India


 * 1) How did Islam spread?
 * 2) Growth of Trade within the Islamic world
 * 3) Urbanization and Islam
 * 4) Architecture throughout the Islamic world
 * 5) Examples of Syncretism and Islam
 * 6) Reactions to Islam.

1.Islam started to spread to India because of foreigners that were entering India and they had carried the religion of Islam along with them, as time passed more people were coming into India which led to interactions between the indigenous people and the foreigners. India had come into contact with the Muslims in 711 when Muhammad ibn Qasim had led around 10,000 warriors, and camels and conquered Sind, parts of the Umayyad Empire and lands stretched from the Indus Valley to the northeast. 2.Trade was definitely increasing, to promote Islam trades had to be done. Goods that were being exported in China were going to vessels that belongs to the Indians or the Arabs. The spread of Islamic was also increasing due to the fact that the coastal trade of India was under the control of Muslims, 8th century and beyond. It was easier for people to convert only after the 13th century due to the fact that Shrivijaya had collapsed, since the officials were Buddhist. 3.India would would be an area where people want settle in because of its 'legendary wealth". Such as Mahmud of Gazni he was in search of the "legendary wealth" that he believed India had possessed therefore he led expeditions to the north of India. Not only he was in search of wealth but another intention that he had was to promote the new religion of Islam. India would be a great place for Islam to spread because in India there was already a diversity of people that either believed in Hinduism, Buddhism, both or even none at all therefore the diversities portrays that the people inhabiting India is open minded and where else would make a perfect place to go to introduce a new religion like India where people would consider new things such as religion. 4. The Shahi mosque that is built portrays that Muslims were able to adapt the ways of India and were able to co-exist not forcing Indians to convert which gave could give them the idea that Islam is lenient and more accepted, for example Islam believes that everyone is equal. 5. Examples of syncretism is that low-caste groups or Buddhist would convert to Islam, people became interested in the religion Islam because Buddhism started to conflict with the ideas of the government. 6. Islam was being widely accepted in India, most of the people that converted to Islam were coming from people with lower class and Buddhists, people began to convert due to the leniency that Muslims had towards other people with the same religion therefore no tax was placed for them however it was not the same for others. What made some Buddhists convert to Islam was that the teachings of Buddhism were not the same as it was before it was becoming corrupting and it conflicted with people's morale. However that was not always the case especially Hindu's they found it difficult to convert to Islam therefore new cults were being focused on.

media type="custom" key="7395419" The first picture is the picture of the Shahi mosque it was built by Muslims, they had adapted the ways of India it portrays how Islam Is open minded and how they don’t force their religions on others, displays that they were able to co-exist. Muhammad ibn Qasim led the first invasion of invading Indian after conqueoring Sind; he took over lands that belonged to the Umayyad Empire, and areas that stretched from Indus Valley to the northeast. He display leniency towards the people of the land that conquered, how he didn’t force them to convert to their religion. The third picture is gold; gold can represent many things such as motivation. Mahmud of Ghazni for example led expeditions to North India because he desired the “legendary wealth”, and hoping to promote Islam. Gold also represents trade how people can benefit from them. The spread of Islam was partially based on trade; foreigners that were Islamic and traded with India traded not only goods but ideas, and cultures that they had. Therefore the idea of gold or people benefitting from trade is like people gaining new knowledge or more options about religions they can choose from. The fourth picture is a picture of Shiva, belongs in the religion of Hinduism, as more people were convertor to Hinduism the diversity of people that were in Hinduism became partially affected, therefore to promote Hinduism they began to focus more on cults/groups of Gods. They tried to revive Hinduiusm because they couldn’t adapt to the ways of Islam. The fifth picture is a picture of Buddha; Buddha is the spiritual figure in Buddhism. In India the beliefs and ways of Buddhism was being altered due to the corrupt practices that were taking place, it was conflicting with people’s morale. The decline of Buddhism was also because of the raids of temples that Muslims were doing. This contributes to how in India the majority of converters were people that followed Buddhism before.

As you can see the words India, Islam, and people is bigger than the rest because during this time Islam is spreading to other areas due to invasions and the growth of people such as Sufi's and farmers cause people to migrate in India. Invasions allow an opening to India where Muslims can settle and promote their religion.Foreigners migrate to India with their religion of Islam and they would do the same and exchange cultures and ideas and they would adapt to the ways of India. Traders would also do the same they not only exchange goods and materials but they exchange ways and beliefs. People play a large role in the spread of Islam and India because as you can see it takes people's actions to spread religion to another area. Religion and convert is the next largest because people are converting from one religion to another. Buddhism goes hand in hand with religion because buddhism is a religion and it is one of the main religions that exist in India and most of Buddhists had convert to Islam in India.



Red represents the lands that Muhammad ibn Qasim had conquered, he led the first invasion into parts of Umayyad Empire, and lands that extend from the Indus Valley to the northeast, its important because this was the first invasion that was led into India, and they were Muslims, he was only 17 years old when he led this invasion. He did not force people to convert to the religion of Islam, he was lenient. The largest red dot also represents the power that was obtained by Turkish Slaves in 962 land extending from Afghanistan to North of the Indus Valley. The blue represents foreginers that entered South Asia to look for an area to settel, due to the population more people were finding places to settel, such as the growth of Muslim warriors, and the Sufi's. The green represents the expeditions that were led by Mahmud of Ghazni because he desired the "legendary wealth", he believed that India had possesed that. The black line represents lands that belonged to Muhammad of Ghur, extending from Gangetic plain to Bengal that streteches to the west, important because this was one of the second waves of invasion that was led into India. The purple represents Delhi also known as the capital of the New Muslim Empire. Important because it is the middle of north India and where a muslim dynasty had originated.