The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c21.16

c21.16

Within this restricted area, the conquest took nearly a whole century to consolidate. Petty Hindu chiefs defied the Delhi government; Muslim colonization was vigorously resisted, and the fighting class were easily led to revolt by any enterprising chief, Hindu or Muslim. The organization of the administration was far from complete at the end of the century, though the military nature of the occupation disappeared as the first immigrants were replaced by those born in India and speaking Indian vernaculars and having an interest in the country. The Mongols did a great deal in indianising the Turks, for India became their last refuge and this they defended with the tenacity of a people defending their homeland. If the Sultanate was originally an alien imposition it soon became thoroughly Indian in purpose, struggling, as India has struggled many a time in her history, against a barbaric invader. The Turkish Muslims in resisting the Mongols were guarding India’s gate and, like the Hindushahiyas and the Chauhanas, could claim gratitude of the Indian princes.