A Muslim Missionary in Mediaeval Kashmir-Being the English Translation of Tohfatu'I-Ahbab

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The 13 century Mongol incursions disrupted the trading network of the Asian continent of middle ages. Its consequences were disastrous for Kashmir. The kingdom was already weakened by bankruptcy and court intrigues. This was a temptation for adventurers in her neighborhoods for incursions. In the first quarter of the 14 century they succeeded in overthrowing the two thousand year-old Kashmir Hindu rule. Kashmir under Sultans was a major event. Replacement of an indigenous regime of fair antiquity with one rooted in an alien civilization could remain in place only when a supportive social structure legitimized it. This is the reason why the 14° century Muslim missionaries from Iran and Central Asia were welcomed to the new ruling apparatus in Kashmir. More than two centuries prior to this event, the pursuit of rational sciences had come under severe strain in Islamic world because orthodoxy relied on the support of feudal oligarchies and local satraps in Iran and Turkistan. In the period under consideration, Muslim missionaries, vying with their Arab counterparts, took upon themselves the onerous task of designing the requisite social structure for vulnerable societies like the one in Kashmir. A prominent person to take the lead in this enterprise was Shamsu'd-Din Araki (A.D. 1477), the founder of Nurbakhshiyyeh Sufi order in Kashmir. Tofatul-Ahbab is a record of his mission in Kashmir. The book could provide fresh insights for re-evaluating some of the controversial aspects of the mediaeval history of India.

Born in Baramulla, Kashmir, Kashinath Pandit earned his M.A. from Punjab University and Ph.D. in Iranian/Central Asian Studies from Teheran University, Iran in 1962. He taught at the University of Kashmir, first at the Post Graduate Department of Persian, and later at the Centre of Central Asian Studies, where he rose to become its Director. He has traveled extensively in Central Asia and Iran. Among his works are: Iran and Central Asia, My Tajik Friends, Hafiz ki Shairi and annotated English translation of Baharistan-i-Shahi, a history of medieval Kashmir. He was awarded by the President and Vice President of India in 1985 and 1987 respectively for his academic attainments.

This is the English translation of a Farsi work Tohfatu'l-Ahbab the biography of Shamsu'd-Din Muhammad Araki, an Iranian Shi'a Muslim missionary of Nurbakhshiyyeh order who is reported to have visited Kashmir for the first time in AH 882/ AD 1478. He was born in Solghan in Northern Iran in the year AH 828/AD 1424, Some hagiographers have tried to trace his descent from the line of Imam Musa Kazim.

We do not have convincing information about the life and works of the author of Shamsu'd-Din Araki's biography. namely Tohfatu'l-Ahbab except that he calls himself Muhammad Ali Kashmiri. He often accompanied his father on their visit to Shamsu'd-Din Araki in his hospice at Zadibal, Srinagar. It appears from the biography that he was an eye witness to many events connected with Araki's mission in Kashmir. Like his father Mulla Khaleelullah, he was a staunch follower of Shi'a Nurbakhshiyyeh faith brought to Kashmir by Araki. The colophon of J&K Researcah Library manuscript of Tohfatu'l-Ahbab bears the year of transcription as AH 1052/ AD 1642.

**Contents and Sample Pages**