The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c5.10

c5.10

Arab's fiery enthusiasm produced only a faint echo in his heart and, though good-natured and jovial, he could at times, like his distant Mongol kinsmen, be almost devoid of human sentiments. To him, Islam was only a weapon, a weapon of decoration and of offence. It raised his status as a member of the most progressive world community and opened the way to power and to riches. But he was not a barbarian; he detested the uncouth Mongols of Tartary. He was sensitive to beauty, justice and to humanism and learning; and amazing was his transformation. From the rude horsemen, galloping in the steppes, to the poetry-loving patrons of Firdousi and Khusrau seems a vast change but all this was accomplished in less than a hundred years. For a nomadic, fighting race to be the protector of all that was best in Islamic culture when the Mongols enveloped all Asia in a whirlwind of destruction, is no mean achievement.