Examining the concept of “Kashmiriyat in Kashmir from the 15th to 17th century under the Muslim rulers of Sultan Ghayas-ud-Din Zain-ul-Abidin, and Mughul emperor Akbar

Kashmir Hindu-Muslim encounter is representatively reflected in the concept called “Kashmiriyat. Although Kashimiriyat is imminent in all the aspects of Kashmiri people\u27s life, it is in fact the powerful shaper of religious and cultural life of its people. Rishi-Sufism, a socio-cultural religious space where several Hindus and Muslims once practiced their faiths, is one of the most prevalent expressions of Kashmiriyat in 15th to 17th century. The Rishi-Sufis practice shaped the concept of immanence of God, respect for all religions, beliefs in miracles, reincarnation, meditation, and asceticism from Hinduism and the sprit of Eightfold Paths from Buddhism and incorporated these to the concept of transcendence of God and to the sprit of “Five Pillars of Islam for launching the sycncretic socio-religious space for inter-religious interactions. The “ethno-cultural symbiotic consciousness, and Hindu-Buddhist inter-religious symbiotic spiritual consciousness, shaped the evolution of the “Kashmiriyat. Moreover, the socio-political space, shaped by peaceful interactions among Muslims and Hindus under the leadership of Sultan Ghayas-ud-Din Zain-ul-Abidin, and Akbar, not only helped both categories of religious groups to have a spiritual symbiotic consciousness but also helped them to contribute to the evolution of the “Kashmiriyat. Within the context of the current ongoing, both separatist Kashmiri Muslims\u27 propaganda against the Hindus and Hindu-Buddhist prejudice against Muslims have complicated the nature of conflict. Yet there is one point that needed be noted regarding the Kashmiriyat. That is the philosophy involved in Kashmiriyat transcends the religious teachings of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. Further, Kashmiriyat is not an Islamic tool of religious conversion as feared by the Hindus and Buddhist of Kashmir. Today Kashmir has been in intercommunity political dispute over the political future especially since 1989. One of the causes of the political dispute is Kashmiriyat. The main conflicting parties are Liberal Muslims, Fundamentalist Muslims and Non Muslim communities of Jammu and Ladakh. The Liberal Muslims who wants non-Muslim constituent region of Ladakh and Jammu to be part of the independent Kashmir based on “Kashmiriyat. On the other hand, the Buddhist of Ladkah and Hindus of Jammu region demand separation from Muslim dominant Kashmir Valley on the basis of political inequality, religious and cultural differences. However, the fundamentalist Muslims who see “Kashmiriyat as a deviation from Islam seek both independence and Islamisation of Kashmir. Present political dispute is about the power sharing among the regional and religious communities. Thus, the continued peaceful political co-existence of the Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim communities essentially depends on the further evolution of “Kashmiriyat in Kashmir politics