A Muslim Missionary in Mediaeval Kashmir: Being the English Translation of Tohfatul-Ahbab

This is the English translation of a Farsi work Tohfatu'l-Ahbab, the biography of Shamsu'd-Din Muhammad Araki, an Iranian Shi`a Muslim missionary of Nurbakhshiyyeh order who is reported to have visited Kashmir for the first time in A.H. 882/A.D. 1478. It has two broad divisions: the first one gives us a vivid description of the serious professional study of Islamic theology and tradition, rigorous penance after Sufi practices and nerve-breaking traning prescribed for a spiritualist to attain perfection and become an accredited and admired sufi saint. These details are useful to understand the making of Sufi preceptors and Sufi orders. The second one describes how the missionary translated religious injunctions into practice for spreading the (Muslim) faith and culture in Kashmir by a systematically worked out plan of brute force. The book could certainly provide fresh insights to researchers for revaluing some of the controversial aspects of the mediaeval history of India.