These accommodations were particularly striking in the case of Su ̄fı ̄s who
borrowed freely from their Hindu counterparts. Nowhere, perhaps, was this
trend more dramatic than in the “theological” system developed by Da ̄ra ̄
Shikoh. Da ̄ra ̄ Shikoh adapted many traditional Hindu elements into his
Su ̄fı ̄ vision: the VedasandUpanis.adswere sources of revelation; Brahma ̄,
Vis.n.u, S ́iva were among the angels; Hindu thinkers could be counted among
prophets. Alla ̄h was parama ̄tman, the highest form of the divine; Muh.ammad
theavata ̄rof Alla ̄h’s word.
Conversion
There is little doubt that there were conversions during this period. Most of
these were into various forms of Islam, most commonly into Su ̄fı ̄ strands.
Rarely does one find evidence of conversion from Islam. Rather, “Muslims”
may have moved away from orthopraxy and appropriated bhaktimotifs
without necessarily becoming “Hindu.” Such was the case with many Su ̄fı ̄
sheikhs and laity whose religious life closely illustrated the patterns of
accommodation sketched above. The conversion into Islam occurred for
many reasons, any one of which seldom tells the whole story, and the story
differs from region to region. Generally speaking, however, the conversions
that occurred into Islam occurred on the fringes of the subcontinent (East
Bengal, Kashmı ̄r, Western Panja ̄b especially) where Buddhism had once
been present only to become decimated and where various “Hindu” sects
had failed to take root with the general populace. Occasionally, conversion
occurred for material betterment, as when craftsmen sought better oppor-
tunities for employment or payment in a sultan’s court. In some cases, those
who converted had been alienated from the power structures or economic
“brokers” of their region. Most commonly, however, it was the result of
people’s becoming increasingly comfortable with and attracted to those
religious functionaries who were accessible and seemed to have the good
of the common people at heart. Usually, these functionaries were Su ̄fı ̄s.
But the picture is more complex. It might be useful to look at one setting
and explore some of the issues that led to massive conversions in that case.
We examine the case of Kashmı ̄r.^40
In Kashmı ̄r, Buddhism had been the religion of most of the population
in the third century BCE. By the eighth century CE, brahmanism in its various
forms was an important part of the landscape and many of Kashmı ̄r’s people
had opted for worship of S ́iva, Vis.n.u, or the Goddess. But poverty had
become the common lot of people at the lower echelons of society. This was
so for a variety of reasons, not least of them that kings from the eighth to
the thirteenth centuries imposed very heavy taxes on their subjects. From
152 Developments in the Late Medieval Period