One of the earliest known Sufis in Kashmir is said to have been from Turkistan belonging to Suharwadi order in the 13th century. Sayyed Sharfuddin Abdur Rahman, fondly remembered as Hazrat Bulbul Shah. He is said to have made transformations in the strictly caste-ridden Brahmin dominated society of Kashmir and is believed to have arrived during the reign of King Suhadeva (1301-20) and was the first Saint who sowed the seeds of Islam in Kashmir. Bulbul Shah was instrumental in the conversion of the Buddhist Prince from Ladakh, Lhachan Gualbu Rinchana, who revolted against his uncle, the ruler of Ladakh, and when defeated fled to Kashmir, finding shelter with the King of Kashmir, who appointed Rinchana as a Minister. Raja Suhadev fled to Tibet after he was defeated by Mongols who invaded Kashmir with 70,000 soldiers. His Prime Minister, Ramachandra occupied the throne after the departure of the Mongols and appointed Rinchana as an administrator, who in turn, planned Ramachandra’s killing and became the ruler of Kashmir. In order to gain local sympathy, Rinchana married Ramachandra’s daughter, Kota Rani and aspired to convert to Hinduism which Brahmin priests did not allow as they were not sure as to which varna (caste) he would adopt, as he was involved in the killing of Ramachandra.
Shah Miri, one of the Ministers of Raja Suhadev, advised him to embrace Islam, after which he took his Muslim name of Sultan Sadruddin. Ten thousand of his subjects, including his brother -in-law, Ravanachandra converted with him. After conversion, he renamed Srinagar as ‘Rinchanpora’ and built a mosque known as ‘Bud Masheed’, on the site of a Buddhist temple. He built a cloister in honour of his spiritual mentor Bulbul Shah, and attached to the khanqah (cloister) was a langarkhana (public charity kitchen) known as Bulbul Lankar, where the poor were fed, free-of-cost, twice a day.