This is the first full-length study of conversion to Islam in Kashmir, which occurred during the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries leading to the emergence of a preponderant Muslim population in the valley. It also examines the nature of mass conversion, the various processes that shaped Islam as expressed in the local context and the structural basis of identity articulation in the culturally plural social situation of Kashmir. These questions have been addressed by adopting inter-disciplinary approach which on the one hand clearly demonstrated the inexhaustibility of known sources and, on the other, demanded a search for new sources. Having approached the themes from varied angles to satisfy the demands of the whole community of human scientists, the book is as much an essay in sociology, social anthropology, social psychology, human geography, political science, folklore and literature as in history. And all those who are engaged in shaping a better present and best future will find the book worth reading.