Islam in India and Southeast Asia

Islam in South Asia Overview

• 711 Muslims conquer Sind• 700’s-900’s some coastal communities

such as the Labbes convert with Arab merchants

• 1020’s Ghaznavids establish control over Afghanistan and NW India

• 1192 Ghurids conquer Lahore and Delhi Era of the Delhi Sultanate

• 1396-99 Tamerlane invades… Delhi destroyed

The Ghaznavids

• Mahmud of Ghazna (d. 1030): Turkic nomadic military leader whose father established control of Samanid outpost in Ghazna

• The Ghaznavids raided into the Punjab and eventually that area became the basis of their rule after the 1050’s

• Patronized Persian poetry

The Delhi Sultanate

• Defeat the Ghaznavids in 1192 – more rebel Turkish guards!

• Mamluks: 1206-90 Qutb al-Din Aybak was slave of last Ghurid– Razia Sultan (r. 1236-40)– Islam introduced to Kashmir in 1313

with Shah Mir of Swat

• Destroyed by Tamerlane

Conversion

• Artisans and petty merchants first to convert

• In rural areas converts retained Hindu customs and socialized within their caste

• Bengal sees continuation of customs like seeking auspices from Hindu holymen

Jizya

• Muhammad b. al-Qasim excepted the Brahmins, who collected it from others.

• Delhi sultans varied in their policies• Akbar abolished it; but scholars

understood this as being due to the fact that so many Hindu soldiers served in the army

• Aurangzeb re-imposed it

Syncretism & Conflict• From Ghaznavids on Hindu soldiers used in

Muslim armies• Delhi Sultanates main bureaucrats are

Hindus• A cast of Brahmins called Husainis fast

Ramadan, call Muhammad a Hindu avatar• But both Hindus and Muslims can hold

stereotypes of uncleanliness for the other• In 1320’s Khusraw Khan rebels against the

Delhi sultans and massacres Muslim women and children… puts idols in mosques

• 1700’s see further polarization– Revivalists like Shah Wali Allah seek to

reconstitute pure Arabian Islam against Hindu practices

– Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1624) of the Naqshbandiyya rejects syncretism (rejects Akbar’s heresy), condemns Hinduism as Kufr

– Vs. Qadiriyya saint Mirza Jani Janan (d. 1780) who considers Vedas inspired scriptures and Hindus to be People of the Book / idolatry as means of focusing on God… also Dara Shikoh and Upanishads as wellspring of monotheism

Major Sufi Orders in India

• Chistiyya: founded by Muin al-Din Chishti (d. 1193) in India– Emphasizes Shariah compliance and Hadith, but…– Ecstatic music and dance in rituals– Pioneers of Qawwali music at shrines

• Naqshbandiyya: founded by Baha’ al-Din Naqshbandi (d. 1389)– found throughout Asia and the Balkans– Shariah complaint emphasis – revivalist even– Shuns music and dance, silent dhikr

Vs. Shattariyya Sufi order whose devotees lived in the forests like Yogis and derived liturgical practices from Yoga

Qawwali Music

• Draws on musical traditions of India, Persian and Arabic music

• Songs in Urdu, Persian• Addresses themes of the Prophet, Ali,

God and love songs

Haqq Ali HaqqPerformed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (d. 1997)

From http://nusrat.bravehost.com/ali_maula_ali.html, translated by Mohibb Uddin Ahmad

Ali is the master of all, I am the slave of Alithousands of lives are to be sacrificed for Ali

Sometimes the wall shakes, sometimes the door trembleslistening the name of Ali, the fort of Khaibar trembles even now

King of the braveAli, Ali master Ali

Who implanted the flag of faith in the rockswho challenged Marhab** and defeated him

Ali, Ali master Ali My heart chants this

this is the name that is truethis is the name that removes sufferingsauspiciousness of this name opened the secrets of being

Ali, Ali master AliKing of the brave

there is no one except AliAli is the lion of God

• Ali, Ali master Ali • My body chants Ali, so does my tongue

if I die, then write Ali on my shroud• Truth, truth, Ali, Ali master Ali• Without the love of Ali, desired is not fulfilled

not even the returns for the prayersO slaves of God listen carefully, by God !!one who does not realize Ali does not realize God

• Truth, truth, Ali, Ali master Ali• Don't search for anything now, match the eternal search

match the footprints of the desired destination with guideto get Ali is like getting a house of Godsearching for God too, we found Him in Ali's house

• Truth, truth, Ali, Ali master Ali• Sight of Ali is itself is prayer, so said the Prophet

Ali is the soul, body and life of the Prophet• Truth, truth, Ali, Ali master Ali• why wouldn't be Ali 'the lion of God' be the hand of God

the king of all warriors-Ali is intended in every favor/giftjust as there is no one like Mohammad (PBUH)no other Ali could never have born'Bedam' these are the five reasons of the existence of the universe: Fatima, Hasan, Hussain, Mustafaa, AliTruth, truth, Ali, Ali master Ali

Islam in SE Asia Overview

• 1200’s some Sumatran port cities become Muslim, the straits of Malacca Islamized

• By 1500 Islam a major force in Malaysian archipelago

Trade or Chinese Muslim Pirates?

• Islam spreads in coastal communities along trade routes

• Acheh: in 1292 Marco Polo describes flourishing Muslim community their ruled by a sultan

• Malacca: develops around 1400, straits are key trading channel

Links to India and Yemen

• Part of Islamicate civilization– Arabic language as language of high

culture and administration

• Shafi school is dominant– Links to Yemeni Sufism– Links to Indian Islamic scholarship