FRONTIER WITH THE HOUSE OF GOLD 25
lises in Syria, Iraq, and Iran through nodes in the Indian Ocean and
the Red Sea. The personages who are now buried in Uch had them-
selves hailed from parts of Arabia, Iran, and Central Asia. These Sufi
saints left further legacies in India, as their sons, grandsons, and spiri-
tual heirs moved from Uch to Gujarat, to the Deccan, and to Bengal.
Even the briefest sketch of trade relations and maritime contact be-
tween India and Arabia should bring into stark relief the assumptions
that undergird histories of Muslim origins in India-that the commu-
nities of India first encountered Arabs only as conquerors in the eighth
century. As one approaches the age of Islam in Arabia, the issues of
trade, navigation, knowledge, and access to the Indian Ocean arc be-
come intimately tied to our understandings of the society and world-
view into which Muhammad was born and where he declared the first
Muslim state. The encounter of that state with the geography of western
India was twofold: it was a continuation of the Indian Ocean trade and
migration network as well as a response to the political aftermath of
the dissolution of the Sassanid Empire.
The presence of Arab communities in Sind and Gujarat far predates
the beginning of Muslim polities in Arabia. The Muslim polities in
Sind that emerged in the eighth century undoubtedly helped the growth
of trade and settlement networks between Arabia and India. Settle-
ments in Aden, Muscat, Diu, and Thana predate the Arabian Muslim
empires of Damascus and Baghdad. There are numerous mentions of
Arab families who settled in these regions in political exile or as traders.
These regions offer connected histories-the proof of their interactions
lies in the gift registries of various Arab courts, in translations of texts,
in the settlements of communities, and in built architecture.
One response to the origins narrative of conquest in historiography
is to separate the "peaceful" presence of Muslims in India from the
"conquest" presence. Not only does such an approach pose the problem
of apologia, there are no analytical reasons to offer such a separation.
The two are intricately intertwined. Instead of narratives of arrivals, we
need a conststent history of being Muslim in India. The origins narra-
tive forecloses any reading of the Muslim past in India as being inter-
connected or socially and culturally heterogeneous. Rather, it presents a
particular idea of "conquest"-one centered on Muslim violence against
Hindu rulers and subjects, prejudicial taxation, and temple destruction.