Coming
Soon
Arab
conquest
of Sindh
Gazanvids,
Ghoris & Slaves
Khaljis,
Mongol and Tughlak
Sayyids
& Lodis
Disintegration
of the Delhi Sultanate
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After
Harshavardhan India hardly had to suffer from any great foreign invasion.
The Muslim invasion on India however proved to be the greatest of all
and resulted in the establishment of the powerful Mughal Empire in India.
But even before the formation of the Mughal Empire, India in the medieval
period had been invaded for a number of times. Every time the invaders
happened to be the Muslims. Islam arose at Mecca in Arabia in around
6th century A.D. Arabs and Turks played an important part
in the spread of Islam. Obviously Arabs were the first Muslim invaders
of Bharat.
It is true that the Arab conquest of Sindh happened in 712 A.D but even
before that, attempts to conquer India had been made by Arabs. A mention
of an expedition on Thane, near Bombay under the Caliphat of Omar is
found. But the expedition failed. Once the Khalifa was reported that,
in Sindh, " water is scarce, fruits are poor, and the robbers are
bold; if a few troops are sent, they will be slain; if many; they will
starve. Still
in 711A.D. Arabs were compelled to take up the conquest. Initially Arab
invasion was a part of their general aggressive policy. Many reasons
are given that provoked them, to attack Sindh. It is said, that the
King of Ceylon who had already embraced Islam, was sending some valuable
presents and troops to the Calipha. But they were being plundered by
the pirates off the coast of Sindh. Many accounts mentioning different
reasons for the Arab conquest are available. However when the Arabs
conquered Sindh instead of influencing them, they themselves were influenced.
They learnt philosophy from Brahmans and Buddhists. It is also believed
that the numerical figures which the Europeans said to have learnt from
the Arabs were originally learnt by the Arabs from Indians.
When Arabs were the first Muslim invaders to attack
India, the work started by them was completed by the Turks, who are
better known to us as the Gaznavides.
These
Turks were more ambitious, more aggressive than the Arabs. They were
determined to spread Islam, at the point of sword. And the same was
their intention in invading India. Alaptgin was the first Turkish king
to get associated with the Muslim conquest of India.
After
the Arabs and the Gaznavides it was Muhammad
Ghori and his successors
who were successful in real terms in building up a Muslim Empire in
India. In spite of the presence of the Rajputs in India, who were great
warriors Ghori’s campaigns were successful. The defeat of the Rajputs
is always attributed to the fact, that there was no unity amongst them.
Secondly their military organization was weak. Though not correct, it
is true that the Rajputs always considered battle as a tournament in
which they tried to show their skills, cavalry and bravery. But the
Muslims did not care for any rules of the game.
Ghoris were followed by the Slave
dynasty, the Khalji dynasty, the Tughluqs, the Sayyids
and the Lodi
dynasty, however
the disintegration
of the Delhi Sultanate
had already started during the reign of the Tughluqs. The cities and
regions of Jaunpur, Malwa, Gujarat, Khandesh found themselves in confusion
and chaos due to ups and downs of frequent annexation of political power,
until they were finally annexed by the Mughals. The Bahamani
and the Vijayanagar kingdoms were the only powerful kingdoms
existing after the disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate.
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