How Islam came to India

Islam came to India through a number of channels. To confine the onset of this religion in the subcontinent to merely invasions has become a habitual testimony yet the truth speaks otherwise.

Giving a brief summary below of some of these “channels”
First, as is expected, through invasions. Set off in the 8th century in Sind by Arabs. Next on the line are the Turks and Afghans, both of whom invaded the North-west in the 11th century and dominated northern India. Lastly, the Mughals in the 16th century.

Secondly, commerce. Afghan and Turkish traders conducted transactions in Northern India and settled there.

That covers only the northern parts. What about other regions, especially the south west which has a significant Muslim population and a distinct culture of its own?

People hailing from Arabia and East Africa traded with those residing in the western coastline from as early as 8th century and eventually settled there by 9th century.¹

These intercultural alliances birthed the various religious groups of Islam, particular to its own geography, such as the Bohras, Khojas, Navayaths and Mapillas.

Third, army recruitments. Mercenaries from the central Asia and especially East Africa, incidentally regions with a significant Muslim population, were recruited in the armies of Indian kings. Likewise, soldiers from India too were recruited to fight for Afghan and Turkish kings; a pertinent example being that of Mahmud of Ghazni, who had a Hindu general in his army named Tilak. Mahmud’s empire spanned as wide as to include Kashmir and Punjab.

Now fourth, Sufis. The Sufis, most of whom hailed from central Asia and some from Persia, carried out religious missions in the subcontinent. Most held an eclectic outlook and were seldom orthodox, borrowing and interspersing with the local religions and traditions, and subsequently flowering into a syncretic form of Islam.

An attempt has been made here to only recount the salient ways in which Islam reached the subcontinent. Indubitably, there ought to be other sources too, which has been omitted here with due regard to maintaining the brevity of the piece.

---

Notes

1. Trade was not an anomaly; as per records, Kerala is said to have had good trade relations with Rome as well during the zenith of the latter’s empire; all of which was made possible because of maritime trade via Arabian sea. Kerala is the state that has the longest coastline, the tidal waves billowing its rocky banks.