Ch 11 Section 4 – Muslims in India

I. The Delhi Sultanate

A. Origins of the Sultanate –About 1000 Muslim Turks & Afghans pushed into India
1. At 1st, they were adventurers like Mahmud who pillaged much of the north
2. In the late 1100s, the sultan of Ghur defeated Hindu armies across the
northern plain and made Delhi his capital
3. From there, his successors organized a sultanate – land ruled by a sultan
a.) Marked the start of Muslim rule in northern India
4. Muslim invaders won in battle partly because they had greater mobility
than Hindu forces, who rode slow-moving war elephants
5. Hindu princes also wasted resources battling one another instead of uniting
against a common enemy
6. Many Hindus (especially lower castes) converted to Islam
B. Effects of Muslim Rule – Brought changes to Indian government and society
1. Sultans introduced Muslim traditions of government
2. Many Turks, Persians, & Arabs migrated to India to serve as soldiers or
officials
3. Trade between India and the Muslim world increased
4. During the Mongol raids, many scholars & adventurers fled from Baghdad
to India and helped create a brilliant civilization at Delhi
C. Decline – In 1398 Tamarlane invaded India
1. He plundered the northern plain and smashed Delhi
2. Thousands of artisans were enslaved to build Tamerlane’s capital of
Samarkand
3. Delhi slowly recovered but the sultans no longer controlled a large empire
II. Muslims and Hindus – the Muslim conquest inflicted disaster on Hindus and Buddhists
and led to the dramatic decline of Buddhism as a major religion in India. Many Hindus
were killed and some converted to Islam escape death
A. Hindu-Muslim Differences
1. Hinduism
a.) Ancient religion that had evolved over thousands of years
b.) Recognized many sacred texts, and prayed before statues representing
many gods and goddesses
c.) Accepted differences in castes statues and honored Brahmans as a
priestly caste
d.) Celebrated religious occasions with music and dance
2. Islam
a.) Newer faith with a single sacred text
b.) Devout monotheists who saw the statues and carvings in Hindu
temples as an offense to the one true god
c.) Taught the equality of all believers before God and had no religious
hierarchy
d.) Condemned music and dance
B. Interactions – Eventually, Delhi sultans grew more tolerant of their subject
population
1. Some Muslim scholars argued that behind the many Hindu gods and
goddesses was a single god
a.) Hinduism was thus accepted as a monotheistic religion
 2. Hindus remained second-class citizens but if they paid the non-Muslim tax
they could practice their religion
3. Some sultans even left rajahs (local Hindu rulers) in place
4. During the Delhi sultanate, many Hindus converted to Islam
a.) Some lower-class Hindus preferred Islam because it rejected the caste
system
b.) Other converts came from higher castes (because they accepted the
beliefs or because they served in the Muslim government)
C. Cultural Blending – Muslims began to absorb elements of Hindu culture
1. A new language, Urdu, evolved as a marriage of Persian, Arabic, and Hindi
2. Nanak (Indian holy man) sought to blend Islamic and Hindu beliefs
a.) Preached: “unity of God, brotherhood of man, rejection of caste
system, and futility of idol worship”
b.) This led to the rise of a new religion, Sikhism
III. Mughal India – 1526 Turkish and Mongol invaders poured through the mountain passes
in India. Babur (who claimed descent from Genghiz Khan and Tamerland) was at head
A. Babur Found a Dynasty
1. Swept away the remnants of the Delhi sultanate & set up the Mughal
dynasty
B. Akbar the Great – Chief builder of Mughal empire (grandson of Babur)
1. He created a strong central government
2. A Muslim who won the support of Hindu subjects through his policy of
toleration
3. He opened government jobs to Hindus of all casted and treated Hindu
princes as his partners in ruling the vast empire
4. He ended the tax on non-Muslims & married a Hindu princess
5. He could not read or write but consulted leaders of many faiths
6. He used paid officials in place of hereditary officeholders, modernized the
army, encouraged international trade, standardized weights & measures,
and introduced land reforms
C. Akbar’s Successors – Jahangir (Juh-hahn-Gir) a weaker ruler than his father
1. Left most details of government in the hands of his wife, Nur Jahan
a.) She was an able leader with shrewd political judgment
b.) She was the most powerful woman in Indian history until the 20th
century
2. Shah Jahan (Akbar’s grandson) – Was distraught when his wife died at 39
years old
a.) He had a stunning tomb built for her, the Taj Mahal
1.It was designed in Persian style, with spectacular white domes and
graceful minarets mirrored in clear blue reflecting pools
2.Verses from the Quran adorn the walls
b.) He planned to build a twin structure for himself but his son usurped
the throne and he was kept imprisoned until he died several years later