At present, Muslims are in majority in Kashmir. But do you know that there was a time when Kashmir had only Hindu population. The ruler was also a Hindu. Then the question is, where did the Muslims come from?

After the Pahalgam attack, Kashmir has become the center of every discussion. The same Kashmir, which is called Earth's Heaven in Hindi, Zeenat of the Earth in Urdu and Heaven of the Earth in English. The same Kashmir, which is famous all over the world as a saffron garden. Whose beauty could not be described in words by either Khusro or Jahangir. But, it is also true that this beauty of Kashmir is also its enemy.

At present, Muslims are in majority in Kashmir. But do you know that there was a time when Kashmir had only Hindu population. The ruler was also a Hindu. Then the question is, where did Muslims come from? Who was the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir? To find the answer to these questions, we will have to turn about 700 pages of the past.

The story begins here

About 700 years ago, there was a Hindu king named Sahadev in Kashmir. He neither cared about his subjects nor was he interested in running the government. His prime minister and commander Ramchandra used to run the government in the name of Sahadev. Ramchandra's very beautiful and intelligent daughter Kota also helped him in this.

Prince Rinchen reached Kashmir

One day Tibetan prince Rinchen came to Kashmir. He had hundreds of armed soldiers with him. Rinchen told Ramchandra that his father had been killed in the civil war. He had reached here saving his life via Zojila Pass. Ramchandra gave Rinchen refuge in Kashmir.

The Mongol commander attacked

Famous Kashmiri historian Prithvinath Kaul Bamzai writes in his book 'A History of Kashmir' that during this period in 1320 AD, a Mongol commander named Julchu attacked Kashmir. King Sahdev fled to Kishtwar without fighting. Julchu created a lot of havoc in Kashmir for 8 months. But while returning, he along with his army got buried in a snowstorm near the peak of Divasar Pargana.

Rinchen's murder of Ramchandra

After this incident, Kashmir was ruled directly by Ramchandra, who was Sahadeva's prime minister. The Tibetan refugee prince Rinchen took advantage of the opportunity and rebelled. He killed Ramchandra and sat on the throne of Kashmir. He proposed marriage to Ramchandra's daughter Kota, but she was not ready to marry her father's murderer.

Rinchen became a Muslim

After much persuasion, Kota finally agreed to become Rinchen's queen. Rinchen considered himself a Buddhist lama, Queen Kota wanted him to become a Hindu. However, he converted to Islam and thus Kashmir got its first Muslim ruler.

Rinchen changed his Islamic name to Sultan Sadar-ud-Din and started ruling Kashmir as a Muslim. It is also said that the dirty game of religious conversion started in Kashmir after Rinchen embraced Islam. Gradually it increased and after 700 years, the situation today is that Hindus have become a minority in Kashmir.