Advent of Islam in Sub-continent

The glory and splendor, the solid achievement and the

established traditions, the sound administration and
magnificent culture of the Muslims empire have been
the significant features of the Muslims history of the
subcontinent.

INTRODUCTON: 
Arabs, as traders entered the sub-continent within a
two years after their conversion to Islam. The Muslim
traders played a very significant role in preaching Islam
in the subcontinent, as Hitti remarks that it has passed
through three distinct stages “originally a religion,
Islam later became a state and finally a culture”.
The Arab Muslims conquered Sindh in the seventh
century A.D. Sea faring and maritime interest of the
Arabs on the coast of India were considerable even
before Islam: and under a centralized government of
Umayyad, the commercial activities expanded in the
subcontinent. Mohammad bin Qasim, the conqueror of
Sindh made Sindh Dar-ul-Islam and based his policy on
the Sharia; the laws of Islam. The majority of converts
who entered the fold of Islam belonged to lower caste
of Hindus to whom Islam at once brought that social
equality which Hinduism had denied them from a long
time. Arab missionary activities also played a significant
role in the large scale conversion of Hindus. As T.W.
Arnold says, “But for the arrival of the Portuguese, the
whole of this coast would have become
Mohammedan”.Feroze Shah Tughlaq in his
autobiography writes, “I encouraged my infidel subjects
to embrace the religion of the Prophet. The new
converts were favoured with presents and honours”.

TRADERS AND GROWTH OF ISLAM:

Islamic influence first came to be felt in the Indian sub-
continent during the early 7th century with the advent
of Arab traders. Arab traders used to visit the Malabar
region , which was a link between them and the ports
of South-East Asia to trade even before Islam had been
established in Arabia. According to Historians Elliot and
Dowson in their book ‘the history of Indians as told by
their historians’, the first ship bearing Muslim travelers
was seen on the Indian coast as early as 630 AD. H.G.
Rawlinson, in his book: Ancient and Medieval History of
India y J. Sturrock claims the first Arab Muslims settled
on the Indian coast in the last part of the 7th century
AD.
The Arab merchants and traders became the carriers of
the new religion and they propagated it wherever they
went. However, it was the Muslim conquests in Persia,
including the provinces of Kirman and Makran, which
brought the Arabs face to face with the then ruler of
Sindh, who had allied with the ruler of Makran against
the Muslims. But, it was not until the sea borne trade of
the Arabs in the Indian Ocean was jeopardized that
serious attempts were made to subjugate Sindh. 
Bab-ul-Islam: The invasion of Muhammad bin Qasim
ushered the way for spread of Islam in sub-
continent.But,to say that the invasions were reasons of
spread of Islam is absolutely wrong because if it so
then why Halaku khan could not succeed in spreading
Buddhism anywhere in the World?
Preaching of Islam: 

History is witness that there were some major groups

of elements who preached, propagated and popularized
Islam. Among them were Sufis, Ulemas and reformers.
All are discussed below in detail:

A: SUFIS: 
IN the Subcontinent, the Sufis made untiring, selfless
and incessant struggle for the spread, growth and
evolution of Islam. The spread of Islam stems from the
invasion of Muhammad Bin Qasim in the Subcontinent,
but roots of Sufism took shape and became an
institution in the 12th and 13th century. The two great
pioneers in this filed were Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani and
Hazrat Shahabuddin Suharawardy. Four branches of
Sufism, namely Qadriya, Chishtiya, Suharawardya and
Naqshahbandya were introduced in the Subcontinent
can be traced to the time when the first Sufi,
Muhammad Alfi, came to the Subcontinent. It was their
affection, sympathy, fraternity and unlimited
philanthropist actions that won the hearts of people.
1. Shaikh Ismail Bukhari: CENTRE: CENTRAL PUNJAB (LAHORE)
Due to his attractive personality people accepted Islam
in large number. Thousands of Hindus attended his
sermons every Friday and it was generally believed that
no unbeliever came into personal contact with him
without being converted to Islam.
2. KHAWAJA MUIN-UDIN CHISHTI: CENTRE: RAJISTHAN(AJMER)
A Great Sufi, popularly known as ‘khowaja Ajmeri’
converted thousands of non-Muslims to Islam. While in
Delhi on his way to Ajmer he is said to have converted
Seven hundred Hindus to Islam. He also introduced
‘Chishtya silsila’ in India.

3. BAHA-UD-DIN ZAKARIA: CENTRE:

A highly educated person, Bahaudin Zakaria was the

founder of ‘SHORWARDI silsila’ in India. His alluring
personality and policy of public welfare impressed non-
Muslims to embrace Islam at a grandiose scale.
4. FARID AL-DIN GANJ SHAKAR: CENTRE: FAR-
NORTH-INDIA(PAKPATAN)
Farid was an eloquent Panjabi poet. With his elegant
speech and wide spread message of peace, he became
successful in winning hearts of non-Muslims.
5. NIZAM-UDIN-AULYA:

CENTRE: NORTH-INDIA (DELHI)

His vision of the world was marked by a highly evolved

sense of secularity and kindness. Historiographer
Ziauddin Barani claims that his influence on the
Muslims of Delhi was such that a paradigm shift was
affected in their outlook towards worldly matters.
People began to be inclined towards mysticism and
Islam. His disciple Amir Khusro was reason of
introducing new modes to Sufism, say Qawali’.

6. ALI MAKHDOOM HAJWERI:

Hazrat Ali Bin Osman Hujweri, popularly known as Data

Ganj Bux. He was leading Sufi philosophers of the day.
He did immense missionary work in his individual
capacity and set an outstanding example for future
generations.
Above all, it was the sheer straggle of the Sufis which
paved the way for the future Islamic state in the
Subcontinent. Had the Sufis shunned their practice of
Islamic teachings in the 13th and 14th century, it would
have been difficult to implant a Muslim civilization in
the country where a well-organized Hindu community
had lived for centuries

B.ULEMAS:
There were many disruptive forces at work in the
Muslim community of post-Aurangzeb India. This was a
period of social and political disintegration of Muslim
India which was intensified by Hindus nationalism. This
political situation was capriciously dealt by many
Ulemas.

SHAH WALIULLAH:

Shah Walliullah found not only political but also spiritual

downfall of the Muslims of India. The greatest and the
most poisonous of them was the sectarian differences,
between the Sunnis and Shia’s.Besides, economic and
social factors were also responsible for that breakdown.
He thought his first duty as a reformer was to
reinterpret Islamic values. Shah Waliullah went back to
the original sources of the Islamic law, the Quran and
the Hadith.The socio-political condition of the Muslims
also needed reforms. On economic front, Shah suggests
that basic needs and requirements of human life should
be fulfilled and the institutional development was
essential. 
However, apart from Shah Walliullah, there were many
prominent Ulemas who did brilliant work for work of
Islam and Muslim community. Among them, Sheikh
Ahmed Sirhindi (Mujadid Alif Sani) and Sheikh Abdul
Haq were noteworthy.

C: CLERGY (Madhabi Paishwa) AND

GROWTH OF ISLAM:
The Islamic clergy also paved the way for growth of
Islam in sub-continent. Using their Friday sermons and
power to issue fatwas they were able to exercise
greater influence on the polity than were Hindu priests.
With the rulers on their side, it was much harder to
challenge them. Hence, there was a systematic cycle of
Islamic preaching and way of life, which attracted
liberal non-Muslims.

D: REFORMERS:
SIR SYED AHMED KHAN:

The whole blame and repercussions of war of

independence fell over Muslims. The revolutionary
personality took the task. According to the need of
time, the policy of Sir Syed was based on unquestioned
loyalty to the British government. He was the earliest
modernist in the history of Islamic thought. When in
1867, the ‘Hindi-Urdu controversy’ started, Sir Syed
gave the idea of ‘TWO-NATION
THEORY’.Religiously,English missionaries produced
literature designed to create doubts in the mind of the
average Muslim. He managed to interpret those
thoughts for western education with interest of Muslim
nation. To save the Muslim from the charges of
disloyalty and also raising the intellectual level of
Mulsims,Sir Syed wrote immensely:” loyal
Mohammedans of India”; a magazine “tahzib-ul-
akhlaq”.His biggest achievement was creation a ‘British
Indian Association Aligarh(which later resulted in
creation of ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE) and Aligarh
movement.
IQBAL: The poet philosopher Iqbal played an important
role in stipulating the spirit into the Muslim nation in
Indo-Pak. He became the greatest exponent of the
Muslim Milat of the subcontinent. His words were
mighter then sword. For awakening the Muslims from
dead sleep, he says:

And for stressing unity in Muslim nation, he says:

Thus, though reformers like Iqbal were modern and

final architecture of Muslim nation but their role in
building a nation is liable for tribute.

E: RULERS AND GROWTH OF ISLAM:

Islam in sub-continent grew more strongly because of
Islamic rule there.But, at the same time, it is wrong to
assume that if missionaries had not received a fresh
impulse under the Muslim dynasties, its propagation
would have been checked. Islam grew more and more
with or without the backing of political power to it,
especially during the British rule. According to the
Census report of 1891: “It is satisfactorily proved that
since last twenty years, out of very 10,000 persons in
Bengal, Islam has gained 650 persons.So,lets have a
look that how MUSLIM rule helped in growth and
evolution of Islam.
• INVASION OF INDIA:

With the political factor as reason’detre of invasion of

Hindustan, Muhammad bin Qasim established first ever
Muslim rule in India. Thus starts the history of Muslim
rule in India.
• POLICIES OF MUSLM RULERS FOR ISLAM:
It is noteworthy to observe that the how the Muslim
rulers supported the elements which were ingredients
for growth and evolution in Islam. Let’s check the few
examples:

A: SULTAN Mohammad Toghluq transferred numerous

saints and Sufis to Daulatabad. 
B: Masud, the son of Sultan Mahmud while coming to
Lahore, brought with him Sufis like Ali Makhdum
Hajweri of Ghazni.
C: Sher Shah Suri in his short reign played a
particularly decisive role in creating several new urban
centers particularly like Delhi and Rohtas.These urban
centers were viewed as ‘MUSLIM COLONIES’.
E: Rulers like Ahmed Shah of Ahmadabad or Adil Shah
of Bijapur maintained a relatively close connection with
indigenous traditions. Ahmed Shah incorporated Hindu
and Jain architectural motifs into his buildings without
inhibition.
F: Mughal rulers like Akbar and Jahangir tried to be
eclectic in their tastes, and others like the Deccan
rulers encouraged unique local-flavored styles. Some of
the more enlightened Islamic rulers invested in vital
public works. This pretended them to be more an
Indian ruler then a Muslim ruler.Thus, their non-Muslim
subjects had good courtesy towards them and this
helped in spread of Islam.

OTHER FACTORS:
• ECONOMIC POLICY AND EVOLUTION OF M.SOCIETY
Agriculturally developed societies played a crucial role
in this transformation. The interests of the mercantile
community were such that they wished agricultural
taxes to be high but trade duties to be low. By and
large, Islamic rulers implemented exactly such a
regime. This enabled the founding of new trading and
manufacturing centers that emerged wherever Islam
took hold. For the desert areas of the world, Islam
came as a big boon - providing wealth from trade that
would have been unimaginable considering the poverty
of the natural landscape.
• CULTURE,ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR CAUSE OF
ISLAM: The growth in migration, trade and development
of Hindustan ushered the Muslim community and Islam
in Hindustan. That is why historian call things like ‘indo-
Islamic culture/architecture’. In culture,. In
architecture, the use of ceramic tiles in construction
was inspired by architectural traditions prevalent in
Iraq, Iran, and in Central Asia. In technology, there is
also the example of Sultan Abudin (1420-70) sending
Kashmiri artisans to Samarqand to learn book-binding
and paper making. Many Islamic rulers developed
Karkhanas - i.e. small factories during their reign.
Towns were hub of in particular industries.Like,Mirzapur
for carpets, Firozabad for glass wares, Farrukhabad for
printing, Lucknow for barware, Srinagar for papier-
mâché, Benaras for jewelry and textiles, and so on.