Emergence and Evolution of Islamic Culture and Civilization in Kashmir: An Analytical and Historical Overview

From the Kashmiri ruler Rinchana (1320- 1323 A.D)‟s embracingIslam by a Sufi saint Sayyid Sharaf-ud-Din Abdul Rahman (popularized toBulbul Shah)(1326 A.D.), one can derive that it is a dramatic scene that theking of a time became a figure of an Islamic civilization at once butactually with the long background of Muslims‟ commencement in the stateand its adjacent and king‟s discontent regarding other religions of the stateled him to accept the rapidly spreading Islamic civilization. King‟s debatewith the scholars of all ongoing religions of Kashmir and preferring Islamas a religion among the other religions marks his adoption of a newcivilization more significant and remarkable.Being a multicultural and multi religious nature of the state, Islamiccivilization and culture observe many pros and cons during the centuries inKashmir. It took more than half century to stand on its feet. It faced manyinternal and external challenges but it was survived and resuscitated. IraniSufi saint Syed Ali Hamdani(1384 C.E) and his followers played a vitalrole to nurture Islamic civilization and its manifestation to an extent thatonce Kashmir was considered the central part of Islamic culture andcivilization and that was in the era of great Sultan Zain ul Abideen(1420-1470) known as Bud Shah(great shah), as his period witnessed abundantdevelopments in art, languages, translations in Persian, Arabic fromSanskrit and vice versa and many other sciences.Although the Salateen‟s era(1339-1560) was the climax of Islamicculture and civilization in Kashmir but the situation during the other eraslike of Chaks (1560-1586 C.E), Mughuls (1586-1752 C.E), Afghans(1752-1819) Sikhs(1819-1846), Dogras (1846-1947) and modern time(1947 to tilldate) is still remarkable as many developments regarding various sciences,arts and languages were witnessed.The study endeavors to explore the background of thecommencement of Islamic culture and civilization and its evolution andhow did Kashmiri people respond to new developments and how did theyresuscitate while facing the various challenges through the centuries.