Nund Rishi ( c. 1377 – c. 1438 AD; sometimes spelled Nund Reshi), also known as Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani, Sheikh-Ul-Alam (spritual guide of the world) and by the title Alamdar-e-Kashmir ("Flag Bearer of Kashmir"), was a Kashmiri

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

saint, mystic, poet and

Islamic preacher Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

.). And Sheikh ul-Alam ( ur, ) among the Muslims and as Nund Laal among the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s. Nund Rishi was among the founders of the

Rishi order __NOTOC__ The Rishi order is a religious tradition, concept for the mystical teaching or spiritual practices associated with religious harmony of Sufism in the Kashmir Valley. The sufi saint of Rishi order influenced Kashmiris and its culture. The ...

, a Sufi tradition of the region. He influenced many spiritual teachers and saints, including

Hamza Makhdoom Hamza Makhdoom, popularly known as Makhdoom Sahib (c. 1494 – c. 1576), was a Sufi mystic living in Kashmir. He is sometimes referred to as Mehboob-ul-Alam (literally, "beloved of the world") and Sultan-ul-Aarifeen (literally, "king among tho ...

Resh Mir Sàeb Baba Hyder Reshi also known as Baba Hardi Rishi, Harda Reshi, Resh Mir Sahib, Resh Moul Sahib, Reshi Maloo, and Reshi Maol (born 17 January 1504 in Dantar, Tehsil Anantnag, Kashmir), but popularly known as Resh Mir Sàeb, is a venerated saint in ...

, and

Shamas Faqir Shamas Faqir ( شمس فقیر) was a Kashmiri Sufi poet. He belonged to the Qadiriyya silsila of Sufism. Shamas Faqir was born in 1843, to a poor family in Chinkral Mohalla, Habba Kadal Srinagar, Kashmir. He didn't receive formal education, ...

Early life

Painting of Sheikh Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani, also known as Nund Rishi 02

Noor-ud-Din was born in AD 1377 in hi-jogi poraor aimohvillage in

Kulgam district Kulgam district is a district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located at a distance of towards south-west of Anantnag. The district comprises block, tehsil and town of Kulgam. Location Kulgam is situated near the Pi ...

to Salar Sanz and Sadra, also called Sadra Moji or Sadra Deddi.Soqte:School Of Orthoepy Quran And Theology::Kashmir
His grandfather "Sheikh Salah-Ud-Din" hailed from

Kishtwar Kishtwar is a town, municipality and administrative headquarter of the Kishtwar District in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The district was carved out of the Doda district in 2007. It is located in the Jammu division. T ...

. The legend has it that he refused to be breast-fed by his mother after birth and it was

Lalleshwari 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 ...

who breastfed him. In teenage years Noor-ud-Din was apprenticed to a couple of traders. He was married to Zai Ded who hailed from the village of

Dadasara Dadasara is a village in the Tral sub-district of Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India ...

Tral Tral is a town, sub-district and a notified area committee in the Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir. The town is situated at a distance of from summer capital, Srinagar and from district headquarters, Pulwama. Tral is the secon ...

and had two sons and a daughter with her. She renounced the world after the death of her children and became a hermit. Noor-ud-Din renounced the worldly life at the age of 30 and retired to live a life of

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

in a cave which is still shown in Qaimoh and is about 10 feet deep. During his last days, he survived by drinking a cup of milk every day, and later, he used to survive by drinking water.

Literary works

Noor-ud-Din spread his teachings or message through poems, commonly known as ''shruks''. His poems have four to six lines each and evolve around religious themes, highlight moral principles and often call for peace. He strived for

Hindu–Muslim unity Hindu–Muslim unity is a religiopolitical concept in the Indian subcontinent which stresses members of the two largest faith groups there, Hindus and Muslims, working together for the common good. The concept was championed by various persons, s ...

. One of his prominent poem is ''Ann poshi teli yeli wan poshi'', which translates as "Food will thrive only as long as the woods survive". A Kashmiri poetess

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 ...

was his contemporary and had a great impact on his spiritual growth.

Jaishree Odin Jaishree Odin is a literary scholar who is the director and a professor of the Program of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Hawaii. Her research relates to cultural studies of science and technology, literary and political ecology, ec ...

, Lalla to Nuruddin: Rishi-Sufi Poetry of Kashmir. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass (2013) Some scholars argue that he was her disciple, and associate his poetry with the

Bhakti movement The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6th centur ...

, although others disagree. Noor-ud-Din witnessed several transmissions of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

in the valley throughout his life, although he was actively involved in philosophical work and in writing Kashmiri poems. In his verses, he recalled some events, including arrival of

Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani ( fa, میر سید علی همدانی; CE) was a Persian scholar, poet and a Sufi Muslim saint of the Kubrawiya order. He was born in Hamadan, Iran and preached Islam in Central Asia and Kashmir as he travelled to pr ...

to Kashmir. Noor-ud-Din is also credited with translating the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

into

Kashmiri language Kashmiri () or Koshur (, /kəːʃur/) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region, primarily in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2020, the Parliament of India passed a bill to make ...

. In 2015, the university of Kashmir published an

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

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 ...

commissioned a tomb for his body at

Charari Sharief Charar-i-Sharief (variously spelled Chrar-e-Sharif, Charari Shareef, etc.) (, known as Tsrar-i-Sharif () in Kashmiri, is a town and a notified area committee in Budgam district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The to ...

. The

Charar-e-Sharief shrine Charar-e-Sharief (also spelled Charar-i-Sharief, Charari Sharief, Chrari-Sharif, etc.) is a Sufi Muslim shrine and mosque situated in the town of Charari Sharief in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir union territory, India. It is one of the o ...

is visited by pilgrims to this day, especially on the eve of Noor-ud-Din's ''

urs Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or ''Urus'' (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc ...

''. His Urs will be observed on 23 October 2022, this day has been declared gazetted holiday by the government. The

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

governor Atta Muhammad Khan minted coins with Noor-ud-Din's name. Noor-ud-Din's father Sheikh Salar-Ud-Din and two brothers Kamal-Ud-Din and Jamal-Ud-Din are buried near Dadasara while his wife is buried in Qaimoh.

Legacy

Noor-ud-Din's sayings and verses are preserved in Kashmir region, including in a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

built at Kashmir university. The ''shruks'' also describe the life of the saint. They were translated into the

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

by Baba Nasib-ud-din Ghazi two centuries after his death. In 1998,

University of Kashmir The University of Kashmir (U-K, UoK), informally known as Kashmir University (KU), is a collegiate public state university located on the western side of Dal Lake in the city of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, India which was established in 194 ...

established an institute called Markaz-e-Noor Centre for Sheikh-ul-Alam Studies to conduct scientific research on Noor-ud-Din's life. In 2015, the university established a research center called Sheikh-ul-Alam Chair in order to honor his teachings. The centre is aimed at exploring the

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

and cultural background of the Kashmiri

Rishi ''Rishi'' () is a term for an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mentions in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "great yogis" or ...

s. In 2017, the

Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages The Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (also known as Cultural Academy) is a Society registered with Government as a Cultural organization dedicated to the promotion of regional languages, art and culture including theatre ...

covered his life in a book titled "Hayat-e-Sheikh-ul-Alam" (life of Nund Rishi). In 2005, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

renamed the Srinagar airport to

Sheikh ul-Alam International Airport Sheikh ul-Alam International Airport also known as Srinagar Airport and Budgam Airbase, is an international airport serving Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is owned by the Indian Air Force, and the Airports Autho ...

and granted it international status.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rishi, Nund Kashmiri people Kashmiri poets 1377 births 1440 deaths Dard people People from Kulgam district Kashmiri Sufi saints

Early life

Literary works

Legacy

See also

References

Notes