711
- 1775 AD
Islam was first brought in by Arabs
in early eight century. At that time,
the religion itself was only about
a century old. In 711 AD Mohammad
Bin Qasam, a brilliant 19 year-old
Arab general from Basra (Iraq) marched
into Pakistan by way of Persia and
Balochistan with the army of 60,000
men. He employed a method of warfare
never before seen in the subcontinent
- large carriage-drawn catapults capable
of hurling heavy stones and missiles
across the distances of about 200
yards. He marched all the way to Nerun
(Hyderabad) where he engaged Raja
Dahir, the local Hindu ruler and his
massive army of 20,000 infantry and
5,000 cavalry. Mohammad Bin Qasim
defeated Raja Dahir with contemptuous
ease.
Islam took roots there through geniune
intellectual and spiritual conversations
rather than through forceful persuasion.
In the centuries that followed, the
subcontinent was invaded repeatedly
by Muslim armies - Turks, Afghans
and Mongols. Slowly, Islam spread
outwards from Sindh to encompass all
the lands that now make up Pakistan.
Some 800 years after the death of
Mohammad Bin Qasim, the turbulent
history of the subcontinent and the
many competing dynasties that struggles
for ascendancy there, gave way to
a period of political calm and cultural
achievement that was to last for more
than three centuries. This was the
start of Mughal empire.
This period began in 1525 AD, when
a Turkish chief named Babur followed
the same road of conquest into India
that so many warlords had taken before
him. Babur
fought and won many great battles
and when he died, he controlled an
empire that stretched from Kabul in
Afghanistan through the Punjab to
the borders of Bengal.
Babur founded the Mughal dynasty.
The five other Great Mughals who followed
are stamped upon the face of modern
Pakistan with indelible firmness.
Mughals were great builders. They
built beautiful gardens and forts
of incredible strength that still
stand today even after witnessing
greatest Moghul battles.
Babur's son
Humayun inherited much
of his father's sensitivity but he
did not have the same qualities of
decisive statesmanship or the same
quick military skills. He was a better
scholar than soldier. At continual
odds with the Afghans, their rebel
chief Sher Shah Suri forced Humayun
to leave India and seek asylum in
Persia. Humayun only took back his
father's territory in India on the
death of Sher Shah Suri in 1556 and
then continued to rein for only seven
months.
Humayun's son Akbar was just forteen
years old when he took the throne
in 1556. Akbar assumed direct power
in 1560. During the next forty-five
years of his reign, he extended the
Mughal frontiers to the Bay of Bengal
in the east and the Persian border
with Afghanistan in the north-west.
People prefer to remember him for
his gigantic military conquests and
for the way in which he encouraged
artistic and cultural endeavor.
After Akbar's death in 1605, his son
Jehangir
succeeded the reign. He was one of
the most attractive characters amongst
the Great Mughals. Although he had
a weakness for strong drink, Jehangir
built a reputation during his twenty-three
years on the throne as a great and
just king.
Jehangir died in 1628 leaving two
potential heirs - his son Shah
Jehan, and his stepson
Shahryar.
Shah Jehan took the throne and mercilessly
killed Shahryar and all other possible
claimants. Despite bloody start, he
was to prove a good ruler. Like other
Mughals, Shah Jehan was a significant
patron of the arts and of architecture.
In India, he built the Red Fort and
in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal,
the Taj Mahal at Agra, one of the
most beautiful buildings in the world.
He reigned the massive Mughal Empire
for twenty-two years and initiated
a return to Islamic orthodoxy, abolishing
many of the lax practices that had
been permitted by his father and grandfather.
He was overthrown by the sword and
by the lust for power of his own children.
Shah Jehan's brothers fought among
each other. Aurangzeb
was to follow next in the Mughal Empire.
He ruled the empire with an iron hand.
He continued and strenghtened the
return to Islamic law that had been
instituted by his father. Of all Mughals,
Aurangzeb came closest to achieving
the ideal of a true Islamic state
in India. He also continued to extend
the borders to encompass Afghanistan
and the entire subcontinent.
Aurangzeb died in 1707. His son and
successor, Bahadur
Shah, was already old when
he took the throne and was confronted
with one rebellion after another.
He died in 1712, a dissatisfied man
who had witnessed the beginning of
the end of the empire founded by Babur.
Mughals managed to rule at least some
parts of India until 1850s but they
never reigned the dignity and authority
of their early days. The decline of
Mughals was measured by the fact that
in the century following the death
of Aurangzeb no less than fifteen
kings ascended the Mughal throne as
against six Great Mughals of the previous
181 years.
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