A CONQUEST OF PASTS 177
duced Muhammad bin Qasim from the fourth grade onward, progres-
sively adding historical detail and texture to the narrative. "Advent of
Islam in South Asia" is chapter 6 in the social studies textbook for the
sixth grade, and it is emblematic in that it hits all of the major narra-
tive points in the originary tale. That narratiye highlights Muhammad
bin Qasim's good treatment, which "overawed the people," and "Hindus
began to embrace Islam in great number due to the good and kind
treatment of Muslims."^65 This first-contact model was replicated
throughout the school curriculum, contras~ing ~he benevolence of
warrior Muslims with the horror of local rule. The civics textbook for
class ten builds on this idea: "For the first time the people of Sindh
were introduced to Islam, its political system and way of government.
The people here had seen only the atrocities of the Hindu rajas."^66 The
result of this encounter is further detailed in a section titled "The Im-
pact of Islam in South Asia":
Islam spread rapidly after the conquest of Multan. The main cause
was the benign treatment of Muslims with the Hindus. Due to this
attitude Hindus began to love Muslims and they became nearer and
nearer to Muslims. Before the Arab conquest the people were fed up
with the teachings of Buddhists and Hindus. Muhamamd [sic] Bin
Qasim was kind both with Buddhist community and Hindus. The
Arabs treated the locals with generosity, good treatment and justice,
with the result that most of the Hindus embraced Islam along with
other Brahamans and Buddhists. They began to accept the customs
and manners of the Muslims and changes took place in their lives
and society.^67The emphasis, throughout these texts, is on how Muslim rule was be-
nevolent and how it provided the conquered populations "complete
freedom to follow their own religion irrespect [sic] of caste or creed."^68
Implicit in this history is a cru~ial lesson for the young citizen in
training: the purity of that first encounter was squandered by later gen-
erations ofiMuslim rulers, who fell away from the ideal established by
Muhammad bin Qasim. Furthermore, history as conceived in the_se
school textbooks is demarcated explicitly along borders. The Delhi sul-
tanate is excluded; the majority of Mughal rule is excluded (Shah
Jahan appears only because he constructed monuments and fort;; in