EARLY MUSLIM CONQUESTS IN INDIA
Overview
ü Muslim conquests in India started in the 12th century. However, periodical raids into India started as early as the 7th century.
ü The earliest Muslim foray into India occurred in 664 AD by Al Muhallab ibn Abi Suffrah, the governor of Khorasan (Iran) under the Ummayad Caliphate.
ü Invasions into India were carried out from the northwest over a period of ADnturies by Arabs, Turkic, Mongol and Turco-Mongol peoples.
Impact of Muslim conquests
ü The presence of Islamic governments from Spain/Morocco to Indonesia facilitated trade and enabled the establishment of a common legal system.
ü Ceramic tiles were introduced into India based on architectural designs in Persia and Central Asia.
ü Blue pottery (famous in Rajasthan) was cultivated by Muslim rulers who imported it in large quantities from China.
ü Numerous Indian scientific and mathematical advancements, including the numeral system, spread to the rest of the world.
ü Islamic languages were modified on contact with local languages to produce Urdu, which uses Persian words in the Arabic script.
Conquest during the Rashudin Caliphate
ü The Rashudin Caliphate was founded immediately after Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632 AD. At its height, the Rashudin Caliphate extended from North Africa to Persia, and parts of Afghanistan/Baluchistan.
ü During Rashudin Caliphate, significant conquests were made northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, especially areas like Makran and Sindh (in Pakistan).
ü These early conquests were primarily an extension of campaigns to conquer and annex the Sassanid Persian empire in the mid seventh century.
ü Islamic forces first entered Sindh in 644 AD during the reign of Caliph Umar, and established the eastern frontier of the Caliphate as the Makran region in Baluchistan.
Conquest during the Ummayad Caliphate
ü The Umayyad Caliphate was the second and largest of the four major Caliphates established following Muhammad’s death. It was established in 660 AD. At its height, it extended from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain/Portugal) to northwestern India.
ü In 712 AD, the Umayyad Caliphate sent an expedition under Muhammad bin Qasim, who defeated Raja Dahir of Sindh. He then annexed territory from Karachi to Multan.
ü This was the first significant Islamic expansion into traditionally Indian territories.
ü The main objective of the expedition was the Sun Mandir at Multan, known as the ‘City of Gold’ due to its wealth.
ü Qasim was immediately recalled to Baghdad by the Caliph, and the newly acquired territories were then administered by weak governors who only nominally acknowledged Arab authority.
ü Qasim’s successor, Junaid, was then defeated by a conglomeration of Hindu Rajput clans, including the Pratiharas, in the Battle of Rajasthan (738 AD). Following this defeat, Islamic expansion into India was stopped at the Indus for the next three centuries.
ü Multan became a centre of the Islmaili sect of Islam.
ü The northern regions comprising the Punjab remained under the control of Hindu kings, while the southern regions comprising Baluchistan, Sindh and Multan passed into Muslim control.
Mahmud of Ghazni
ü Mahmud of Ghazni was the most prominent ruler of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty
ü He ruled from 997 AD to 1030 AD.
ü The capital of the Ghaznavid dynasty was Ghazni in Afghanistan
ü At its height, the Ghaznavid territories included most of Iran and Pakistan and parts of northwestern India.
ü Mahmud Ghazni was the first ruler to carry the title Sultan.
ü Ghazni’s first expansion into India was his conquest of the Hindu Shahi dynasty which ruled Lahore and parts of Kashmir. Ghazni defeated and conquered Raja Anandapala of the Shahi dynasty in 1008 AD.
ü Over the next decade, Ghazni conquered the kingdoms of Nagarkot, Thanesar, Gwalior and Ujjain.
Muhammad of Ghor
ü Muhammad of Ghor (also known as Muhammad Ghori) was the sultan of the Ghorid dynasty centred in Afghanistan. Ghori ruled from 1202 to 1206 AD.
ü His capital was the city of Ghor in Afghanistan.
ü Muhammad Ghori defeated and dissolved the Ghaznavid dynasty in 1186 AD, thereby establishing the Ghorid dynasty.
ü He initially ruled as governor under his brother Ghiyas ud-Din Muhammad, and later became king following the latter’s death in 1202.
ü Ghori extended Islamic rule in India much further east than the earlier Ghaznavid kingdom.
ü Muhammad Ghori was defeated by Prithviraj Chauhan of Ajmer at the First Battle of Tarain (Haryana) in 1191 AD.
ü The next year, Ghori once again attacked and this time defeated Chauhan at the Second Battle of Tarain in 1192 AD.
ü Following this, Ghori captured the Rajput kingdoms of Saraswati, Samana, Kohram and Hansi. Ghori also captured Ajmer and Delhi, thereby ending Hindu rule in Delhi, with Prithviraj Chauhan becoming the last Hindu ruler of Delhi.
ü Since he had no heirs, Ghori’s kingdom passed into the hands of his Turkic slaves upon his death in 1206 AD. One of his slaves, Qutbuddin Aybak, took control of Ghori’s Indian territories and founded the Slave Dynasty in 1206, the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.
DELHI SULTANATE
Overview
ü The Delhi Sultanate was a period from the 13th to the 16th centuries when several Turkic and Afghan dynasties ruled northern India from Delhi.
ü The dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate were
o Mamluk dynasty (1206-1290)
o Khilji dynasty (1290-1320)
o Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413)
o Sayyid dynasty (1414-1451)
o Lodi dynasty (1451-1526)
ü The Delhi Sultanate was established upon the death of Muhammad Ghori in 1206 AD and was absorbed by the newly emerging Mughal Empire in 1526 AD.
Mamluk Dynasty
ü Also known as the Slave Dynasty, the Mamluk dynasty was the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate and ruled from 1206-1290 AD.
ü The Mamluks were essentially a Turkic people.
ü It was established by Qutub-ud-din-Aybak, a slave and general of Muhammad Ghori, who took over Ghori’s Indian territories following the latter’s death in 1206 AD.
ü Important rulers of the Mamluk dynasty include
o Qutub-ud-din-Aybak (1206-1210 AD)
o Shams-ud-din-Iltutmish (1211-1236)
o Razia Sultana (1236-1240)
o Ghiyas-ud-din-Balban (1266-1287)
ü The Qutub Minar (New Delhi) was commissioned by Qutub-ud-din-Aybak in 1193 AD. At 72.5 m, it is the world’s tallest brick minaret and is one of the earliest and most prominent examples of Indo-Islamic architecture. It is part of the Qutub Complex – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
ü Balban’s tomb is located in Mehrauli, New Delhi.
ü The Sultan Ghari, also in New Delhi, is the oldest Islamic mausoleum in India. It was built by Iltutmish for his son Nasir-ud-din Mahmud in 1231 AD.
ü Razia Sultana was the first female ruler of a Muslim kingdom anywhere in the world
Khilji Dynasty
ü The Khiljis were the second dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate. They ruled north and northwestern India 1290-1320 AD
ü They were Turko-Afghan people
ü The greatest ruler of the Khilji dynasty was Ala-ud-din-Khilji (1296-1316 AD)
ü Khilji attacked Chittor in 1303 after hearing of the beauty of queen Padmini, wife of king Rawal Ratan Singh. This event is the setting of the epic poem Padmavat written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi (in 1540 AD), in the Awadhi language
ü Khilji’s plunder of Gujarat in 1297 AD is noted for the loot of the Somnath temple and the destruction of the Sivalingam into pieADs.
ü Ala-ud-din-Khilji is noted for the first Muslim invasions of southern India. Khilji’s general, Malik Kafur, conquered Devagiri and Warangal, caused the collapse of the Hoysalas, and went as far south as Madurai, which was occupied for a brief period of time
ü Ala-ud-din-Khilji’s most important achievement was repelling repeated Mongol invasions of India between 1294 AD and 1308 AD, which would inevitably have brought destruction and devastation on a colossal scale
Tughlaq Dynasty
ü The Tughlaq dynasty ruled from 1321 to 1394 AD.
ü They were of Turkic origin.
ü The Tughlaq dynasty was founded by Ghiyas al-din Tughlaq in 1321 AD.
ü The most important ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty was Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325-1351 AD).
ü Muhammad bin Tughlaq was a renown scholar, was tolerant towards other religions and an innovative administrator. However, his experiments in reforming public administration often failed, earning him much satire.
ü He was responsible for the expansion of the Delhi Sultanate southwards into the Deccan region.
ü In order to strengthen his hold on newly conquered territories in peninsular India, Muhammad bin Tughlaq moved the capital of the Sultanate from Delhi to Devagiri in Maharashtra (which was renamed Daulatabad). Due to poor planning and facilities, the capital had to be moved back to Delhi two years later.
ü Muhammad bin Tughlaq also introduced copper-based token currency, the first such experiment in India. Although the copper currency was backed by gold and silver in government reserves, the switch was not embraced by the public and the experiment had to be abandoned.
ü Muhammad bin Tughlaq was succeeded by his cousin Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351-1388 AD). Firoz Shah Tughlaq re-built the top two storeys of the Qutub Minar with white marble, when the earlier structure was partially destroyed by lightning.
Sayyid Dynasty
ü The Sayyid dynasty ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1414 AD to 1451 AD.
ü The Sayyid’s came to power following a power vacuum induced by Timur’s invasion and devastation of Delhi in 1398 AD.
Lodi Dynasty
ü The Lodi dynasty ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 AD to 1526.
ü They were of Afghan origin.
ü The Lodi dynasty was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi in 1451 AD.
ü Sikandar Lodi (1489 AD-1517) founded the city of Agra in 1504. He attacked Gwalior five times but was repulsed each time by Maharaja Mansingh of Gwalior.
ü The last ruler of the Lodi dynasty was Ibrahim Lodi (1489 AD-1526).
ü Ibrahim Lodi was defeated by the Afghan Mughal Babur in the Battle of Panipat in 1526. With this, the Delhi Sultanate was dissolved and the Mughal Empire was established.
Legacy of the Delhi Sultanate
ü Perhaps the greatest contribution of the Delhi Sultanate was insulating the Indian subcontinent from the devastation of Mongol invasions in the 13th century.
ü However, the Delhi Sultanate failed to prevent the sacking of Delhi by Timur (aka Tamerlane). Timur sacked and pillaged Delhi in 1398 AD, leading to widespread devastation and destruction.
ü The Delhi Sultanate established a network of market centres through which traditional village economies were both exploited and stimulated.
ü Agricultural practices of shifting to cash crops (like sugarcane) instead of food crops were encouraged.
DECCAN SULTANATES
Overview
ü The Deccan Sultanates were five Muslim ruled kingdoms located in the Deccan plateau.
ü They ruled south Central India from 1527 to 1686.
ü The Deccan Sultanates were established following the breakup of the Bahmani Sultanate in 1527.
ü The five kingdoms of the Deccan Sultanates were
o Ahmadnagar (1490-1636)
o Bijapur (1490-1686)
o Berar (1490-1572)
o Golkonda (1518-1687)
o Bidar (1528-1619)
ü The Deccan Sultanates were generally rivals but united against the Vijayanagara Empire in the Battle of Tallikota in 1565.
ü An important cultural contribution of the Deccan Sultanates was the development of Dakhani Urdu – drawn from Arabic, Persian, Marathi, Kannada and Telugu.
ü The period is also famous for the development of Deccani miniature paintings, which flourished in Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Golkonda.
Ahmadnagar Sultanate
ü The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was located in northwestern Deccan, between the Gujarat and Bijapur sultanate.
ü The Sultanate was established by Malik Ahmad in 1490, who founded the Nizam Shahi dynasty.
ü The capital city of the Sultanate was initially Junnar, which was later shifted to Ahmadnagar.
ü The earliest examples of miniature paintings are found in the manuscript Tarif-i-Hussain Shahi (c. 1565).
ü This period is also known for the encyclopaedia Nrisimha Prasada written by Dalapati.
ü The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was annexed into the Mughal Empire by Aurangzeb (during the reign of Shah Jahan) in 1636.
Berar Sultanate
ü The Berar Sultanate was established by Imad-ul Mulk in 1490.
ü It was annexed by the Ahmadnagar Sultanate in 1572.
Bidar Sultanate
ü The Bidar Sultanate was established by Qasim Barid in 1490.
ü Bidar was sandwiched between the Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Golconda sultanates.
ü Bidar was annexed by Ibrahim Adil Shah II of the Bijapur Sultanate in 1619.
ü An important type of metalwork called Bidri originated in Bidar. These metalworks were carried out on black metal (mainly zinc) with inlaid designs of silver, brass and copper.
Bijapur Sultanate
ü The Bijapur Sultanate was established by Yusuf Adil Shah in 1490, who founded the Adil Shahi dynasty.
ü The Bijapur Sultanate was located in northern Karnataka, with its capital at Bijapur.
ü Under the Adil Shahi dynasty, Bijapur became an important centre of commerce and culture in India.
ü The Begum Talab was a 234 acre tank constructed by Mohammad Adil Shah in 1651 in memory of Jahan Begum. Underground pipes, encased in masonry supplied water from the tank to the city residents.
ü Ibrahim Adil Shah II wrote a book of songs in Dakhani urdu called Kitab-i-Navras. This work contains a number of songs set to different ragas.
ü The Bijapur Sultanate was annexed into the Mughal Empire by Aurangzeb in 1686.
Golconda Sultanate
ü The Golconda Sultanate was established in 1518 by Qutb-ul-Mulk, who founded the Qutb Shahi dynasty.
ü The Golconda Sultanate was located in northern Andhra Pradesh.
ü The capital city was Hyderabad.
ü The Qutb Shahi dynasty was responsible for the construction of the Jami Masjid (1518), Charminar (1591) and Mecca Masjid (1617).
ü Another famous structure from the period is the fort of Golconda.
ü The Shahi dynasty was instrumental in the development of Dakhani urdu.
ü Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah wrote the Kulliyat-i-Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in Dakhani urdu.
ü Golconda was annexed into the Mughal Empire by Aurangzeb in 1687.
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