1. The only question involved in the case is whether the Ziarat Shah Farid-ud-din Sahib and Ziarat Shah Israr-ud-din Sahib situate in Kishtwar are wakafs as defined in the Wakafs Act, 1978. In case these are wakafs, their management will be under the Wakafs Act and the question whether office of Sajjad Nisheen is heritable or not raised by the petitioner will be of academic interest only because management of such wakafs has to be under the Wakafs Act. In order to answer this, it is necessary to make a brief reference to the history of Kishtwar which once happened to be an independent State before being annexed by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1821 A.D. It is a matter of history that many of the rulers of this erstwhile small hill principality had converted to Islam. Raja Kirat Singh is said to have embraced Islam some where in 1681 A.D. It is said that Shah Farid-ud-din came to Kishtwar some where in 1664 and died in 1725 A.D. His son Shah Assarar-ud-din it is said had died in 1685 A.D. Two Mausoleums were built at two different places where they were burried. Both these mausoleums are known as the Ziarats of Shah Farid-ud-din and Shah Assarar-ud-din and are visited by thousands of devo

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