Sikandar Shah Miri

Shingara, better known as Sultan Sikandar Shah Miri (Kashmiri: سلطان سِکَندَر شَاہ میٖرِی, Persian: سلطان سکندر شاہ مِیرِی ), also by his sobriquet Sikandar Butshikan (lit. Sikandar the Iconoclast)^[1] was the seventh Sultan of Kashmir and a member of Shah Mir dynasty who ruled from 1389 until his death in 1413.^[2]

The only contemporaneous source that exists is the Rajatarangini (lit. Flow of Succession of Kings) by Jonaraja.^[3][4] Jonaraja was the Brahmin court-poet of Sikandar's successor Zain-ul-Abidin and was commissioned to continue Kalhana's Rajatarangini.^[4] One manuscript of his work—edited between 1561 and 1588 by an anonymous person using information from other sources—emends certain portions of the text in the margins; he is conventionally called Pseud. J. (and the work, Ps-JRT) in scholarship.^[4]

Extant Persian sources, including ⁠Baharistan-i-shahi (anon.), Tohfatu'l-Ahbab (anon.) and Tarikh-i-Kashmir corpus, were written relatively later and drew from recensions of Rajatarangini(s) but they provide considerable additional information.^[2] These were later used by authors starting from Abul Fazl, the first chronicler from outside Kashmir and Nizamuddin Ahmad to independent Persian chroniclers to colonial historians and Kashmiri Pandits, with different ideological proclivities, to produce varying strands of histories suiting different sociopolitical goals.^[5]

The Shah Miri dynasty likely descended from Kohistani Dards from Swat Valley ; Shah Mir himself was the first to settle in Kashmir.^[6][7][a] He began to serve in the royal court of the fledgling Deva Dynasty and before long, became the prime-minister of Suhadeva.^[6][8] Soon, he leveraged a power-vacuum in the wake of a crippling Mongol raid to help Rinchan, a Buddhist from Ladakh, usurp the throne and after his death, waged a successful war against widow Kota Rani to claim the kingdom for himself.^[2][7]

The Shah Mirs actively patronaged Islam (esp. Sufism) and led to the formation of a new social order that chipped away at Brahminic Hinduism.^[8][7] A contemporary Shaivite mystic Lal Ded borrowed from Sufism and local cults to attack core tenets of Brahminism and likely, serviced conversion to Islam among the lower strata of society.^[8][b] By Sikandar's time, a considerable section of the populace had already adopted Islam.^[8] Nonetheless, the Kings continued to actively patronage Hinduism: Alaud'din had commissioned a Hindu Matha and Qutubu'd-Din had held royal yajnas.^[6][8]

Except for a successful invasion of Ladakh under the command of Rai Magre, Sikandar did not annex any new territory.^[2] Soon after this victory, Magre instigated a rebellion and assassinated Sobha's (Sikandar's first wife) brother^[c] before turning against Sikandar with his proteges.^[4][9] The rebellion was ably suppressed with aid from Laddaraja's men without even resorting to warfare and Magre was imprisoned, whence he committed suicide.^[4][9][d] Palas —probably, a Persian tribe— who aided Magre were brutally suppressed too.^[4]

In December 1398, Timur had camped on the banks of the Indus river and ordered Sikandar to pay tribute.^[2][10] Despite Sikandar's meek acceptance fearing a military fallout, the order was eventually waived by Timur himself upon being judged to be way above Sikandar's financial capacity.^[2][10] While the two did not meet, they shared a mutual admiration and Timur gifted a pair of male and female elephants to Sikandar.^[2][4][e] Sikandar was ecstatic on receiving them.^[4]

C. 1400, a successful war was waged against Firuz, the Hindu Shahi ruler of Ohind (var. Udabhandapura and Sahibhanga) after he refused to recognize Sikandar's suzerainty.^[2][4] Sikandar went on to marry Firuz's daughter Mera whilst giving away one of his daughters from Sobha for marriage to Firuz.^[2][4] Another successful campaign was mounted against Pala Deo (var. Billadeva), the Rajah of Jammu, after he refused to pay taxes; Jasrath Khokhar was installed as a vassal and Sikandar again entered into a matrimonial alliance with his daughter whilst giving away another of his daughters from Sobha for marriage to Pala Deo.^[2][4]

The overall economic condition was decent.^[4] Jonaraja remarks that the Goddess of Fortune found an abode in Sikandar — "the pleasure of [his] welfare elude[d] verbal description."^[4] A welfare state was installed; oppressive taxes were abolished while free schools and hospitals (Daru'l-Shifa) were opened for public use.^[2][11] Waqfs were endowed to shrines and numerous Sufi preachers from Central Asia were provided with jagirs and installed in positions of authority.^[2][f] Land holdings were allotted to vast sections of society including scholars, religious figureheads and the poor.^[2][11] The office of Shaikhu'l-Islam was established to provide monetary stipends and alms to the needy, pilgrims, travelers, physicians, scholars and other deserving people.^[11][12] Sharia was enacted into local law — music, dance, gambling, and intoxicants were prohibited.^[2]

Suppression of Hindus

Jonaraja argues that Sikandar's rule terminated Kashmir's long-standing tolerant culture.^{[2][13][14][15]} So do Baharistan-i-shahi and Tohfatu'l-Ahbab, which note that Sikandar cleansed Kashmir of all heretics and infidels. Sikandar is epithetized as ''butshikan", the "idol-breaker."^[16][11] Hasan Ali provides the most detailed narrative.

Sikandar commenced the destruction of Hindu and Buddhist shrines till, in the words of Jonaraja, no idol remained, even in the privacy of peoples' homes.^[4][17] Jonaraja mentions temples at Martand (Sun God), Vijayesvara (Shiva), Cakradhara (Vishnu), Suresvari (unknown), Varaha (Vishnu), and Tripuresvara (unknown) to have been destroyed by Sikandar.^[4][17] Hasan Ali adds three temples at Parihaspore, the Tarapitha temples at Iskander Pora, and a neighbouring Maha Shri Temple.^[11] Pseud. J notes of a colossal statue of Buddha being razed and melted to produce coins.^[4][17]

Afterwards, Sikandar's focus fell on abolishing caste system. All Brahmins unwilling to cede their hereditary caste privileges were taxed with Jizya.^[4][g] In contrast to Jonaraja, who mentions Sikandar's successor (Ali Shah) as having initiated forced conversions for the first time, Hasan Ali notes of forced conversions under Sikandar's tenure; he is stated to have massacred all those who had refused to convert.^[4][11][h]

Motivations and analysis

Upon a literary reading of Rajatarangini, Sikandar's zeal behind the Islamisation of society is attributable to Mir Muhammad Hamadani — an orthodox Sufi preacher —^[i] who advocated the creation of a monolithic society based on Islam as the common denominator to the extent of prohibiting any maintenance of kafir shrines.^{[10][7][6][19]} In particular, a Brahman neo-convert — Suhabhatta (var. Suhaka Bhatt and Saifuddin) who served as Sikandar's counsel — was accused of instigating the King into "[taking] delight day and night in demolishing the sculptures of the gods."^{[7][17][4][j]} Notably, in Baharistan-i-shahi, both Sikandar and Suhabhatta play equal roles, with particular significance accorded to Sikandar's religious conviction.^[11]

Chitralekha Zutshi, Richard G. Salomon and others reject the idea only religious motives lay behind Sikandar's actions and call for a nuanced contextual reading of Rajatarangini, a work that was commissioned by Sikandar's successor, who wished to bring back the Brahminical elite into the royal fold and establish Sanskrit as an integral part of a Sultanate that strove to be cosmopolitan.^[20][21][22] According to Zutshi and Salomon, Sikandar's policies were guided by realpolitik^[22] and, like with the previous Hindu rulers, were essentially an attempt to secure political legitimacy by asserting state power over Brahmans and gaining access to wealth controlled by Brahminical institutions.^[20] J. L. Bhan notes the sole extant example of sculpture (see below) from Sikandar's reign to challenge simplistic notions of religious persecution.^[23]

Walter Slaje disagrees about such proposed absence of religious motivation, in part, given the differential rituals of destruction undertaken by Hindu and Muslim kings with the latter rendering sites inoperable for long passages of time by massive pollution or outright conversion.^[17][6] Slaje however concludes that the fierce opposition of Hindus to Muslim rulers, including Sikandar, primarily stemmed from their aversion to the slow disintegration of caste society under Islamic influence; Jonaraja explicitly mocks Hamadani's rejection of hereditary caste hierarchies.^[17][6] Mohammed Ishaq Khan emphasizes on the centrality of caste in understanding Jonaraja's reception of Shah Miri — he notes that even Hindu figures like Lal Ded had found no place in the Rajatarangini(s) and other Pandit corpus of history, until recent times.^[8]

Fringe revisionist^{[citation needed]} scholars^[who?] completely reject the narratives of persecution and accuse the Brahman chroniclers of wanton bias and myth-making, stemming from their personal jealousy at losing socio-economic dominance.^{[24][failed verification][1][failed verification][4][failed verification][19]}

The locality of Nowhatta was constructed by Sikandar and his royal palace was established at the town center.^[2][11] He constructed the Jamia Masjid at Srinagar—considered to be the finest example of Indo-Saracenic archirecture in Kashmir—,^[k] and two other mosques at Bijbehara and Bavan.^[2] The two-storied Bavan mosque was enclosed by a garden and doubled as Sikandar's spring-resort.^[2] Sikandar also commissioned a new burial ground—Mazar-i-Salatin, on the bank of Jhelum near Zaina Kadal locale in downtown Srinagar—for the royals and elite.^[11]

Numerous scholars arrived from Central Asia in his court: Sayiid Ahmad of Isfahan drafted a commentary on a Firazi text and also wrote epistles, Sayyid Muhammad Khawari wrote a commentary on Lum'at ul-I'tiqaad as well as another work (Khwar Nameh) of unknown genre, and Muhammad Baihaqi composed poems eulogizing Sikandar.^[11] The first stone sculpture of Kashmir—a four-armed Brahma, argued to be one of the finest in the history of the subcontinent—was sculpted by son of a Buddhist Sanghapati in 1409 and dedicated to Sikandar.^[23]

Sikandar is believed to have had a puritanical temperament, and abstained from wine, festivities, and music — in tune with the laws decreed for his subjects.^[2] Among his closest confidants were Suhabhatta, Sankara (chief physician), and Laddaraja.^[4]

Under Ali Shah's regime, Suhabhatta became the Prime Minister and the de facto ruler; Jonaraja claims that persecution increased manifold with forced conversions becoming commonplace, Hindu customs being banned, and Brahmans being prohibited to leave the territory despite being forced into unemployment.^[4] A regime of tolerance was however re-introduced under Zain-ul-Abidin, with Suhabhatta dead from tuberculosis; Hindu artists were provided with state-patronage, temples were rebuilt, Brahmans-in-exile were brought back, taxes reduced, and neo-Muslims were allowed to convert back.^{[2][7][3][14][4][p]} Tohfatu'l-Ahbab, writing in the 16th century, blamed the poor state of Islam in the valley on Zain.^[16]

Despite these reverses, the Islamisation of elite politics meant very few caste groups other than Brahmans took the opportunity of re-conversion and a largely irreversible change set-in in post-Sikandar Kashmir.^[7][17][14] The Hindus receded into relative political unimportance, with Pandit nobles being last prominent in the court of Hasan Shah, Zain's grandson.^[19] Nonetheless, Hinduism did not flourish among the masses even a century after Sikandar's death.^[19][q]