Explore the fascinating history of the Pari Mahal, a memorial to Prince Dara Shukuh’s love for letters and his spiritual guide, Akhund Mulla Shah Badakhshani and its connection to the Sufi tradition
The Pari Mahal (or Fairy Palace), called Kuntilon, on a spur of the Zebanwan mountain, is a memorial to the Mughal love for letters. It was a residential school of Sufism built by Prince Dara Shukuh at the instance of his tutor, Akhund Mulla Mohammad Shah Badakhshi, as stated by G.M.D. Sufi in ‘Kashir: Being a History of Kashmir’.
Besides Prince Dara Shukuh, who wrote his Risala-i-Haqq-nama in 1646 AD while he was in Kashmir, he will be remembered for having established the residential school of Sufism for Kasb-i-Mah (literally, Acquisition of the Moon) at the instance of his spiritual tutor, Akhund Mulla Mohammad Shah Badakhshani, on a spur of the Zebanwan mountain, higher up than the present Cheshma Shahi. Shaikh Shah Mohammad bin Mulla Abd Mohammad, commonly known as Mulla Shah or Lisanullah, came from Arksa, near Rustak in Badakhshan, to Lahore in 1023 AH/1614 AD and became a disciple of Miyan Mir, the great saint of the time. Mulla was highly respected by Dara Shukuh, who was initiated by him into the Qadri order in 1049 AH/1639 AD. After the death of his Pir, Mian Mir, in 1045 AH/1635 AD, Mulla Shah retired to Kashmir, where he spent many days of his life in this monastery built by Dara Shukuh and his sister Jahan Ara. Mulla Shah died in Lahore in 1072 AH/1661-62 AD. He was of the Qadri tariqa of Sufis.
Hazrat Akhund Mulla Shah
In Tazkira Shuara-i-Kashmir (Vol. 1, pp. 426-459), Sayid Hisam-ud-din Rashdi has copied passages from famous biographies, namely Shahjahan Nama, Tazkira Nasarabadi, Miratul Khayal Hamesha Bahar, Tarikh-i-Azami (Waqat-i-Kashmir), Ryaz-us-Shuara, Tazkira Husaini, Maqalat-i-Shuara, Suhf-i-Ibrahim, Tazkira Shuara-i-Mutaqadimin, Ryaz-ul-Arifin, Subh-i-Gulshan, and Roz-i-Roshan, which are a testimony to the high rank and inner eminence of Hazrat Akhund Mulla Shah (RA) and reveal that he was a mystic of excellence, a man of ecstasy, aware of extrinsic and intrinsic knowledge, a man of miracles, close to God, and equipped with excellence, sagacity, wisdom, and intuition.
He spent 40 years in Kashmir and resided on the southern foothill of Koh-i-Maran (Hari Parbat). The dilapidated ruins of his residential house, along with rooms and the masjid, still exist. The author of Shahjahan Nama has written that the rays of the light of his mystical experience shone from his face like the rays of the sun at daybreak.
Emperor Shah Jahan would often say that in Hindustan there were two Shahs (kings): one Shah Jahan and the other Mulla Shah. When Shah Jahan came to see him, Hazrat Mulla Shah would start strolling earlier with a staff in his hand and would meet the king while in a standing position or would stand along with the king when he got up from a gathering and would leave. Despite being a God’s mystic of excellence, he would act with humility. When the body parts of Jahan Ara Begum, the daughter of Shah Jahan, were burnt with fire, Shah Jahan turned towards Mulla Shah and requested prayers, sending some layers of gold coins. Pir Sadiq Hazrat Mulla Shah said, “This is the time to consult physicians. What will happen with prayers? Lift this offering; I cannot be a cheat.”
During Shah Jahan’s period, scholars of Delhi submitted a public representation that Mulla Shah had insulted the Prophet (SAWS) in a verse composed by him, and thus he deserved the punishment of death. When Shah Jahan went to Kashmir and met him, he told him to see the public representation and asked if the verse was really his. Hazrat Mulla Shah said that the verse reeked of polytheism because the composer had made a distinction between himself, God, and the Prophet (SAWS), and in his religion, this was polytheism. Whenever Shah Jahan came to Kashmir, he would repeatedly attend in his presence and show obedience. Similarly, his son Darashakoh, his daughter Jahan Ara Begum, and other princes, attendants, and women of the harem became disciples and devotees of Hazrat Mulla Shah.
Moulana has written masnavis stating truths and fields of knowledge. There are his quarantines too, and he has composed a divan of odes. Tazkira Husaini has written his date of death as 1070 AH. Maqalat-i-Shuara has written his year of death as 1071 AH, quoting Tarikh-i-Lahore. The author of Miftah-ul-Tawarikh has written the year of death as 1070 AH, quoting Mirat-i-Jahannuma, and has stated that the date of death is recorded on his grave in Lahore.
Hazrat Akhund Mulla Shah is buried at Hashimpora in Lahore. In Asrar-ul-Abrar, the entries are in accordance with Waqat-i-Kashmir. Thus, Mulla was a voluminous writer and left a divan, besides several works on Sufism. The school of Sufism for Kasb-i-Mah, among other things, taught penance and devotion for the purification of the mind and elevation of the soul through devotional exercises performed at night during moonlight. The beauty of the spot, its solitude, its general magnificent view of the surroundings, particularly the dark blue, calm, unruffled water of the Dal for a mile, and the charm of softening moonlight must have had a most ennobling effect on the minds of the devotees. The building had turned into ruins but has been restored to a large extent in the recent past. It is called Pari Mahal (the Fairy Palace), after the name of Dara Shukuh’s wife Nadira Begum, known as Pari Begum. She was the daughter of Prince Parvez, Jahangir’s son, and is buried in the Durgah of Mian Mir, Lahore.
The Pari Mahal, with a domed ceiling, had a garden with six terraces watered by a nearby spring. On the uppermost terrace, there are two structures: a baradari facing the lake and a water reservoir built against the mountainside. In the middle of the second terrace, exactly in front of the baradari, is a large tank built of bricks. The façade of the retaining wall is ornamented with a series of twenty-one arches, including two side stairs. The arches are built in descending order of height from the centre. Each of them is surrounded by a niche, the height of which increases in proportion as it decreases in the height of the arch. The central arch is covered with a coat of fine-painted plaster. A parapet wall screens this terrace. The third terrace is architecturally the most interesting. The entrance is arched in front and behind, with a central domed chamber covered with plaster. On either side of it are spacious rooms. The fourth terrace has the ruins of a tank. On the fifth terrace, the arcade is double; the upper row of arches faces a corridor running on both sides of the plinth of the baradari. The sixth terrace has a rectangular tank in the middle and octagonal bastions at the ends. One statement attributes the construction of the Mahal to astronomical observations; another to astrological studies under the Mughals.
The Pari Mahal is also called Kuntilon because it is said to have been intended as a copy of a castle named Tilun in India. But when completed, the Mahal was not found to equal Tilun. Dara Shukuh, therefore, in disgust remarked ‘Ka Tilun,’ i.e., what comparison could it bear with Tilun? This was corrupted into Kuntilon. This is the statement of the late Pandit Anand Koul Bamzai, ex-President Srinagar Municipality, for which no authority has been quoted in his Archaeological Remains.
The spot is a centre of tourist attraction and needs to be maintained properly by the concerned department. A board depicting the history of the site needs to be erected at its entrance for the information of tourists.
The Masjid of Akhund Mulla Shah Badakhshani
The Masjid of Akhund Mulla Shah was built on the southern slope of Koh-i-Maran, below the mausoleum of Mahboob-ul-Alam Hazrat Shaikh Hamza Kashmiri (RA), made of beautiful polished grey limestone by Prince Dara Shukuh in 1059 AH/1649 AD, along with a hamaam. The Dara Mahal of Prince Dara Shukuh on Hari Parbat/Koh-i-Maran was glimmering in a flood of light in its own days in 1603 AD.
The garden was called Mulla Shah’s Garden, which was specially built for Akhund Mulla Shah Badakhshi. It was part of the buildings constructed by Prince Dara Shakoh for his spiritual guide on the southern foothill of Koh-i-Maran. The ruins of these buildings are exemplary and can be seen on the right-side slope opposite the water tank while walking on the path from the mausoleum of Hazrat Mahboob-ul-Alam Jenab Shaikh Hamza (RA) towards the east, heading to Kastur Pindi.
According to the author of Tarikh-i-Hasan (Vol. 1, p. 285), these buildings were called Dara Mahal and included stone structures, attractive sitting places, recesses, canopies, and painted halls. In the basement of this palace, there were several rooms. In its compound, there was an attractive garden decorated with flowers and trees, which was a source of refreshment for the soul. In a huge tank filled with water from a Persian wheel, there were fountains and cascades, with water running through underground drains. The masjid was built on the south side, and a hamaam was built on the east side.
The site needs to be protected against the ravages of time, as the polished stones fixed on the walls of the masjid are crumbling, along with its dome made of curved stones not seen elsewhere. Additionally, the open space of the terraces could be developed into a recreation centre by planting almond trees, flower beds, and proper fencing with an entrance gate. A board depicting the history of this heritage site needs to be installed at its entrance for the information of the general public and tourists.
The writer is a former Chief Engineer
By Er Ashraf Fazili