236 AFOOT THROUGH THE 



Finally, this princess killed herself rather than wed the 

 Swati Mussulman Shah Mirza, the first of the Salatin- 

 i-Kashmir. These kings did not worry their subjects 

 much in the matter of religion till we come to the time 

 of the infamous Sikander, nearly a century later than 

 the founder of the dynasty. He, with a thoroughness 

 worthy of a better cause, hoped to bring his subjects 

 eventually to paradise by showing to them in this world 

 all the horrors prepared for the lost, and by a system of 

 conversion, both prompt and forcible, succeeded in 

 turning the greater number into at least nominal 

 followers of the Prophet. Not content with wreaking 

 vengeance on the stiff-necked, he attempted the destruc- 

 tion of the temples that had been the glorious memorials 

 of the earlier kings, not trying with these fanes the 

 system of conversion so effective and successful in other 

 parts of India. The fact that at Martand and Avantipur 

 there still remains some masonry intact is due to no 

 abating of the king's ill-omened zeal, but to the durable 

 nature of the work. 



Of a very different type was Zain-ul-ab-ul-din, 

 whose reign of fifty-two years, ending in 1469, brought 

 peace and prosperity to the valley and its peoples. He 

 built great palaces, he regulated the waterways, he 

 encouraged learning, nor did he neglect the many means 

 of pleasure afforded by the lakes and lovely valleys of 

 the kingdom, boating, and travelling, as many a lesser 

 one has done since his time. Tradition has it that thei 

 spirit of a Hindu Yogi passed into his body after a severe 

 illness ; more probably other loving spirits influenced his 

 character and acts, inducing him to make peace with 

 the Brahmins, the only class of the old Pandits that had 

 made a real stand against the forcible conversions of 



