Andrew Vitkus, Caelin Lewis, Duncan Liseski
ISLAM AND SOUTH ASIA
Mosque in Sindh
Sindh was the first part of Southern Asia to adopt Islam.
Key Terms
Muhammad ibn Qasim
Muhammad Ghur
Qutb-ub-din Aibak
Bhaktic Cults
Mira Bai
Kabir
Shrivijaya
Malacca
Demak
Key Terms
 Muhammad ibn Qasim: general under Hajjaj; appointed
commander of the all important invasion of Sindh when
he was seventeen years old; managed to win all of his
military campaigns; established peace, order, and a good
administrative structure in the areas he conquered.
 Mahmud of Ghazni: Sultan of the kingdom of Ghazna
(998-1030); Ghazna comprised of modern Afghanistan
and northeastern modern Iran; eventually including
northwestern India and most of Iran
 Muhammad of Ghur: conquests established first Great
Muslim Empire in northern India; spent much of his time
campaigning in Afghanistan or eastern Persia
Key Terms
 Qutb-ub-din Aibak: captured and sold as a slave
when he was a child to Muhammad of Ghur; became
Sultan after Muhammad of Ghur was assassinated;
died after falling from a horse while playing polo in
1210
 Bhaktic Cults: Hindu groups dedicated to gods and
goddesses; stressed the importance of strong
emotional bonds between devotees and the god or
goddess who was the object of their veneration;
most widely worshipped gods were Shiva and Vishnu
 Mira Bai: celebrated Hindu writer of religious poetry;
reflected openness of bhaktic cults to women
Key Terms
 Kabir: Muslim mystic; played down the importance of
ritual differences between Hinduism and Islam
 Shrivijaya: Trading empire centered on Malacca Straits
between Malaya and Sumatra; controlled trade of empire;
Buddhist government resistant to Muslim missionaries;
fall opened up southeastern Asia to Muslim conversion
 Malacca: Portuguese factory or fortified trade town
located on the tip of the Malayan peninsula; traditionally a
center for trade among the southeastern Asian islands
 Demak: Most powerful of the trading states on north
coast of Java; converted to Islam and served as point of
dissemination to other ports
Mosque
The Coming of Islam to Southeast Asia
Political Divisions and the First Muslim Invasion
Indian Influences on Islamic Civilization
From Booty to Empire: The Second Wave of Muslim
Invasions
Patterns of Conversion
Patterns of Accommodation
Islamic Challenge and Hindu Revival
Stand-Off: The Muslim Presence in India at the End
of the Sultanate Period
Political Divisions and the First
Muslim Invasion
 The first Muslim intrusion came in 711
 Indirectly caused by the peaceful trading contacts
who introduced Muslims to Indian civilization
 Muslim traders attacked by pirates
 Muhammad ibn Qasim lead more than 10,000
troops into Sindh to avenge the traders
 The Muslims treated the Hindus and
Buddhists as “people of the book”
 Freedom to worship as please
 Paid special tax
Indian Influences on Islamic
Civilization
 Islam had little impact on Indian culture
 Muslims learned from the Indians
 Indian scientific knowledge rivaled Greeks.
 Indian Scholars traveled to Baghdad
From Booty to Empire: The Second
Wave of Muslim Invasions
 After a decline of Muslims . Turkish slave
dynasty changed India.
 Mahmud of Ghazni- Led a expedition that raided
and conquered Northern India.
 Muhammad of Ghur
 Qutb-ud-din Aibak seized control after
Muhammad's death.
 Delhi was capital.
Patterns of Conversion
 Islam converters- Merchants and Sufis
 Muslim Converts
 Buddhists and low caste groups
 Reasons for conversions
 Escape head tax for non-believers
 More egalitarian social arrangement.
 Intermarriage between local peoples and Muslim
migrants.
Patterns of Accommodation
 Muslims made little impression on Hindu
community as a whole.
 Hindus worked with Muslims, but were socially
aloof.
 Hindus thought Muslims would be absorbed by
Hindus superior religion.
 Unfortunate for women
 Married at earlier ages
 Prohibited widows to marry.
 Sati
Islamic Challenge and Hindu Revival
 Hindus found Islam impossible to absorb
 Hindus placed greater emphasis on devotional cults of gods
and goddesses
 Bhaki mystics and gurus stressed the importance of a
strong emotional bond between the devotee and the god
or goddess of veneration
 The Bhakti movement did a lot to stem the flow of converts to
Islam such as increasing popular involvement in Hindu worship
and by enriching and extending the modes of prayer and ritual
Stand-Off: The Muslim Presence in India
at the End of the Sultanate Period
 Muslim religious experts grew increasingly
aware of the problems Hinduism would cause
for Islam
 Attempts to fuse the two religions were rejected
 The religious experts worked to promote unity
within the Indian Muslim community
 Non-Muslims, particularly Hindus, remained
the overwhelming majority of the population
of the vast lands south of the Himalayas
Muslim Population in Modern Day South Asia and
Africa
Interesting Fact-Islam is the most widely practiced religion in Southeast Asia, numbering
approximately 240 million adherents which translate to about 40% of the entire
population, with majorities in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The Spread of Islam to Southeast Asia
Trading Contacts and Conversions
Sufi Mystics and the Nature of Southeast Asian
Islam
Trading Contacts and Conversions
 Most spread was from peaceful contacts
 First were small port centers
 Malacca to Malaya, Sumatra, Demak, and Java
 Port cities were the most common to covert
 Slow progress in areas with Hindu-Buddhist
dynasties
 Central Java, Bali, Central Asia
Sufi Mystics and the Nature of
Southeast Asian Islam
 Sufis infused mystical strains and tolerated
animist beliefs and rituals
 Allowed people to maintain pre-Islamic beliefs
and law
Mosque
Muslim mosques such as this one are visited by thousands of Muslims in Asia
Overall Importance
The overall importance of the spread of
Islam to Southern and Southeastern Asia is
that it helped the religion of Islam progress
further and introduced a new belief to a lot of
people who had never heard of Islam. It
helped Islam become one of the major
religions in the world of today.
Citations
 http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php
?t=123798&page=2
 http://ffh.films.com/Common/FMGimages/3612
8_full.jpg
 http://www.farhan-aliqadri.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1221&sid=266
742cf753dc5e2d57519f13029473d
 http://www.arzoomag.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/09/eid-300x216.jpg
 http://www.webindia123.com/tourism/pilgrim/glr
y/mosque/m11.jpg
Mosque