Indian Muslims: Who Are They c4.17

c4.17

Ikhtiyaruddin Bakhtiyar Khaljis military exploits in the east also resulted in conversions to Islam. About the end of the twelfth or the beginning of the thirteenth century,⁵⁰ he marched into Bihar and attacked the University centres of Nalanda, Vikramshila and Uddandapur, erecting a fortress at the site of Uddandapur or Odantapuri.⁵¹ The Buddhist monks in these places were massacred and the common people, deprived of their priests and teachers, turned some to Brahmanism and some to Islam. Buddhism did not die out immediately or completely in Bihar.⁵² But Bakhtiyars raid on Bihar did deliver a shattering blow to Buddhism and its lost followers were gained mainly by Islam. Muslim sway extended from Varanasi through the strip of Shahabad, Patna, Monghyr and Bhagalpur district,⁵³ and the presence of Muslims in this tract from early times indicates that conversions by the Khaljis warriors 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 native beliefs for the religion of Islam.⁵⁴