Shakar Sahib, A saint of Kashmir by Sona Bakaya Moza

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The author of this piece on Shakar Saheb aka Shakar Shah Padshah [approx. 1794 to 1830] is Late Sona Bakaya Moza, daughter of Shri Nand Lal Bakaya and wife of Shri Amar Nath Moza]. Sona Bakaya was a direct descendent of Sat Ram Bakaya [elder brother and guardian of Shakar Sahib who had no children].

Sona Bakaya Moza had written the piece in Hindi (original manuscript included in PDF) recollecting the family lore told by paternal grandmother. The work has been translated by Mr. Anil Bakaya.

Aum Shakar Sahibaya Namah

I heard this story on Shakar Sahib from my father’s mother, Veshmal Bakaya. Veshmal Bakaya was the wife of Shri Narayan joo Bakaya. I wrote the same story 60 years ago in Bhajans.

Now I am writing this from the perspective of the Bakaya khandan (family).

Shri Keshav Ram Pandit was the father of Shakar Saheb. At that time, Keshav Ram Pandit was the collector of Kamraj division. In those days, Pathans were the rulers. Shri Keshav Ram Pandit was a rich man, owning lot of land, property etc. People were jealous of him. His wife’s family lived on the banks of the river which also passed the house of the Bhans.

The pathans were cruel to Keshav Ram Pandit and he was stoned to death by the pathans in front of the eyes of his wife’s family. The descendents of Keshav Ram Pandit believed there was a famine in Kashmir during which Kehav Ram Pandit showed kindness to the farmers by not forcing them to pay taxes. The Pathans were furious because they didn’t get the taxes.

Later a bridge was built at that spot and the bridge was named Kani Kadal. A stone is called Kani in Kashmiri.

After Keshav Ram Pandit’s untimely death an outstanding amount was declared as debt owed by him. Bakaya is a term used to describe debt.

Because of this reason the family was called Bakaya family. Bakaya continued to be the last name of direct descendents of Keshav Ram Pandit.

The elder son of Keshav Ram Bakaya was Sat Ram Bakaya. The second son was Himmat Sahib. Govind Ram Bakaya was the third son. The youngest son was Shakar Sahib Bakaya. Shakar Sahib was only one year old when his father was killed.

The elder brother of Shakar Sahib, Sat Ram Bakaya was married to someone in the family of Birbal Kaul who was famous for his senior role as adviser and Minister of the Mughal emperor Akbar.

Maharaja Ranjit Singhji had given him a very good position.

He also got good properties with that position. He spent lot of the money on dharmarth.

His other brother Govindram Bakaya could not cope with the trauma resulting from his father’s terrible death by stoning. Haunted by the memory of that traumatic event, he left Kashmir with his wife and moved to Lahore.  Later we were told he eventually moved to Allahabad .

Sat Ram Bakaya and family continued to live in the Kani Kadal house.

Shri Shakar Sahib also stayed with his elder brother, because Sat Ram Bakaya did not have any children.

Govind Ram’s wife went with her children to Sathoo Barbarshah. When Shakar Sahib was 5 or 6 he started going to school. There he got a takhti and pen.

Shakar Sahib used to take his takhti and pen to school and on the takhti he used to write only RAM RAM on the takhti repeatedly. He had no interest in studies and was immersed in RAM.

One day on his way back from school, Shakar Sahib bought a kabab and roti from a Muslim shopkeeper.

In those days there were lot of differences between Hindus and Muslims. Hindus who saw him eat the food prepared by a Muslim, resented this act.

They went to his mother asking her to expel Shakar Sahib from their house. The poor mother was very sad and asked him: Why did you do this? You brought so much anguish to our society. They won’t let you stay here.

Seeing his anguished mother, he took her to the riverbank next to their house. He took out his intestines and washed them. The kabab and roti were still intact as if no one had chewed them. Every person watching this miracle was amazed. It was so unbelievable that someone could take out consumed food by emptying his stomach.

He asked all the spectators “Am I purified now or not?” The astonished spectators were dumbfounded and left the place silently.

Shakar Sahib’s mother also forgave him and allowed him to stay in their house.

This way he was engrossed in his bhajans.

His elder brother Sat Ram Bakaya owned lot of properties. He bought land in Rambagh and when asked what the purpose was for buying the land, Sat Ram Bakaya said it should be made my samadhi after I die. My brother Shakar Sahib is a “mastana”, what will he do?

At that very moment Shakar Saheb gave him a vardaan [a promise/blessing] that he will be blessed with a daughter. Her offspring will continue the family clan for generations going forward.

After some time he was, indeed blessed with a daughter. Our Bakaya family are direct descendants of Sat Ram Bakaya’s daughter. 

In those days Kripa Ram was a very wealthy person. He was a disciple of Shakar Sahib. Whenever he would pass by the river in front of Shakar Sahib’s house, he would visit Shakar Sahib. His boat had ghungroo made of silver and pedals for the boat were also made from silver. These would make a specific sound because of which Krima Ram was nicknamed Krip shrone [shrone means a particular sound made by a pedal pushing the water].

When Sat Ram Bakaya’s daughter was born, Kripa Ram gifted them two bracelets/bangles made of gold and a dussa shawl.

Kripa Ram had lot of faith in Shakar Sahib. But on one occasion he passed by and forgot to greet Shakar Sahib with a Namaskar. On this occasion his boat got stuck and was unable to move forward. Then he realized his mistake.

He started praying. He used a rope made of grass to anchor his boat to the house. He walked up to pay obeisense to Shakar Sahib. From that day whoever would pass by the bridge in front of the house would chant “Shakar Shah Padshah” before moving forward. 

As the years went by Shakar Sahib got more and more respect from disciples. His disciples included reputed families in Safa Kadal and every day after making food they would take a thali to him for bhog. One day someone made the meal jootha [impure], and when the thali was sent to Shakar Sahib two men dressed in black clothes came and said Our Shakar Shah padshah said Our Shakar Sahib does not eat this impure food. Take it back.

The same day when they returned a member of their household who held a good position in was punished by black water in accordance with orders from Raja Ranjit Singh’s darbar. 

Then he went to Mahan nand joo’s house who was a very wealthy individual. He came barefoot to Shakar Sahib and begged him for forgiveness. Shakar Sahib then comforted him and asked him not to be fearful; it was a mistake. When he was back at Maha Nand  joo’s place he found his order was withdrawn.

One of the maids of Shakar Sahib’s mother was a Muslim but he would treat every one similarly without discrimination. One day that maid said she also does Shakar Sahib’s work and asked for his blessing. Shakar sahib asked her to tell him what was her wish. The maid said she wished for her family to eat from a thali [tram] made of gold. Shakar Sahib said: Tathastoo [So be it!]. Upto now people from that village Bachgam, are more wealthy.   

Shakar sahib’s mother forced him to get married when he was only 10 years old.  In those days Dila Ram was a very wealthy person. Shakar Sahib’s marriage was arranged with Dila Ram’s daughter. 

When she was 13 she had her “gauna” after which she moved to Shakar Sahib’s house.

But whenever she would enter Shakar Sahib’s room she could not see him and could see only snakes and scorpions. For a few days she slept outside Shakar Sahib’s room. But after a few days she told her father about this experience. But her father had lot of respect for Shakar Sahib. Her father had a good chat with her and asked her to continue to stay in the house of Shakar Sahib. Sadly, she died when she was only 18.

Dila Ram did not terminate his relations with Shakar Sahib. He treated Shakar Sahib with lot of respect. He would still visit his son-in-law and take gifts to Shakar Sahib on his birthdays. The gifts would be typically a pheran made from pashmina, a dussa shawl and a pot of yoghurt/curds. When the father-in-law left, Shakar Sahib would distribute among his disciples, the birthday gifts received by him.

In Kashmir there was a village called Batgund where one of his disciples named Shankar would hold prayers for Shakar Sahib. One day Shankar’s family members came to see Shakar Saheb to give him the sad news of the passing away of Shankar. But Shakar Sahib did not believe them. He accompanied them to their village. On arrival Shakar Sahib sat next to the corpse; Shakar Sahib then lifted his cap from his head and placed it on the head of the corpse. At once, Shankar came back to life and sat up. On seeing this miracle all the people watching the miracle were stunned to see a dead man getting his life back. Since that time on that day people of that village perform a yagya/havan on the anniversary of Shakar Sahib’s birth as well as death.

Hindus as well as Muslims accepted Shakar Sahib’s extraordinary powers and Shakar Sahib was given a special title in recognition of his powers. A popular poem was composed In Kashyap’s Kashmir produced many saints but the highest level was attained by Shakar Sahib.

Several objects belonging to Shakar Sahib were preserved as relics: his sandals, his pillow, his cap, his hookah and a scroll (book) on which RAM RAM was written by him hundreds of thousands of times. It is not known where his Takhti is. But it is said touching his relics brought about quick healing to the sick. We observed his sandals were used by our family to bring to an abrupt halt natural  calamities like fire and flood. Pointing the sandal towards the advancing fire or flood would stop it from creating further damage. 

Shakar Sahib’s other brother who used to live in Sathoo preserved Shakar Sahib’s sandals and charpoy, [bed]. Shakar Sahib’s cap was preserved  in Batgund village.

After some decades Sat Ram Bakaya’s daughter got married to a Kotru boy from Rainawari. Sat Ram Bakaya was rich and gave away sandals made of gold and silver as dowry.

This  led to jealousy among people and they made verses to taunt the display of wealth selection was made from gold and diamonds. 

Sat Ram Bakaya’s daughter gave birth to a son and daughter. The son was adopted by Sat Ram Bakaya. He was named Tota Ram Bakaya. Tota Ram got married to a girl from Kaul family in Alikadal. They had 3 sons. Shri Narayanjoo, Shri Man joo and Shri Damodar joo Bakaya. Narayan Bakaya got married at the age of 9 to the only daughter of Amar Chand Khosa. The marriage ceremony took place in Nageen Bagh. A few years later there was an earthquake occurred repatedly. Every person was evacuated from their houses. People had to live in boats because their houses had fallen because of the earthquake. All their belongings and documents. Information on the year of occupation in the house. In their house a cupboard was saved from damage. Tota Ram Bakaya’s daughter was young when she was widowed. It is not known if the earthquake occurred before or after Tota Ram’s death.  

Narayan joo Bakaya’s maternal uncle used to live with them. One day he dropped a cup of food and he had marks all over his body. The marks looked as if some one had beaten him. The marks were seen as punishment from Shakar Sahib.

In about the late 1930s / early 1940s Maharaja Hari Singh’s brother-in law used to comefor home tuitions to the Bakaya family. His home tutor was late Shri Nand Lal Bakaya [also father of the author Sona Bakaya/Moza], son of Shri Narayan Joo Bakaya who was also a Master at Mission School.

The brother-in-law’s name was Omkar Singh. He used to spend a lot of time in the home of Shri Nand Lal Bakaya. One day Omkar Singh said he will go to Shakar Saheb’s prayer room in the Bakaya house. As soon as he entered the room, he got scared and thought Shakar Sahib was chasing him. Out of fear he ran away from the prayer room.

Footnotes

1. The author’s husband Amar Nath Moza did a good service to India in 1947. He happened to be in Baramulla when the Kabalis raided Kashmir. He was one of the first people to escape from Baramulla in 1947 and rushed to the Bakaya home in Kani Kadal, Srinagar. On arrival in Kani Kadal he asked his brother-in law Shri Prem Nath Bakaya to communicate news of the Kabali aggression to the right people in Delhi. Shri Prem Nath Bakaya took him to the nearest telephone at the fire station. The telephone was monitored by Pakistan informers. They called PNB’s contact, DayaNand Kachru who was Nehru’s Secretary. Daya Nand Kachru’s wife picked the phone, her husband was in the office with Nehru and his cabinet. Shri Amar Nath Moza cleverly uttered the following words “Shotur chav Varmul munz.” When Nehru came to know about the aggression, he immediately flew Indian troops to Srinagar.

2. The relics of Shakar Sahib are currently in two places Shakar Sahib’s pillow and Khadaon [footwear] are in the Jammu house of Shri Vijay Bakaya, IAS.

Anil Bakaya

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The article has been uploaded to archive.org with permission of Mr. Anil Bakaya, as part of SearchKashmir.org Free book Project

The article can be accessed here: archive.org link