Sunday, 26 April 2015

Rise and Fall of Imamis in Kashmir


Image result for kashmiri shias
Kashmiri Imamis Protesting Against Genocide in Gilgit-Baltistan


By Dr.Mazhar Naqvi
 
The emergence of Imami influence in Kashmir can be attributed to Mir Syed Muhammad. 
He was worthy son of famous Sufi Mir Syed Ali Hamadani, popularly known as Shah-E-Hamadan
 in Kashmir. Mir Syed Ali had arrived in Kashmir in 1393 and remained there for about three years.
 He left behind a number of Iranian Sufis and scholars. It is recorded that Mir Syed Muhammad
 stayed in Kashmir for more than a decade. Under his influence, Suha Bhatt, the prime minister of 
the ruling Sultan, embraced Islam and a number of inhabitants converted to Imami faith. 
According to Shaheed-E-Salis Qazi Nurullah Shustari, the arrival of Mir Shamsuddin Iraqi in 
 Kashmir in 1502 gave further impetus to Mazhab-E-Haqqa. Mir Iraqi was a descendant of  seventh
 Imam Musa Kazim besides being a disciples of Shah Qasim, son of Syed Muhammad Nur Bakhsh.
 He was an expert in Nur Bakhshiya teachings based on love and devotion to Hazrat Ali and
 Ahle-Bait-E-Athar. He was assisted in propagating the message of Hazrat Ali and his successors  
 by another prominent Sufi of Kashmir Baba Ali Najjar. Mirza Haidar Doghlat, who was asked to 
carry out an expedition into Kashmir in 1540 by Mughal emperor Humayun mentions: 

“The people of Kashmir were [formerly] all Hanafi, but in the reign of Fath Shah, the father of this Sultan Nadir (Nazuk) , a man of the name of Shams came from Talish in Iraq who gave himself out as a Nur Bakhshi…….It appears that during this period, the Imamis of Kashmir preferred to call themselves Nur Bakhshis.”

In 1591, Qazi Nurullah Shustari was sent to Kashmir to look into the complaints about  revenue administration. He reported, according to Abul Fazl, as follows: “Most of the soldiers (there), for example the group (giroh) of Duna, Magriyan (Magre) and Dangar (Wankar?) etc. are totally Imamis . In the city (Srinagar), the inhabitants of Muhallas (quarters) Hasanabad and Zadibal are all Imamis. The tomb and hospice (khanqah) of Mir Shams (Shamsuddin) Iraqi are situated in the latter (Zadibal) quarter. Likewise, among the progeny of Baba Ali (Najjar), a khalifa of Mir Shams and his disciples (murid), a very large number are Imamis. Among the qasbas (towns) of that place (Kashmir) , qasba Shihabuddinpur is one of the best, and all the inhabitants are followers of Imams. Among the parganas, the inhabitants of pargana Basuka, comprising 208 villages, are all Imamis. In other parganas (also), there are other villages whose inhabitants are also Imami, but their details are still awaited and not (at the moment) known.” 

Qazi Nurullah then goes on to discuss two other neighboring regions  the Tibet-i Buzurg (Laddakh) and Tibet-i Khurd (Baltistan).He mentions “ while the former was predominantly non-Muslim, the latter was under the Imami influence. Since the said Mir Shams  reached Tibet, the inhabitants of this place i.e. the rulers, soldiers and the peasants have embraced the Imamia faith….. Although they live in the vicinity of Empire of India (Saltanat-i Hindustan) they recite the Khutba in the name of the (Safavid) rulers of Iran.”
Qazi has attributed the growth of Imamia faith in Kashmir to endeavors of Syed Raju bin Syed Hamid-Al-Hussaini of Bukhara. He further mentions  that a large number of Bukhari Syeds had migrated to India along with mystic Syed Jalal Bukhari Makhdum Jahaniya . In India, they  settled in various cities like Multan, Lahore, and Delhi. They followed life of dissimulation to protect their interests.. It was Syed Raju who initiated a movement against this policy of dissimulation and exhorted Imamis  to openly declare their faith and remain busy in promoting the Imami teachings. 

The report of Qazi Shustari reveals as to how quickly Imami faith had spread in Kashmir since the days of Shah-e-Hamadan. The views of Qazi is further authenticated by Firishta and Emperor Jahangir. Farishta writes “according to reports received from 'highly educated travelers, the Kashmiri peasants were Hanafi, while the majority of the soldiers were Imami. Farishta also mentions Imami influence over this region but perhaps confuses Laddakh with Baltistan, saying: “The friendship with Kashmiri soldiers has made the ruler of Laddakh, who is a neighbor of Kashmiris, such a fanatical Imami that if a stranger happens to visit his country and does not curse the anti-Ahle-Bait elements, they turn him out of Laddakh. The Chaks claim that Mir Shamsuddin Iraqi was an Imami and his contemporary heretics and rulers became his disciples and as per his orders recited the Khutba in the name of the Twelve (Imams).”
By the middle of 16th century, Chaks or Tschaks who had professed Imami faith under the influence of Mir Iraqi were able to ascend the throne of Kashmir. The Chaks were brave and good soldiers and it was because of their patriotism and martial spirit that the Mughals had to wait a hundred years after conquering India to lay their hands on Kashmir. The first of the Chaks was Badshah Ghazi Chak. He was a wise and able ruler. In him, after a long time, Kashmir got a stable and efficient administration. Badshah Yaqub Chak was the last of the Chaks and last independent Muslim King of Kashmir.
Jahangir, who was declared king of Hindustan after Akbar’s death in 1605, too mentions about Nur Bakshi order but says that  majority of Kashmiri soldiers were Imamia. However, according to him, the merchants and artisans in Kashmir were mostly not professing Imamia faith. Things did not remain rosy for Imamis in Kashmir for long. Their persecution started after occupation of Kashmir by Mughals. In subsequent years , followers of Ahle-Bait had to pass through the most atrocious period of their history. Plunder, loot, massacres and attacks on Imambaras literally devastated the community. History records 10 such massacres in 1548, 1585, 1635, 1686, 1719, 1741, 1762, 1801, 1830 and 1872.Such was the reign of terror that the community once again went into dissimulation to protect their lives. Village after village disappeared, with community members either migrating to safer places in north Indian cities or dissolving in the majority faith.
During Dogra rule, Imamis remained by large and secure and they openly professed their faith. Dogra Kings even patronized Muharram ceremonies. The independent India also allowed Imamis to freely profess their faith without any restriction, and Ashura is a observed as a national holiday. However, some degree of persecution remains in Kashmir region because of ban on Ashura Procession. But this persecution is nothing as compared to ongoing atrocities being committed on followers of twelve Imams and Sufism in Gilgit –Baltistan in Pak occupied Kashmir. Anti-Imami militants have outsmarted every one and killed Imamis in the most barbaric manners since 1988.The history of persecution is simply repeating itself in Gilgit-Baltistan as admirers of Ahle-Bait have no other option but to leave their motherland in the same manner as was witnessed during the Mughal period. (References available on request)



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