An Outline of the Religious Literature of India c12.3

c12.3

§ 337. The new factor in the religion of India during these centuries is the influence of Islam. That influence seems to be scarcely traceable in the literature before 1400; but we choose 1350 as the opening year of the new period, because it is most probable that further research will succeed in discerning its activities a good deal earlier. Islamic ideas are not so generally diffused as the great elements which have hitherto formed the distinguishing features of our periods, but they seem to be of greater importance than any other force operative during these centuries.