The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.423

v3.c20.423

Muhammad had for some time past deliberately encouraged foreigners of all nations to settle in his dominions. He cherished the insane design of subjugating the whole world. His knowledge of geography was scanty and he could form no conception of the magnitude of the task which he proposed to himself, but he understood that the first step to be taken would be the conquest of the neighbouring countries of Transoxiana and Persia, and with this object in view he encouraged wealthy and influential Mughuls and natives of Khurāsān to enter his service in the hope that they would assist him in the conquest of their native lands. Later in his reign, when he had succeeded in obtaining the formal recognition of al-Hākim II, the Abbasid Caliph in Egypt, he obliged these foreigners to swear allegiance to him as the only lawful Muslim sovereign.