Mir Syed Ali Hamadani
Mir Syed Ali bin Shahab-ud-Din Hamadani
(1384-1314) was a Sufi of the Kubrawi order, a poet and a prominent Muslim
scholar. He was born on in714 H (1314) in Hamadan and died in 786 H/1384 and
was buried in Khatlan. He was very influential in spreading Islam in Kashmir and
has had a major hand in shaping the culture of the Kashmir valley. He was also
known as "Shah Hamadani” or the king of Hamadan and as Amir -i Kabir
("the Great Commander"). He wrote several short works on spirituality
and Sufism.
He was born in a noble family in Hamadan. His
father, Syed Shahab-Ud-din was linked to Imam Zain-ul-Abidin and finally to
Hazrat Ali. His mother, Syeda Fatima with seventeen links, reached the Prophet.
He belonged to the Kubrawi Order and received the role of the spiritual heir
from Sheikh Abul Miamin Najam –Ud-din Muhammad-bin-Mohammad Azani.
His teacher
Mahmud Mizdiqani had said to him, "Travel about the world, meet the
saints, draw benefits from them as much as you can." Consequently, he undertook
the Hajj thrice and traveled for twenty one years. During these journeys he saw
the Islamic and other countries and met the holy men there.
To avoid persecution in his homeland at the
hands of Timor, he moved to Kashmir with seven hundred followers, during the
reign of King Shahab-Ud-din. In Kashmir, Shah-e-Hamadan started to preach Islam
in an organized manner. He and his followers helped setup a large number of
mosques in every nook and corner of the valley, the most famous of them being
the Khanqah-e-Mohalla on the banks of River Jhelum.
Shah-e-Hamadan has been instrumental in shaping the culture of
Kashmir. His influence on arts and culture and the economy of the valley is
tremendous. Among the seven hundred followers who accompanied him to Kashmir,
were men of arts and crafts who flourished in the valley. They popularized
Shawl-making, carpet-manufacturing, cloth-weaving, pottery and calligraphy. Because
of Shah Hamadan the wonderful arts and crafts turned Kashmir into a mini Iran
and brought about a revolution in the thinking process of the people. The many
vocations he introduced in the valley have provided a livelihood to the
artisans of Kashmir for centuries.
Shah Hamadan was a Multi-dimensional
personality. He was a social reformer besides being a preacher. He brought
substantial reforms in the lives of ordinary Kashmiris, getting rid of
practices like black magic and Sati. He made Islamic teachings known to the
people in Kashmir, improved their beliefs, made efforts for the building of their
character and laid down a fool-proof system for the propagation of the Islam.
He introduced the Central Asian architecture
in the valley and when fused with the Kashmiri architecture, gave rise to a new
style. The most famous example of this is the Khanqah-e-Mohalla, the monastery
dedicated to him in Kashmir. This building, which contains the room where he
stayed on his first visit to the valley, is a beautiful model of wooden
architecture of Kashmir, with engravings on walls. Friday prayers are said
there where hundreds gather to pray. The sacred relics include the Prophet's
flag, the pillar of the Prophet's tent, and Shah Hamadan's walking stick.
He had a lot of influence on the works of his
contemporary in Kashmir like the saint poetess Lal Ded. Some of his descendents
still live in Kashmir.
Shah Hamadan was a great
scholar who had written numerous books one of them was Zakhirat-ul-Muluk, a
treatise on political ethics and the rules of good government