The Arab Invasion in India
During the Caliphate of Omar, Arab forces made fertile attempts to get Bombay.
Arabs captured Sindh in 712 AD.
The Arab conquest of Sindh was led by Muhammad bin Qasim.
Muhammad bin Qasim
- He Conquered Sindh with the permission of Caliph-al- Walid
- He was the first Muslim to have successfully invaded Sindh.
- He was the nephew of Al-hajjaj, the governor of the Arab province of Basra.
Battle of Rewar
- Fought between Muhammad-bin-Qasim and Dahir, the ruler of Sindh.
- Dahir, a Brahmin was defeated. Sindh and Multan were captured.
- Muhammad-bin-Qasim called Multan as ‘The City of Gold’.
End of Muhammad-bin-Qasim
- Caliph Walid was succeeded by Caliph Suleiman.
- He was an enemy of Al-Hajjaj, the Governor of Iraq.
- Muhammad-bin Qasim was the son-in-law of Al-Hajjaj, so he dismissed him and sent to Mesopotamia as a prisoner where he was tortured to death.
- For more than 150 years, Sindh and Multan continued to remain as part of the Caliph’s Empire.
Effects of Arab Conquest
- Arab conquest of Sindh made way for Islam into India.
- The art of administration, astronomy, music, painting, medicine, and architecture were learned by Arabs from our land and they spread astronomy, Indian Philosophy, and numerals to Europe.
d) Arab conquest resulted in the spread of Islam in North India but Islam was first introduced in India by Malik Ibn Dinar in Kerala in 644 AD.
The Turkish Invasion in India
In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Turks dominated the Caliphs of Baghdad.
They extended their dominion beyond Sindh and Multan into India and finished the work begun by the Arabs.
Mahmud of Ghazni
- In 1000 A.D. Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India.
- He was the first Turkish to invade India.
Ghazni was a small kingdom in Afghanistan, which was founded by a Turkish nobleman in the tenth century. One of its successors, namely Mahmud wanted to make Ghazni into a big and powerful kingdom; therefore, he decided to conquer a part of Central Asia.
In order to make his large and powerful army, Mahmud had needed a huge property; hence, he decided to attack India to rob Indian wealth (to accomplish his great ambition).
The first raid of Mahmud began in A.D. 1,000. In a short period of twenty-five years, Mahmud made seventeen raids. Meanwhile, he fought battles in Central Asia and in Afghanistan as well.
Between A.D. 1,010 and 1025, Mahmud attacked only on the temple towns in northern India, as he had heard that there were much gold and jewelry kept in the big temples in India.
One of these attacks, which are frequently mentioned while discussing Medieval History, was the destruction of the Somnath temple located in western India.
Mahmud was the patron of the famous Persian poet, Firdausi, who wrote the epic poem ‘Shah Namah.’
Mahmud sent the Central Asian scholar Alberuni to India, who lived here for many years and had written his experience, describing the country and the condition of the people.
End of Ghazni’s rule in India
- Ghazni’s rule declined by 1186 A.D. and the Mahmud of Ghori grew up.
- In 1,030, Mahmud died and the people of northern India get relieved. Though Mahmud was destructor for the Indians, but in his own country, he was a builder of a beautiful mosque and a large library.
Muhammad of Ghori (1149 – 1206)
- He was the third Muslim ruler who invaded India.
- He became the ruler of Ghori.
- He first invaded India in 1176 A.D.
- Muhammad Ghori’s invasion resulted in the foundation of Islamic rule in India.
- He is considered to be the real founder of the Turkish Empire in India because of his various invasions and subjugations of the Rajput territories in North India.
Muhammad Ghori was the ruler of the Ghor kingdom, a small kingdom of Afghanistan. He was the supreme ruler of the Ghurid Empire.
Ghori was more ambitious than Mahmud, as he was not only interested in robbing the wealth of India but also intended in conquering northern India and adding it to his kingdom.
Since Punjab had already been a part of the Ghazni kingdom; therefore, it made easier for Ghori to plan the India campaign.
First Battle of Tarain (1191 A.D.)
- He seized the fortress of Bathinda in 1189 A.D. and then progressed into the kingdom of Prithviraj Chauhan.
- Muhammad of Ghori was defeated by Prithviraj in the First Battle of Tarain in 1191 A.D. and recovered Bathinda.
Second Battle of Tarain (1192 A.D.)
- In the second battle of Train, the joined forces of the Rajput rulers under Prithviraj were defeated by Muhammad of Ghori.
- Prithviraj was held as a prisoner in Afghanistan and blinded.
- The Turkish rule began for the first time in Indian history with end The Second Battle of Tarain.
- Qutb-ud-din Aibak was appointed as the commander by Muhammad of Ghori.
Rajput Uprisings
- There were many Rajput mutinies between 1193 and 1198 A.D.
- Qutb-ud-din-Aibak defeated them and brought many regions under his control.
- Muhammad of Ghori made Delhi as the capital.
Battle of Chandawar (1194 A.D.)
- Muhammad of Ghori defeated Jaichand , the greatest Rajput ruler of Kannauj , and killed him in the battle.
Death of Muhammad of Ghori
- Prithviraj Chauhan killed Muhammad of Ghori while performing the archery skills with the help of his court poet Chand Bardai and taken revenge of his defeat.
- In 1206, Ghori’s kingdom in northern India was left in the control of his general Qutb-ud-din Aibak.
- After the death of Ghori, Aibak founded the slave dynasty.