Shah Mir dynasty explained

See also: Kashmir Sultanate.

House of Shah Mir
Native Name:شاه میٖر خاندان
Native Name Lang:Kashmiri
Other Names:Shah Mirids
Type:Kashmiri royal family
Parent House:Gibari (disputed)
Country:Kashmir Sultanate
Founder:Shah Mir
Current Head:unknown
Other Families:Jahangiri
Chak
Magre
Bhat
Final Ruler:Habib Shah
Motto:نرجو أن يتم الحفاظ عليها من الدمار
Motto Lang:Arabic
Origin:Swat Sultanate (disputed)
Etymology:Named after Shah Mir (founder)
Motto Trans:May it be preserved from destruction
Styles:Sultan
Estate:Srinagar
Traditions:Islamic
Kashmiri
Persian

The Shah Mir dynasty (Kashmiri: شاه میٖر خاندان) or the House of Shah Mir, was a Kashmiri dynasty that ruled the Kashmir Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. The dynasty is named after its founder, Shah Mir.

Origins

Modern scholarship differ on the origin of Shah Mir. However, modern historians generally accept that Shah Mir was from Swat in Dardistan.[1] [2] [3] [4] Some accounts trace his descent from the rulers of Swāt.[5] [6]

Encyclopaedia of Islam (second edition) suggests a possible Turkish origins.[7] Andre Wink puts forward the opinion that Shah Mir was possibly of Afghan, Qarauna Turk, or even Tibetan origin, while A.Q. Rafiqi believes that Shah Mir was a descendant of Turkish or Persian immigrants to Swat.[8] Some scholars state that Shah Mir arrived from the Panjgabbar valley (Panchagahvara), which was populated by Khasa people, and so ascribe a Khasa ethnicity to Shah Mir.

Older sources by contemporary Kashmiri historians, such as Jonaraja, state that Shah Mir was the descendant of Partha (Arjuna) of Mahabharata fame. Abu ’l-Fadl Allami, Nizam al-Din and Firishta, also state that Shah Mir traced his descent to Arjuna, the basis of their account being Jonaraja’s Rajatarangini, which Mulla Abd al-Qadir Bada’uni translated into Persian at Akbar’s orders. This seems to be official genealogy of the Sultanate.[8] Based on this tradition, Aziz Ahmad considers it more probable that Shah Mir was a descendant of a convert from Hinduism only a few generation earlier, probably by a Sufi mystic.[9]

History

Shah Mir

See main article: Shah Mir. A. Q. Rafiqi states:Annemarie Schimmel has suggested that Shah Mir belonged to a family from Swat which accompanied the sage Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani and were associated to the Kubrawiya, a Sufi group in Kashmir.[10] He worked to establish Islam in Kashmir and was aided by his descendant rulers, specially Sikandar Butshikan. He reigned for three years and five months from 1339 to 1342 CE. He was the ruler of Kashmir and the founder of the Shah Mir dynasty. He was followed by his two sons who became kings in succession.[11]

Jamshid

See main article: Jamshid Shah Miri. Sultan Shamsu'd-Din Shah was succeeded by his elder son Sultan Jamshid who ruled for a year and two months. In 1343 CE, Sultan Jamshid suffered a defeat by his brother who ascended the throne as Sultan Alau'd-Din in 1347 CE.[11]

Alau'd-Din

See main article: article and Alauddin Shah. Sultan Alau'd-Din's two sons became kings in succession, Sultan Shihabu'd-Din and Sultan Qutbu'd-Din.[11]

Shihabu'd-Din

See main article: Shihabu'd-Din Shah. He was the only Shah Mir ruler to keep Hindu courtiers in his court. Prominent among them were Kota Bhat and Udyashri. Ruler of Kashgar (Central Asia) once attacked Kashmir with a large army. Sultan Shihabu’d-din did not have a large number of soldiers to battle against the Kashgar army. But with a small army, he fought and defeated the whole army of Kashgar. After this battle, the regions of Ladakh and Baltistan which were under the rule of Kashgar came under the rule of Shah Miris.Sultan also marched towards Delhi and the army of Feroz Shah Tughlaq opposed him at the banks of River Sutlej. Since the battle was motive-less for the Delhi Sultanate peace concluded between them on a condition that all the territories from Sirhind to Kashmir belong to the Shah Mir empire.[12] As a broad minded intellectual, Shihab'ud-Din, in the first half of his tenure, took care of the Sultanate and brought stability to the social and integral structure of Kashmir.[13] Full of animation and efficiency, Shihab'ud-Din set out to conquer its neighbour polities to expand and glorify his state. Marching through Baramulla, he first occupied Pakhli and went on to add Swat to his realm.[14] Next, he invaded the Khokhar dominated Pothohar, which extended from Attock to Sialkot. His commander-in-chief (Mir Bakhshi), Malik Candra, on the other hand, subdued Jammu, Kishtwar, Chamba, and other hill states.[15] Occupying all the bordering states in the south, Shihab'ud-Din went on to defeat the Dardic forces of Gilgit and the hill states of the north. Baltistan under the Maqpons and Ladakh under the Maryuls were, at that time, tributary states of Moghulistan and Tibet, respectively. Shihab'ud-Din, along with Malik Candra, faced the Baltis and Kashgaris, defeating them easily and soundly. He then moved towards Ladakh, beating the joint forces of Ladakhis and Tibetis. After all these conquests, Shihab'ud-Din returned to Srinagar around 1370 and rather ought to live the rest of his life peacefully but just after some years, in 1373, he died due to a viral illness.[16]

Shihabu’d-din was also a great administrator who governed his kingdom with firmness and justice. A town named Shihabu’d-dinpura aka Shadipur was founded by him. He was also called the Lalitaditya of Medieval Kashmir as he erected many mosques and monasteries.

Qutubu'd-Din

See main article: article and Qutbu'd-Din Shah. He was the next Sultan of Kashmir. The only significance of his rule is that the Sufi saint Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani arrived at Kashmir in his reign. In 1380 C.E. Qutbud’din died and was succeeded by his son Sultan Sikander also known as the Sikander Butshikand.

Sikandar

See main article: article and Sultan Sikandar. Sultan Sikandar (1389–1413 CE), was the sixth ruler of the Shah Mir Dynasty. Barring a successful invasion of Ladakh, Sikandar did not annex any new territory.[17] Iinternal rebellions were ably suppressed.[18] A welfare-state was installed — oppressive taxes were abolished, and free schools and hospitals were commissioned. Waqfs were endowed to shrines, mosques were commissioned, numerous Sufi preachers were provided with jagirs and installed in positions of authority, and feasts were regularly held.[19] Economic condition was decent.

Jonaraja and later Muslim chroniclers accuse Sikandar of terminating Kashmir's longstanding syncretic culture by persecuting Pandits and destroying numerous Hindu shrines; Suhabhat — a Brahman neo-convert and Sikandar's Chief Counsel — is particularly blamed for having instigated him.[20] Scholars caution against accepting the allegations at face value and attributing them solely to religious bigotry. His policies, like with the previous Hindu rulers, were likely meant to gain access to the immense wealth controlled by Brahminical institutions;[21] [22] [23] further, Jonaraja's polemics stemmed, at least in part, from his aversion to the slow disintegration of caste society under Islamic influence.[24] However, Sikandar was also the first Kashmiri ruler to convert destroyed temples into Islamic shrines, and such a display of supremacy probably had its origins in religious motivations.[25]

Sikandar died in April, 1413 upon which, the eldest son 'Mir' was anointed as the Sultan having adopted the title of Ali Shah.[26]

Ali Shah

See main article: Ali Shah Miri. He was the seventh ruler of the Shah Mir Dynasty, and reigned between 1413 and 1420.[27] He was defeated by Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin at Thanna with the help of Jasrath Khokhar, a chieftain from Pothohar Plateau. The fate of Ali Shah is uncertain: he may have died in captivity or have been put to death by Khokhar.[27]

Zain-ul-Abidin

See main article: article and Zayn al-Abidin the Great. Zain-ul-Abidin was the eighth sultan of Kashmir. He was known by his subjects as Bod Shah or Budshah [28] and ruled from 1418 to 1470.

Zain-ul-Abidin worked hard to establish a fair rule in Kashmir. He called back the Hindus who had left Kashmir during his father's reign and allowed building of temples. Jizya was abolished too in his command. From the regulation of commodities to the reviving of old crafts, Abidin did everything for overall development of Kashmir and his subjects. Zain-ul-Abidin is also called as Akbar of Kashmir and Shahjahan of Kashmir on account of religion and development respectively.

Haider Shah

See main article: article and Haider Shah Miri. Next Sultan of Kashmir was Haji Khan, who succeeded his father Zain-ul-Abidin and took the title of Haider Khan.[29]

Interruption by Haidar Dughlat

In 1540, the Sultanate was briefly interrupted when Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, a Chagatai Turco-Mongol military general attacked and occupied Kashmir.[30] Arriving in Kashmir, Haidar installed as sultan the head of the Sayyid faction, Nazuk. In 1546, after Humayun recovered Kabul, Haidar removed Nazuk Shah and struck coins in the name of the Mughal emperor.[31] He died in 1550 after being killed in battle with the Kashmiris. He lies buried in the Gorstan e Shahi in Srinagar.

Architecture

Some of the architectural projects commissioned by the dynasty in Kashmir include:

Reign and successions

No.Titular NameBirth Name Reign
1 Shamsu'd-Dīn Shāh
شَمس اُلدِین شَاہ
Shāh Mīr
شَاہ مِیر
1339 – 1342
2 Jamshīd Shāh
جَمشید شَاہ
Jamshīd
جَمشید
1342 – 1342
3 Alāu'd-Dīn Shāh
عَلاؤ اُلدِین شَاہ
Alī Shēr
عَلی شیر
1343 – 1354
4 Shihābu'd-Dīn Shāh
شِہاب اُلدِین شَاہ
Shīrashāmak
شِیراشَامَک
1354 – 1373
5 Qutbu'd-Dīn Shāh
قُتب اُلدِین شَاہ
Hindāl
حِندَال
1373 – 1389
6 Sikandar Shāh
سِکَندَر شَاہ
Shingara
شِنگَرَہ
1389 – 1412
7 Alī Shāh
عَلی شَاہ
Mīr Khān
مِیر خَان
1412 – 1418
8 Zainu'l-'Ābidīn
زین اُلعَابِدِین
Shāhī Khān
شَاہی خَان
1418 – 1419
9 Alī Shāh
عَلی شَاہ
Mīr Khān
مِیر خَان
1419 – 1420
10 Zainu'l-'Ābidīn
زین اُلعَابِدِین
Shāhī Khān
شَاہی خَان
1420 – 12 May 1470
11 Haider Shāh
حیدِر شَاہ
Hāji Khān
حَاجِی خَان
12 May 1470 – 13 April 1472
12 Hasan Shāh
حَسَن شَاہ
Hasan Khān
حَسَن خَان
13 April 1472 – 19 April 1484
13 Muhammad Shāh
مُحَمَد شَاہ
Muhammad Khān
مُحَمَد خَان
19 April 1484 – 14 October 1486
14 Fatēh Shāh
فَتح شَاہ
Fatēh Khān
فَتح خَان
14 October 1486 – July 1493
15 Muhammad Shāh
مُحَمَد شَاہ
Muhammad Khān
مُحَمَد خَان
July 1493 – 1505
16 Fatēh Shāh
فَتح شَاہ
Fatēh Khān
فَتح خَان
1505 – 1514
17 Muhammad Shāh
مُحَمَد شَاہ
Muhammad Khān
مُحَمَد خَان
1514 – September 1515
18 Fatēh Shāh
فَتح شَاہ
Fatēh Khān
فَتح خَان
September 1515 – August 1517
19 Muhammad Shāh
مُحَمَد شَاہ
Muhammad Khān
مُحَمَد خَان
August 1517 – January 1528
20 Ibrahīm Shāh
اِبرَاہِیم شَاہ
Ibrahīm Khān
اِبرَاہِیم خَان
January 1528 – April 1528
21 Nāzuk Shāh
نَازُک شَاہ
Nādir Shāh
نَادِر شَاہ
April 1528 – June 1530
22 Muhammad Shāh
مُحَمَد شَاہ
Muhammad Khān
مُحَمَد خَان
June 1530 – July 1537
23 Shamsu'd-Dīn Shāh II
شَمس اُلدِین شَاہ دوم
Shamsu'd-Dīn
شَمس اُلدِین
July 1537 – 1540
24 Ismaīl Shāh
اِسمَاعِیل شَاہ
Ismaīl Khān
اِسمَاعِیل خَان
1540 – December 1540
25 Nāzuk Shāh
نَازُک شَاہ
Nādir Shāh
نَادِر شَاہ
December 1540 – December 1552
26 Ibrahīm Shāh
اِبرَاہِیم شَاہ
Ibrahīm Khān
اِبرَاہِیم خَان
December 1552 – 1555
27 Ismaīl Shāh
اِسمَاعِیل شَاہ
Ismaīl Khān
اِسمَاعِیل خَان
1555 – 1557
28 Habīb Shāh
حَبِیب شَاہ
Habīb Khān
حَبِیب خَان
1557 – 1561
[32] Note: Muhammad Shah had five separate reigns from 1484 to 1537.[33]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Wani . Muhammad Ashraf . The Making of Early Kashmir: Intercultural Networks and Identity Formation . Wani . Aman Ashraf . 2023-02-22 . Taylor & Francis . 978-1-000-83655-4 . 225 . en.
  2. Book: Malik, Jamal . Islam in South Asia: Revised, Enlarged and Updated Second Edition . 2020-04-06 . BRILL . 978-90-04-42271-1 . 157 . en.
  3. Book: Holt . Peter Malcolm . The Cambridge History of Islam . Lambton . Ann K. S. . Lewis . Bernard . 1970 . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-29137-8 . 25 . en.
  4. Book: Markovits, Claude . A History of Modern India, 1480-1950 . 2004-09-24 . Anthem Press . 978-1-84331-152-2 . 40 . en.
  5. Book: Bhatt, Saligram . Kashmiri Scholars Contribution to Knowledge and World Peace: Proceedings of National Seminar by Kashmir Education Culture & Science Society (K.E.C.S.S.), New Delhi . 2008 . APH Publishing . 978-81-313-0402-0 . 108 . en.
  6. Book: Hasan, Mohibbul . Kashmir Under the Sultans . 2005 . Aakar Books . 978-81-87879-49-7 . 42 . en.
  7. Book: Lewis . Pellat . E.J. van Donzel . Encyclopaedia of Islam . IV (Iran-Kha) . 1998-05-28 . 2023-12-14 . Brill . en . 978-90-04-05745-6. 708. But her authority was challenged by Shah Mir, a soldier of fortune, who was most probably of Turkish origin..
  8. Book: Baloch . N. A. . Rafiq . A. Q. . 1998 . The regions of Sind, Baluchistan, Multan and Kashmir: the historical, social and economic setting . 293–318 . History of Civilizations of Central Asia . IV . Unesco . 923103467-7. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161028131445/https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledge-bank-article/vol_IVa%20silk%20road_the%20regions%20of%20sind,%20baluchistan,%20multan%20and%20kashmir.pdf . 28 October 2016.
  9. Ahmad . Aziz . 1979 . Conversions to Islam in the Valley of Kashmir . Central Asiatic Journal . . 23 . 1/2 . 3–18 . 0008-9192 . Shāh Mir was probably a descendant of a convert from Hinduism only a few generations earlier, probably by some Sūfī or dervish of a 'little tradition.' His apocryphal ancestry as a descendant of the Pāndūs is mentioned by the Indian historians of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries..
  10. Book: Schimmel, Annemarie. Islam in the Indian Subcontinent. 2014-11-10. 1980. BRILL. 90-04-06117-7 . 44.
  11. http://history.world-citizenship.org/baharistan-i-shahi-chapter-3-early-shahmirs Baharistan-i-Shahi – Chapter 3 – EARLY SHAHMIRS
  12. Book: Nath, R. . Oxford Art Online . http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t070476 . Qutb Shahi . 2003 . Oxford University Press . 10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t070476 . 9781884446054 .
  13. Book: Hasan, Mohibbul . Kashmir Under the Sultans . 2023-09-26 . Routledge . 978-1-032-66670-9 . London . 49.
  14. Book: Hasan, Mohibbul . Kashmir Under the Sultans . 2023-09-26 . Routledge . 978-1-032-66670-9 . London . 50.
  15. Book: Hasan, Mohibbul . Kashmir Under the Sultans . 2023-09-26 . Routledge . 978-1-032-66670-9 . London . 51.
  16. Book: Dutt, Jogesh Chunder . Rajatarangini of Jonaraja . 2012-01-01 . Gyan Publishing House . 978-81-212-0037-0 . New Dehli . 47-48 . English.
  17. Book: Hasan, Mohibbul. Kashmīr Under the Sultāns. 2005. Aakar Books. 978-81-87879-49-7. 59–95. en. Mohibbul Hasan.
  18. Book: Slaje, Walter. Kingship in Kaśmīr (AD 1148‒1459) From the Pen of Jonarāja, Court Paṇḍit to Sulṭān Zayn al-'Ābidīn. 2014. 978-3869770888. Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis - 7. Germany.
  19. Book: Zutshi, Chitralekha. Languages of Belonging: Islam, Regional Identity, and the Making of Kashmir. Permanent Black. 2003. 978-81-7824-060-2. en. Contested Identities in the Kashmir Valley.
  20. Book: Slaje, Walter . Encountering Buddhism and Islam in Premodern Central and South Asia . 2019-08-19 . De Gruyter . 978-3-11-063168-5 . 128–160 . en . Buddhism and Islam in Kashmir as Represented by Rājataraṅgiṇī Authors . 10.1515/9783110631685-006 . https://www.degruyter.com/view/book/9783110631685/10.1515/9783110631685-006.xml . 204477165.
  21. Web site: Zutshi . Chitralekha . This book claims to expose the myths behind Kashmir's history. It exposes its own biases instead . 2021-02-01 . Scroll.in . 24 October 2017 . en-US.
  22. Obrock . Luther James . Translation and History: The Development of a Kashmiri Textual Tradition from ca. 1000–1500 . 2015 . UC Berkeley .
  23. Salomon . Richard . Slaje . Walter . 2016 . Review of Kingship in Kaśmīr (AD1148–1459). From the Pen of Jonarāja, Court Paṇḍit to Sulṭān Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn. Critically Edited by Walter Slaje with an Annotated Translation, Indexes and Maps. [Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis 7], SlajeWalter ]. Indo-Iranian Journal . 59 . 4 . 393–401 . 10.1163/15728536-05903009 . 26546259 . 0019-7246.
  24. Book: Slaje, Walter . Brahma's Curse : Facets of Political and Social Violence in Premodern Kashmir . 2019 . 978-3-86977-199-1 . Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis - 13 . 30–40 . What Does it Mean to Smash an Idol? Iconoclasm in Medieval Kashmir as Reflected by Contemporaneous Sanskrit Sources.
  25. Book: Hamadani, Hakim Sameer . The Syncretic Traditions of Islamic Religious Architecture of Kashmir (Early 14th −18th Century) . Routledge . 2021 . 9781032189611 . 99–100 . While medieval Muslim hagiographic and historical accounts may have exaggerated Sikander’s destruction of non-Muslim religious sites in a classical representation of religious piety, the tendency of some writers in the twentieth century CE to shield the Sultan from these iconoclastic activities is not historically correct, especially given the evidence from the period coming from writers of different religious backgrounds..
  26. Book: Slaje, Walter. Kingship in Kaśmīr (AD 1148‒1459) From the Pen of Jonarāja, Court Paṇḍit to Sulṭān Zayn al-'Ābidīn. 2014. 978-3869770888. Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis - 7. Germany.
  27. Book: Hasan, Mohibbul . Kashmir Under the Sultans . Delhi . Aakar Books . Reprinted . 2005 . 1959 . 70 . 978-81-87879-49-7 . 2011-08-03.
  28. Book: Hasan, Mohibbul . Kashmir Under the Sultans . Delhi . Aakar Books . Reprinted . 2005 . 1959 . 78 . 978-81-87879-49-7 . 2011-08-03.
  29. Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). The Delhi Sultanate, Mumbai:Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.383
  30. Shahzad Bashir, Messianic Hopes and Mystical Visions: The Nurbakhshiya Between Medieval And Modern Islam (2003), p. 236.
  31. Stan Goron and J.P. Goenka: The Coins of the Indian Sultanates, New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 2001, pp. 463–464.
  32. Book: Hasan, Mohibbul . Kashmir Under the Sultans . Delhi . Aakar Books . Reprinted . 2005 . 1959 . 325. 978-81-87879-49-7 . 2013-01-17.
  33. Web site: The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Sultans of Kashmir.