Muhammad Bin Qasim, the conqueror of Sindh

Arab used to come to India for business purposes before the advent of Islam. However, the first contacts established by Arab Muslims with India were during the life of our prophet when Cheraman Perumal (King of Kerala) embraced Islam and built a Masjid there. Some Generals led a campaign against India during the reign of Caliph Umar (r.a) but Umar (r.a) ordered them to halt their campaign due to unknown reasons. This never led to the establishment of a Muslim state within that span of time in the Sub-continent because  Muslims never tried wholeheartedly to create one.

The first Muslim attack that led to the establishment of the Islamic state was during the caliphate of Umayyads in 712 A.D. The invading forces were headed by Young General, Imad Uddin Muhammad bin Qasim, with an aim to bring that land under the Islamic rule. Actually, Arab Muslims used to trade with Ceylon (Ancient name of present-day Sri Lanka) through the Indian sea.

One time when the Muslim traders were coming from Ceylon along with their families, they were looted on the way and women were imprisoned. This made Hajjaj bin Yousuf angry who asked Raja Dahir to return all the women along with the trading products, safely.  Raja Dahir neglected the call of Hajjaj who in response sent an army under the command of his nephew and son-in-law to dislodge pirates and Raja. Raja Dahir offered resistance but in vain.

Delhi Sultanate

This chain of Sultans consisted of different dynastic rulers who ruled India one by one. Mehmood Ghaznavi was the first of this chain who assumed the throne in 997 after the death of his father and conquered India seventeen times between 1001 and 1027 A.D. Hindus consider him a looter and plunderer because he destroyed the Somnath temple whereas Muslims consider him “Idol broker”.

The next important person in this chain was Mehmood Ghauri who defeated Prithvi Raj in the battle of Terrain and captured Gujrat, Gwalior, Benaras, Ajmer etc.Ghauri left Qutub-ud-din aibak as the in charge of Indian affairs and when Ghauri died in 1206 A.D, Aibak laid the foundations of his own dynasty in the name of Slave dynasty because he was a slave from Turkistan. Slave dynasty was followed by Khilji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty (known for the farthest territorial expansion of Islamic state), Sayyid dynasty and Lodhi dynasty.

Mughal Period

Mughal period starts from 1526 and ends at 1707 A.D. Babar ascended the throne at Agra in 1526 and had to face major rebellions from Rajputs and Pathan chiefs. Babar successfully suppressed both of them but his death in 1530 A.D gave them a chance to rise up who took full advantage. Pathan king Sher Shah Suri defeated the next Mughal king, Hamayoon, who reinstated the Mughal prestige after five years. Hamayoon was succeeded by Akbar who was one of the great administrators of all time but his reign was full of controversies.

He invented his own religion “Deen-e-Elahi” which was an amalgamation of Islam and Hinduism, Khawaja Baqi Allah and his disciple Mujaddad Alif Sani started a full-scale campaign against his him with fruitful results. Jahangir abolished many of the wrong innovations and same was followed by Shah-e-Jahan.

Shah Jehan was succeeded by Aurangzeb who implemented the orthodox form of Islam which led to a full-scale rebellion from many sections of society. He killed 9th Guru of Sikhs and imposed Jaziya on the Hindus which proved to be disastrous. After his death, none of the Mughals had the guts to suppress the revolts which ultimately led to the demise of the Mughal rule at the hands of British in 1857.