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Indian History-AD-2
(622-1526 AD)
India
has a continuous civilization since 2500 BC. During
the 2nd millennium, Aryan speaking tribes migrated from northwest into the Indian subcontinent.
From
"A New History of India", by Stanley Wolpert. 2004.
THE
IMPACT OF ISLAM (711-1526 AD) - 815 years
Birth of Islaam - 622 AD
Islaam
rose in Saudee Arabia in 622. It certainly changed the course of history
of India as Aarya's dispersion did more than 2000 years ago. It is
difficult to imagine two religious ways of life, more different than
Islaam and Hinduism. When Muhammad (570-632) was about 40 years old (c 610), the Prophet
started to receive revelations. Then he fled to North of Makkaa,
Madeenaa and after that the city invited him to become its temporal and
spiritual leader in 622, which is regarded as the first year of Muslim
calendar. For the love of Allaah, all Muslim were obliged to give alms
to the poor, to pray five times a day facing Makkaa, to fast over the
9th lunar month (Ramaadaan), and to make at least one pilgrimage (Haj)
to Makkaa. Holy war was vigorously waged against those who failed
peacefully to submit to God's will. Never before in world history had an
idea proved so contagious and politically potent.
Islaam
in India - 711 AD
India remained untouched to Islaam's existence during the first two
decades. An Arab commander of the first Islaamic force to reach India
reported from Sindh to his Caliph in 644, that "water is scarce, ,
the fruits are poor, and the robbers are bold,, if a few troops are sent
they will be slain, if many they will starve." This pessimistic
report postponed Muslim conquest until 711 AD; when an Arab ship
launched an expedition of Syrian horses and Eeraaquee (Iraqi) camels,
6,000 each, against the kings of Sindh. They either converted people to
Islaam or killed them. By the 10th century, Islaam had changed into an
empire embellished by Persian and protected by Turkish slaves. It soon
became too vast, too diverse for any one Caliph to control; so
independent kingdoms emerged under regional rulers rule, who by the 11th
century assumed the title Sultaan.
Mahamood
Gaznavee of Gazanee (Afgaanistaan) (b/d 971-1030)
The first independent Turkish Islamik kingdom was founded by a warrior
slave named Alptigin who seized the Afgaan fortress of Gazanee in 962,
and from there he established a dynasty that continued to about 200
years. It was his grandson Mahamood Gaznavee (971-1030) who came to
India annually to loot it 17 times. Gazanavee were the first in a series
of of Tuko-Afgaan Muslims to invade. Mahamood Gazanavee of Gazanee began
his raids in 997, every winter, and looted its all kinds of wealth -
temple idols, jewels, women etc. Looting Thaaneshwar, Mathuraa, Kannauj,
Raajkot, Somnaath were his targets, and he converted his Gazanee into
one of the world's greatest centers of Islaamik culture by this loot in
the 11th century.
The
brilliant physician, astronomer, philosopher and historian al Baroonee
(b 973) and the great Persian poet Firdaus, author of the "Shaah
Naamaa" were two luminaries brought to Gazanee. The court
chronicler Utabee claimed that his Sultaan destroyed 10,000 temples in
Kannauj alone. Even if it is an exaggeration, it is not difficult to
estimate the destruction done by him. In 1025, people of Somnaath just
stood calmly watching his army to loot the temple in the hope that
Bhagavaan Shiv himself will do something for their protection. The
chronicler has reported that "50,000 Hindoo were slain on that day,
and more than 2 million Deenaar's worth gold and jewels were taken away
from the hollow Lingam shattered by Mahamood's sword. Before his death,
Mahamood annexed the Panjaab as the Easternmost province of his empire.
His raids were the first
SLAVE
DYNASTY (Daas Vansh) (1175-1290) - 115 years
Muhammad
Gauree (1175-1206) and His Slave Qutubuddeen Aibaq in India - 1175-1210
For a century and a half, after the death of Mahamood, Gazanee itself was
seized by Turkish Sultaan Muhammad (was he Khurd?). Muhammad
Gauree and his slave lieutenant Qutubuddeen Aibaq first raided India in
1175 AD. Destroying the Gazanee's kingship in Peshaavar in 1179,
capturing Lahaur (Lahore) in 1186 and Dehlee (Delhi) in 1193, Muhammad
returned to Gazanee leaving his lieutenant to consolidate India from
Dehlee.
The
Raajpoot (literally means "king's son) waged war against them.
Although claiming direct descent from either the Aaryan Soorya or
Chandra, all four of of the major Raajpoot dynasties (Pratihaar,
Paramaar, Chauhaan, and Chaalukya) probably originated in Central Asia
themselves. They always stood as the vanguard of India, and even when
defeated in battle or driven from one desert after another, they never
completely surrendered.
Buddhism
Sent in Exile - Eastern region (Udeesaa, Bihaar, Bangaal, Aasaam)
had prospered under a series of independent dynasties - first Paal, then
the Varman and finally the Sen whose capital Nadiyaa was conquered by
Turko-Afgaan power in 1202. India's major centers of Buddhism, including
the great university at Naalandaa where more than 10,000 monks lived and
studied, were sacked at this time. Many fled to Nepaal and Tibbat and
many were killed who were not fast enough to flee. Thus Buddhism was
sent to exile from the land of its birth, never to return again in any
significant numbers until 1954, when B R Ambedkar, India's learned
leader of Hindoo untouchables, publicly converted to Buddhism with some
50,000 of his followers as a political protest. Although it flourished
on the soils of Nepaal, Tibbat, Chinaa and Jaapaan and most of Southeast
Asia but the Sangh found no sanctuary on Indian soil for some 7 and 1/2
centuries
Qutubuddeen
Aibaq in India - (1206-1210) - 4 years
He was the
first Muslim ruler of India. Although he had been ruling in various
capacities in India since 1175 when he came along with his master
Muhammad Gauree, but when, in 1206,
Muhammad Gauree was assassinated in Laahaur, Qutubuddeen Aibaq proclaimed himself
as Sultaan of Dehlee initiating the dawn of
Islaamik dynasties in South Asia. He was the most trusted man of Gauree.
Initially he was a slave whom Gauree bought. This Sultanat lasted for 320 years,
including 5 successive Turko-Afgaan Dynasties. Qutubuddeen Aibaq died
falling down from a polo pony in 1210. He built Qutub Meenaar in
Dehlee as a victory tower inspired by the Minaret of Jam in Afgaanistaan.
He started it in 1193, but completed its basement only.
Shamsuddeen
Iltumish (1211-1236) - 25 years
After his death his able son-in-law Shamsuddeen Iltumish reigned from
Dehlee for 25 years. He wisely ruled by leaving local kings under their
own control as long as they paid the revenue to his treasury which was
never empty. By diplomacy he kept the armies of Changez Khaan from
invading Dehlee. He was hailed by his chroniclers and contemporary
poets. By his death in 1236 Dehlee was the most powerful state in North
India.
Raziyaa
Sultaan (1237-1240) - 3 years
After Iltumish's death, his vigorous daughter Raziyaa succeeded her
father to the throne, which she managed to hold for 3 years. Raziyaa was
only Muslim woman to rule on Indian soil. She was murdered in 1240 and
her father's palace guards, some 40 in number, ruled jointly for the
next 6 years (1240-1246).
Balban
(1246-1287) - 40 years
Among the palace guards, Balban was the most shrewdest guard. He was
Raziyaa's chief hunts man. He seized effective power in 1246, but still
under the puppet king Baharaam. He thus ruled until 1266 when he assumed
the title of Sultaan, which he retained for 20 more years. He also kept
Mongols at bay by a combination of firmness and diplomatic wooing.
Always surrounded by elite corps of palace guards, Balban spoke to none
but his leading officials and was impartially ruthless in disposing of
his own relatives as he was in dismissing strangers. Prostrating and
foot kissing were both insisted upon by this slave who became Sultaan.
He gave poison to all of his 40 comrades, thus left no friends to remind
him of his former status. He was using old Indian, Arthshaastra,
techniques to retain power. He died in 1887, but his power continued for
3 years more through his competing grandsons.
When this
Slave Dynasty was ruling here,
KHILAJEE
DYNASTY (1290-1320) - 30 years
Jalaaluddeen
Firoz Khilajee (1290-1296) - 6 years
After the death of Balban in 1287, his grandsons managed to continue for
3 years more, then Jalaaludden Firoz Khilajee, Balban's General, came to
throne in 1290 by coup that inaugurated the second Dehlee dynasty -
Khilajee Vansh. Originally Turkish, the Khilajee had moved to
Afgaanistaan, and then settled in India after Gaznavee and Khurd
invasions. Jalaaluddeen was in his 70s when he ascended the throne and
could only retain it for 6 years. He did little more than suppress
Balban's supporters. The short-lived yet significant dynasty that he
began left its mark on Indian history. After his death his nephew
Alaauddeen Khilajee sat on the throne. In fact Alaauddeen murdered him
in 1296.
Alauddeen
Khilajee (1296-1316) 20 years
As he sat on the throne, after killing his uncle Jalaaluddeen Khilajee
in 1296, he ventured into the Daccan to loot Yaadav's (descendents of
Yadu) capital Devgiri and distributed the looted gold to bring the
loyalty among the people who had killed his uncle in 1296. Thus Daccan
and Tamilnaad also came under the impact of Islaam. Many Jaageer which
were under Muslim nobles, Alaauddeen bought them to bring under his
control. His network of spies was efficient enough to make him more
feared than hated, and his homosexual relationship with Malik Kaafoor,
the second most powerful figure in the sultanat accounts for singular
intrigue at his court. He was a cruel but remarkable capable monarch.
Yaadav's capital Devgiri was taken in 1307. He died in 1316 and his line
collapsed. Malik Kaafoor unsuccessfully tried to retain control of both
court and army, but was killed by his own soldiers. One of Alaauddeen's
four sons, Qutubuddeen Mubaarak, survived his father's death by 4 years.
Then for most of the remaining 14th century, Tugalaq ruled the country.
TUGALAQ
DYNASTY (1320-1396)
Gayaasuddeen
Tagalaq (1320-1325) - 5 years
After Alaauddeen's death, one of his four sons survived by 4 years. Then
for most of the remaining 14th century, Tugalaq ruled the country. The
founder of this third Muslim Dynasty in India was Gayaasuddeen Tagalaq,
the son of a court Turkish slave and a Hindoo Jaat woman, who ruled only
for 5 years. In 1325, Gayaasuddeen and his favorite son were both killed
when a victory pavilion erected by his other son and successor Muhammad
(reign, 1325-1351) suddenly collapsed.
Muhammad
Bin Tugalaq (1325-1351) 26 years
Rising to power over the corpses of his father and brother, he searched
for religious peace. The Muslim world traveler Ibn Batootaa, who
traveled through Africa and Asia during 1225-1254, served as chief judge
in Muhammad's court. He has recorded that how much strict Muhammad was
for the observance of religious rites. He established a second capital
in Daccan to rule Daccan. He forced many nobles and officials to abandon
heir homes in Dehlee in 1327 and journeyed over 500 miles, across the
Vindhya-Satpudaa to Devgiri which he named as Daulataabaad. Many died in
that journey and for many this new capital proved to be inhospitable.
In
1329-1330, he attempted another surprising innovation - the issue of new
currency. Possibly to emulate Chinese whose use of paper currency was
quite successful, the Sultaan issued brass or copper tokens equivalent
to the increasingly rare silver "Taankaa" (140 grains). It
could have successful if the foreign merchants had accepted it. Indians
were permitted to turn in their coppers at the royal mint for silver or
gold. But within 3-4 years he was obliged to withdraw his special coins
because of the heavy loss to treasury. From 1335 to 1342 (7 years),
India suffered one of its most severe and prolonged periods of drought
and famine.
In
1335, an independent Sultanat of Maduraa was established by Tugalaq
Governor Ehsaan Shaah, when Muhammad moved there to suppress it, others
raged in Laahaur and Dehlee, forcing the Sultaan to return to Dehlee.
When Hindoo chiefs saw Muslims rising in Tamilnaad, rebellions raised
similar banners there also and a new Hindoo kingdom arose south of
Tungbhadraa River - Vijaya Nagar founded by Harihar. rebellions broke
out Muhammad's rule in southern areas in 1345 and this discontentment
led to establish Bahmaanee rule in Daccan, by Hasan Gangoo in 1347.
Taking as his title-name Alaauddeen Bahmaan Shaah, Hasan founded
Bahmaanee Dynasty, the mightiest and longest-lived Muslim Dynasty of the
Daccan which remained until for some 200 years and survived in fragments
for another century more.
Soofeeism
in India in 13th century - In 1338, Bangaal declared independence
from Dehlee. Soofeeism, Islaam's mystic thread which evolved primarily
as a Persian influence upon Islaam, struck a responsive chord in
Bangaal's population especially among Buddhists who were left without
priesthood to turn to spiritual guidance after 1202. Three types of
Soofeeism appeared by the 13th century - Chishtee, Suharaavardee, and
Firdausee. These wandering Peer were like Hindoo Bhakti saints. Bangaal
retained its sovereign status till the peak of Mugal power and Akbar's
conquest in 1576.
When
Muhammad Tugalaq was killed fighting rebellion in Sindh in 1351, his
cousin Firoz ascended the throne.
Firoz
Tugalaq (1351-1388) 37 years
When Muhammad Tugalaq was killed fighting rebellion in Sindh in 1351,
his cousin Firoz ascended the throne. He is famous for abolition of
torture, passion for building, and lifelong adherence to the tenets of
Islaam. The new Dehlee constructed in his name Firozaabaad was full of
gardens, mosques and colleges. He is credited for constructing no fewer
than 40 mosques, 30 colleges, 100 hospitals, and 200 new towns including
50 dams and reservoirs. He seems to have been one of the most
intelligent monarch of the Sultanat. He was the last of the strong
Sultaan of Dehlee. Within a decade of his death the kingdom declined
fast.
Taimoor
Lang (1398-1399 AD)
Within a decade of Firoz Tugalaq's death the kingdom declined fast.
Tamerlane, or Taimoor Lang (he was lame) of Central Asia entered Panjaab
through passes and in 1398 entered Dehlee itself. Tens of thousand of
slaves were dragged away as living booty and the great mosque of
Samarkand was later built by stonemasons of Dehlee. He left India in
1399 before Summer. For months together Dehlee lay quiet as not a bird
moving. After a century later his great grandson Baabar would return to
found the Mugal dynasty on the same site.
After
Taimoor Lang - 15th century
After Taimoor's invasion, many states became independent. Two kings
ruled Dehlee after it - a Saiyyad king Khijra Khaan during 1414-1450,
and a Lodee, an Afgaan clan, Buhlul Lodee during 1451-1489. Then came
Buhlul's son Sikandar Lodee who ruled during 1489-1517. He himself used
to write poetry and encouraged books on medicine and music. His mother
was a Hindoo and he himself fell in love with a Hindoo princess. The
last of Lodee Dynasty, Ibraaheem Lodee (1517-1526) was unable to command
people his father was ruling upon. Portugese who had already landed at
Maalaabaar Coast in 1498, went unnoticed; but the immediate threat for
him didn't come from a 1,000 miles away, but from nearby Laahaur, whose
city gates were flung wide open to welcome the king of Kaabul, Baabar
(1483-1530)
Baabar
was the great grandson of Taimoor Lang, and a descendent of Mangol
Changez Khaan from his mother's side. In fact Daulat Khaan had invited
him to save him from Ibraaheem Lodee. He came and founded the Muslim
Dynasty - the greatest one in Indian history, as the first Baadshaah
(emperor) of the Mugal, on April 21, 1526.
Bhakti
Saints - Kabeer, Naanak, Chaitanya - During 15th and 16th centuries
Before the end of 14th century, the wave of Bhakti Hinduism, born in
South India had reached the Gangaa River at Banaaras along whose banks
Raamaanuj's greatest disciple Raamaanand was settled. Among the many
disciples of Raamaanand was an illiterate Muslim weaver Kabeer
(1440-1518) whose poems tried to diminish the religious differences
between Hindoo and Muslim. In Panjaab, Naanak (1469-1538) was
born as a Hindoo whose doctrine was "One God, the Creator".
His doctrine was reared on the doctrines of Islaam, rejected caste and
became the first Guru of the Sikh faith, though later it became a
martial one, with subsequent Guru to take up the sword against Mugal. In
Bangaal, Chaitanya Mahaaprabhu (1485-1533) was born with such
intoxicated devotional frenzy that his disciple believed him to be a
reincarnation of Krishn and Raadhaa in one body.
Thus
by the dawn of 16th century, India was not only fragmented politically,
but was also divided spiritually.
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