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."