Shaikh-Ul Aalam's Contribution to the Mystic Tradition of Kashmir

Shaikh-ul Aalam or Nund Rishi was one of the famous spiritual personalities of Kashmir who was bestowed with many appellations such as Alamdaar, Sakhi Nuruddin, Shaikh-ul Aalam and Nund Resh. He is a household name in Kashmir and people remember him with reverence even now. Shaikh-ul Aalam, believed to be bestowed with the highest spiritual powers, played a pivotal role in awakening, educating and reforming the common masses of Kashmir and helped in evolving a spiritually and culturally uplifted society, to the extent that Afghan Governor Raja Sukh Jeewan Mal nominated a renowned Persian scholar and poet to write Alamdaar’s biography. The present paper will highlight how Shaikh-ul Aalam became an epitome of spiritual and cultural ethos of Kashmir by using local vernacular language of Kashmir .The paper will bring forth how Shaikh-ul Aalam paved way in understanding the mystic tradition of Kashmir through Kashmiri language.