The 'Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent' mainly took place from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though earlier
Muslim conquests made limited inroads into the region, beginning during the period of the ascendancy of the
Rajput Kingdoms in
North India, from the 7th century onwards.
Background
Like other
sedentary societies in history, the Indian sub-continent has been attacked by
nomadic tribes throughout its long history. In evaluating the impact of
Islam on the sub-continent, one must also note that the sub-continent was a frequent target of tribes from
Persia and
Central Asia who arrived from the North West. With the fall of the
Sassanids and the arrival of the
Caliphate's domination of the region these tribes began to contest with the new power and were subsequently integrated into it giving rise to
Muslim dynasties of Central Asian heritage, generally the
Turks. In that sense, the Muslim invasions of the 10th century onwards were not dissimilar to those of the earlier invasions in the
History of Central Asia during the 1st through to the 6th century.
What does however, make the Muslim invasions different is that unlike the preceding invaders who assimilated into the prevalent social system, the Muslim conquerors retained their Islamic identity and created new legal and administrative systems that challenged and usually superseded the existing systems of social conduct and ethics. They also introduced new cultural mores that in some ways were very different from the existing cultural codes. While this was often a source of friction and conflict, it should also be noted that there were also Muslim rulers, notably Akbar, who in much of their secular practice absorbed or accommodated local traditions.
The first incursion by the new Muslim successor states of the
Persian empire occurred around 664
CE during the
Umayyad Caliphate, led by
Mohalib towards
Multan in Southern
Punjab, in modern day
Pakistan. Mohalib's expeditions were not aimed at conquest, though they penetrated only as far as the capital of the
Maili, he returned with wealth and
prisoners of war. This was an Arab incursion and part of the early
Umayyad push onwards from the
Islamic conquest of Persia into Central Asia, and within the limits of the eastern borders of previous Persian empires. The last Arab push in the region would be towards the end of Ummayyad reign under
Muhammad bin Qasim, after whom the Arabs would be defeated by the
Rajputs at the
Battle of Rajasthan in 738, and Muslim incursions would only be resumed under later
Turkic and
Pathan dynasties with more local capitals, who supplanted the Caliphate and expanded their domains both northwards and eastwards.
It took several centuries for Islam to spread across India and how it did so is a topic of intense debate. Some quarters hold that Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam by the establishment of
Jizya and
Dhimmitude favoring Muslim citizens, and the threat of naked force: the "Conversion by the Sword Theory." Others hold that it occurred through inter-marriage, conversions, economic integration, to escape caste structures, and through the influence of
Sufi preachers.
[1]
Conversion Controversy
Considerable controversy exists both in scholarly and public opinion about the conversions to Islam typically represented by the following schools of thought:
[2]
#That the bulk of Muslims are descendants of migrants from the
Iranian plateau or Arabs.
[3]
#That Muslims sought conversion through ''
jihad'' or political violence
#A related view is that conversions occurred for non-religious reasons of pragmatism and patronage such as social mobility among the Muslim ruling elite or for relief from taxes
#Conversion was a result of the actions of
Sufi saints and involved a genuine change of heart
#Conversion came from
Buddhists and the en masse conversions of lower castes for social liberation and as a rejection of oppressive existent
Hindu caste structures.
#Was a combination, initially made under duress followed by a genuine change of heart
#As a socio-cultural process of diffusion and integration over an extended period of time into the sphere of the dominant
Muslim civilization and global polity at large.
Embedded within this lies the concept of Islam as a foreign imposition and Hinduism being a natural condition of the natives who resisted, resulting the failure of the project to
Islamicize the Indian subcontinent and is highly embroiled with the politics of the
partition and
communalism in India.
An estimate of the number of people killed, based on the Muslim chronicles and demographic calculations, was done by
K.S. Lal in his book ''
Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India'', who claimed that between 1000 CE and 1500 CE, the population of Hindus decreased by 80 million. His work has come under
criticism by historians such as Simon Digby (
School of Oriental and African Studies) and
Irfan Habib for its agenda and lack of accurate data in pre-
census times. Lal has responded to these criticisms in later works. Historians such as
Will Durant contend that Islam spread through violence.
[4][5] Sir Jadunath Sarkar contends that that several Muslim invaders were waging a systematic
jihad against Hindus in India to the effect that "Every device short of massacre in cold blood was resorted to in order to convert heathen subjects."
[6] In particular the records kept by al-Utbi, Mahmud al-Ghazni's secretary, in the Tarikh-i-Yamini document several episodes of bloody military campaigns. Hindus who converted to Islam however were not completely immune to persecution due to the
Caste system among South Asian Muslims in India established by Ziauddin al-Barani in the ''Fatawa-i Jahandari''.
[7], where they were regarded as an "Ajlaf" caste and subjected to discrimination by the "Ashraf" castes
[8]
Critics of the "Religion of the sword theory" point to the presence of the strong Muslim communities found in
Southern India, modern day
Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka and western
Burma,
Indonesia and the
Philippines coupled with the distinctive lack of equivalent Muslim communities around the heartland of historical Muslim empires in the Indian subcontinent as refutation to the "conversion by the sword theory".
The legacy of Muslim conquest of South Asia is a hotly debated issue even today. Different population estimates by economic historian Angus Maddison
[9] show that India's total population, including adherents of all religions, did not decrease between 1000 and 1500, but increased by about 35 million, from 75 million to 110 million, during that time.
Not all Muslim invaders were simply raiders. Later rulers fought on to win kingdoms and stayed to create new ruling dynasties. The practices of these new rulers and their subsequent heirs (some of whom were borne of Hindu wives) varied considerably. While some were uniformly hated, others developed a popular following. According to the memoirs of
Ibn Batuta who travelled through Delhi in the 14th century, one of the previous sultans had been especially brutal and was deeply hated by Delhi's population. His memoirs also indicate that Muslims from the Arab world, from Persia and Turkey were often favored with important posts at the royal courts suggesting that locals may have played a somewhat subordinate role in the Delhi administration. The term "Turk" was commonly used to refer to their higher social status. S.A.A. Rizvi (The Wonder That Was India - II), however points to Muhammad bin Tughlaq as not only encouraging locals but promoting artisan groups such as cooks, barbers and gardeners to high administrative posts. In his reign, it is likely that conversions to Islam took place as a means of seeking greater social mobility and improved social standing.
[10]
Impact of Islam and Muslims in India
Expansion of trade
Islam's impact was the most notable in the expansion of trade. The first contact of Muslims with India, was the Arab attack on a nest of pirates near modern-day
Bombay, to safegaurd their trade in the
Arabian Sea. Around the same time many Arabs settled at Indian ports, givng rise to small Muslm communities. the growth of these communities was not only due to conversion, but also the fact that many Hindu kings of south India (such as those from
Cholas) hired Muslims as mercenaries.
[11]
A significant aspect of the Muslim period in world history was the emergence of Islamic Sharia courts capable of imposing a common commercial and legal system that extended from Morocco in the West to Mongolia in the North East and Indonesia in the South East. While southern India was already in trade with Arabs/Muslims, northern India found new opportunities. As the Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms of Asia were subjugated by Islam, and as Islam spread through Africa - it became a highly centralizing force that facilitated in the creation of a common legal system that allowed letters of credit issued in say Egypt or Tunisia to be honoured in India or Indonesia (The
Sharia has laws on the transaction of Business with both Muslims and
Kaffirs). In order to cement their rule, Muslim rulers initially promoted a system in which there was a revolving door between the clergy, the administrative nobility and the mercantile classes. The travels of exploere Muhammad Ibn-Abdullah
Ibn-Batuta were eased because of this system. He served as an Imam in Delhi, as a judicial official in the Maldives, and as an envoy and trader in the Malabar. There was never a contradiction in any of his positions because each of these roles complemented the other. Islam created a compact under which political power, law and religion became fused in a manner so as to safeguard the interests of the mercantile class. This led world trade to expand to the maximum extent possible in the medieval world.
Sher Shah Suri took initiatives in improvement of trade by abolishing all taxes which hindered progress of free trade. He built large networks of roads and constructed
Grand Trunk Road (1540-1544), which connected
Calcutta to
Kabul, of which parts of it are still in use today.
Spread of technology
With the growth of international trade also came the spread of manufacturing technology and an urban culture. Local inventions and regional technologies became easily globalized. This was of profound importance to those parts of the world that had lagged in terms of technological development. On the other hand, for a nation like India which had had a rich intellectual tradition of its own, and was already a relatively advanced civilization, this may have been of lesser import. Although there is considerable debate amongst historians as to how much technology was actually brought into India by Muslim invaders, there is one (albeit controversial) school of thought that argues that inventions like the water-wheel for irrigation were imported during the Muslim period. In some other cases, the evidence is much clearer. The use of ceramic tiles in construction was inspired by architectural traditions prevalent in Iraq, Iran, and in Central Asia. Rajasthan's blue pottery was an adaptation of Chinese pottery which was imported in large quantities by the Mughal rulers. There is also the example of Sultan Abidin (1420-70) sending Kashmiri artisans to Samarqand to learn book-binding and paper making.
Cultural influence
The divide and rule policies, two-nation theory, and subsequent partition of India in the wake of Independence from the
British Empire has polarized the sub-continental psyche, making objective assessment hard in comparison to the other settled agricultural societies of India from the North West. Muslim rule differed from these others in the level of assimilation and syncretism that occurred. They retained their identity and introduced legal and administrative systems that superseded existing systems of social conduct and ethics. While this was a source of friction it resulted in a unique experience the legacy of which is a Muslim community strongly Islamic in character while at the same time distinctive and unique among its peers.
The impact of Islam on Indian culture has been inestimable. It permanently influenced the development of all areas of human endeavour - language, dress, cuisine, all the art forms, architecture and urban design, and social customs and values. Conversely, the languages of the Muslim invaders were modified by contact with local languages, to Urdu, which uses the Arabic script. This language was also known as
Hindustani, an umbrella term used for the vernacular terminology of
Urdu as well as
Hindi, both major languages in the Indian subcontinent today.
Muslim rule saw a greater urbanization of India and the rise of many cities and their urban cultures. The biggest impact was upon trade resulting from a common commercial and legal system extending from
Morocco to
Indonesia. This change of emphasis on mercantilism and trade from the more strongly centralized governance systems further clashed with the agricultural based traditional economy and also provided fuel for social and political tensions.
A related development to the shifting economic conditions was the establishment of Karkhanas, or small factories and the import and dissemination of technology through India and the rest of the world. The use of ceramic tiles was adopted from architectural traditions of Iraq, Iran, and Central Asia. Rajasthan's blue pottery was a local variation of imported Chinese pottery. There is also the example of Sultan Abidin (1420-70) sending Kashmiri artisans to Samarqand to learn book-binding and paper making. Khurja and Siwan became renowned for pottery, Moradabad for brass ware, Mirzapur for carpets, Firozabad for glass wares, Farrukhabad for printing, Sahranpur and Nagina for wood-carving, Bidar and Lucknow for bidriware, Srinagar for papier-mache, Benaras for jewelry and textiles, and so on. On the flip-side encouraging such growth also resulted in higher taxes on the peasantry.
Numerous Indian scientific and mathematical advances and the
Hindu numerals were spread to the rest of the world and much of the scholarly work and advances in the sciences of the age under Muslim nations across the globe were imported by the liberal patronage of Arts and Sciences by the rulers. 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
Jama Masjid.
Early Muslim communities
Several reasons existed for the desire of the rising
Islamic Empire to gain a foothold in
Makran and
Sind; ranging from the participation of armies from Sindh fighting alongside the Persians in battles such as
Nehawand,
Salasal,
Qadisia and
Makran, pirate raids on Arab shipping to the granting of refuge to rebel chiefs.
The
Punjab and
Sind region had also been historically under considerable flux as Central Asian Kingdoms, the Persian Empire,
Buddhist Kingdoms and
Rajput Kingdoms vied for control prior to the arrival of the Muslim influence.
Islam in India existed in communities along the Arab trade routes in
Sindh,
Ceylon and Southern
India.
Conquest during Rashidun Caliphate
During
Rashidun Caliphate significant conquest were made in north western and south western subcontinent (''now Pakistan''). These were not the whole scale invasion of subcontinent but merely extension of
Islamic conquest of Persia.
Invasion of Sindh
The
province of
Sistan was the largest province of
Persian Empire its frontiers extended from
Sind in
east, to
Balkh (Afghanistan) in
north east.
[12] During
Rashidun Caliphate, the
Islamic conquest of some parts of
Sind was extension of the campaigns to conquer the
Persian empire in
643 A.D by sending seven armies from seven different routs to different parts of empire.
Islamic forces first entered
Sind during the reign of Caliph Umar, in
644 A.D. It was not a whole scale invasion of
Sind but was merely as extension of the conquests of the largest province of Persia
Sistan and
Makran region. In
644 A.D, the columns of Hakam ibn Amr, Shahab ibn Makharaq and Abdullah ibn Utban concentrated near the west bank of
river Indus and defeated the
Hindu
External Links
★
destruction of Hindu temples by Muslim invaders
★
more on the subject
★
Hindu temples and Aurengazeb
★
Memoir of the Emperor Timur (Malfuzat-i Timuri) Timur's memoirs on his invasion of India; describes in detail the massacre of Hindus, forced conversions to Islam and the plunder of the wealth of Hindustan (India). Compiled in the book: "
The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period", by Sir H. M. Elliot, Edited by John Dowson; London, Trubner Company; 1867–1877
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