Saturday, June 16, 2018

Was Rinchan Shah, the ruler of Kashmir in 1320, tricked into converting to Islam?


Minhaj Masoodi
Rinchin shah was actually a Ladakhi adventurer. He ran away from his homeland and found shelter with the King of Kashmir; King Ramachandra. Rinchin was a man of wits. He hatched a plot to oust the King of Kashmir and sent solders in the guise of travellers to the fort and took Ramachandra and his men by surprise and then put him to death and himself ascended the throne. In order to gain local sympathy and support he married his daughter Kota Rani. Rinchin was a Buddhist by Religion but he wanted to convert to Hinduism, but the Brahman priests did not allow him to convert because they were not sure as to which varna he would adopt. Then one day he heard Bulbul shah make a call to prayer on the banks of Jhelum and he was moved by it and then he went on to accept Islam. So it’s totally naive to think that he was tricked into accepting Islam. First, he was denied the chance to convert to Hinduism by priests, and second he converted to Islam out of his own Volition. furthermore, one changes religion by observing it, by studying it and not to forget he was the King of Kashmir. Nobody would have dared to trick the King.


Yes, following is an excerpt from Wikipedia. I have noticed that other answers to this question are incorrect. The rest of the answers tend to come from Muslims who apparently are blinded by religion and cannot accept the reality.
Rinchan, whose full name was Lhachan Gualbu Rinchana, was a Buddhist prince from Ladakh, and the son of the Ladakh chief, Lhachan Ngos-gruba, who ruled Ladakh from 1290 to 1320. He revolted against his uncle, the ruler of Ladakh, but was defeated and fled to Kashmir. Raja Suhadeva appointed Rinchan as a minister. A Muslim from Swat named Shah Mir was appointed as a minister in Kashmir by Suhadeva and he became good friend of Rinchan. Mongols under their leader Dulchoo, invaded Kashmir with 70,000 soldiers and defeated Suhadeva, who fled to Tibet. After the departure of Mongols, his prime minister, Ramachandra, took advantage of the anarchy and occupied the throne. He appointed Rinchan as an administrator. Rinchan became ambitious. He sent a force in the fort in the guise of merchants, who took Ramachandra's men by surprise. Ramachandra was killed and his family were taken prisoners. Rinchan became the ruler of Kashmir.
In view of his Ladakhi origin, Rinchan found it crucial to gain support to legitimize his rule. To this end, he won over Ravanachandra, the son of Ramachandra, to his side. He made him his chief adviser and gave him the title of Raina and Ladakh and Lar as his jagir. He also married Kota Rani, Ramachandra's daughter and agreed to convert to Hinduism. He approached the head guru of the BrahminPandits Devaswami for this purpose. However his request was spurned by the Shaivite guru who refused to accept him into the Hindu fold due to his hand in killing Ramachandra.
The Sufi missionaries from the Middle Eastand Central Asia had settled in Kashmir and had converted some Kashmiris to Islam. There was competition and conflict between Buddhism and Hinduism in the court of Rinchan. Shah Mir convinced Rinchan that he could choose to convert to Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam. Shah Mir suggested to Rinchan that he could convert to the religion of the first person they encounter next morning. Shah Mir pre-planned the morning meeting with Sufi mystic Syed Sharafuddin Bulbul Shah to convert Rinchan to Islam.The next morning when they left the palace the first person they met was Bulbul Shah who was performing his morning prayers. Rinchan converted to Islam and adopted the title of Sultan Sadruddin Shah. 10,000 of his subjects, including is brother-in-law Ravanachandra, converted along with him.
You cannot change the facts no matter how much you love your religion.
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