Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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CHAPTER VI
The Caste Society, Islam And The
Mohammadan Rule
The advent of Islam and Mohammadan rule in India opened an
altogether new era in the history of land. These led to wide ranging
political, religious and social repercussions. But, we shall be
considering only those influences that have a direct bearing on our
subject. Evidently, the most outstanding consequence of the Muslim
impact was the polarization of the mass of the people into two
permanently hostile camps.
Some writers are of the view that had the penetration of Islam
in India been achieved in a peaceful manner, it would not have
embittered the relations between the Hindus and the Muslims. They
base their view on the fact that, between the 7 th and the 10 th centuries,
some isolated pockets of Muslim settlements were established and
tolerated in the southern peninsula, and there were even instances of
a few Hindu kings having embraced Islam.
There is little doubt that the loot and massacres of Hindus and
the destruction of their temples and idols at the hands of the Muslim
invaders from the North did dramatize and drive deep the impact of
Mohammadan oppression on Hindu consciousness. But, one must
differentiate between causes which are basic, whose effect is lasting,
and those whose effect, though apparently spectacular, is nevertheless
temporary. As Prof. Habib has pointed out, the Mongols (during 1228-
1260) killed at least eight million Muslims in cold blood; yet no Muslim
bears them ill-will. Almost all the Mongols in Muslim lands had been
converted to Islam by the year 1300 A.D. 1 Similarly, Mehar Gul’s
incursion into the northern part of the country was no less than a