provide monetary stipends and alms to the needy, pilgrims, travelers, physicians, scholars and other deserving people. Sharia was enacted into local law — music, dance, gambling, and intoxicants were prohibited. Suppression of Hindus Jonaraja argues that Sikandar's rule terminated Kashmir's long-standing tolerant culture. So do Baharistan-i-shahi and Tohfatu'l-Ahbab, which note that Sikandar cleansed Kashmir of all heretics and infidels. Sikandar is epithetized as ''butshikan", the "idol-breaker." Hasan Ali provides the most detailed narrative. Sikandar commenced the destruction of Hindu and Buddhist shrines till, in the words of Jonaraja, no idol remained, even in the privacy of peoples' homes. Jonaraja mentions temples at Martand (Sun God), Vijayesvara (Shiva), Cakradhara (Vishnu), Suresvari (unknown), Varaha (Vishnu), and Tripuresvara (unknown) to have been destroyed by Sikandar. Hasan Ali adds three temples at Parihaspore, the Tarapitha temples at Iskander Pora, and a neighbouring Maha Shri Temple. Pseud. J notes of a colossal statue of Buddha being razed and melted to produce coins.Afterwards, Sikandar's focus fell on abolishing caste system. All Brahmins unwilling to cede their hereditary caste privileges were taxed with Jizya. In contrast to Jonaraja, who mentions Sikandar's successor (Ali Shah) as having initiated forced conversions for the first time, Hasan Ali notes of forced conversions under Sikandar's tenure; he is stated to have massacred all those who had refused to convert. Motivations and analysis Upon a literary reading of Rajatarangini, Sikandar's zeal behind the Islamisation of society is attributable to Mir Muhammad Hamadani — an orthodox Sufi preacher — who advocated the creation of a monolithic society based on Islam as the common denominator to the extent of prohibiting any maintenance of kafir shrines. In particular, a Brahman neo-convert — Suhabhatta (var. Suhaka Bhatt and Saifuddin) who served as Sikandar's counsel — was accused of instigating the King into "[taking] delight day and night in demolishing the sculptures of the gods." Notably, in Baharistan-i-shahi, both Sikandar and Suhabhatta play equal roles, with particular significance accorded to Sikandar's religious conviction. Chitralekha Zutshi, Richard G. Salomon and others reject the idea only religious motives lay behind Sikandar's actions and call for a nuanced contextual reading of Rajatarangini, a work that was commissioned by Sikandar's successor, who wished to bring back the Brahminical elite into the royal fold and establish Sanskrit as an integral part of a Sultanate that strove to be cosmopolitan. According to Zutshi and Salomon, Sikandar's policies were guided by realpolitik and, like