BLOODIEST CONQUEST OF INDIA

Note: By Islam, in the whole site, we mean the popular meaning as suggested by famous Islamic representatives of today, like Zakir Naik, Anjem Chaudhury, Maulana Hafiz Saeed, Maulana Israr Ahmed, Maulana Masood Azhar, and Imam Bukhari etc, that denies equal rights and heaven to unbelievers, that believes in killing of apostates. However we believe in True Islam that leads us to peace. Please click here to know about True Islam we follow.

In the previous article, Was Islam Spread by Sword, we proved logically that Islam was indeed spread by sword in Indian subcontinent. In this and next couple of articles, we will establish our point with the help of pure facts.

Facts presented in this chapter have been reproduced verbatim from the biographies and chronicles written by Islamic invaders or/and their paid historians!

India before the invasion of Islam

India before the advent of Islamic imperialism was not exactly a zone of peace. There were plenty of wars fought by Hindu kings. But in all their wars, the Hindus had observed some time-honored conventions sanctioned by the Šãstras. For example:

• The Brahmins and the Bhikshus were never molested.
• The cows were never killed.
• The temples were never touched.
• The chastity of women was never violated.
• The non-combatants were never killed or captured.
• A human habitation was never attacked unless it was a fort.
• The civil population was never plundered.
• War booty was an unknown item in the calculations of conquerors.
• The martial classes, who clashed, mostly in open spaces, had a code of honor.
• The sacrifice of honor for victory or material gain was deemed as worse than death.

The Hindu records about pre-Islamic foreign invasions present a striking contrast. Hindu records accuse pre-Islamic foreign invasions like the Greeks, the Scythians, the Kushans, and the Huns of savagery and lust for plunder. But these invaders are never accused of making Hindu Dharma or its outer symbols the specific targets of their attacks. We also have the accounts of these alien invaders becoming good Shaivites, Vaishnavas, and Buddhists after their first fury was spent, and then they settled down in India.

Busting the Myths of ‘Indian Muslims’

Indian Muslims form the third largest Muslim population (after Indonesia and Pakistan) and also form the world’s largest Muslim minority population. Given this numerical strength, which in today’s Indian electoral scenario is considered a game changer, we set out to analyze, understand and explore from historical archives (neutral and Islamic) as to who the Indian Muslims were (before becoming Muslims) and the circumstances which led them to becoming Muslims.

For our analysis, we are considering the undivided (politically) land mass that existed way before 1947. Specifically, we are going to look at Sindh and Kashmir. This analysis will also bust some of the myths that exist amongst Indian Muslims. For example:

• Muhammad Bin Qasim came to India in order to avenge and help Arab traders, who were looted by Hindu forces on the high seas.
• Islam came to India only in a peaceful way, and the invasions were just like an Alexander invading Sindh ages before Islam.
• The invasions were about money and not about religion.
Staying true to the cause of our research, we do not deny that the very first set of Arab Muslims landed in Malabar coast were mere traders. But this kind of interaction was an exception when compared to how Islam landed in the above mentioned Northwest regions of India.

Conquest of Sindh – The Advent of Islam

Without much ado, we are heading to Sindh. Let us start with the clichéd “In the Beginning.” The advent of Islam in Sindh starts with the attack on Debal, near Karachi in 712 CE by Muhammad Bin Qasim. This was a coastal town near modern Karachi. When Debal was sacked by this barbarian’s forces, all men aged 17 and above were killed without compunctions irrespective of whether or not these men were combatants.

“The women and children were all enslaved. 700 women that had taken shelter in a temple were captured and enslaved. Of the booty obtained by sacking Debal, Muhammad dispatched 1/5th to Hajaj (including 75 damsels) and the remaining booty was distributed to the soldiers.”
[Cambridge History of India, Volume III,
Kàzí Ismáíl, Chach Nama (English translation by Kalichbeg Fredunbeg)]

Who was Kàzí Ismáíl? He was a close confidante of Muhammad Bin Qasim & the formerly documented the conquest of Sindh.

Sindh bore the brunt of Muhammad Bin Qasim’s atrocities. Debal became the template that he would follow in every town across Sindh. The enslaved women of Sindh were forcefully converted to Islam and married to Arab soldiers. Towns like Multan, Kuzdar, and Mahfuza, became Arab colonies in Sindh. When the conquest of Sindh was winding down, over 20,000 infidels were brought as slaves. The women among the slaves that belonged to the aristocracy of the Hindu king were veiled and set aside to be sent to Hajaj. The remaining women were distributed to the soldiers.

Historians on atrocities in Sindh

Before we move forward, let’s know more about Muhammad Bin Qasim’s atrocities in Sindh from historians.

After Rawar had been taken, Muhammad Qasim “halted there for three days during which he massacred 6000 men. Their followers and dependents, as well as their women and children were taken as prisoner. Later on, the slaves were counted, and their number came to 60,000 (of both sexes).”

Please remember that we are talking about 7th Century during which such number would be much significant as compared to this era. The total population of Sindh that time would be hardly few Lakh out of which more than one Lakh were either killed or enslaved. The brutality of this act can be equated today, in numbers, if someone kills and enslaves 1 Crore people in Delhi alone.

“Out of these, 30 were young ladies of the royal blood. Muhammad Qasim sent all these to Hajjaj, who forwarded them to Walid, the Khalifa. He sold some of these female slaves of royal birth, and some he presented to others. Raja Dahir’s daughters also were counted among slave girls.”
[Kàzí Ismáíl, Chach Nama (English translation by Kalichbeg Fredunbeg), Page 154]

“From the seventh century onwards and with a peak during Muhammad al-Qasim’s campaigns in 712-13, a considerable number of Jats were captured as prisoners of war and deported to Iraq and elsewhere as slaves.”
[Andre Wink, Al-Hind]

Jats here is obviously used as a general word for all Hindus.
“In Brahmanabad it is said that about six thousand fighting men were slain, but according to others sixteen thousand were killed”, and their families enslaved. The garrison in the fort-city of Multan was put to the sword, and families of the chiefs and warriors of Multan, numbering about six thousand, were enslaved.”
[Andre Wink, Al-Hind, Page 161
Mohammad Habib, The Arab conquest of Sindh]

Conquest of Sindh and state of Hindu Women

One question begs a definite answer. How did Hindu women react to Muhammad Bin Qasim’s barbaric acts? Chach Nama gives the answer.

“Raja Dahir’s sister Bai collected all the women in the fort (of Rawar) and addressed them thus: ‘It is certain that we cannot escape the clutches of these Chandals and cow-eaters… As there is no hope of safety and liberty, let us collect fire-wood and cotton and oil (and) burn ourselves to ashes, and thus quickly meet our husbands (in the next world). Whoever is inclined to go and ask mercy of the enemy let her go… But all of them were of one mind, and so they entered a house and set fire to it, and were soon burnt to ashes.”
[Kàzí Ismáíl, Chach Nama (English translation by Kalichbeg Fredunbeg)]

This practice came to be known as Jauhar (Jova har, taking of life), for those hapless but valiant women that chose to die instead of being consumed by the Islamic invaders.

Islamic chronicles of conquest of Sindh

Islamic chronicles of the conquest of Sindh is called “Futûhu’l-Buldãn.” It was written by Ahmad bin Yahya bin Jãbir, who was known as “al-Bilãdhurî.” His history is one of the earliest and major Arab chronicles. It gives an account of Arab conquests in Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran, Armenia, Transoxiana, Africa, Spain, and Sindh. Here are some extracts on Sindh, from the above chronicle.
“The town (Debal) was thus taken by assault, and the carnage endured for three days. The governor of the town, appointed by Dãhir, fled, and the priests of the temple were massacred. Muhammad marked a place for the Musalmans to dwell in, built a mosque, and left four thousand Musalmans to garrison the place.”

“He then crossed the Biyãs and went towards Multãn… Muhammad destroyed the water-course; upon which the inhabitants, oppressed with thirst, surrendered at discretion. He massacred the men capable of bearing arms, but the children were taken captive, as well as the ministers of the temple, to the number of six thousand. The Muslamãns found much gold in a chamber ten cubits long by eight broad, and there was an aperture above, through which the gold was poured into the chamber.”

Muhammad Bin Qasim’s note on conquest of Sindh

Before we move from Sindh to Kashmir, let us read what butcher Muhammad Bin Qasim wrote on the conquest of Sindh.

“The forts of Siwistán and Sísam have been already taken. The nephew of Dáhir, his warriors, and principal officers have been dispatched, and the infidels converted to Islám or destroyed. Instead of idol temples, mosques and other places of worship have been built, pulpits have been erected, the Khutba is read, and the call to prayers is raised so that devotions are performed at the stated hours. The takbír and praise to the Almighty God are offered every morning and evening.”
[Muhammad Bin Qasim’s letter to his master Hijaj Bin Yusuf]

This implies that today’s Muslims of Sindh had a Hindu lineage, and we have just seen how the marauding Arabs broke the lineages.
Islam enters into Kashmir

From Sindh, let us now head a bit North-East to Kashmir. Kashmir was Islamized by a combination of force and a deceitful wave of conversions. It is also important to remember that compared to other regions like Sindh or today’s North West Frontier Province (of Pakistan) or Afghanistan that tasted the brutality of Islam much earlier, Kashmir was a predominantly Hindu region just 750 years ago.

The aim of this chapter is not to go through a blow by blow account of Kashmir’s glorious past whose kings held sway till Central Asia and today’s Afghanistan. To understand the whole nine yards of Islamization of Kashmir, the book “Converted Kashmir” by Narender Sehgal will be an excellent resource.

Islam entered Kashmir around 1322 when Zulkadur Khan invaded the region. But the mass conversions and tyranny was unleashed during the reign of Sikandar Butshikan (1394 – 1417). He invited Islamic clergy from Arabia and Persia, and forced proselytization was in full swing. Sikandar is the one that needs to be credited with the destruction of the most famous temples at Martand, Vishya, Isna and Tripeshwar.

Syed Ali Hamdani – A conversion virus in Kashmir
Preceding the force was the sugar quoted message of brotherhood, love and tolerance. Syed Ali Hamdani was a Muslim leader that set the template for conversion using deception in Kashmir. Syed Ali Hamdaani, better known as Shah Hamdaani, came to Kashmir from Turkey / Persia along with a bunch of Syeds (numbering around 700) in 1372. Under the tolerance and kindness of the local Kashmiri Hindus, Syed Ali Hamdaani established an Islamic centre in Srinagar called Allah-Udinpur, which, later came to be called as Khankai Moula.

“The Syed established contact with Hindu saints of Kashmir. His meetings started with an influential Hindu Recluse, Lalleshwari. Both of them started visualising many similarities in their religious doctrines. Both of them opposed idol worship. In league with the Syed, Lalleshwari started propagating her sect and the sufi sect. Through Lalleshwari the Syed started using some sayings from Hindu religion cleverly in his discourses in order to establish his credibility among the disciples of Lalleshwari.

He even fully praised yoga. As a result of the political intrigue of Syed Ali Hamdaani some Hindu recluse and 37,000 Hindus adopted Islam. Historian Bamzai has written that outwardly the Syed would praise eloquently the Hindu religion but inwardly he used to hate the saints of this religion. After achieving great success in his mission he, while giving up his guise of love and coexistence, asked the Sultan to carry out the forcible conversion of Hindus.”
[Narander Sehgal, Converted Kashmir]

Syed Ali Hamdani introduced in Kashmir, with the help of the Sultan, the dress of Muslim countries, the throne on the Islamic model, Islamic customs in state administration and Islamic Flag on Government buildings. On the directions of the Syed, the Sultan started wearing an Arabic cap and divorced one of his two wives and remarried the other according to Islamic custom.

Sikandar Butshikan – the iconoclast of Kashmir

Then came the king Sikandar Butshikan, who along with the son of Syed Ali Hamdaani, named Syed Mohammed Hamdani, unleashed the brutality where Hindu temples were systematically destroyed.
The destruction of the temple at Martand is very graphic. It took one full year to destroy this architectural marvel. Given the destruction of the structure was taking time; sections of the temple were stuffed with wood and burnt down. The foundation of the temple was systematically dug out, and every block of stone was uprooted. Those around the temple were given a choice between Islam and death. There were instances where those that opposed conversions were shoved into sacks and drowned into lakes.

Some Hindus were allowed to stay in Kashmir, but they soon realized the futility, as, Hindus were forced to pay the taxes during Shivratri, Diwali, Ram Navmi, Navratri and Yagnopavit (sacred thread wearing ceremony). Taxes were imposed on pilgrimages. Those that were unable to pay these taxes were once again either killed or forced to accept Islam. Kashmir had many libraries, and Sikander set about burning down all Sanskrit books in these houses of knowledge. Many fleeing Hindus carried whatever Sanskrit books they could.

Sanskrit scholars were handpicked, beheaded; their heads were smeared with sandalwood and then left on highways in order to terrorize Hindus. After mass execution of Hindus, the severed torsos would be thrown into the Jhelum River, which reaches the Wullar Lake. And many swollen bodies will float on the lake for days together emitting foul smells, and they would be consumed by vultures, stray dogs, and crows. Hindu women were regularly picked up from the banks of Jhelum River by Muslim soldiers as booty. Whoever stayed back ended up accepting Islam under coercion.

There are even more well-documented events in Kashmir’s history all the way till 1947, the role of neo-converts in Islamizing Kashmir and the way there was a glimmer of hope in the middle of all this. But the aim of this chapter, as stated at the beginning was about exploring the lineages of the current generation Muslims in Kashmir. We have established that in Kashmir now.
While we can write reams and reams on what happened to Hindus in today’s Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Gujarat, Deccan, and other parts on India our aim is to establish the lineage of Indian Muslims in at least two of very well-known regions that are almost completely Islamic in faith. And going across every region in India also, having known the template that the Islamic invaders followed to Islamize the population could be overkill too.

Hindu lineage of Indian subcontinent Muslims

Do Muslims of subcontinent ever think – where have gone those unfortunate descendants of Hindus who were slain or forced to become Muslims in Jihadi storm a few centuries back? Aren’t you the one? If no, then where are those? Here are some popular Hindu surnames today’s Subcontinent Muslims still carry to this date. None of them is an Arab or Turk or Pathan.

In Kashmir

Handoo, Aga, Atal, Bandhu, Bhan, Bagati, Bhat/Butt/Bhatt, Budki (Burki), Bindroo, Chowdhury, Dhar (Dar), Dass (Das), Dassi, Dulloo, Ganju (Ganjoo), Kaw, Gurtu, Hak, Haksar, Hangal, Hangoo, Hoon, Jaju, Jalali, Kachru (Kachroo), Kak, Kar, Kappu, Katju, Kaul(Koul), Kaw, Kemmu, Khar, Kasid Kher, Khosa, Kitchlu (Kitchlew), Kunzru, Langoo, Madan, Mahaldar, Malla, Mantoo, Mattoo, Mukoo,Muthoo, Mir, Misri, Natu, Nehru, Ogra, Pandit, Pandita, Parimoo, Qasba, Raina, Rayu, Razdan, Reu, Sadhu, Sapru, Shivpuri, Shrunglu, Shunglu, Tangnu, Thusoo, Tikoo,Wakhlu, Wanchoo/Wanchu, Wantoo/Wantu, Warikoo, Wattal, Wattoo, Zalpuri, Zaroo and Zutshi.

In Pakistan

Many of the Muslims in Pakistan and India still use their ancestral Hindu surnames for their identity. Hundreds of such names are still in use. Please google about Jat Muslims, Muslim Gujjars, and Muslim Rajputs to know more.

It is believed that almost 1/3rd of Pakistan’s total population (around 5 Crore out of total 18 Crore) is probably constituted by the Muslims having Hindu castes- Jat and Rajput! Rest of the Pakistani and Indian Muslim population can also be easily traced back to their Hindu roots. DNA test reports confirm that all Hindus and Muslims have common genes and the Muslims have not come from outside.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah (founder of Pakistan), Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (former Pakistani President), Benazir Bhutto (former Pakistani Prime Minister), belong to Hindu lineage- Rajput whereas Muhammad Iqbal’s (famous poet) grandfather was a Kashmiri Hindu. Most prominent Pakistanis are Jats, Gujjars and Rajputs – all Hindu origins.

So now that it is proven factually as well that Islam came to India with sword and all Muslims of today’s subcontinent carry Hindu ancestry, it is high time that our Muslim Brothers and sisters stop hating their own culture, ancestors, and motherland and come back to their original home, Vedas.