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Some Persian Inscriptions found in Srinagar, Kashmir.-By the late Rev. I. LOEWENTHAL.

I. THE MOSQUE OF SHAHI HAMADÁN.

As the traveller glides up the placid Jelum from Báramula, and passes under the cedarn bridges of Srinagar, wondering at the tall, gable-roofed, many-storied houses on the banks, with their unoriental profusion of windows, his attention is arrested by a curious building on the right bank between the Fateh Kadal and the Zaina Kadal (bridges), which, if he enters Kashmir from the west, he will not readily guess to be a mosque, having probably passed by unnoticed similar buildings at Shádarra and Báramula. The pyramidal roof, broken into three equal portions, ending in a most curious steeple resembling a belfry, with gilt bell and heart-shaped ornaments at the top, the four corners of the roof adorned by wood tassels, the projection of the roof beyond the walls of the building;-all this reminds one more of a Chinese pagoda than of a Mohamedan place of prayer. The impression one receives from the structure leads to the idea that the period of the erection of the building may have been one in which an older form of building, that of the Hindu temple peculiar to the valley, was still influencing the architects to whom Mohamedanism was as yet comparatively new.

The building may be said to be constructed entirely of wood. Massive beams of the indestructible Himalayan cedar placed upon one another, the interstices being filled up by small bricks, form a solid square whose sides are relieved by well-proportioned balconies in the upper story, the floors and roofs of which are supported by light and graceful carved wooden pillars.

Curious as is the appearance of the building, its history seems as curious. At every turn in Kashmir one meets with evidences of the policy of the Mohamedans to turn idol-temples into mosques, tombs, and shrines. This place is an instance. There was on that spot a famous spring sacred to Káli with (probably) buildings over and around it. Sikandar called Butshikan (idol-breaker), the grandson of the first Mohamedan king of Kashmir, built the present structure with the rich property belonging to the Hindu temple, as a

for the numerous Sayids who are said to have come into the country with Sháhi Hamadán, and who were adopting a monastic form of life. After the death of Sháhi Hamadán, a shrine in his memory was erected over the very spot where formerly the sacred spring welled up. It is not uninteresting to compare with this the practice of other countries, such as the tradition which existed in Rome concerning the sacred well under the Capitol, and that under the temple of Apollo at Delphi; or the fact that in the time of Hadrian a temple of Jupiter-Serapis was erected on the place of the crucifixion, and one sacred to Venus-Astarte over the real Holy Sepulchre.

For five centuries now have the Mohamedans of Kashmir been in possession of this spot consecrated to the memory of the Hamadán Sayid. Shall any one dispute their right to hold it now? Yes. The Hindus of Kashmir-they are almost all Brahmans-whatever else they have forgotten of the history of their country, have not forgotten this spring of Káli. The Dharm Ráj-the rule of a Hindu king-has been restored to them; the present ruler moreover is a devout Hindu; and they are claiming their sacred spring. Twice already have the Mohamedans had to redeem their shrine, but this has not saved them from a great indignity. On the wall fronting the river, which wall really belongs to the mosque, the Brahmans have put a large red ochre mark as the symbol of Káli, and Hindus may be seen rubbing their foreheads and employing the forms of idolatry but a step or two

from the spot where the Mohamedan is now only allowed to whisper: "God is great!"

The news that a Mohamedan had usurped the throne of Kashmir reaching the countries to the West caused a large influx of Sayids and other holy characters into Kashmir. Mir Sayid Ali Hamadání, subsequently known as Sháhi Hamadán, came to Kashmir a number of times. This consideration reconciles the discrepant statements of the native historians that he came from Bokhara, that he came direct from Hamadán in Persia, and that he came from Baghdad. Bírbar Pandit Káchrú states that he came to Kashmir in 782 H. (A. D. 1380) for the third time. This date appears to be more correct than that given by Captain Newall in the Journal for 1854, p. 414. He mentions, on native authority, the year 790 H. (1388) as the date of his first arrival apparently. This cannot be true, if the inscription over the door of the mosque Sháhi Hamadán is correct, which gives as the date of his death the year 786 H. (1384). There is, however, great confusion in all the dates of Kashmirian history. Thus, Captain Newall, on the authority of Kashmiri historians, places the first usurpation by a Mohamedan of legal power in Kashmir in 1341, whilst Baron Hügel, following Abul Fazl, mentions 1311 as the year of Shamsuddin's accession to the throne. Haidar Malik Chadwaria gives the titles of two books, the band theê, which the Sayid wrote at the request of Sikandar Butshikan. He died, during one of his journeys, in Pakli, a beautiful valley now be longing to the British district of Hazára. There is a mysteriouslooking structure about halfway between Abbottabad and Mánsihra, which we may, in default of any information concerning it, fix upon as the tomb of Sháhi Hamadán.

The readiness with which a people forcibly severed from idolatry passes over to hagiolatry, may be seen from three inscriptions at the entrance of the mosque of Sháhi Hamadán, copies of which are subjoined.

1. Large letters on a ground of gold.

هر فیض که در سابقه هر دو جهان است در پیروني حضرت شاه همدان است شاه همدان بلکه شهنشاه جهان است خاک بران دیده که در ریب و گمان است اي

Translation.

Every advantage existing before either world.

Is obtained by the followers of Hazrat Sháh of Hamadán;

Shah (king) of Hamadán, or rather Shahanshah (emperor) of the world, A curse on the eye which looks on with doubt and suspicion !

2. In Arabic characters on a ground of gold.

تاریخ وفات وي

زهجرت هفتصد وسته وثمانين چو شد از گاه احمد خاتم دین امیر هر دو عالم آل یاسین برفت از عالم فاني بباقي

Translation.

Date of his death.

In the year 786 from the time of Ahmad, the seal of religion (that is) from the Hijra, there went from the transitory to the eternal world the prince of both worlds, the descendant of Yásín.

Note. "The descendant of Yásín,"

ياسمين

Ji, a curious expression to denote the descendants of the prophet. Yá Sín is the name of the thirty-sixth Sura of the Koran, which is so called from the fact that these two letters mysteriously stand at its head. Their meaning is uncertain. The Sura itself is considered particularly sacred by the Mohamedans, and is read by them over dying persons: they say that Mohamed called it "the heart of the Koran."

3. Inscription in crimson characters.

شاهنشه شاه همدانست

رو بر در ایدل اگرت مطلب فیض دو جهانست عرش است درش بلکه از و عرش نشانست مقرون اجابت ز در اوست دعا را

Translation.

Oh heart, if thou desirest the benefit of both worlds,

Go, it is at the gate of the emperor Sháh of Hamadán.

At his gate prayer obtains an answer;

His gate is the heavenly pavilion; nay, the pavilion is a type of it.

11. THE TOMB OF ZAINUL'ABIDÍN.

Some little distance from the Sháhi Hamadán mosque down the bank of the river there are some remarkable massive remains of the outer wall of a Hindu temple-mentioned by Col. Cunningham in his Essay on the Aryan Style of Architecture-with its trefoil arches and sculptured Hindu divinities. The temple itself disappeared before the fanatical zeal of the early Mohamedan kings, and the inner space was

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