Sikandar Butshikan

Sikandar Butshikan (r. 1389–1413), sometimes also called Alexander the Iconoclast , was the sixth sultan of the Shah Miri dynasty of Afghan origin who had ruled over large parts of the Kashmir region since the mid-14th century .

Life and deeds

Martand Sun Temple

The arrival of Islam in Kashmir can be dated to the year 1320. The founder of the dynasty, Shah Mir or Shah Mir Swati , took control of the Kashmir Valley in 1339. He referred to himself as a Sayyid and traced his ancestry back to the Prophet Mohamed . Several weaker rulers followed before Sikandar Butshikan took power in 1389 and instituted a rigorous policy against deeply rooted Hinduism . The Buddhism was barely existent here. He had the Hindu religious writings burned and their temples destroyed. In addition, he banned game, music, and dance as wellCremation . Even more: He forced the population to convert to Islam - those who refused were executed, others died by suicide or emigrated. Sikander was nicknamed but-shikan , which means something like 'destroyer of idols'. The Hindu chronicler Jonraj, who died in 1459, writes:

There was no town and no village in which the temples of the gods remained undamaged. When Sureshvari, Varaha, and the others were destroyed, the earth trembled, but not the spirit of the wicked king, who enjoyed destroying images day and night ...

Evidence of his actions that are still visible today include a. the ruins of the temple complexes of Martand and Awantipora .

Succession

His firstborn son Ali Shah (r. 1413-1420) was his successor; better known, however, is Ghiyas-ud-Din Zain-ul-Abidin (r. 1420-1470).

meaning

In the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan over the territorial and political affiliation of Kashmir, the name Sikander Butshikan is brought up again and again.

literature

• Mohibbul Hasan: Kashmir Under the Sultans. Aakar Books, Delhi 1959 (reprint 2005), ISBN 978-81-87879-49-7 .

Web links

• Islam in the Kashmir Valley - Information (English)