Zain-ul-Abidin

Ghiyas-ud-Din Zain-ul-Abidin (reigned: 1418–1419 and 1420–1470) was the eighth sultan of Kashmir. He was known by his subjects as Bod Shah (lit. Great King).

Quotes

• The Hindus' sense of gratitude knows no bounds to Muslim rulers like Zayn al-‘Abidin of Kashmir, ‘Alau d-Din Husayn Shah of Bengal, and Akbar the Great Mughal, who behaved towards Indians as Indians and at whose hands they could heave a sigh of relief from religious persecution. The three rulers tried their utmost to Indianize their rule and restore the dignity of Hindu community and culture, the latter essaying the uphill task of integrating Islam therewith, followed in this behalf by Prince Dara Shukoh. Who that has even the faintest sense of history can dispute the point that they were all intensely Indian, putting many a Hindu to shame in their patriotic fervour.
  • Harsh Narain, Myths of Composite Culture and Equality of Religions (1990)

• When Sikandar’s successor Sultan Zainul Abedin (aka Shahi Khan, r. 1417–67), another deviant Muslim ruler, permitted the converted Hindus to revert, records Sydney Owen, ‘many Hindus (i.e., Hindus converted to Islam by force) were re-admitted into the Hindu fold.’
  • quoted in M.A. Khan , Islamic Jihad: A legacy of forced conversion, imperialism and slavery (2011), quoting Owen S (1987) From Mahmud Ghazni to the Disintegration of Mughal Empire, Kanishka Publishing House, New Delhi,