Mulla Hakim Muhammad Azim

Mulla Hakim Muhammad Azim-al Din ( ملّا حکیم محمد عظیم الدین ), (1220–1269 AH and 1805–1852/63 CE ) was a Kashmiri polymath- a physician, philosopher, astronomer, a polyglot who wrote both in Kashmiri and Persian, and a courtier, who is widely regarded amongst the foremost Kashmiri Marsiya writers. One of the leading personalities of the Kashmiri Shia community and Kashmir itself in the nineteenth century, Azim is also known in history as Mulla Azim, Hakim Azim and Hakim Azim Kashmiri. He served as the Chief Physician at the court of Maharaja Gulab Singh (r. 1846–1857), the first Dogra ruler of Kashmir. Before this, he held positions at the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore and under Shaykh Ghulam-Mohyi-al Din , the Sikh governor of Kashmir. A prodigious talent, he began composing marsiya (elegiac poetry mourning the martyrdom of Imam Hussayn ) at a young age. By the age of twenty-five, he had already written notable works such as Qafas ("Cage"). Among his celebrated marsiya are Kitab ("Book"), Baradari ("Brotherhood"), Musa ("Moses"), Peeri ("Oldness"), Sarafi (“Money Changer”), Rau (“Face”)and Chah (“Well”) which reflect his poetic depth and thematic range. He is remembered as the poet who was largely responsible for transforming the Kashmiri marsiya from a simple elegy into an intellectual and artistic feat unsurpassed in Kashmiri language. His legacy endures in Kashmir, particularly among the Shia population, where his marsiya remain a vital part of Muharram observances. On his death, he was buried at his ancestral graveyard, Mulla Maqbara, located in Hassanabad, Srinagar . "Marsiya: Beyond the "literal lament" " . Shiʿism in Kashmir: a history of Sunni-Shiʿi rivalry and reconciliation . Islamic South Asia series (First published in Great Britain ed.). Kashir: Being a history of Kashmir (1999 ed.).