Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c15.38

c15.38

Ikhtiyaruddin Bakhtiyar Khalji's military success in the east also resulted in conversions to Islam. About the end of the twelfth or the begginning of the thirteenth century,³¹ he marched into Bihar and attacked the University centres of Nalanda, Vikramshila and Uddandapur, erecting a fortress at the site of Uddandapur or odantaprui.³² The Buddhist monks in these places were massacred and the common people, deprived of their priests and teachers, turned some to Hinduism and some to Islam. Buddhism did not die out immediately or completely in Bihar.³³ But Bakhtiyar's raid on Bihar did deliver a shattering blow to Buddhism and its lost followers were gained mainly by Islam. Muslim sway extended from Banaras through the strip of Shahabad. Patna, Monghyr and Bhagalpur districts,³⁴ and repeated references to the presence of Muslims in this tract from early times indicates that conversions were common in this region. Bakhtiyar converted some tribes in the Himalayan foothills also, and one chieftain, known after his conversion as Ali the Mech, had exchanged his animistic beliefs for the religion of Islam.³⁵