The Pari Mahal is also called Kuntilun, because it is said, it was to be a copy of castle named Tilun in India. But when ready the Mahal was not found to equal the Tilun. Dara Shukuh, therefore, in disgust remarked ‘Ka Tilun’,i.e., what comparison could it bear with Tilun? This was corrupted into Kuntilun. This is the statement of the late Pandit Anand Koul Bamzai, ex-President Srinagar Municipality, for which no authority has been quoted by him in his ‘Archaeological Remains.’
The spot is a center of tourist attraction and needs to be maintained properly by the concerned department. A board depicting the history of the site need to be erected at its entrance for the information of the tourists.
The Masjid of Akhund Mulla Shah Badakhshani:
The masjid of Akhund Mulla Shah was built on southern slope of Koh-i-Maran below the mausoleum of Mahboob-ul-Alam Hazrat Shaikh Hamza Kashmiri (RA) made of a beautiful polished grey limestone by Prince Dara Shukuh in 1059 AH/1649 AD besides a hamam. The Dara Mahal of Prince Dara Shukuh on the Hari Parbhat /Koh-i-Maran was glimmering in a flood of light in its own days in 1603 AD.
The garden was called Mulla Shah’s garden which was specially built for Akhund Mulla Shah Badakhshi, it was a part of those buildings which was got built by the prince Dara Shakoh for his spiritual guide on the south foot hill of Koh-i-Maran. The ruins of these buildings are exemplary which are seen on the right-side slope opposite the water tank while walking on foot on the path from the mausoleum of Hazrat Mahboob-ul-Alam Jenab Shaikh Hamza (RA) towards east heading to Kastur Pindi. According to the author of Tarikh-i-Hasan (V1 p285) these buildings were called Dara Mahal and were included in buildings of stones, attractive sitting places, recesses, canopies and painted halls. In the basement of this palace there were number of rooms. In its compound there was an attractive garden decorated with flowers and trees which was a source of adding refreshment to the soul. In a huge tank which was filled with water with Persian wheel, there were fountains and cascades playing by water running through underground drains and the Masjid was built on south side and a hamam was built on east side.
The site needs to be protected against the ravages of time as the polished stones fixed on the walls of the masjid are crumbling down along with its dome made of curved stones not seen elsewhere. Besides the open space of the terraces could be made a recreation centre by planting almond trees and flower beds and proper fencing with an entrance gate. A board depicting the history of this heritage site need to be installed at its entrance for the information of general public and the tourists.
Er. Mohammad Ashraf Fazili is a Former Chief Engineer.
