The enduring legacy of Kashmir’s poet-saints who built bridges between faiths

(The Conversation) — Kashmir remains one of the world’s most contentious geopolitical flash points . In April 2025, India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed countries that share a tense border, came dangerously close to a major confrontation after militants attacked Indian tourists near the popular resort town of Pahalgam in Indian Kashmir . Against this backdrop, media coverage of Kashmir often focuses on violence and division.

What is overlooked in this coverage is Kashmir’s immense artistic, intellectual and spiritual heritage, one shaped by centuries of interreligious and intercultural exchange.

As a scholar of Sufism – traditions within Islam that emphasize inner transformation, love of God and a personal connection to the divine – I have spent several years studying the Kashmiri mystic and poet Nund Rishi.

Also known as Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani, Nund Rishi lived from about 1378 to 1440. He founded the Rishi Sufi order , whose teachings emphasized simplicity, compassion, devotion to God and care for others.

The Rishi Sufis understood their tradition as both Islamic and deeply rooted in Kashmir’s religious past. Their adoption of the Sanskrit word “rishi,” meaning sage,…