Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c22.s2: Hindu 'Protestant' Movement

Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c22.s2

Language: English

Hindu 'Protestant' Movement

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Another reason for India remaining a Hindu majority country was the resistance of the people to conversion to Islam. Before the advent of Islam India had seen the birth and growth of many religions and sects like Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Jainism, Buddhism, Shankara's neo-Hinduism, etc. People had freely 'converted', 're-converted' and at times conformed to more than one religious belief at one and the same time.

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But the Hindus could not have liked their co-religionists being *converted by conquerors and rulers by force.* In fact, as seen earlier, many times Hindus, who were converted to Islam, returned to their former faith on the first opportunity. Harihar and Bukka, converted to Islam by Muhammad bin Tughlaq, reverted to Hinduism and founded the kingdom of Vijayanagar to resist the expansion of Muslim power in the South. Although any return of converts to the Hindu fold was frowned upon by the Muslim rulers, and some Brahmins encouraging converts to return to Hinduism were put to death by Firoz Tughlaq and Sikandar Lodi,² yet in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there were conversions on such large scale throughout the country, that for once "the bleeding soul of the Hindus" rose in revolt.³ The Bhakti saints were the leaders of this 'protestant' movement.⁴

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² Afif, *op. cit.* (II, n. 15), pp. 379-81. Dorn, *Makhzan-i-Afghani*, (London, 1829), pp. 65-66. Ferishtah, *op. cit.* (II, n 6), I, p 182. Also Lal, *Twilight*, *op. cit.* (VI, n. 5), p 191.

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³ *Indian Heritage*, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Vol I. (Bombay, 1955); p. 227.

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⁴ Kabir declared: "I have come to save the devotees. I was sent here because the world was seen in misery". Tara Chand, *op. cit.* (VIII, n 14), pp. 150-151.

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It must be said at the outest that there is no recorded evidence to show that the Bhakti saints of the fifteenth century made any deliberate attempt to put a stop to conversions to Islam, or to re-convert people to Hinduism. Still there is good deal of circumstantial evidence to show that their reform movement did help check Muslim proselytizing activity It is significant that the socio-religious reformers associated with the Bhakti movement of the fifteenth century were all Hindus. There is some doubt about Kabir's parentage, but then "the whole background of Kabir's thought is Hindu".⁵ Indeed Kamal, the son of Kabir, who "probably had greater leanings towards Islamic ways of thinking", is remembered in the *Adi-grantha* by the disparaging line: "the family of Kabir foundered when Kamal the son was born."⁶

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⁵ G.H. Westcott, *Kabir and the Kabir Panth* (Cawnpore, 1907), p. 118. "The contrast", observes Ahmad Shah, "of Kabir's intimate Hindu thought, writings and ritual with the purely superficial knowledge of Moslem beliefs. revealed in the Bijak is too striking to be ignored." Ahmad Shah, *Bijak of Kabir* (Hamirpur, 1917), p. 40.

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⁶ Tara Chand, *op. cit.* (VIII, n. 14), pp. 182, 185.

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A striking feature of the Bhakti movement was that it gave to the lower class Hindus a respectable position in society. Indeed some of the leaders of this movement like Sain, Raidas, and Dhanna belonged to the lowest classes of Hindu social order. Because of this 'revolution' in which the lowest classes of people, even the untouchables, had not only got an equal status with the highest, but were even revered as saints,⁷ there could have been no incentive for the low classes of people to renounce their faith, if they ever had any before "because of Hindu tyranny," and go over to Islam. As Aziz Ahmad puts it, "like other Bhaktī poets his (Kabīr's) denunciation of the caste-system was as much an inspiration of Muslim example as a response to its pull of conversion."⁸ When Kabir denounced caste and ritual of the Hindus, he also denounced the superstitions and rituals of the Muslims; or, conversely, the idea is best expressed in the words of his disciple Naudhan (whom Sikandar Lodi executed): "Islam was true, but his own religion was also true.⁹ This was an open challenge to Muslim propagandism and proselytization. No wonder that Bhakti reformers were disliked by some Sufi Mashaikh, who looked upon them as competitors.¹⁰ For, under the influence of these saints many Muslims were converted to Bhakti Hinduism. Namdeva,¹¹ Ramdas, Eknath, Ramanand, Kabir, Nanak and Chaitanya and several other saints had Muslim disciples, many of whom converted to the Hindu Bhakti cult. Chaitanya openly converted Muslims to Bhakti Hinduism.¹² The *Bhaktamala* relates many instances of conversions that Pipa effected.

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⁷ *Ibid.*, pp. 179, 181.

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⁸ Aziz Ahmad, *op. cit.* (VIII, n. 18), p. 146.

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⁹ For details see Lal, *Twilight*, *op. cit.* (VI, n. 5), p. 191.

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¹⁰ A.A. Rizvi, *op. cit.* (XIII, n. 11), pp. 57-58.

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¹¹ M.G. Ranade, *Rise of the Maratha Power*, (Publications Division, Delhi, 1961), p. 75.

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¹² D.C. Sen, *Chaitanya and His Age* (Calcutta, 1922), p. 14; Abdul Karim, *op. cit.* (X, n. 20), pp. 150, 202-204; M.T. Kennedy, *The Chaitanya Movement* (Calcutta, 1925), p. 213. Tara Chand, *op. cit.* (VIII, n. 14), p. 219. D.C. Sen *History of Bengali Literature*, *op. cit.* (XII, n. 86), pp. 228-29. *Indian Heritage*, *op. cit.* (n. 3), I, p. 249.

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The effects of the mission of the socio-religious reformers with regard to conversion of people to Hinduism were significant They themselves had adhered to peaceful methods but not their followers. in later years. Kabir's disciples spread out throughout North India and the Deccan. Jiwan Das was the founder of the Satnami sect which took up arms against the Mughals. The Sikh disciples of Nanak's successor Gurus, for varied reasons, fought against the Mughals and many times converted people by force. So did the Marathas. Manucci and Khafi Khan both affirm that the Marathas used to capture Muslim women "because (adds Manucci) the Mahomedans had interfered with Hindu women in (their) territories".¹³ Chaitanya's influence in Bengal as of Nanak in the Punjab is still great. According to Abdul Majid Khan it is because of Chaitanya's influence in Bengal that large-scale conversions to Hinduism took place at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of nineteenth century.¹⁴

Cites (2)

Granth Sāhib — Gurū Arjun 1579, Hindi
Bhaktamāl — Nābhādās alias Nārāyaṇ Dās 1575, Hindi