Shah Mir dynasty ruler, Sultan Sikander has many a time been accused of being Buth Shikan (Iconoclast), by some historians. But the historic Shiv Lingam at Zeethyar temple at Nishat proves his being the ruler with immense religious tolerance.
 The Shiv Lingam, at the temple in the heels of Zaberwan hills is one of the oldest idols of Bhagwan Shiva, among Kashmiri Pandiths.
 Most of the historians have an agreed opinion that the Lingam was shifted to the Zeethyar temple from a Mandir in Habba Kadal area of Shahr-e-Khaas.
 Till 1986, the Lingam was housed at the Ganpathyaar temple on the Jhelum banks in the old City. The base of the idol had a text inscribed in Sanskrit stating that it belonged to the era of Sultan Sikander. But while being shifted to the new location, the inscription got withered.
 The General Secretary of the Zeethiyar Mandir Committee, MK Pandita confirmed the idol had the text inscribed on its base, which got damaged in the shifting.
 Historians say the idol had suffered some decay at the temple on the river banks and that the Pandit community had planned to put it into the Jhelum. But then they decided to shift the historic idol to temple at Nishat.
 As about the Sultan, some historians had accused him of being a fanatic ruler having no heart for the Pandith community in the then Kingdom of Kashmir. And often referred to him as Sultan Buth Shikan, the Iconoclast Sultan.
 But in fact, events like the presence of the idol dating back to his era at this, and other  temples, is altogether a different story.
 “Sultan was a king of religious tolerance and provided all support and security to the Pandith community so that they lived in harmony with others,” historians say.
 Dr GN Bhan, former In-charge Central Asian Studies, Kashmir University, has more to comment on the issue in his research. It says the idol at the Ganesh Temple  (popularly known as Ganpatiyaar) had an inscription in its base stating that it dates back to the Sultan’s era.
 Dr Bhan argues that if the Sultan was Iconoclast why would he spare the temple of Ganpatiyaar, Shankaracharya and even the temples of Martand, which still do stand tall.
 Sultan Sikander who came to power in 1389 AD after the death of his father Kutub Din, as per many historians, was in no way involved in the destruction of any temples or idols.
 Research scholar Ghulam Rasool Bhat says that even the Pandith researchers have refuted the allegations of Sultan being a Buth Shikan.
 “Prominent among them are GN Bhan, D Shastri and Pandit Kashi Naath,” he adds.
 Mirza Hyder Douglat, the then ruler of Kashmir has appreciated the role of Sultan as a tolerant ruler.
 Dougkat, as per Bhat, writes that the no less than 150 temples existed during the rule of Sultan but none was targeted.
 Prominent historian Muhammad Yusuf Taing says that the ruler who targeted the temples wasn’t the Sultan but his predecessor, a Hindu king Harsh Dev.
 “During the rule of king Harsh Dev sectarian clashes were taking place among the Hindus to an extent that the king got the metal idols melted to make coins for his kingdom. And those coins are still preserved with the department of Archaeology,” he says.
 Historian Dr M Hussiani hails religious tolerance exhibited by the Sultan adding that the idol at Zeethyar temple  was live example of his being compassionate.
  “Sultan had established a department aimed to benefit the Pandit community,” he adds.
 But as for the king, his own grave is under encroachments since the Dogra rule when the Post Office was constructed on it in Shahr-e-Khaas.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 IST