{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox religious biography | name = Faqeer Soch Kral R.A. | image = Faqeer Soch Kraal Sahab R.A.jpg | caption = Shrine of Soch Kral | image_size = 200px | title = | birth_name = ''Ismail'' | birth_date = 1782 | birth_place = Yendragam, Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. | death_date = 29 November 1854 | resting_place = Pulwama | other_names = Soch Seab | era = ''Early 19th Century'' | region = Kashmir Valley | religion = Islam | denomination = Ishq, (Sufi) | jurisprudence = | main_interests = Sufism, Tasawuf | works = }}
'''Soch Kral''' (1782 {{endash}} 29 November 1854), was a Kashmiri Sufi poet, and is a Sufi saint.<ref>{{cite news |title=Before Iqbal’s ‘shikwa’, there was Soch Kral’s divine petition |url=https://freepresskashmir.news/2022/10/20/before-iqbals-shikwa-there-was-soch-krals-divine-petition/ |publisher=Free Press Kashmir |date=22 October 2022}}</ref> He was born in 1782 in the village of Inder, in present-day Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir. He was a potter by profession. He lived a simple life devoted to spirituality, monotheism and mysticism. He was the son of the Sufi poet Arif Kral.<ref name="skmcollege"/>
Soch Kral may have migrated to the village of Devsar in the Anantnag district, where his descendants are still living. He married but divorced his wife,<ref name="skmcollege">{{cite web|url=http://skmcollege.com/about-the-college/the-name-souch-kral.html|title=Soch Kral a Sufi Poet|publisher=SKM College|accessdate=2016-04-12|url-status=bot: unknown|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404223505/http://skmcollege.com/about-the-college/the-name-souch-kral.html|archivedate=4 April 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and died on 29 November 1854 in Inder.<ref name="skmcollege"/> He was a contemporary of Kashmiri Sufi poets such as Mahmud Gami, Wahab Khar, Karam Buland, and Shah Qalandar. Soch Kral was mentored by Sufi saint Moomin Sahib of Babgam, Pulwama.<ref name=auto/>
== Published works == In 2021, ''Songs of Soch Kral'' by Mushtaque B. Barq was published by Kitab Mahal Publishers. The book contains English renderings and interpretations of 23 of Soch Kral's poems, with analysis of their mystical and humanistic themes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Songs of a Mystic |url=https://www.greaterkashmir.com/opinion/songs-of-a-mystic/ |publisher=Greater Kashmir |date=7 July 2021}}</ref>
In 2025, Mehfooza Jan, Head of the Department of Kashmiri at the University of Kashmir compiled Soch Kral's poetry into a 234-page book titled ''Kuliyati Soch Kral'', published by Meezan Publishers, Srinagar. The book contains 45 songs, many of which were previously unknown to the public, and includes detailed commentary on his life, poetic style, and spiritual philosophy.<ref name=auto>{{cite news |title=‘Kuliyati Soch Kral’ (by Dr. Mehfooza Jan) |url=https://thekashmirimages.com/2025/05/18/kuliyati-soch-kral-by-dr-mehfooza-jan/ |publisher=Kashmir Images |date=18 May 2025}}</ref>
== Legacy == According to a blogger on Blogspot.com, Soch Kral used poetry as a tool to enlighten the minds of people,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arafiqi.blogspot.com/|title=Kashmri rooster|accessdate=2016-04-13|publisher=}}</ref>{{fails verification|date=March 2019}} and his work promoted Sufism in Kashmiri poetry.<ref>{{cite news | title=Tributes paid to Soch Kral | work=Greater Kashmir | date=24 July 2011 | accessdate=18 April 2018 | url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/kashmir/tributes-paid-to-soch-kral/99448.html}}</ref>
The Soch Kral Memorial College of Education in Pulwama was named after him.<ref name="skmcollege"/>
In about 2009 the state government set aside Rs 50 lakh for the development of a heritage site near the Soch Kral's shrine. By 2012 construction had not started.<ref>{{cite web | last=Maqbool | first=Zahid | url=https://www.greaterkashmir.com/article/news.aspx?story_id=115047&catid=2&mid=53&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 | title=Construction of Soch Kral heritage site hits roadblock | publisher=Greater Kashmir | date=6 March 2012 | accessdate=17 March 2019}}</ref>
In 2016, at Pulwama Degree College, singer Dhananjay Kaul grouped Lal-Ded, Mahjoor, Wahab Khar, and Soch Kral as among the "Sufi greats that Pulwama has produced", and sung their poetry which he set to music.<ref>{{cite news | last=Ashiq | first=Peerzada | title=Pandit couple spread notes of harmony in Kashmir | newspaper=The Hindu | date=8 June 2016 | accessdate=18 April 2018 | url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/Pandit-couple-spread-notes-of-harmony-in-Kashmir/article14391440.ece}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraal, Soch}} Category:1782 births Category:1854 deaths Category:Kashmiri poets Category:Sufi poets Category:People from Pulwama district Category:kashmiri Sufi saints Category:Sufi teachers