Course Name- B.A.L.L.B. IInd Sem.

Subject- History
Teacher- Dr. Niru Jain
Topic- Advent of Muslims in India
The Coming of Muslims to India

1. Early Muslim Settlement

It is generally held that the Muslims first came to India in the eighth
century, when the Arab invasion of Sindh took place. This is an
erroneous view. In fact the Muslims first established a contact with
India long before that and they were carrying on trade and
commerce with the Malabar coast of India. The contacts between
the Greeks and the Indians seem to be as old as the first century.

There are references in the works of the Greek and Roman writers
about Indian imports and exports as well as about the geography of
India. Certain coins of the Roman Emperors dating back to first to
fourth century A. D. have been found in South India, which is a
clear indication of India’ s contacts with the outside world. In short
it can be said that here was a tremendous intercourse between India
and the Arab world even before the rise of Islam in the beginning of
the seventh century.

2. Rise of Islam and Its Impact:

With the rise of Islam and the unification of the Arab tribes a new
movement of expansion set in. The Muslim armies after conquering
Syria and Persia started hovering over the outskirts of India. The
first Arab fleet appeared in Indian waters in 636 A. D. when the
Usman Sakifi, the Governor of Bahrain and Uman, sent an army
across the sea to Tana.

This action of Usman was severely condemned by Caliphate Umar

and he suspended the activities of fleet. During the subsequent
years the policy of armed interference in India was abandoned.
However, a great deal of information was collected about India,
which ultimately proved helpful during the conquest of Sindh in the
eighth century under Mohammad-bin-Qasim.
Settlement on Western Coasts:

In the subsequent centuries the Persian and Arab traders continued

to settle on the western coast of India. These settlements on the
coasts of India continued to flourish and the Muslim influence
continued to grow.

The Indian rulers welcomed these traders and provided them with
all facilities like peaceful settlement, acquisition of landed property
and freedom of religion. Zamorin rulers, who ruled over the flouri-
shing port of Calicut, gave special encouragement to the Arab
merchants.

They also encouraged the people to embrace Islam. Similarly other

rulers of the western coast followed a policy of great religious
tolerance. Masaudi, who visited India in the tenth century, says that
the Hindu king of “Cambay was interested in religious discourses
and exchanged ideas with Muslims and other people who might
have visited his kingdom.”

Similarly about the king of Gujarat Masudi writes:

“In his kingdom Islam is respected and protected; in all parts rise of
the domes of beautiful mosques where Muslims worship”.

The number of the Muslim settlers on the western coast was on the
increase is borne out by other narratives also.

3. Muslim Invasions of East:

In the meanwhile the Arabs conquered extensive territories from

711-713 A. D. under Muhammad-Bin-Qasim, the nephew of Al-
Hajaj, the Arab Governor of Basra. They captured the territories of
Sindh and Multan after defeating the Hindu rulers like Raja Dahir.
Though the Arabs won victories they were not able to retain power
due to lack of knowledge about the art of administration and
government. Per force they were compelled to leave the
administration in local hands.

This conquest did not long last and with the death of Muhammad-
Bin-Qasim the first chapter of Muslim occupation came to an end.
Though politically the Arab conquest of Sindh was a significant
event it left a deep and far reaching impact on the Muslim culture.

Therefore it has rightly been pointed out that it was India and not
Europe that taught Islam in the impressionable years of its youth.
The Arabs apart from learning the art of administration from the
Indians learnt philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, medicine,
chemistry, etc. and transported these ideas to the West.

4. Turkish Conquest of Punjab:

Towards the close of the tenth century the Turks of Ghazni first
under Subuktgin and subsequently under his son Mahmud attacked
Punjab and captured trans-Indus territory from the Hindu rulers of
Shahi dynasty. Mahmud was inspired to undertake annual
invasions against India mainly due to the wealth of the country and
the zeal to spread Islam.

He attacked north India (excluding Bengal and Bihar) seventeen

times. During these attacks though he carried rich treasures to
Ghazni and destroyed a number of temples, but these invasions left
no political impact.

The only possible political impact was an indirect one. His

successful invasions exposed to the world the political and military
weakness of India It provided a fillip to the subsequent Muslim
invaders to undertake fresh ventures to conquer the land of infidels
(non-believers as the Hindus were usually described).
 5. Foundations of Muslim Rule:

Though the Muslims launched a number of invasions against India

but they never thought of establishing their rule in this country till
the twelfth century. The first to pay attention in this direction was
Shahab-ud-Din Ghori (1175—1206). Within & period of ten years he
conquered and annexed Multan, Uchh (Sindh) and Lahore.

He defeated the Rajput leader Prithvi Raj of Delhi in the second

battle of Tarain in 1192 and conquered Ajmer, Kanauj, Banaras etc.
This task of conquests was carried on after his retirement from
India by his able lieutenant Kutabud-Din Aibak and Mohammad
Bakhtiyar Khilji.

They conquered Gwalior, Kalinjar, Gujarat, Bengal and Bihar. Thus

within thirty years the entire region between Indus and
Brahmaputra parsed into the hands of the Muslims Thus the
foundation of the Muslim rule in India was solidly laid down.

After the Ghoris the Slaves, Khiljis, Tughlaq, Sayyid and Lodhi
dynasties continued to bring more territory under their control.
During this period numerous works of history were produced but
they pay more attention to the activities of the kings, courts and
conquests and completely ignore the study of the culture of the
people.

One very peculiar feature of the Muslim rule in India was that
unlike the former invaders the Greeks, Scythians, Mongols,
Parthians etc., who came to adopt Hindu names, speech, manners,
religion, dress and ideas, within few generations of their settlement
in India, the Mohammedans retained their independent entity.

They could not make any compromise with the polytheism (belief in
plurality of deities) of the Hindus because they were essentially
monotheistic. The capacity of Hinduism, which had absorbed so
many foreigners within its fold had also considerably decreased and
they were not willing to mix up freely with the Muslims.
Naturally the members of the two communities lived in the same
land without mixing up with each other.
There is great controversy amongst the scholars whether the
Muslims were absorbed in the Indian society or not. While Pandit
Nehru in his ‘Discovery of India’ expresses the view that the Muslim
invaders were absorbed in India, their royal dynasties were comp-
letely Indianized and they considered India as their motherland.

Sir Jadunath Sarkar does not accept this view and holds that “the
Indian Muslims, throughout the succeeding centuries, turned
towards a spot in Mecca, had their own law code, their own ad-
ministrative system, their own language, literature, shrines and
saints. They never restricted to India as is the case with the Hindus.
They always looked to the countries outside India and sought
models from Arabia, Syria, Iran and Egypt.” He further says that
they were frequently engaged “in oppressing and persecuting the
majority of the country with which they had cast their lot”.

In fact Muslims of all the invaders in India led militant religious

crusade upon India. They were full of religious zeal and had come to
India with the definite objective of converting the infidels to Islam.
The Muslims tried to retain their exclusive identity in India which
ultimately resulted in the demand of a separate state of Pakistan
and the partition of India into two parts.

Despite the efforts of the Muslims to maintain their original

character and the resistance of the Hindus to the practices of
Muslims, an unconscious fusion and synthesis of the two different
cultures did take place. Through this interaction of the Hindu and
Islamic cultures was mainly confined to the prosperous cities and
upper classes, yet it cannot be denied that it did take place.

The following factors directly or indirectly contributed to

this fusion:

(1) Need of Cooperation of Hindu Population:

Though the Muslim rulers brought the territories under their

control with the help of force, it was not possible for them to
provide a stable government in the country without the cooperation
of the Hindu population. The Hindus still dominated the economic
life of the country and the Muslims sought their co-operation.

Most of the accountants and revenue collectors were Hindus. In the

administration of justice also the Hindu Pandits rendered necessary
assistance to the Muslim judges. In short, it was not possible for the
Muslim monarchs to carry on the administration of the country
without the help of the Hindus.

(2) Hindu Support During Wars:

The Muslim rulers, the Sultans of Delhi in particular, sought the

assistance of the Hindus to curb the revolts of the Muslim nobles. It
became essential for the Muslim rulers to win the support of the
Hindus to meet the challenges posed by the revolting Muslim
nobles. This also explains why some of the zealous and fanatical
Muslim sovereigns also adopted a favourable attitude towards the
Hindus and their culture.

(3) Compromising Attitude of Hindus:

Though initially the Hindus were bitterly opposed to the Muslim

conquest, but in course of time they realised the futility of continued
hostility towards the Muslim rulers. Therefore, they made a
compromise with them and tried to accommodate their culture.

The Hindu culture also found its way into Muslim society through
the newly convert Muslims. This naturally resulted in Muslim
scholars and saints making an effort to study the Hindu scriptures
and the Hindus taking to the study of Quran.

The policy of religious persecution gave place to the policy of

religious toleration. With the exception of some Muslim rulers,
most of the Muslim rulers encouraged Hindu literature and fine
arts. They even adopted some of the Hindu religious practices and
paid visit to Hindu pilgrimages.
In short it can be said that with the lapse of time a spirit of
harmony, toleration, and co-operation appeared between the
Hindus and Muslims.