ADVENT OF ISLAM AND ROLE OF SHAHMIR IN FOUNDATION OF MUSLIM RULE IN KASHMIR

Abstract

Kashmir, a territory renowned for its Muslim majority, is seeing an increase in its Muslim population by more than 97% within the Valley. Although the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir was a rigid Hindu community for 3100 years with religiously race-discriminative divisions until the arrival of Baba Bulbul Shah and Shah-e-Hamdan in Kashmir. As from Hameem Bin Sameh to Bulbul Shah, Muslims were present but undominant, after the embracing Islam of Renchan Shah., Islam became the official religion of the state. Islamization was strengthened by Shahmir, purified, and modified by Shah-e-Hamdan. This paper explores facts about how Islam brought equality, justice, social harmony, ethical values, unity, brotherhood, friendship, and equality through the struggles of the Sufi saints and Muslim scholars. It unveiled the close knits with Central Asia that had consequences in the fields of art and craft, carpet viewing, wood and stone carvings, as well as many with skills. Kashmiris gained fame in the fields of art and craft and in Persian literature and soon emerged as “Iran-e-Sagheer.”