Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (1314–1385): A Source-Critical Biography Mir Syed Ali Hamdani was among the leading Persian Sufi scholars of the fourteenth century. Through his teaching, writing, and disciples, the Kubrawi tradition moved from western Iran into Central and South Asia. His works address mystical discipline, theology, dreams, political ethics, and devotion, while the networks formed around him later acquired particular importance in Kashmir. Popular memory, however, often presents him as Kashmir’s single-handed converter, the leader of exactly 700 missionaries, the founder of its craft economy, and the builder of Srinagar’s principal khanqah. The earliest evidence does not support those claims in that form, nor does his historical importance depend on them. It rests on his scholarship, his Kubrawi affiliations, his influence among rulers and religious authorities, and the sustained work of his disciples and son. Names, Titles, and Sources His full name was Sayyid ʿAlī ibn Shi...