The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c2.1

c2.1

The importance of the century following the destruction of the Chauhana kingdom in 1190 A.D. needs little stressing. After the Arab and Ghaznawide preliminaries the Ghoride conquest planted the Muslim Turks over North India, firmly determined to settle and rule in the country. They became instrumental in the diffusion of those cultural elements of Islam which were to dominate Indian life for several centuries. And, yet, underlying the new values, was the continuity of Indian institutions and ways of life which the new rulers had little equipment or desire to drastically alter. The vanquished Hindu powers never forgave them and sorely tried their resources at a time when the Mongol barbarian consumed all their energy. Their empiricism, however, proved a great asset and by compromise and improvization they brought the foundation-process to a successful close. But in so doing they lost their trans-Indian affiliations and environment entered to outline the culture-pattern that is India of to-day and of yesterday. As initiating the medieval age of India the 13th century of the Christian era, therefore, holds the key to her history.