Opinion | Kashmir’s Sufi Shrines: Custodians of a Hybrid Legacy

At Khanqah-e-Moula, a Sufi shrine in the center of Srinagar devoted to Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani, a 14th-century Persian Sufi saint, a visiting scholar once came across a Muslim devotee brought to tears by the reading of verses from the mystical poetess Lal Ded, who lived hundreds of years before Hamadani ever stepped into the Valley. When asked why he was reading the poetry of a Hindu holy woman at a Muslim shrine, the devotee provided a response which encapsulates the spirit of Kashmiri religion: Lal Ded is our grandmother.

This is indicative of a history of interreligious dialogue in Kashmir that predates its use to signify political strife on an international level. The introduction of Islam to the Kashmir valley occurred in the 14th century through the efforts of Persianate Sufi missionaries led by Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani, which included not only the practice of mysticism but also artisans, laws, and a mission system that ultimately played an important role in converting Kashmir to a Muslim society under the Shah Mirs. However, the nature of this conversion process made it unique to other such conversions within the Indian subcontinent: unlike other religious conversion processes where Islam is presented as something entirely different and necessitating a complete break from previous practices, here the ideas of Islam were conveyed in a language that made sense to Hindu spiritual thought and Kashmiri culture.

Perhaps the most important articulation of this phenomenon occurred in the early 15th century when the Rishi order – an indigenous Sufi sect in which Sheikh Nur-ud-din, also known as Nund Rishi to both Hindus and Muslims – was largely instrumental in its formation. Indeed, the very name Rishi is taken from Sanskrit and the order was created against the backdrop of the traditions of renunciation and asceticism of Buddhism and Hinduism that existed in the Valley, not by introducing a completely new paradigm of religious practices. Nund Rishi was directly inspired by Lal Ded, the 14th century Shaiva mystic and poet whose short religious verses, called vakhs, presented sophisticated religious concepts through simple Kashmiri language and criticized religious rituals in vain in both Hinduism and Islam. His shrine located in Budgam district at Charar-e-Sharief is one of the most visited pilgrimage centers in the Valley and people of different religions come here to visit his grave because they respect Nund Rishi despite their religion and have done so for about six centuries.

However, the legacy of Nund Rishi is not limited to the spiritual, but it also involves the ecological and social sphere. The popular saying of Nund Rishi, “Ann Poshi Teli Yeli Yeli Wan Poshi”, which means that the food would survive only as long as the forests exist, reflects the environmental awareness that existed in the context of Kashmiri Sufi tradition much before the issue of climate change emerged on a global level. The annual Urs ceremony at Charar-e-Sharief remains a symbol of communal reverence for him, drawing people from various religious communities, which has been termed by scholars as an example of living Kashmiriyat, the wider Kashmiri culture.

In addition, other shrines in the Valley have unique historical traditions in this tradition of syncretism as well. For example, the shrine of Shams-ud-Din Araqi, located in Zadibal, Srinagar, is a tribute to a Sufi saint who is an important figure in the Shia Muslim population of the Valley and which provides a peaceful location and architecture, giving visitors what they call real spiritual solace. There is a shrine of Baba Haneef-ud-Din Reshi, located near Rathsun in Budgam District. He was an integral part of the Rishi order of saints, including Nund Rishi and his disciple Baba Nasr-ud-Din Rishi, who was buried next to his teacher in Charar-e-Sharief itself.

The cultural indicators of their common past were not limited to visiting shrines but were much wider and have been detailed by academics researching the history of religions in Kashmir. Kashmiri Muslims used to use names such as Pandit and Bhat, names which were associated with Hindus and their identity in other parts of India. In the same manner, dietary practices indicated common influences of the two communities, as the consumption of mutton in accordance with Islamic guidelines was practiced by the Kashmiri Pandits and beef was generally avoided by Kashmiri Muslims.

However, recent scholarship has been resistant to the assumption that this syncretism represents a straightforward, permanent fact of the region’s civilisation rather than being itself a selective remembering of aspects of Kashmir’s historical past. Recent academic writing has suggested that the syncretism of Kashmir valley – which, while having existed historically in specific forms such as joint visits to shrines, shared festivals and common language – is increasingly becoming a selective remembering in political rhetoric, used as an ideal to contrast with current tensions rather than understood in its full historical complexity.

This scholarly scepticism is certainly one worth taking into consideration without downplaying the importance of what is indeed true about the shrines themselves. Regardless of whether the actual balance between harmony and hierarchy in the religious history of Kashmir is ever resolved, one thing is sure about the shrines of Hamadani, Nund Rishi and the wider Rishi tradition – they continue to serve as living places of worship for practitioners of different faiths to come together and worship as an integral part of their spiritual practice, rather than objects of scholarly study preserved in museums. As such, they serve as something of a counternarrative to the prevailing narratives of recent Kashmiri history, providing a testament to the complex and connected nature of the religious tradition of Kashmir.

mdmuslimbhat@gmail.com