History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c40.6

v3.c40.6

2. There being no sentiment of nationality, the ingress of foreigners was usually not objected to. Except in Kashmir and Tibet which had impregnable boundaries, the ingress of foreigners was not prohibited, was not even watched. Hence Mahomedans came into the several kingdoms freely and often settled therein. Thus we find them settled in Nāharwala, in Cambay, in Sopara, in Mahārāshtra and even in the Kanauj kingdom.* They even insisted on being governed by their own magistrates, as is evidenced by Mahomedan writers, as also by the expression Hanjamana-Nagara-Trivarga already noticed in Thana inscriptions. That the strength of states is impaired by the presence of foreigners is seen clearly by the modern states of the west which exercise strict watch over the ingress of foreigners. Indian states did not realise this or feel the necessity of strict watch over them owing to the absence of the feeling of nationality. Though there is no recorded evidence of it, one can imagine how the presence of Mahomedans in the several kingdoms must have contributed to their eventual subjugation.