12 Facts About Lalleshwari

Lalleshwari was the creator of the style of mystic poetry called vatsun or Vakhs, meaning "speech".

Lalleshwari is estimated to have died in 1373, and a grave near Bijbehara is attributed to her, although there is no confirmation.

Lalleshwari is believed to have been born to a Kashmiri Brahmin family, and was married at the age of twelve in accordance with the local customs.

Records of Lalleshwari's life are contained in oral tradition, and consequently, there is variance on the details of her life and beliefs.

The first written record of Lalleshwari's life is contained in the Tadhkirat-ul-Arifin, a collection of biographies of saints and religious figures written by Mulla Ali Raina, and followed by an account of her life in Baba Daud Mishkati's Asrar ul-Akbar.

Lalleshwari is noted in a Persian chronicle, the Waqiati-e-Kashmir in which she is described as being known in the reign of Sultan Alau-ud-din and died in the reign of Sultan Shihab-ud-din.

Lalleshwari is believed to be a contemporary of Mir Sayyid Ali-Hamdani, an Iranian Sufi scholar and poet who recorded stories of her in his own verse during his travels to Kashmir.

Lalleshwari's poems represent some of the earliest works of Kashmiri literature, written as Kashmiri began to emerge as a distinct language from Apabhramsa Prakrit, which was spoken in North India.

Lalleshwari's vakhs drawn from influences and languages that made contact with the Indian sub-continent in her life, drawing from Sanskritic, Islamic and Sufi cultures.

Lalleshwari's work were first recorded in writing in the twentieth century, and have been republished since, in Kashmiri as well as in translation.

Lalleshwari's poems, have been translated into English by Richard Temple, Jaylal Kaul, Coleman Barks, Jaishree Odin, and Ranjit Hoskote.

Lalleshwari led to the formation of the Rishi order of saints and later gave rise to many Rishi saints like Resh Mir Saeb.