THE people were [formerly] all Hanifi, but in the reign of Fath Sháh, the father of this Sultán Nádir,* a man of the name of Shams came from Tálish in Irák,* who gave himself out as a Nurbakhshi. He introduced a corrupt form of religion, giving it the name of Nurbakhshi' and practised many heresies. He wrote a book for these cowardly people called Fikh-i-Ahwat, which does not conform to the teachings of any of the sects, whether Sunni or Shia. [These sectaries] revile the companions of the Prophet and Áisha, as do the Shias, but contrary to the teaching of these latter, they look upon Amir Sayyid Muhammad Nur Bakhshi as the Lord of the Age and the promised Mahdi.

They do not believe in the saints and holy persons in whom the Shias believe, but regard all these as [appertaining to] Sunnis. [Shams] introduced many impious practices and infidel beliefs, and gave his heretical sect the name of ‘Nurbakhshi.’ I have seen many of the Nurbakhshi elders in Badakhshán and elsewhere. I discovered that outwardly they follow the precepts of the Prophet and hold with the Sunnis. One of the sons of this Amir Sayyid Muhammad Nurbakhshi showed me his tract. In it was written: “Sultáns, Amirs and fools [or the ignorant] maintain that worldly power cannot be combined with purity and piety. But this is absolutely false, for the great prophets and apostles, in spite of their missions, have exercised sovereignty, and have likewise striven diligently after those other matters [i.e., purity and piety], as for example Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon and our Prophet.”

Now this is opposed to the belief of the Nurbakhshi of Kashmir, and is in accordance with that of the Sunnis. That book, the Fikh-i-Ahwat, which is celebrated in Kashmir, I sent, complete, to the Ulamá of Hindustán, who repudiated it and wrote on the back of it a decree [fatwá] of remonstrance as follows: “In the name of God the Merciful. Oh! God, show unto us the truth in its reality, and the false, wherein it is void; also show us things as they are. After perusing this book and weighing its contents, it seemed clear [to us] that the author of it was of a false sect, who had gone against the Book and the Sunna, and did not belong to any denomination of the people of Truth. His pretension is that God hath commanded him to do away with all dífferences among the people; (Firstly) in the developments and ordinances of the Holy Law, and to make them as they were in his time, with neither increase nor diminution; and (Secondly) in the funda­mental principles among all the peoples of the earth. [In this] he is certainly lying, and inclined to heresy and schism. It is the duty of such as have the power, to obliterate such a book, and a religious necessity for them to stamp out and extirpate this sect; to prohibit persons from following it and acting according to its dogmas. If they persist in their belief and abandon not their false creed, it is necessary for the security of Musulmáns, from their evil example, to repulse them with chastisement and [even] death. If they repent and abandon the sect, they must be com­manded to follow the teaching of Abu Hanifa.”

At the present time in Kashmir, the Sufis have legitimatised so many heresies, that they know nothing of what is lawful or unlawful. They consider that piety and purity consist in night-watching and abstinence in food; yet they take and eat whatever they find, without ever considering what is forbidden or what is lawful. They give way to their lusts and desires in a manner not consistent with the law. They are for ever interpreting dreams, displaying miracles, and obtaining from the unseen, information regarding either the future or the past. They prostrate themselves before one another and, together with such disgraceful acts, observe the forty [days of retirement]. They blame and detest science and men of learning; consider the Holy Law second in importance to the True ‘Way,’ and that in con­sequence the people of the ‘Way’ have nothing to do with the Holy Law. In short, nowhere else is such a band of heretics to be found. May the Most High God defend all the people of Islám from such misfortunes and calamities as this, and turn them all into the true path of righteousness.

Thanks be to God that, at the present time, no one in Kashmir dares openly profess this faith; but all deny it, and give them­selves out as good Sunnis. They are aware of my severity towards them, and know that if any one of the sect appears, he will not escape the punishment of death. I hope and trust that through the intervention of God and by my own efforts, the land will gradually be entirely delivered of this misfortune, and that all will become, as they now profess to be, Musulmáns from the bottom of their hearts. Amen! Oh Lord of the two worlds!

There was also a sect of infidels who were Sun-worshippers, called Shammási. Their creed is as follows: “The phenomenon of luminosity of the sun is due to the purity of our faith: and our being is derived from the sun's luminosity. If we defile the purity of our creed the sun would no longer have any existence, and if the sun withdraw its bounty from us, we should no longer have any being. We are dependent on it for our existence, and it on us. Without us it has no existence, without it we have none. As long as the sun is visible, our actions are visible to it, and nothing but uprightness is lawful. When night falls, it does not see us or know us.” Since the sun is not aware of what passes in the night, they cannot be called to account for what they do in the night season. This sect used to be called Shammási… When this Mir Shams appeared in Kashmir and corrupted its people, he bore the title of Shams-ud-Din [Sun of the Faith]. All titles descend from heaven, and the real one must have been Shammás-ud-Din. It has been misunderstood by the Kashmiris, or else they called him Shams-ud-Din by way of reproach. For this reason they called him Mir Shams.