Conversion
There is little doubt that there were conversions during this period. Most of these were into various forms of Islam, most commonly into Sufi strands. Rarely does one find evidence of conversion from Islam.
Rather, “Muslims” may have moved away from orthopraxy and appropriated bhakti motifs without necessarily becoming “Hindu.” Such was the case with many Sufi sheikhs and laity whose religious life closely illustrated the patterns of accommodation sketched above. The conversion into Islam occurred for many reasons, any one of which seldom tells the whole story, and the story differs from region to region. Generally speaking, however, the conversions that occurred into Islam occurred on the fringes of the subcontinent (East Bengal, Kashmir, Western Panjab especially) where Buddhism had once been present only to become decimated and where various “Hindu” sects had failed to take root with the general populace. Occasionally, conversion occurred for material betterment, as when craftsmen sought better opportunities for employment or payment in a sultan’s court. In some cases, those who converted had been alienated from the power structures or economic “brokers” of their region. Most commonly, however, it was the result of people’s becoming increasingly comfortable with and attracted to those religious functionaries who were accessible and seemed to have the good of the common people at heart. Usually, these functionaries were Sufis. But the picture is more complex. It might be useful to look at one setting and explore some of the issues that led to massive conversions in that case. We examine the case of Kashmir.40In Kashmir, Buddhism had been the religion of most of the population in the third century bce. By the eighth century ce, brahmanism in its various forms was an important part of the landscape and many of Kashmir’s people had opted for worship of Siva, Visnu, or the Goddess.
But poverty had become the common lot of people at the lower echelons of society. This was so for a variety of reasons, not least of them that kings from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries imposed very heavy taxes on their subjects. From Jayapida (753-82) to Unmattavant (937-39) and again by Suhadeva (1301-20), kings are described as “oppressive” and “avaricious” by historians like Kalhana and Hangloo.41 Meanwhile, brahmans had been given considerable lands by said kings in keeping with the pattern found in other regions where the “state” used brahmans as their advisers and rhetoricians. Neither brahmans nor others of the landed aristocracy were taxed as severely; as a result, by the fourteenth century the economy of Kashmir was flowing upward into the hands of rulers and aristocracy.Matters became worse when disunity set in amongst the dominant groups. Revolts by tantrins and other sects and hunger strikes by brahmans became frequent. There was a struggle for power by the tenth century which pitted rulers against brahmans. Kings hated what they perceived to be the dominance and greed of brahmans, which led a number of them from Samkarvarman (883-902) to Harsa (1089-1101) to plunder temples. Meanwhile, Sarvastivada Buddhism, which had been the dominant form of Buddhism in Kashmir, had fallen on hard times. It was accused of corruption and superstition by brahman and king alike. Buddhist viharas by the thousands were destroyed by such kings as Nara and Mihirakula. No unified religious traditions were available to replace Buddhism, as inter-sectarian rivalries were rife.
To be sure, a significant tradition of Saiva philosophy developed in Kashmir thanks to the teachings of such as Abhinavagupta, but this was designed to encourage the pursuit of wisdom and spiritual discipline as a way to attain release, measures hardly accessible to the common people. Into this relative religious vacuum came Islam. For centuries, Muslim traders and craftsmen had been entering Kashmir for purposes of doing business.
A number of these began to settle by at least the thirteenth century. Among those who represented the character of Islam were Sufi saints who spoke of the social equality espoused by Islam and the notion that human beings were the sacred creations of god. These Sufis lived amongst the poor, spoke their language, setting examples of piety and, for the most part, avoiding any attempt to convert people.It was the fourteenth century before Islamic rule became a part of the Kashmiri landscape. One Shahmir (1339-42) established cordial relations with brahman chiefs, even marrying his daughter to one of them. The first five sultans of this dynasty were relatively low key in their espousal of Islam. They patronized Sufis to teach and established institutions like the madrasa as a place for learning about Islam. It was Sultan Sikander (1389-1414) who took more drastic measures. Following a policy used by Hindu kings a century earlier he demolished temples and confiscated the wealth of brahman establishments. It is said that there were conversions, even by brahmans, to Islam in the wake of these actions. Indeed, Sikander’s actions were abetted by his prime minister, Subhabhata, a brahman who later became a Muslim. Moreover Sultan Sikander offered patronage to Turks and Persians who came into Kashmir in large numbers bringing with them technological skill and work for the lower echelons of society. The increased trade with Central Asia provided peasants the opportunity to learn new crafts. Sultan Zayn-al-Abidin (1420-70) made available opportunities to develop such crafts as bottle, shawl, and carpet making. People, in short, became more economically independent and had access to religious opportunities as well.
The readiness of the Kashmiri people for change was facilitated by a woman bhakta named Laleshwari. Her songs expressed indignation at the brahmanic “establishment,” and oppression by the aristocrats, and expressed the need for a form of religion that went beyond the worship of icons and pujas in temples.
Similarly, one Shaikh Nur al-Din was concerned to establish a community where equality was possible. Other Sayyids and sheikhs followed into Kashmir teaching the rudiments of their faith. Rather than countenance the destruction of temples, they sought to remove icons and convert temples into mosques and places of Islamic learning. In addition to teaching religious precepts these “missionaries” passed on various skills and knowledge of a variety of things to the local people. Converts came mostly from various artisan classes, craftsmen, village peasants, and menial laborers.In sum, conversion to Islam in a region like Kashmir was a complex process in which several elements were present. Among them were a sense of poverty and marginality on the part of society’s lower echelons; corruption at the top; fragmentation and disunity on the part of power brokers, a religious “vacuum” amongst the poor, and the concomitant presence of religious functionaries who lived amongst the poor, taught them, and helped pass along a variety of skills.