The research for Archives of Confluence: Tracing Buddhist–Islamic Fusion in the Khanqah of Kashmir and Baltistan adopted a multidisciplinary methodology combining archival research, spatial analysis, architectural documentation, and community knowledge to investigate the evolution of khanqahs and the continuity of Buddhist and Islamic architectural traditions.

The study began with an extensive literature review to establish key architectural parameters and historical themes. These informed the development of a standardized documentation framework, including a Kobo Toolkit survey designed to inventory every mapped khanqah in Baltistan and Kashmir. The inventory recorded architectural characteristics, spatial organization, scale, materials, decorative elements, condition, and evidence of Buddhist and Islamic influences, enabling comparative analysis across sites and geographical contexts.

Archival research complemented this work through the examination of historical maps, mountaineering records, and land revenue surveys to reconstruct historic routes linking Central Asia, Baltistan, and Kashmir. These routes were analysed alongside the documented movements of saints to understand patterns of cultural exchange and the transmission of architectural ideas. All identified khanqahs were geo-tagged, allowing their spatial distribution to be examined in relation to historic trade and pilgrimage networks.

Field investigations were undertaken between July and October during which 42 khanqahs were documented through measured drawings, photographic surveys, select photogrammetry, condition assessments, and interviews with caretakers, pīrs, and community elders. These interviews provided essential historical context, revealing the religious significance of saints, oral histories of construction, and the social functions of khanqahs as centres of learning, hospitality, governance, and craft transmission.

The integrated methodology enabled the project to identify both tangible and intangible evidence of cultural confluence. Preliminary findings indicate that while the khanqahs display key Islamic architectural features, they also retain planning principles, roof forms, threshold treatments, and spatial characteristics associated with earlier Buddhist and Kashmiri traditions. Together, these methods establish a robust framework for understanding architectural continuity, cultural adaptation, and the layered heritage of the wider Kashmir - Baltistan region.