In the heart of Kashmir’s busiest market, thousands gathered to mourn the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Many here called him Agha Jan with real love.

Shops fell silent, as owners pulled down their shutters and walked into the streets. Portraits of the Iranian leader floated above the crowd, ringed by black flags and raised fists. Prayers resounded between the concrete shops. The place that usually buzzed with buying and selling turned into a public space of sorrow and firm belief.

Women stood side by side, many in black, pressing his photo to their chests. Tears ran down their faces as they sang sad songs of loyalty, sacrifice and faith. Their voices trembled and rose together, and the grief felt close to home.

Some beat their chests in mourning, others lifted their hands in prayer and asked God to give him a place among the martyrs.

Men who run shops and lead local groups cried without shame. They hugged one another and spoke of Agha Jan as a teacher and protector. A few called him a father who gave clear words in hard days.

Children stood next to them, watching their elders weep and trying to make sense of why this faraway figure mattered so much to their families. One boy held a small poster and asked why a leader who stood up for the weak had to die like this.

Imams led joint prayers right there on the road. Lines of men bowed together on the asphalt, turning the market into one big place of worship. The call to prayer mixed with chants that blamed the killing and praised the leader’s strength.

This open grief came from a bond between Kashmir and Iran that stretches back centuries.

The story of these Iran-Kashmir ties dates back to the 14th century when Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani, a Sufi saint from Hamadan in Persia, arrived in Kashmir along with hundreds of his associates. Known reverentially as Shah-e-Hamadan and Amir-e-Kabir, he is credited with bringing faith, Persian language, arts, crafts, and architectural traditions that would define the valley’s identity for generations to come.

Scholars and holy men from Iran left a lasting mark on Kashmir’s spiritual and cultural life. Amir-e-Kabir introduced crafts like papier-mâché, carpet-weaving, calligraphy, and intricate embroidery that Kashmir would become world-famous for. The exquisite Khanqah-e-Moula sanctum in Srinagar, built in his honour, stands as a testament to the Persian architectural influence that transformed the valley’s skyline.

For five centuries, Persian remained the official language of Jammu and Kashmir before being replaced by Urdu in 1889 during the Dogra rule. The great poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal popularised the sobriquet “Iran-e-Sagheer” or “Little Iran” for Kashmir, a name that captures the valley’s deep cultural resonance with Persian civilization.

Poetry deepened this bond, as verses by Rumi and Hafez found eager listeners in the valley. 

But while Persia took pride in masters like Ferdowsi, Kashmir celebrated its own Persian voices such as Ghani Kashmiri, Muhammad Quli Salim, and Mirza Muhammad Tahir Fani, who made the valley their home and enriched its literary life.

Mourning rituals and prayer gatherings in Kashmir show a strong Iranian imprint. The valley’s identity as Iran-e-Sagheer reveals how deeply Persian culture, language, and faith took root here. 

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People still speak that name with pride, as it expresses a shared past that lives on in belief, memory, and everyday life.

The sorrow for Agha Jan rose from this deep well of memory. 

In 1980, just a year after the Iranian Revolution, Khamenei had visited Srinagar and addressed worshippers at the historic Jamia Masjid at the invitation of Mirwaiz Molvi Mohammad Farooq. He prayed behind the Mirwaiz, sending a powerful message of Shia-Sunni unity that remains etched in local memory. 

That fifteen-minute speech bound many Kashmiris to him for life.

People in the city centre crowd spoke of Karbala and of standing firm against injustice. They linked his life and death to a story of resistance that sits at the center of their faith. Talk moved easily from old saints who once came to Kashmir to leaders who speak from Tehran today.

The Qom seminary in Iran, the second-largest centre of Shia Islamic learning in the world after Najaf in Iraq, has enabled regular contact between Iran and Kashmiri Shia Muslims. Hundreds of Kashmiri students have studied at Qom over the decades, creating living bridges between the two lands. 

Tehran University of Medical Sciences has had more than 150 Kashmiri students enrolled at a time, making Iran a significant destination for education.

Experts often see such scenes as simple political reactions, but the people on the street felt something more personal. They talked about sermons they heard on television, words that touched their living rooms, and a feeling of belonging to a larger family of believers.

Agha Jan’s picture hung in many homes. His speeches became part of family talks about fairness and world events. 

Khamenei was a Wali-e-Faqih or the Supreme Leader, a concept of religious authority that resonates deeply with theological traditions of the valley.

This wave of feeling also shows how faith and identity mix in Kashmir’s daily life. 

The valley has faced long years of trouble. Many look beyond their borders for voices that speak clearly for causes they care about, above all the Palestinian struggle.

Grief for Agha Jan therefore joined personal love with shared political support. The protests in Srinagar, Baramulla, and Budgam were about a connection that has survived empires, borders, and centuries.

Hundreds of years after Iranian holy men brought fresh currents of faith and culture to the valley, that connection still stirs public life. The prayers in the market and the street gatherings made clear that history lives in the present.

Agha Jan rose from Iran, but in the hearts of many Kashmiris, he stood as a son of Little Iran as well.

— The author is a Sunni Muslim scholar from Srinagar with a Master’s degree in Central Asian Studies.

© Kashmir Observer