Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent

The Islamic conquest of South Asia took place during the period of Rajput supremacy in north India, which lasted from the 7th century to the 12th century centuries. The first effort toward invasion was made in 664 CE during the Umayyad caliphate, when Muslim forces led by Mohalib began launching numerous raids from Persia. Among the cities struck were Multan in the southern Punjab in what is today Pakistan. Mohalib penetrated as far as the ancient capital of the Maili and returned with many prisoners of war. However, the Muslims didn't at this time come to conquer, seeming only to make exploratory raids.

Many Hindus were turned to Islam by laws favoring Muslims or by force (in Iran the near annihilation of the Zorastrians), others turned to Islam voluntarily. It took several centuries to finally spread Islam in all portions of India. Most Indian Muslims who converted to Islam were Hindu and some of their ancestors embraced Islam under duress, although some did willingly or under the influence of laws favoring Muslims. There were also some converts who belonged to the ruling families of the different kingdoms of the region, many of whom were given little choice in the matter. Some of these rulers were Hindus who belonged to the warrior castes of Hindu society and were forcibly converted. The rulers of India also brought businessmen, traders, merchants and slaves from different parts of the world. Many of them married local Indians and converted them to Islam.

The historian Will Durant wrote in The Story of Civilization (1972) that the Muslim conquest of India was "probably the bloodiest story in history." The exact number of people killed during the invasions will never be known. Estimates are based upon the Muslim chronicles and demographic calculations. K.S. Lal estimated in his book The Growth of Muslim Population in India that between the years 1000 CE and 1500 CE the population of Hindus decreased by eighty million.

Muhammad bin Qasim

Main article: Muhammad bin Qasim

File:Binqasim.jpg

Muhammad Bin Qasim

Muhammad bin Qasim was orphaned as a child and thus the responsibility of his upbringing fell upon his mother. She supervised his religious instruction herself, and hired different teachers for his secular education. It was the uncle, Hajjaj bin Yousaf, who taught him the art of governing and warfare. Qasim was an intelligent and cultured young man who at the age of fifteen was considered by many to be one of his uncle's greatest assets. He was asked to serve under the great general, Qutayba bin Muslim. Under his command Muhammad bin Qasim displayed a talent for skilful fighting and military planning. Hajjaj's complete trust in Qasim's abilities as a general became even more apparent when he appointed the young man as the commander of the all-important invasion on Sindh, when he was only seventeen years old. Muhammad bin Qasim proved Hajjaj right when he, without many problems, managed to win all his military campaigns. He used both his mind and military skills in capturing places like Daibul, Raor, Uch and Multan. History does not boast of many other commanders who managed such a great victory at such a young age.

Besides being a great general, Muhammad bin Qasim was also an excellent administrator. He established peace and order as well as a good administrative structure in the areas he conquered. He was a kind hearted and religious person. He had great respect for other religions. Hindu and Buddhist spiritual leaders were given stipends during his rule. The poor people of the land were greatly impressed by his policies and a number of them embraced Islam. Those who stuck to their old religions erected statues in his honor and started worshiping him after his departure from their land.

Muhammad bin Qasim was known for his obedience to the ruler. Walid bin Abdul Malik died and was succeeded by his younger brother Suleman as the Caliph. Suleman was an enemy of Hajjaj and thus ordered Qasim back to the kingdom. Qasim knew of the animosity between the two. He was aware that due to this enmity, he would not be well treated. He could have easily refused to obey the Caliph's orders and declare his independence in Sindh. Yet he was of the view that obeying ones ruler is the duty of a general and thus he decided to go back to the center. Here he became a victim to party politics. He was put behind bars where he died at age of twenty. Many historians believe that had he been given a few more years, he would have conquered the entire South Asian region.

The amazing Arab Islamic expansion was not only the result of cavalry forays. They had combined military operations with political means as well. Their offer to proselytize the natives to their own faith and become part of the new Islamic community and had a far reaching impact. It was an offer which was open to everybody, and one which was perhaps most readily accepted by the lower orders of Hindus who now had a marvellous opportunity for collective manumission from caste slavery. As a result many Sind tribes accepted Islam, among them the Somra Rajputs. But the new ruling power in Sindh did not impose Islam on anybody. The Chachnama has reproduced extracts from the historic Brahmanabad Charter which for the eighth century represents a paricularly high level of humanistic social order and values.

Those who did not choose to convert to Islam were treated magnanimously. The charter allowed complete religious freedom to those living in the countryside around Brahmanabad, putting them on par with the status of Jews, Magians and fire worshippers in Syria and Iraq. They were allowed to continue making idols of their gods; Brahmins and Buddhists alike could continue celebrating religious festivals according to the customs of their forefathers. They were encouraged to do business freely with the Muslims.

Muhammed Bin Qasim incorporated the traditional administrative and revenue structures into the new order, appointing officials to positions according to their rank and experience, leaving the internal affairs to look after themselves. He showered his new appointees with gifts and gave them seats of honour in the court. On a local level he appointed elders to collect revenue from villages and towns, allowing them complete administrative authority.

The members of the highest caste, Sind's ruling class Brahmins, who obviously saw less reason than anybody to convert, were also incorporated into Brahmanabad Charter. They were restored to their top posts and much of the administration of the country was left in their hands.

The expedition went as far north as Multan, which at that time was known as the "city of gold," Muhammad bin Qasim's armies defeated Raja Dahir]] a notorious king who oppressed his people, at what is now Hyderabad and established Muslim rule which the masses welcomed.

Qasim extended Muslim rule to the Indus Valley. Like Alexander the Great before him, he traveled the whole of what is modern Pakistan, from Karachi to Kashmir, but he managed this feat with a small force of only 6,000 Syrian tribesmen, reaching the borders of Kashmir within three years.

The Ghaznavid Period

Main article: Mahmud of Ghazni

In the early 11th century Mahmud of Ghazni launched seventeen invasions of the Hindu parts of India and set up several early forms of government. In 1001 Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated King Jeebal of Kabulistan and marched further into Peshawer and, in 1005, made it the center for his forces. From this strategic location Mahmud was able to capture the Punjab in 1007. the city Mahmud of Ghazni attacked Multan twice, destroying the Sun Mandir, but he didn't stay. Tanseer fell in 1014, Kashmir was captured in 1015, and Qanoch fell in 1017. By 1027 Mahmud had captured most of northern India.

In 1010 Mahmud captured what is today the Ghowr Province (Ghor) and by 1011 annexed Baluchistan. Mahmud had already had relationships with the leadership in Balkh through marriage, and its local emir, Abu Nasr Mohammad, offered his services to the sultan and his daughter to Mahmud's son, Muhammad. After Nasr’s death Mahmud brought Balkh under his leadership. This alliance greatly helped him during his expeditions into northern India.

In 1030 Mahmud fell gravely ill and died at the age of 59. He had been a gifted military commander and eloquent speaker as well as a patron of poetry, astronomy, and mathematics. Mahmud had no tolerance for other religions, however, and praised only Islam. During his rule universities were founded to study various subjects such as mathematics, religion, the humanities, and medicine—but only within the laws of the Sharia. Islam was the main religion of his kingdom and the Perso-Afghan dialect of Dari was made the official language.

Ghaznavid rule in Pakistan lasted for over 175 years, from 1010 to 1187. It was during this period that Lahore assumed considerable importance as the eastern-most bastion of Muslim power and as an outpost for further advance toward the riches of the east. Apart from being the second capital, and later the only capital, of the Ghaznavid kingdom, Lahore had great military and strategic significance. Whoever controlled this city could look forward to and be in a position to sweep the whole of East Punjab to Panipat and Delhi.

By the end of his reign, Mahmud's empire extended from Kurdistan in the west to Samarkand in the northeast, and from the Caspian Sea to the Yamuna. Although his raids carried his forces across northern and western India, only the Punjab came under his permanent rule; Kashmir, the Doab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat remained under the control of the local Hindu Rajput dynasties. The wealth brought back to Ghazni, however, was enormous. Contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi and Ferdowsi) give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital as well as of the conqueror's munificent support of literature.

Often reviled as a persecutor of Hindus—because in many cases Hindu temples were looted and destroyed—much of Mahmud's army was made up of Hindus. Indeed, some of his army commanders were of Hindu origin. For example, Sonday Rai was the commander of Mahmud's crack regiment and took part in several important campaigns with him. The coins struck during Mahmud's reign bore his own image on one side and the figure of a Hindu god on the other.

Mahmud was also a great patron of learning. His court was full of scholars including giants like Ferdowsi the poet, Abolfazl Beyhaghi the historian (whose work on the Ghanavid Empire is perhaps the most substantive primary source of the period), and Al-Biruni, the versatile scholar who wrote the Ta'rikh al-Hind ("Chronicles of India"). It was said that Mahmud spent over four hundred thousand golden dinars on scholars. He invited them from all over the world and was thus known as an abductor of scholars. During his rule, Lahore also became a great center of learning and culture. It was called "Small Ghazni," since Ghazni received far more attention during Mahmud's reign. Saad Salman, a poet of those times, wrote about the academic and cultural life of Muslim Lahore and its growing importance.

His armies destroyed Hindu temples in Varanasi, Mathura, Ujjain, Maheshwar, Jwalamukhi, and Dwarka. He had vowed to chastise idolaters every year of his life. He did not set up any permanent government in India, but he certainly left his legacy.

Muhammed Ghuri

Main article: Muhammed Ghuri

Muhammad Ghori was a Perso-Afghan conqueror from the region of Ghor in Afghanistan. Before 1160, the Ghaznavid Empire covered an area running from central Afghanistan east to the Punjab, with capitals at Ghazni, a city on the banks of Ghazni river in present-day Afghanistan, and at Lahore in present-day Pakistan. In 1160 the Ghorids conquered Ghazni from the Ghaznevids, and in 1173 Muhammad was made governor of Ghazni. He raided eastwards into the remaining Ghaznevid territory, and invaded Gujarat in the 1180's but was rebuffed by Gujarat's Solanki rulers. In 1186 and 1187 he conquered Lahore, ending the Ghaznevid empire and bringing the last of Ghaznevid territory under his control.

In 1191, he invaded the territory of Prithviraj III of Ajmer, who ruled much of present-day Rajasthan and Haryana, but was defeated at Tarain by Govinda-raja of Delhi, Prithviraj's vassal. The following year Muhammad assembled 120,000 horsemen and once again invaded the Kingdom of Ajmer. Muhammad's army met Prithviraj's army again at Tarain, and this time Muhammad was victorious; Govinda-raja was slain, Prithviraj captured, and Muhammad advanced on Delhi, capturing it soon after. Within a year Muhammad controlled northern Rajasthan and the northern part of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab. After these victories in India, and Muhammad's establishment of a capital in Delhi, Multan in the Punjab was made a part of his empire. Muhammad then returned east to Ghazni to deal with the threat to his eastern frontiers from the Turks and Mongols, but his armies, mostly under Turkish generals, continued to advance through northern India, raiding as far east as Bengal.

Muhammad returned to Lahore after 1200 to deal with a revolt of the Ghakkar tribe in the Punjab. He suppressed the revolt, but was killed during a Ghakkar raid on his camp on the Jhelum River in 1206. Upon his death his most capable general, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, took control of Muhammad's Indian conquests and declared himself the first Sultan of Delhi.

The Delhi Sultanate

Main article: Delhi Sultanate

Muhammad's successors established the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, while the Mamluk Dynasty (mamluk means "slave" and referred to the Turkic slave soldiers who became rulers throughout the Islamic world) in 1211 (however, the Delhi Sultanate is traditionally held to have been founded in 1206) seized the reins of empire. The territory under control of the Muslim rulers in Delhi expanded rapidly. By mid-century, Bengal and much of central India was under the Delhi Sultanate. Several Turko-Afghan dynasties ruled from Delhi: the Mamluk (1211–1290), the Khalji (1290–1320), the Tughlaq (1320–1413), the Sayyid (1414–51), and the Lodhi (1451–1526). As Muslims extended their rule into southern India, only the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar remained immune, until it too fell in 1565. Although some kingdoms remained independent of Delhi in the Deccan and in Gujarat, Malwa (central India), and Bengal, almost all of the area in present-day Pakistan came under the rule of Delhi.

The sultans of Delhi enjoyed cordial, if superficial, relations with Muslim rulers in the Near East but owed them no allegiance. The sultans based their laws on the Quran and the sharia and permitted non-Muslim subjects to practice their religion only if they paid the jizya or head tax. The sultans ruled from urban centers--while military camps and trading posts provided the nuclei for towns that sprang up in the countryside. Perhaps the greatest contribution of the sultanate was its temporary success in insulating the subcontinent from the potential devastation of the Mongol invasion from Central Asia in the thirteenth century, which nonetheless led to the loss of Afghanistan and western Pakistan to the Mongols (see the Ilkhanate Dynasty). The sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance resulting from the stimulation of Islam by Hinduism. The resulting "Indo-Muslim" fusion left lasting monuments in architecture, music, literature, and religion. In addition it is surmised that the language of Urdu (literally meaning "horde" or "camp" in various Turkic dialects) was born during the Dehli Sultanate period as a result of the mingling of Sanskritic Hindi and the Persian, Turkish, Arabic favored by the Muslim invaders of India. The sultanate suffered from the sacking of Delhi in 1398 by Timur (Tamerlane) but revived briefly under the Lodhis before it was conquered by the Mughals in 1526, who ruled from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries.

Alauddin Khilji

Main article: Alauddin Khilji

Other invasions from Central Asia followed his on a regular basis, such as that of Muhammad Khilji, who burned Nalanda's a major Buddhist library. The rulers of these territories became known as the Mughals and their empire that covered a large portion of India is known as the Mughal Empire.

Timur

Main article: Timur

The Mughal Empire

Main article: Mughal Empire

India in the 16th century presented a fragmented picture of rulers, both Muslim and Hindu, who lacked concern for their subjects and who failed to create a common body of laws or institutions. Outside developments also played a role in shaping events. The circumnavigation of Africa by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 allowed Europeans to challenge Arab control of the trading routes between Europe and Asia. In Central Asia and Afghanistan, shifts in power pushed Babur of Ferghana (in present-day Uzbekistan) southward, first to Kabul and then to India. The dynasty he founded endured for more than three centuries.

Babur

Main article: Babur

Claiming descent from both Genghis Khan and Timur, Babur combined strength and courage with a love of beauty, and military ability with cultivation. He concentrated on gaining control of northwestern India, doing so in 1526 by defeating the last Lodhi sultan at the First battle of Panipat, a town north of Delhi. Babur then turned to the tasks of persuading his Central Asian followers to stay on in India and of overcoming other contenders for power, mainly the Rajputs and the Afghans. He succeeded in both tasks but died shortly thereafter in 1530. The Mughal Empire was one of the largest centralized states in premodern history and was the precursor to the British Indian Empire.

Babur was followed by his great-grandson, Shah Jahan (r. 1628–58), builder of the Taj Mahal and other magnificent buildings. Two other towering figures of the Mughal era were Akbar (r. 1556–1605) and Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707). Both rulers expanded the empire greatly and were able administrators. However, Akbar was known for his religious tolerance and administrative genius while Aurangzeb was a pious Muslim and fierce protector of orthodox Islam in an alien and heterodox environment.

Ahmad Shah Abdali

Main article: Ahmad Shah Abdali

Aurangzeb

Main article: Aurangzeb

While some rulers were zealous in their spread of Islam, others were relatively liberal. The Moghul emperor Akbar was one who was relatively liberal and established a new religion, Din E Elahi, which included beliefs from different religions. He abolished the jizya for some time. In contrast, Aurangazeb was more zealous and, generally, during his term non-Muslims suffered. He reimposed the jizya, which his great grandfather Akbar had removed. It is a matter of historical record that under the rule of Aurangzeb a large number of natives were put to death.

In the century and a half that followed the death of Aurangzeb, effective Muslim control weakened. Succession to imperial and even provincial power, which had often become hereditary, was subject to intrigue and force. The mansabdari system gave way to the zamindari system, in which high-ranking officials took on the appearance of hereditary landed aristocracy with powers of collecting rents. As Delhi's control waned, other contenders for power emerged and clashed, thus preparing the way for the eventual British takeover.

Iconoclasm

Nalanda

Main article: Nalanda

In 1193, the Nalanda University complex was destroyed by Turkish Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khalji; this event is seen as the final milestone in the decline and near extinction of Buddhism in India. He also burned Nalanda's a major Buddhist library. Vikramshila University, also a major center of Buddhist learning, was destroyed as well, along with the rest of the Buddhist monasteries in India. By the end of the 12th century, following the Islamic conquest of the Budhist stronghold in Bihar, Budhists ceased to be a significant presence in India. The survivors retreated into Nepal and Tibet, or escaped to the south of the Subcontinent. The remnants of their culture lingered on even as far west as Turkestan. In March 2001, two giant statues of Buddha, the Buddhas of Bamiyan, were destroyed by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Vijayanagara

Main article: Vijayanagara

The city flourished between the 14th century and 16th century, during the height of the power of the Vijayanagar empire. During this time, it was often in conflict with the Muslim kingdoms which had become established in the northern Deccan, and which are often collectively termed the Deccan sultanates. In 1565, the empire's armies suffered a massive and catastrophic defeat at the hands of an alliance of the sultanates, and the capital was taken. The victorious armies then proceeded to raze, depopulate, and destroy the city over a period of several months. Despite the empire continuing to exist thereafter during a slow decline, the original capital was not reoccupied or rebuilt. It has not been occupied since.

Somnath

Main article: Somnath

The first temple of Somnath is said to have existed before the beginning of the Christian era. The second temple, built by the Maitraka kings of Vallabhi in Gujarat, replaced the first one on the same site around 649. In 725 Junayad, the Arab governor of Sind, sent his armies to destroy the second temple. The Pratihara king Nagabhata II constructed the third temple in 815, a large structure of red sandstone. Mahmud of Ghazni attacked this temple in 1026, and looted it of gems and precious stones. He then massacred the worshippers and had the temple burnt. It was then that the famous Shivalinga of the temple was entirely destroyed. The fourth temple was built by the Paramara King Bhoj of Malwa and the Solanki king Bhima of Gujarat (Anhilwara) between 1026 and 1042. The temple was razed in 1297 when the Sultanate of Delhi conquered Gujarat, and again in 1394. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb destroyed the temple again in 1706.

Historical Views

In his book Histoire de l'Inde the French historian Alain Danielou writes:

From the moment when the Muslims arrive in India, the history of India does not have any more great interest. It is long and monotonous series of murder, massacres, spoilations, destruction.

In his book The Story of Civilization the historian Will Durant said:

The Mohammadan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace may at any time be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within.

Hindu sage Padmanabha described in his KanhaDade Prabandha in 1456 AD the story of the Islamic invasion of Gujarat of the year 1298 AD:

The conquering army burnt villages, devastated the land, plundered people’s wealth, took Brahmins and children and women of all classes captive, flogged with thongs of raw hide, carried a moving prison with it, and converted the prisoners into obsequious slaves.

Tarikh-i-Yamini of Utbi the sultan's secretary wrote in the 11th century:

The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously at Thanesar that the stream was discoloured, notwithstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultan returned with plunder which is impossible to count.

Cultural influence

Islamic traditions blended with language, dress, cuisine, architecture, social customs and values of the natives to give rise to much of present day Indian culture. Numerous scientific and mathematical advances and the Indian mathematical numerals were spread to the rest of the world ^[1]. The languages brought by Islam were modified by contact with local languages leading to the creation of several new languages, such as Urdu, which uses the modified Arabic script, but with more Persian words. The influences of these languages exist in several dialects in India today. Islamic and Mughal architecture and art is widely noticeable in India, examples being the Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar.

References

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2. ^ "History of India syllabus". December 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)

Further reading

• Al-Biladhuri: Kitãb Futûh Al-Buldãn, translated into English by F.C. Murgotte, New York, 1924. See Goel's "Hindu Temples" for a list of 80 Muslim historians writing on the invasions.
• Sita Ram Goel: Hindu Temples - What Happened to Them 2 vols. ISBN 8185990492 Vol.1; Vol.2
• Sita Ram Goel: The Story of Islamic Imperialism in India [2]
• Will Durant. The Story of Civilization, Vol. I, Our Oriental Heritage, New York, 1972.
• Elliot and Dowson: The History of India as told by its own Historians, New Delhi reprint, 1990.
• Koenraad Elst: Negationism in India - Concealing the record of Islam [3], [4]
• François Gautier: Rewriting Indian History Chapter 4, Chapter 5, doc-format
• K.S. Lal: The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India [5]
• K.S. Lal. Indian Muslims - Who are they. [6]
• K.S. Lal: The Growth of Muslim Population in India, Voice of India, New Delhi
• Majumdar, R. C. (ed.), The History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume VI, The Delhi Sultanate, Bombay, 1960; Volume VII, The Mughal Empire, Bombay, 1973.
• Misra, Ram Gopal, Indian Resistance to Early Muslim Invaders upto AD 1206, Meerut City, 1983.
• Arun Shourie: Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud. New Delhi, 1998.

See also

• History of India
• Islam in India
• Mughal era
• Mughal empire
• Delhi Sultanate
• Islamic empires in India
• Decline of Buddhism in India
• Islamic conquest of Afghanistan
• Islamic conquest of Iran
• Islamic conquest of Iberia
• Crusades, Reconquista

External links

• History of Islam in India By Neria Harish Hebbar (Article with several pages)
• Article on Islamic invasions
• Library of modern Hindu history - The Islamic Ages
• A Response to Muslim Legacy in India
• History of India Indian site.
• Islamization and the Arab conquest of India
• The Legacy of Jihad in India