Sikandar Shah (Sikandar Butshikan – "Sikandar, the Iconoclast")
was the sixth
sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
of the
Shah Miri dynasty
The Shah Mir dynasty was a dynasty that ruled the region of Kashmir in the Indian subcontinent. The dynasty is named after its founder, Shah Mir. During the rule of the dynasty from 1339 to 1561, Islam forcefully established in Kashmir.
Orig ...
of
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
from 1389 to 1413.
Sources
The only contemporaneous source that exists is the
Rajatarangini
''Rajatarangini'' ("The River of Kings") is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western part of India, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE. The ...
(lit. Flow of Succession of Kings) by Jonaraja.
Jonaraja was the Brahmin court-poet of Sikandar's successor
Zain-ul-Abidin
, spouse =
, issue = Haider Shah
, issue-link =
, issue-pipe =
, house = Shah Mir dynasty
, father = Sikandar Shah Miri
, mother =
, birth_date = 25 November 1395
, birth_place = Kashmir, Shah M ...
and was commissioned to continue
Kalhana
Kalhana ( sa, कल्हण, translit=kalhaṇa) was the author of ''Rajatarangini'' (''River of Kings''), an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be d ...
's Rajatarangini.
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 (and the work, Ps-JRT) in scholarship.
Extant Persian sources, including
Baharistan-i-shahi __NOTOC__
''Baharistan-i-shahi'' is a chronicle of medieval Kashmir. The Persian manuscript was written by an anonymous author, presumably in 1614. Pandit, K. N. (2013). Baharistan-i-shahi: A chronicle of mediaeval Kashmir. Srinagar: Gulshan Books ...
(anon.),
Tohfatu'l-Ahbab
Tohfatu'l-Ahbab is a Farsi work by Muhammad Ali Kashmiri, presumably written in 1642. It is the biography of Shamsu'd-Din Muhammad Araki, a Shi'a Muslim missionary who visited Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan in the 15th and 16th century. Araki w ...
(anon.) and
Tarikh-i-Kashmir corpus, were written relatively later and drew from recensions of Rajatarangini(s) but they provide considerable additional information.
These were later used by authors starting from
Abul Fazl Abul is an Arabic masculine given name. It may refer to:
* Abul Kalam Azad
* Abul A'la Maududi
* Abul Khair (disambiguation), several people
* Abul Abbas (disambiguation), several people
* Abul Hasan
* Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi
* Abu'l-Fazl ibn ...
, the first chronicler from outside Kashmir and
Nizamuddin Ahmad
Khwaja Nizam-ud-Din Ahmad Bakshi (also spelled as Nizam ad-Din Ahmad and Nizam al-Din Ahmad) (born 1551, died 1621/1030 AH) was a Muslim historian of late medieval India. He was son of Muhammad Muqim-i-Harawi. He was Akbar's ''Mir Bakhshi''. His wo ...
to
independent Persian chroniclers to colonial historians and Kashmiri Pandits, with different ideological proclivities, to produce varying strands of histories suiting different sociopolitical goals.
He began to serve in the royal court of the fledgling Deva Dynasty and before long, became the prime-minister of Suhadeva.
Soon, he leveraged a power-vacuum in the wake of a crippling Mongol raid to help
Rinchan
Sadruddin Shah, also known as Rinchan, was the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir. He ruled Kashmir from 1320 to 1323.
Background
Around 1313, an invader named "Du'l-Qadr"—mentioned by Jonaraja to be the commander of a ''Karmasena''—invaded Kas ...
, 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.
The Shah Mirs actively patronaged Islam (esp. Sufism) and led to the formation of a new social order that chipped away at Brahminic Hinduism.
A contemporary Shaivite mystic
Lal Ded
Lalleshwari, also known locally as Lal Ded (; 1320–1392), was a Kashmiri mystic of the Kashmir Shaivism school of Hindu philosophy. She was the creator of the style of mystic poetry called vatsun or ''Vakhs'', literally "speech" (from Sans ...
borrowed from Sufism and local cults to attack core tenets of Brahminism and likely, serviced conversion to Islam among the lower strata of society.
By Sikandar's time, a considerable section of the populace had already adopted Islam.
Nonetheless, the Kings continued to actively patronage Hinduism: Alaud'din had commissioned a Hindu Matha and Qutubu'd-Din had held royal yajnas.
Birth and Ascension
Sikandar was the great-grandson of Shah Mir; he was the eldest child of Qutubu'd-Din and Queen Sura (var. Subhata), and was born sometime around 1380.
Because he was a minor at the time of his father's death—9 August 1389—, his mother had to act as a regent for a while.
During her regency, Sura consented to Prime Minister Rai Magre (var. Uddaka), who was also her cousin, burning his own daughter and son-in-law Muhammad, son of a fellow minister Sahaka, on charges of conspiring against Sikandar.
Magre went on to poison Haybat, Sikandar's younger brother and even Sahaka.
Sikandar, sensing a possible usurpation of the throne by Magre, chose to exert himself as the ruler c. 1391.
Military campaigns
Except for a successful invasion of
Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...
under the command of Rai Magre, Sikandar did not annex any new territory.
Soon after this victory, Magre instigated a rebellion and assassinated Sobha's (Sikandar's first wife) brother before turning against Sikandar with his proteges.
The rebellion was ably suppressed with aid from Laddaraja's men without even resorting to warfare and Magre was imprisoned, whence he committed suicide.
Palas —probably, a Persian tribe— who aided Magre were brutally suppressed too.
In December 1398, Timur had camped on the banks of the
Indus river
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
and ordered Sikandar to pay tribute.
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.
While the two did not meet, they shared a mutual admiration and Timur gifted a pair of male and female elephants to Sikandar.
Sikandar was ecstatic on receiving them.
C. 1400, a successful war was waged against Firuz, the Hindu Shahi ruler of Ohind (var.
Udabhandapura
Hund (Pashto: ), known in antiquity as Udabhandapura, is a small village in Swabi district, situated on the right bank of the Indus River in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is about 15 km upstream of Attock Fort and is locat ...
and Sahibhanga) after he refused to recognize Sikandar's suzerainty.
Sikandar went on to marry Firuz's daughter Mera whilst giving away one of his daughters from Sobha for marriage to Firuz.
Another successful campaign was mounted against Pala Deo (var. Billadeva), the Rajah of Jammu, after he refused to pay taxes;
Jasrath Khokhar
Mustafa Jasrat Shaikha Khokhar ( pa, ) was the chief of the Khokhars during 1420–1442. He was a Muslim Jat ruler. He was known for founding a Khokhar Empire which consisted of the present day Indian states of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana ...
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.
Sociopolity
The overall economic condition was decent.
Jonaraja remarks that the Goddess of Fortune found an abode in Sikandar — "the pleasure of
iswelfare elude
verbal description."
A
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...
was installed; oppressive taxes were abolished while free schools and hospitals (''Daru'l-Shifa'') were opened for public use.
''
Waqf
A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
s'' were endowed to shrines and numerous Sufi preachers from Central Asia were provided with ''
jagir
A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, start ...
s'' and installed in positions of authority.
Land holdings were allotted to vast sections of society including scholars, religious figureheads and the poor.
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.
Sharia was enacted into local law — music, dance, gambling, and intoxicants were prohibited.
Suppression of Hindus
![Jamia Masjid in Winter 2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Jamia_Masjid_in_Winter_2019.jpg)
Jonaraja argues that Sikandar's rule terminated Kashmir's long-standing tolerant culture.
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."
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.
Jonaraja mentions temples at Martand (Sun God), Vijayesvara (Shiva), Cakradhara (Vishnu), Suresvari (unknown), Varaha (Vishnu), and Tripuresvara (unknown) to have been destroyed by Sikandar.
Hasan Ali adds three temples at
Parihaspore
Parihaspora or Parihaspur or Paraspore or Paraspur was a small town northwest of Srinagar in the Kashmir Valley. It was built on a plateau above the Jhelum River. It was built by Lalitaditya Muktapida (695–731) and served as the capital of ...
, the Tarapitha temples at
Iskander Pora, and a neighbouring Maha Shri Temple.
Pseud. J notes of a colossal statue of Buddha being razed and melted to produce coins.
Afterwards, Sikandar's focus fell on abolishing
caste system. All Brahmins unwilling to cede their hereditary caste privileges were taxed with
Jizya
Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent Kafir, non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The jizya tax has been unde ...
.
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.
Motivations and analysis
Upon a literary reading of ''Rajatarangini'', Sikandar's zeal behind the Islamisation of society is attributable to Mir Muhammad Hamadani who advocated the creation of a monolithic society based on Islam as the common denominator.
Hamadani, along with fellow Muslim scholars, had apparently flocked to Sikandar and "put an end to the local
indureligious customs of Kashmir, like storms
estroywoods, or locusts rice plants."
Sikandar's counsel, a Brahman neo-convert called Suhabhatta (var. Suhaka Bhatt and Saifuddin), is held to have played the key role in the execution of those orthodox policies by "instigating" the Sultan, who then "took delight day and night in demolishing the sculptures of the gods."
However, in ''Baharistan-i-shahi'', both Sikandar and Suhabhatta play equal roles, with particular significance accorded to Sikandar's religious conviction.
Chitralekha Zutshi Chitralekha Zutshi (born 1972) is a historian of Kashmir and an Associate Professor of History at the College of William and Mary, USA.
Education
Zutshi received her doctorate in history from Tufts University.
Works
Her first monograph ''Langu ...
,
Richard G. Salomon
Richard Georg Salomon (22 April 1884, Berlin, Germany – 3 February 1966, Mount Vernon, Ohio) was an historian of eastern European medieval history and historian of the Episcopal Church in the United States, who taught at the University of Ha ...
and others reject the idea only religious motives lay behind Sikandar's actions and call for a nuanced contextual reading of ''Rajatarangin''i, 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.
According to Zutshi and Salomon, Sikandar's policies were guided by
realpolitik
''Realpolitik'' (; ) refers to enacting or engaging in diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly binding itself to explicit ideological notions or moral and ethical ...
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.
J. L. Bhan notes the sole extant example of sculpture (see below) from Sikandar's reign to challenge simplistic notions of religious persecution.
Walter Slaje
Walter Slaje (born 17 June 1954 in Graz) is an Austrian Indologist
Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subse ...
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.
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
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...
under Islamic influence; Jonaraja explicitly mocks Hamadani's rejection of hereditary caste hierarchies.
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
A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...
corpus of history, until recent times.
Fringe revisionist scholars 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.
Art and architecture
The locality of
Nowhatta
Nowhatta, () known as Navyut () in Kashmiri language, Kashmiri, is a town of historical importance situated at a distance of 5 km from Lal Chowk, Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, India. Nowhatta is famous b ...
was constructed by Sikandar and his royal palace was established at the town center.
He constructed the
Jamia Masjid at Srinagar—considered to be the finest example of Indo-Saracenic archirecture in Kashmir—, and two other mosques at Bijbehara and Bavan.
The two-storied Bavan mosque was enclosed by a garden and doubled as Sikandar's spring-resort.
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.
Numerous scholars arrived from Central Asia in his court: Sayiid Ahmad of
Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
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.
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.
Personal life
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.
Among his closest confidants were Suhabhatta, Sankara (chief physician), and Laddaraja.
Issues, death, and succession
Sikandar was married to at-least three women: Mera; an unnamed daughter of Pala Deo; and, Sobha about whom Jonaraja does not provide any details.
He had at least five sons—Firuz (adopted by Sobha; sent alongside Hamadani, in his return journey to Iran), Shadi Khan (adopted by Sobha), Mir Khan (from Mira), Shahi Khan (from Mira), and Muhammad Khan (from Mira)—, and at least two daughters (both adopted by Sobha).
Sobha is understood to have been likely infertile.
Sikandar is claimed to have met a prolonged and painful death, seemingly from
elephantiasis
Elephantiasis is the enlargement and hardening of limbs or body parts due to tissue swelling. It is characterised by edema, hypertrophy, and fibrosis of skin and subcutaneous tissues, due to obstruction of lymphatic vessels. It may affect the genit ...
, in April 1413.
After his death, Sikandar's eldest son Mir was anointed as the Sultan, having adopted the title of Ali Shah.
Two years later, Mir was succeeded by Shadi Khan, who adopted the name
Zain-ul-Abidin
, spouse =
, issue = Haider Shah
, issue-link =
, issue-pipe =
, house = Shah Mir dynasty
, father = Sikandar Shah Miri
, mother =
, birth_date = 25 November 1395
, birth_place = Kashmir, Shah M ...
.
Legacy
Under Ali Shah's regime, Suhabhatta became the Prime Minister and the de-facto ruler; persecution increased manifold with forced conversions becoming commonplace, Hindu customs being banned, and Brahmans being prohibited to leave the territory while being forced into unemployment.
A regime of tolerance was however re-introduced under Zain-ul-Abidin, with Suhabhatta dead from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
; 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.
Tohfatu'l-Ahbab, writing in the 16th century, blamed the poor state of Islam in the valley on Zain.
Despite these changes, 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.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butshikan, Sikander
Sultans of Kashmir
14th-century births
15th-century deaths
14th-century Indian Muslims
15th-century Indian Muslims