6 The Coming of Islam
The origins of Islam
Sunnı ̄s and Shı ̄‘ı ̄s
Islam in India
The political context
Diversity of Islam in India
Sunnı ̄s
Shı ̄‘ ı ̄s
Su ̄fı ̄sm
Recommended readingSome historians begin their discussion of “modern India” with the Islamic
period because in many ways the presence of Islam on the subcontinent was
a watershed in the self-perception and practice of Indian religion and
culture, especially in Northern India. Much has been claimed and counter-
claimed about Islam’s presence in India, especially by Hindu militants. There
are those Hindu nationalists who insist Islam was a brutal foreign intrusion
whose rulers enforced conversions, demolished temples, and in other ways
sought to wipe out “infidels.” On the other hand, many historians, in seeking
to refute these claims, may soft pedal the more unpleasant aspects of the
Islamic presence. We shall attempt in this chapter and the next to sketch in
the nature of Islam’s presence and the subcontinent’s response to it. What
is obvious is that Islam in India has been no monolith – there have been
many various strands that constituted its contribution to the subcontinent.
Similarly, responses to it were diverse and cannot be simply characterized.