Part
I: Chapter 1
SAYYID SHARAFU'D-DIN
As is well-known,
Sayyid Sharafu'd-Din, popularly known as Bulbul Shah, said to be a Suhrawardi
sufi, entered Kashmir during the reign of Suhadev, who granted him full scale
freedom to preach and propagate his religious faith and credo. Fed on the fare
of broad-mindedness, tolerance and generosity, the Hindu ruler did not think of
subjecting him to 'humiliating conditions', which could have inhibited
and crippled his movements and religious activities. But, essentially, a
proselytiser of Turkish brand, he converted Rinchin, a fugitive tribal prince
from Ladakh, to Islam when Dev-Swami, a Shaivite scholar, refused him
entry into the fold of Hinduism and through him rose from obscurity to
lime-light and saw fruition of his mission for speedy and vigorous propagation
of Islam and its precept. Rinchin as the first Muslim ruler generated religious
strife and turbulence in the region of Kashmir & resorted to conversions by
coercion and by sword. Rinchin not only granted the revenues of certain villages
to Bulbul Shah for his maintenance, but also built a Khanqah for him near his
palace. He built the first mosque in Kashmir.
"Bulbul Shah, a Muslim proselytiser under
persecution in his native land saw the fruition of his plans while admitting
Rinchin to the Islamic fold. Toeing the line of suns of all hues, he managed
entry into and proximity to the court of a Muslim ruler, who would be
instrumental in launching upon the persecutionary campaign against the die-hard
Hindus, who, despite the preaching of his Islamic tenets, could not be attracted
to Islam. At the behest of Bulbul Shah, Rinchin as the first Muslim ruler of
Hindu Kashmir launched upon the vigorous campaign of converting the Hindus of
Kashmir", writes Koul.
Records Bamzai, "Suffice it to say that with this
first success of his mission, Bulbul Shah acquired great influence in the valley
and very soon he effected the conversion of Rinchin's brother-in-law and
Commander-in-Chief and several others to his creed."
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