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

Islamic Slaveryand marry them off during the celebration of two major Islamic festivals, the Eid. 720 This was obviouslyaimed at swelling the Muslim population in India.Next, Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq (r. 1351–88) was a kind-hearted toward the infidels, for he firstallowed drafting some non-Muslims into his army, defying Muslim opposition. Even under his rule, enslavingthe infidels went on with great vigor. He had acquired a mind-blowing 180,000 young slave boys in his court,testifies Afif. 721 He, like his predecessor, used to capture thousands of male and female slaves round the yearand marry them off on the days of Eid celebration. According to Afif, ‘slaves became too numerous’ underFiroz Tughlaq and ‘the institution (of slavery) took root in every centre of the land.’ Soon afterwards, thesultanate broke into several independent kingdoms, but the enslavement of the infidels continued as usual inevery "centre of the land", writes Afif. 722In Amir Timur’s invasion: Amir Timur from Central Asia, waged Jihad against India (1398–99) to become aghazi or a martyr, had accumulated over 100,000 captives when he reached Delhi. On the eve of his attack onDelhi, he killed them all. From his assault on Delhi onward to his return to his capital, he has left a tragic trailof barbaric slaughter, destruction, pillage and enslavement, which he recorded in his memoir, Malfuzat-I-Timuri. 723 Of his assault on Delhi on 16 December 1398, records Timur, ‘15,000 Turks were engaged inslaying, plundering and destroying… The spoil was so great that each man secured fifty to a hundredprisoners—men, women and children. There was no man who took less than twenty.’ If each soldier, on anaverage, had taken 60 captives, the total yield of slaves was about 1000,000 (1.0 million) 724 .On the way back to his capital in Central Asia, narrates Timur, he instructed his commanders ‘to takeevery fort and town and village’ they came across, and ‘to put all the infidels of the country to the sword… Mybrave fellows pursued and killed many of them, made their wives and children prisoners.’ After reachingKutila, he attacked the infidels; ‘After a slight resistance, the enemy took flight, but many of them fell underthe swords of my soldiers. All the wives and children of the infidels were made prisoners.’Moving forward, upon arriving at the bank of the Ganges during the bathing festival, his soldiers‘slaughtered many of the infidels and pursued those who fled to the mountains.’ The spoil, adds Timur,‘which exceeds all computations… fell into the hands of my victorious soldiers.’ Spoils of course includedslaves.When he reached Siwalik, notes Timur, ‘the infidel gabrs were dismayed at the slight and took flight.The Holy warriors pursued them, and made heaps of slain… Immense spoil beyond all compute’ wasobtained; ‘All the Hindu women and children in the valley were made prisoners.’On the other side of the river, Raja Ratan Sen, hearing of Timur’s approach, had drawn his force atthe fortress of Trisarta (Kangra). When attacked the fortress, records Timur, ‘the Hindus broke and fled, andmy victorious soldiers pursued’ them with only a few escaping; ‘...they secured great plunders,’ exceeding allcalculations and each with ‘ten to twenty slaves.’ This means that the assault yielded 200,000 to 300,000slaves.720. Lal (1994), p. 51–52721. Elliot & Dawson, III, p. 297722. Ibid, p. 53723. Elliot & Dawson, Vol. III, p. 436–71; Bostom, p. 648–50724. By mistake, the number of prisoners captured by Timur was cited to be 10 times less in previous editions.214