Muslim Invasions
8. Muslim Invasions
8.1. Timeline
997 AD: Mahmud of Ghazni raids northern India
998 AD: Mahmud of Ghazni conquers the area of Punjab
1192 AD: Mohammad of Ghori defeats Prithvi Raj, captures Delhi and establishes a Muslim sultanate at Delhi
1206 AD: The Ghurid prince Qutub-ud-din Aibak becomes the first sultan of Delhi 1250 AD: Chola dynasty comes to an end
1290 AD: Jalal ud-Din Firuz establishes the Khilji sultanate at Delhi
1325 AD: The Turks invade and Muhammad bin Tughlaq becomes sultan of Delhi
1343 AD: The southern kingdom builds its capital at Vijayanagar (Hampi)
1345 AD: Muslim nobles revolt against Muhammad bin Tughlaq and declare their independence from the Delhi sultanate. The Bahmani kingdom is established in the Deccan.
1370 AD: Vijayanagar kingdom takes over the Muslim sultanate of Madura in Tamil Nadu
1490 AD: Guru Nanak Dev Ji establishes Sikhism and the city of Amritsar
8.2. Mahmud of Ghazni (North) was the most prominent ruler of the Persian Ghaznavid dynasty of Turkic origin and ruled from 997 until his death in 1030. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni (now in Afghanistan) into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which extended from Afghanistan into most of Iran as well as Pakistan and regions of North-West India.
Mahmud then set out on regular expeditions against them, leaving the conquered kingdoms in the hands of Hindu vassals (is one who enters into mutual obligations with a monarch) annexing only the Punjab region. He also vowed to raid India every year.The Indian kingdoms of Nagarkot, Thanesar, Kannauj, Gwalior, and Ujjain were all conquered and left in the hands of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist Kings as vassal states and he was pragmatic enough not to shirk making alliances and enlisting local peoples into his armies at all ranks.
The later invasions of Mahmud were specifically directed to temple towns as Indian temples were depositories of great wealth and the economic and ideological centers of gravity for the Hindus. Destroying them would destroy the will power of the Hindus attacking the Empire since Mahmud never kept a permanent presence in the
Subcontinent; Nagarkot, Thanesar, Mathura, Kanauj, Kalinjar and Somnath were all thus raided. Mahmud's armies stripped the temples of their wealth and then destroyed themat Varanasi, Ujjain, Maheshwar, Jwalamukhi, Narunkot and Dwarka. During the period of Mahmud invasion, the Sindhi Swarankar Community and other Hindus who escaped conversion fled from Sindh to escape sectarian violence, and settled in various villages in the district of Kutch, in modern-day Gujarat, India.
8.3. Mu?ammad Ghori (North: 1162 - 15 March 1206), was a powerful governor and general and ultimately sultan of the Ghorid dynasty, centered in modern day Afghanistan. General Mu?ammad Ghori attacked the north-western regions of the Indian Subcontinent twice. In 1191, he invaded the territory of Prithviraj Chauhan of Ajmer. The following year Ghori assembled a large army and once again invaded the Kingdom of Ajmer. On the same field at Tarain, a second battle was fought in 1192 and Prithviraj killed. Rajput kingdoms likeSaraswati, Samana, Kohram and Hansi were captured without any difficulty. Finally his forces advanced on Delhi, capturing it soon after. Within a year Mu?ammad Ghori controlled northern Rajasthan and the northern part of the Ganges-Yamuna.He appointed Qutb-ud-din Aybak as his regional governor for northern India. The most profound effect of Ghori's victory was the establishment of Muslim rule in India which would last for centuries and have great impact on life and culture of South Asia for centuries. In 1206, Muhammad of Ghor died. He had no child, so after his death, his kingdom was divided into many parts by his slaves. Qutub-ud-din-Aybak became the king of Delhi, and that was the start of the Slave dynasty.
8.4. The Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526 CE)
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). Muslim Kings extended their domains into Southern India, the kingdom of Vijayanagar =resisted until falling to the Deccan Sultanate in 1565. Certain kingdoms remained independent of Delhi such as the larger kingdoms of Rajasthan, the Kalinga Empire. The Sultans of Delhi enjoyed cordial, if superficial, relations with Muslim rulers in the Near East but owed them no allegiance. They based their laws on the Quran and the Islamic sharia and permitted non-Muslim subjects to practice their religion only if they paid thejizya (poll tax). They ruled from urban centers, while military camps and trading posts provided the nuclei for towns that sprang up in the countryside. The final dynasty of the Sultanate before it was conquered by Babur in 1526, who subsequently founded the Mughal Dynasty.
Perhaps the most significant 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 13th century. The Sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance, 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 Delhi Sultanate period as a result of the mingling of Sanskritic Hindi and the Persian, Turkish, Arabic favored by the Muslim rulers of India.
Qutub Minar in Delhi is an example of Indo-Islamic architecture and the world's largest minaret at nearly 236 feet high. The first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, Qutb-ud-Din Aybak, commissioned the column as a symbol of triumph in 1199. After Aybak died, while playing polo after just four years of rule, his successor added additional stories to the structure. A fifth and final story was added in the 14th century.
Constructed out of red sandstone, quartzite, and marble, each of the minaret's stories has a different design theme. Koranic verses and the story of the tower's construction are inscribed on the structure. Below the towering minar is a mosque, Quwwatt-al-Islam ("Might of Islam"), also built in the early 12th century andconstructed using pieces of more than 20 destroyed Hindu and Jain temples.
The Qutab mosque and minar are Islam's oldest surviving monuments in India and part of the Qutub complex named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993.
8.5. Vijayanagar Empire (1336-1646) was an empire established in the southern state of Karnataka in India. It covered the entire Deccan region of Peninsular India. The Vijayanagar dynasty receives its name from the capital city of Vijayanagar.
The Vijayanagar Empire was famous for its rich heritage and beautifully constructed monuments that were spread over Southern India. The rich cultural heritage of Southern India was the main inspiration for temple architectural styles. The construction style of Hindu temples was inspired from the blending of different faiths and languages. Local granite was used in building temples first in the Deccan region and then in the Dravidian regions. The rulers of the Vijayanagar Empire were admirers of fine arts and encouraged people to indulge themselves in music, dance and handicrafts.
Trade and commerce was carried on vigorously and this brought about new ideas and a multitude of changes in the kingdom. Irrigation and water management systems were enhanced and developed during the Vijayanagar dynasty. Languages like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Sanskrit developed and literature reached new heights. Southern Indian classical music known as Carnatic music developed tremendously and achieved its current form. Vijayanagar kingdom created an era where Hinduism was a unifying factor And went beyond all boundaries of language and beliefs.
The Vijayanagar Empire emerged as one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Peninsular India and ruled there for 200 years. The empire was so strong that four Muslim kingdoms had to come together to destroy this strong kingdom. The ruins of this great kingdom can be seen even today at Hampi. Emperor Krishnadevaraya and his TenaliRama the court Jester are the most famous well known people of the Empire.
Sikhism is a monotheistic faith that originated in India during the 15th century. Today, it has roughly 20 million adherents worldwide, the majority of whom live in the Punjab, in northwest India. It was founded by Guru Nanak, the first in a line of ten gurus (spiritual leaders) who developed and promulgated the faith. In Punjabi, the word "Sikh" means "disciple"and the faithful are those who follow the writings and teachings of the Ten Gurus, which are set down in the holy book, the "Adi Granth."
Sikhism synthesizes elements of both Islam and Hinduism into a distinct religious tradition. Like Islam,it emphasizes belief in only one God and similar to Hinduism, teaches that the karmic cycle of rebirths cannot be overcome unless you achieve oneness with God. For Sikhs, everyone is equal before God and a good life is achieved by remembering God at all times, being part of a community, serving others, living honestly, and rejecting blind rituals and superstitions.
In the late 17th century the tenth guru, Gobind Singh, established a military brotherhood within Sikhism called the Khalsa (fraternity of the pure). Although not all Sikhs belong to the Khalsa, many obey its edict of wearing the five symbols of faith, the Five Ks: uncut hair (kesh), a wooden comb (kanga), a steel bracelet (kara), cotton undergarments (kachera), and a sword (kirpan). The turban worn by Sikh men is the most visible manifestation of their adherence to these principles.
