Twilight of the Sultanate c7.s5.5

c7.s5.5

To the complacent mind of the conqueror, he had come to wage war against the infidels. But the fact is that Hindu rulers in northern India, save in Rajputana, were no more than petty landlords and defeat of a few of them had little effect on Hinduism in India. On the contrary, the overthrow of the Muslim Sultan of Delhi and its terrible sack wrought much harm to the strength of Muhammadan rule and gave rise to a number of strong Hindu kingdoms. “No wonder then that warriors fighting against Tīmūr are given the rank of martyrs by the Indian Muhammadan historians”¹⁸² and the ruthless conqueror is himself cursed as an “infidel” by the Muhammadans.¹⁸³