The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c8.s8.1.2

c8.s8.1.2

After the defeat and death of Dahir, however, when the Arabs became the masters of almost the entire province and Muhammad was faced with an immediate necessity of establishing sound and durable administration, he felt compelled to choose between religious bigotry and political wisdom. It was physically impossible for a handful of the Arabs to take upon themselves all the work relating to the various branches of administration and to compel the natives to till the soil and to provide them with food and revenue. In the first place, the Arab number was small. Secondly, they were ignorant of Indian administration, revenue rules and regulations and principles of jurisprudence, etc. Thirdly, the Hindus were intensely devoted to their religion and, deeply conscious of the superiority of their faith and culture, looked down upon the conquerors as nothing more than masterful barbarians. They preferred death to Islam. Fourthly, the Hindus were armed to the teeth and in those days there was little difference in the equipment and quality of a regular soldier and the common people. An organised attempt at proselytisation would have meant a perpetual war and defeated the very object of the conquest. On the other hand, Islam, as interpreted by Muslim jurists and commentators of the Quran, granted toleration only to the Jews and the Christians, but not to the Hindus. The law of Islam divided the non-Muslims into two groups.