History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s4.21

v3.c41.s4.21

While in the preceding sub-period, India was in the happy condition of having one religion viz: Hinduism, except in Sind, in this sub-period India drifted back into the unhappy condition of professing three religions and having schisms within each notably within Hinduism. In addition to Sind, Ghazni, Kabul and the Panjab, in this sub-period came under the sway of Mahomedanism and Gujarat and Rajputana came under the sway of Jainism, though Jainism declined in the south. And within Hinduism itself the dissensions among the different philosophies and worships became most acute. The result was that India became weak in one essential characteristic at least, of a strong nation viz: unity of religious belief among the people. We will in this chapter describe the spread of Mahomedanism in the north-west and the progress of Jainism in the west and will also describe the growth of antagonistic schisms within Hinduism itself.