Muslim Slave System in Medieval India c9.4

c9.4

Both these traditions were followed in India. In 1195 when Raja Bhim was attacked by Aibak 20,000 slaves were captured, and 50,000 at Kalinjar in 1202. The temples were converted into mosques, writes Hasan Nizami, and the voices of the summoners to prayer ascended to the highest heavens, and the very name of idolatry was annihilated.⁴ Call to prayer five times a day with a loud voice carried an invitation and a message - join us, or else. People could refuse this invitation or call at their own peril, spiritual and physical. As His followers became more powerful, the peril became increasingly more physical.⁵ This process helped in the conversion of captives. Murry Titus pertinently remarks that we may be sure that all those who were made slaves were compelled to embrace the religion of the masters to whom they were allotted.⁶ Farishtah specifically mentions that during the capture of Kalinjar fifty thousand *kaniz va ghulam*, having suffered slavery, were rewarded with the honour of Islam. Thus enslavement resulted in conversion and conversion in accelerated growth of Muslim population.