Mystical Diplomacy: Reviewing Shah Hamadan’s Influential Presence in Kashmir

Sufism bears resemblance to modern intellectual and political schools of thought such as secularism in terms of inviting individuals with different or conflicting beliefs to toleration. From the past, one of the methods of mysticism has been that the seeker sets on a journey to go through spiritual stations and on his path guides the people to truth. This mystical tradition is consistent with the notion of "diplomacy" in modern political sciences, and we can consider Iranian mystics as the first cultural diplomats in the history of this land. One of these diplomats was Amir Sayed Ali ibn Shahabuddin bin Mir Sayed Mohammad Hosseini Hamdani, known as "Ali Sani"; one of the renowned mystics of the eighth century AH. Ali Hamadani's contributions in Kashmir have had remarkable results in disseminating Iranian culture and the religion of Islam in the Subcontinent which have made him hold a high position among the people of that province as a cultural ambassador. The present study aims to introduce and review the sublime personality of Shah Hamadan. In addition, adopting a prescriptive-analytic method and based on library resources, it explores the extent to which the mystical view is close to the diplomatic views of international politics in the contemporary world, and if there is essentially a relationship between belief in cosmopolitan city in mystical works and the issue of global village in the age of communication. The results of the study can introduce and classify diplomatic contributions of Ali Hamadani in Khatlan and Kashmir.