PAKISTAN'S HISTORY AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Khilji Dynasty (1290-1320)

The founder of Khilji Dynasty in South Asia, Malik Firuz, was originally the Ariz-i-Mumalik appointed by Kaiqubad durin the days of decline of the Slave Dynasty. He took advantage of the political vacuum that was created due to the incompetence of the successors of Balban. To occupy the throne, he only had to remove
The founder of the Khilji Dynasty in South Asia, Malik Firu the throne of Delhi as Jalal-ud-Din Firuz Shah. Khiljis were basical Central Asians but had lived in Afghanistan for so long that the the infant Sultan Kaimurs. On June 13, 1290, Malik Firuz ascend in terms of customs andmanners. Thus, the coming of Khiljis to power was more than a dynastic change.

As majority of the Muslim population of Delhi was Turk, the arrival of a Khilji ruler was not much welcomed. Yet Jalal-ud-Din managed to win the hearts of the people through his mildness and generosity. He retained most of the officers holding key positions in the Slave Dynasty. His own nephew and son-in-law, Alauddin Khilji killed Jalal-ud-Din and took over as the new ruler. Alauddin's reign is marked by innovative administrative and revenue reforms, market control regulations and a whirlwind period of conquests. It is considered the golden period of the Khilji rule. However, before the death of Alauddin, his house was divided in different camps which

resulted in the ultimate collapse of the Khalji Dynasty in 1320.

A Turk noble, Ghazi Malik became Sultan assuming the title of Chyasuddin Tughluq Shah, thus becoming the founder of the Tughluq Dynasty. After becoming Sultan, Ghiyas-ud-Din concentrated on crushing the Hindu rajas and conquered Bengal, which was no longer part of the central empire since the death of Balban. When he came back after the successful Bengal expedition, he was killed in a ceremony, and his son Muhammad Tughluq succeeded him.

Muhammad Tughluq was a man of ideas, not action. He tried to implement a number of his own schemes which did not work. A civil war like situation was created and a tussle began between the power-hungry princes. The nobles, who in order to gain more power, started supporting one prince or the other, further worsened

the situation. Amir Timur's invasion on Delhi in 1398 further destroyed the political and economic standing of the Tughluqs. The dynasty eventually came to an end in 1414 when Khizar Khan founded the Saiyid Dynasty in Delhi.

PAKISTAN'S HISTORY AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Slave Dynasty
The concept of equality in Islam and Muslim traditions reached its climax in the history of South Asia when slaves were raised to the status of Sultan. The Slave Dynasty ruled the subcontinent for about 84 years. Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, Shams-ud-Din Iltutmush and Ghiyas-ud-Din Balban, the three great Sultans of the era, were themselves sold and purchased during their early lives. The Slave Dynasty was the first Muslim dynasty that ruled India.
Muhammad Ghauri had no son so he raised thousands of slaves like his sons. Ghauri had the habit to buy every talented slave he came across. He would then train them in the way royal children were trained. During Ghauri's regime, slaves occupied all key positions in the government machinery. Three favourite slaves of the Sultan were Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, Taj-ud-Din Ildiz and Nasir-ud-Din Qubachah. He appointed them governors of Delhi, Ghazni and Lahore, respectively. Ghauri never nominated his successor but it was obvious that the successor was to be one of his slaves.
When Ghori died in 1206, the amirs elected Aibak as the new Sultan. Aibak first shifted his capital from Ghazni to Lahore and then from Lahore to Delhi. Thus, he was the first Muslim ruler who ruled South Asia and had his headquarters in the region as well. Aibak could only rule for four years and died in 1210. He was succeeded by
his son Aram Shah, who proved to be too incompetent to hold such an important position. The Turk nobles invited Iltumish, one of the laves and son-in-law of Aibak, to assume charge of the state affair Iltumish ruled for around 26 years from 1211 to 1236 and responsible for setting the Sultanate of Delhi on strong footings.

Iltumish was a good soldier and an outstanding statesman as well. When Chenghiz Khan descended upon Central Asia (1219), he kept him out of India through consummate diplomacy and determined military posture. Delhi and Lahore were saved from the ravages of the Mongols. On the death of Iltumish, a war of succession started between his children. His daughter Razia Sultana ascended the throne in 1236 as the first-ever empress of the Muslim rule in South Asia. The Turkish nobles resented having a woman as their ruler, especially when she started challenging their power. They began conspiring against her. In 1239, they made her brother Bahram the Sultan.
She died in 1340.

Finally the youngest son of Iltutmush, Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud became Sultan in 1245.26 Though Mahmud ruled India for around 20 years, during his entire tenure, the main power remained in the hands of Balban. On death of Mahmud, his Prime Minister Ghyasuddin Balban directly took over the throne and ruled Delhi from 1266 to 1287. Balban consolidated the administrative set-up of the empire and completed the work started by Iltutmush. Balban's successors could not handle the affairs of the state, and the throne was captured by the Ariz-i-Mumalik who declared his independence with the title of Jalal-ud-Din Khilji in 1290.
The most important institution that developed under the Slave Dynasty was the institution of Chalgan or the Forty. Chalgan were a corps of highly placed and powerful officers, whom Iltutmush had organized as his personal supporters. They were like the cabinet for the Sultan. However, during the days of civil war between the successors of Iltutmush, the Chalgan started looking for their personal gains and played one prince against the other.
During this era the Chalgan became very strong. Each one of them started considering himself as the deputy of the Sultan. When Balban assumed charge as Sultan, he murdered some of them while others were banished from the kingdom. There is no doubt that by crushing their power, Balban strengthened his rule, but actually he destroyed the real power of the Slave Dynasty. With this the rule of the Slave Dynasty came to an end.

PAKISTAN'S HISTORY AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Sultanate (1206-1526)
Though Muslims entered South Asia with the conquest of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim and then with the anne Punjab by Mahmud Ghaznavi, yet the real credit of the establishment of Muslim rule in the region goes to Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori. The Ghoris had a long history of differences with the Ghaznavids, which eventually resulted in the capture of Ghazni at the hands of Ghiyas-ud-din Muhammad bin Sam, the ruler of Ghor, in 1173. Ghiyas-ud-din handed over Ghazni to his younger brother Muhammad Ghori and himself concentrated on the conquest of Khorasan.
After taking charge of Ghazni, Muizz-ud-din Muhammad bin Sam, commonly known as Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Ghori (1160-1206) is one of the key persons who played a significant role in the establishment of Muslim rule in north India. An ambitious person Muhammad Ghori spent most of his time in preparation for an attack on South Asia. In 1175, he invaded the subcontinent for the first time through the Gomal pass and occupied Multan and Uch, but failed capture Gujarat. He again came through the Khyber Pass with the aim of attacking the Ghaznavid territories. He managed to capture Peshawar in 1179 and Sialkot in 1185, and finally Lahore in 1186.
After taking over the Ghaznavid area of Punjab, Ghori decided to fight against the Hindu Rajputs. In 1191, he conquered Bathinda in the territory of Chauhans and then decided to go back to Ghazni. But on learning that Prithvi Raj was marching towards Bathinda to recapture the fort, Ghori came back to defend his conquest. A blood war was fought at Tarain after which Rajputs reclaimed Bathinda. Back in Ghazni, Ghori spent a year in preparation and then attacked the Rajputs again. The result of the second battle of Tarain, fought in 1192, was totally opposite from the first one.
The Rajputs were defeated and Prithvi Raj was killed. Victory in the second battle of Tarain opened the door to further conquests for Ghori. Muslims defeated many of the Rajput clans and captured Badaun and Oudh. Kanauj and Benares were captured in 1194, and Bayana and Gawalior in 1195. One of Ghori's most trusted lieutenants, Qutb-ud-Din Aibak moved forward and captured Delhi in 1196. Ghori himself went back to Ghazni but appointed Aibak as his viceroy in the region and was keen to receive feedback on the political and social activities of Delhi. Aibak was the first Muslim governor of Delhi.
Ghori appointed another of his slaves, Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji, to look after the land of Oudh. With the revenue coming from the land, Khilji established a small force of horsemen With the support of these horsemen, Khilji captured Bengal and some parts of Assam. Ghori appointed Khilji as the governor of Bengal. After his death in 1206, his Turkish slaves ruled the region and left a great impact on history.
The Muslim rule established by Muhammad Ghori in South Asia lasted for more than seven centuries. Ghori took special interest in South Asia and by establishing his permanent hold in the region he managed to push permanent Muslim rule much further east than Mahmud Ghaznavi did. He took the small state of Ghazni from his
brother Ghiyas-ud-Din Muhammad bin Sam and turned it into an empire by conquering vast territories. First, he captured the area ruled hy the Ghaznavids and later on extended his rule to north India and Bengal. He was an able general and a brave soldier. He never let a temporary defeat stand in his way.

Muhammad Ghori is remembered as an empire builder and is justly called the founder of the Muslim Empire in Indo-Pakistan. From 1206 to 1526 AD, five different dynasties held sway culminating into the Mughal rule (1526-1707) which continued, though nominally, till the War of Independence in 1857. His successors established the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, the Mamluk Dynasty (Mamluk means "slave") in 1211. The territory under control of the Muslim rulers in Delhi expanded rapidly The sultans of Delhi enjoyed cordial relations with Muslim rulers in the Near East but owed them no allegiance. The sultans based their laws on the Quran and the shariah and permitted Muslim subjects to practise their religion. The sultans ruled from urban centres - while military camps and trading posts provided the nuclei for towns that sprang up in the countryside. Perhaps the greatest contribution of the sultanate was its temporary success in insulating the subcontinent from the potential devastation of the Mongol invasion from Central Asia in the thirteenth century.

PAKISTAN'S HISTORY AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Mahmud Ghaznavi (971-1030)                                                                                                                                         Alptigin, one of the Turkish slaves of the Samanid ruler, Abdul Malik, rose to the status of governor of Khurasan. However, when his patron died, he was stripped of his title and forced to leave the
land. He captured a small area in Afghanistan and established his rule in the city-state of Ghazni in 962 with the aim of conquering his own land, a desire that remained in the hearts of his successors After his death in 977, he was succeeded by his son-in-lavw Subuktigin under whose rule, Ghazni soon emerged as a political and military power of the region.

  Alarmed at the rising power in the neighbourhood, the Hindu Shahi Raja Jaipal attacked Ghazni. Jaipal was defeated. In order to save his life, he promised to pay tribute. But after going back home he not only defaulted but also took support from other Hindu rajas of the region and again attacked Subuktigin in 991. His fate was not different this time. He was defeated and had to pay a heavy ransom besides giving away the areas of Lamghan and Peshawar.

Meanwhile, Subuktigin died and his son Mahmud ascended the throne in 998. Jaipal took advantage of the situation, and to avenge his defeat at the hands of Subuktigin, organized an army of 12,000 horsemen, 30,000 foot soldiers and 300 elephants. This movement forced Mahmud, who was preparing to invade Central Asia, to turn his attention towards India. The battle against Jaipal was the beginning of a long series of attacks by Mahmud gainst

South Asia.
According to most historians, Mahmud invaded India 17 times to crush the power of the Hindu rajas and maharajas who were always busy planning conspiracies against him. After defeating Tarnochalpal in 1021, Mahmud formally annexed Punjab. After the fall of Punjab, the Hindu think-tank assembled at Somnath - which
was more of a political centre than a temple - to plan a big war against Mahmud. He took all the rajas and maharajas by surprise when he attacked Somnath and crushed the Hindu headquarters of political intrigue.

During his 17 expedition, he did conquer a number of places in the subcontinent but never established his rule over them or annexed any part of the conquered territories except the Punjab. The most important impact of Mahmud's expeditions was the conquest of Punjab for the first time by Muslims and the establishment of Muslim rule and society in the region. This was a significant event in the history of Islam as the Muslims gained their first foothold in northern India. He spent his last five years in dealing with the affairs During his 17 expeditions, he did conquer a number of places of Ghazni and in making plans to conquer Central Asia.

After the death of Mahmud, the Ghaznavid dynasty lost much of its vigor; yet during the days of his son Masud and grandson Mahmud, Lahore remained an important province of the Ghazvanid Empire. Later, the Ghaznavid rulers moved their headquarters from Ghazni to Punjab and ryled Peshawar, Lahore and Multan till the

last half of tweflth century when Muhammad Ghori defeated them. Muslim conquests were expanded under Mahmud and his successor Ghazvanid until the late twelfth century, when the Ghoris overran the Ghaznavids and extended the conquests in northern India.

From the time of the Ghaznavids, Persian more or less replaced Arabic as the official language. The economic, political and religious institutions developed by the Muslims bore their unique impression The law of the State was based on shariah and in principle the rulers were bound to enforce it. A new language, Urdu, derived ainly from Arabic and Persian vocabulary and adopting indigenous words and idioms, came to be spoken and written by the Muslims and it gained currency among the rest of the Indian population.

PAKISTAN'S HISTORY AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

.Muhammad bin Qasim (695-715)
                                                 
                  In October 711, Hajjaj sent 6000 select Syrian and Iraq soldiers,
a camel corps of equal strength and a baggage train  of 3,000 camels to Sindh under the command of his nephew and son-in-law, Muhammad bin Qasim, a young boy of just seventeen years. He also had a 'manjaniq'. or catapult, which was operated by 500 men and could throw large stones a great distance. On his way the governor of Makran, who provided him with additional forces, joined him,
Also, a good number of local subjects who had suffered at the hands of native rulers joined the Arabs forces.
                   Muhammad bin Qasim first captured Daibul establishing the first permanent Muslim foothold in the subcontinent. He then termed towards Nirun,near modern Hyderabad, where he easily overwhelmed the inhabitants. Dahir decided to oppose the Arabs at Raor. After fierce struggle, Dahir was overpowered and killed in 712. Raor fell into the hands of the Muslims. The Arabs forces then occupied Alor and proceeded towards  Multan. Along the way, the Sikka (Uch) fortress, situated on the bank of the Ravi was also occupied.The Hindu ruler of Multan offered resistance for two months after which the Hindus were overpowered and defeated.
Prior to this, Muhammad bin Qasim had taken Brahmanabad and a few other important towns of Sindh. Muhammad bin Qasim was planning to proceed forward when the new Caliph Suleman bin Abdul Malik recalled him. He died when he was only 20. But he left behind a legacy of historic Islamic victory which led to the

establishment of an autonomous Muslim state in India, linked with the Umayyeds, and later, the Abbassid Caliphate was established with jurisdiction extending over southern and central parts of present Pakistan. Arabic was introduced as the official language in this area. The sea pirates of Sindh, who were protected by Raja Dahir, were crushed. As a result of this, sea trade flourished. The port of Daibul became a busy and prosperous commercial centre.

The Muslim conquest of Sindh brought peace and prosperity tothe region. The local people who had been living a life of misery breathed a sigh of relief. Qasim followed a lenient policy and treated the local population generously. Everyone had full religious freedom and even the spiritual leaders of local religions were given salaries from the government fund. No changes were made in the local administration. All taxes were abolished and jazia was imposed Everyone was treated equally. Law and order was restored. Poor people, especially Buddhists, were very impressed by his policies and many of them embraced Islam. A number of mosques and

madaris were constructed in important towns.

                   The establishment of Muslim rule also paved way for, future propagation of Islam in Sindh and the adjoining regions. In a short period of time, Sindh became a centre of Islamic learning. A number of religious scholars, writers and poets emerged and they spread their knowledge. The Muslims learned Indian sciences like medicine astronomy and mathematics. Sanskrit books on various subjectwere translated into Arabic. During the reign of Haroon al-Rasheed a number of Hindu scholars were even invited to Baghdad. With the conquest of Lahore by Mahmud of Ghazni, missionary activity began again under the aegis of sufis who were the main agents in the
Islamization of the entire region. Subsequently, Muslim warriors from Central Asia established their kingdoms in other parts of India. Mahmud Ghaznavi launched several invasions of India defeating the local rulers. During those
invasions, some of the areas (Multan and some other regions) were already under Muslim rule but in a weakened form. The Ghaznavids (976-1148) and their successors, the Ghauris (1148-1206), were Central Asian by origin and they ruled their territories, which covered mostly the regions of present Pakistan, from capitals outside India. Muslim influence grew with conversions as well as Islamic conquests through the traditional north-western routes.

PAKISTAN'S HISTORY AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

ADVENT OF ISLAM IN THE SUBCONTINENT
Trade relations between Arabia and the subcontinent dated back to ancient times. Long before the advent of Islam in Arabia, the Arabs used to visit the coast of southern India, which then provided the link between the ports of south and Southeast Asia. After the Arab traders became Muslim, they brought Islam to South Asia. A number of local Indians living in the coastal areas embraced Islam. However, it was the Muslim conquests in Persia, including the provinces of Kirman and Makran, which brought the Arabs face to face with the then ruler of Sindh, who had allied with the ruler of Makran against the Muslims. But, it was not until the sea-borne trade of the Arabs in the Indian Ocean was jeopardized that serious attempts were made to subjugate Sindh.
The initial entry of Islam into India came in the first century after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The Umayyad caliph in Damascus sent an expedition to Balochistan and Sindh in 711 led by Muhammad bin Qasim (for whom Karachi's second port is named). An autonomous Muslim state linked with the Umayyad and later the Abbassid Caliphate was established with jurisdiction extending over southern and central parts of present Pakistan.20 Quite a few new cities were established and Arabic was introduced as the official language.21 Coastal trade and the presence of a Muslim colony in Sindh, however, permitted significant cultural exchanges and the introduction into the subcontinent of saintiy teachers. Muslim influence grew with conversions.

During the reign of the great Umayyad Caliph Walid bin Abdui Malik, Hajjaj bin Yousaf was appointed as the governor of the Eastern Provinces. At that time, Raja Dahir, a Brahman, ruled Sindh and was known to be unpopular with his subjects. He also gave protection to pirates who were active on the coastal areas and
whenever they got a chance, they plundered the ships passing by Daibul. During those times, some Muslim traders living in Ceylon died and the ruler of Ceylon sent their widows and orphans back to Baghdad. They made their journey by sea, and as their eight-ship caravan passed by the seaport of Daibul, Sindhi pirates looted it and took the women and children prisoner.

When news of this attack reached Hajjaj, he demanded that Dahir return the Muslim captives and the looted items. He also demanded that the culprits be punished. Dahir replied that he hadno control over the pirates and was, therefore, powerless to rebuke them. On this Hajaj decided to invade Sindh. Two small expeditions

sent by him failed to accomplish their goal. Thus, in order to free the prisoners and to punish the guilty party, Hajaj decided to undertake a huge offensive against Dahir, who was patronizing the pirates.

PAKISTAN'S HISTORY AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Hunas (Huns)
In the mid fifth century AD, the Hephthalites or Hunas (the Huns), a fierce and warlike people from Central Asia who ruleda vast empire with their capital at Balkh invaded Northwest India. They occupied the Kabul valley and Gandhara, and invaded the then weakening Gupta Empire. In about 445 AD Skanda Gupta stemmed the tide of the Hun eruption and around 460 AD he repulsed them The Huns then waited till after the death of Skanda Gupta to re-enter India from the Kabul valley after the conquest of Kushan. They alsoestablished themselves in Gandhara. Their conquest was accomplished with extreme ferocity and the Gupta regime was
completely extinguisheel.18 The tide of Hun invasions receded by the end of the sixth century, when the Turks and the Persians attacked them in Bactria, but as elsewhere the Huns had acted as a catalyst in the affairs of northwestern India.
The last pan-Indian Hindu Kingdom was that of Emperor Harsha Vardhana who successfully defeated the Huns and established a large kingdom over most of North India. But he was unable to bring the entire country under his rule. Northern India suffered a sharp decline after the seventh century. As a result, Islam came to a disunited India not only with the Arab conquest of Sindh but also through the same passes that Indo-Aryans, A
Kushans, and others had entered.