islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

Islamic Imperialism in Indiabooty (khams) his army could lay their hands upon. In his foray into Northwest India in 1001–02, wrote al-Utbi:Swords flashed like lightning amid the blackness of clouds, and fountains of blood flowed likethe fall of setting star. The friends of God defeated their opponents… the Musalmans wreakedtheir vengeance on the infidel enemies of God, killing 15,000 of them… making them food ofthe beasts and birds of prey… God also bestowed upon his friends such an amount of booty aswas beyond all bounds and calculations, including five hundred thousand slaves, beautiful menand women. 431In the capture of Nagarkot (Kangra) in 1008, the booty amounted to 70,000,000 dirhams in coins and 700,400mounds of gold and silver, besides plenty of precious stones and embroidered cloths. Sultan Mahmud,marched to attack Thanesar in 1011 ‘for the purpose of planting the standard of Islam and extirpatingidolatry,’ writes al-Utbi. In the ensuing battle, ‘blood of the infidels flowed so copiously that the stream wasdiscolored, notwithstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it… The Sultan returned with plunderwhich is impossible to count. Praise be to Allah for the honor he bestows upon Islam and Musalmans!’ 432In the conquest of Kanauj, ‘the inhabitants either accepted Islam or took up arms against him tobecome the food of the Islamic sword. He collected so much booty, prisoners (i.e., slaves) and wealth that thefingers of those who counted them would have been tired.’ Al-Utbi continues: ‘Many of the inhabitants of theplace fled and were scattered abroad like so many wretched widows and orphans… Many of them thuseffected their escape and those who did not fly were put to death. The Sultan took all seven forts in one day,and gave his soldiers leave to plunder them and take prisoners.’ 433As noted already, Alberuni of Mahmud’s court depicted his invasions of Hindustan as having ‘utterlyruined the prosperity of the country’ and his brutality of the inhabitants was such that ‘the Hindus became likeatoms of dust scattered in all directions’ and cherished ‘the most inveterate aversion toward all Moslems.’ 434In his forays to India, notes Nehru, ‘he became a terror all over the north. …Most Muslims adore him; mostHindus hate him.’ 435 ‘After Mahmud’s raids and massacres, Islam was associated in northern India withbarbarous cruelty and destruction,’ adds Nehru. 436Ghaurivid invasions: The third wave of Islamic conquest and expansion in India by the Ghaurivid invaders inthe late twelfth century finalized the founding of Muslim rule in India in 1206. The Persian historian HasanNizami, in his Taj-ul-Ma’sir, records of Muhammad Ghauri’s conquest of Ajmer that ‘one hundred thousandgroveling Hindus swiftly departed to the fire of hell’ and the invaders ‘obtained so much booty and wealththat you might have said that the secret depositories of the seas and hills had been revealed.’ Sultan Ghaurimarched forward to attack Delhi and ‘torrents of blood flowed on the field of battle…’ 437In the 1193 campaign of Muhammad Ghauri’s general Qutbuddin Aibak in Aligarh, ‘by the edge ofthe sword, they (Hindus) were dispatched to the fire of hell,’ notes Nizami. The slaughter was so extensivethat ‘Three bastions were raised as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcasses became food for431. Elliot & Dawson, Vol. II, p. 26432. Ibid, p. 40-41433. Ibid, p. 45-46434. Lal (1999), p. 20435. Nehru (1989), p. 155436. Ibid, p. 209437. Elliot & Dawson, Vol. II, p. 215–16148