Indian Muslims: Who Are They c8.s1.1

c8.s1.1

Islam has spread in many parts of the world through wars and campaigns. In the medieval Indian chronicles the sovereign is always mentioned as the king of Islam, the territories of his empire are referred to as the land of Islam, its armies as soldiers of Islam, and its religious and Judicial head as Shaikh-ul-Islam. The monarch was committed to make Islam the true basis of private and public life through the enforcement of the Shariat and to convert the people to the true faith. In India the Muslim rulers keenness to obtain converts in war is vouched by many chroniclers. The *Tarikh-i-Muhammadi* gives a clear idea of the psychology of the rulers in this regard. Its author was a contemporary of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud, the son of Firoz Tughlaq. He says that while fighting Rai Subir (Sumer) in the vicinity of Iraj, the Sultan thought: If I will give orders to the army to fight (outright), they will not leave even a trace of the Kafirs in the region, but if I shall advance slowly, then probably these people will agree to embrace Islam.³ What professor Mohammad Habib writes concerning the Mongol applies equally to Turkish expeditions. In 1330 the country was invaded by the Mongols who indulged in arson, rape and murder throughout the Valley (of Kashmir). The king and the Brahmans fled away but among the inhabitants who remained Muslim ways of life were gradually adopted by the people as the only alternative⁴ Thus warfare brought captives, and captives were made Musalmans. Such was not the situation only in the North; in South also such methods of conversion prevailed, especially during wars between Bahmani and Vijayanagar kingdoms. Throughout the medieval period such wars were common, and forcible conversions helped in the rapid growth of Muslim population.