Spread of Islam into South and Southeast Asia

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Spread of Islam into South and Southeast Asia

• 600-1450 CE
• Jay Langlois
• Robert E. Lee High School
• Baytown, TX
• jclanglois_at_gccisd.net

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South Asia

• India had always been subject to waves of
  invasions
• Nomadic peoples
• Displaced peoples

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South Asia

• Most became assimilated
• Became Hindu or Buddhist
• Became part of the caste hierarchy
• Adopted the dress, food, and culture of those
  already there

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South Asia

• As a result, the arrival of new peoples did not
  significantly challenge the existing order
• This will all change with the arrival of Islam in
  the early years of the 8th century

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South Asia

• After the collapse of the Gupta Empire (end of
  the 5th century), India had collapsed again into
  its regional divisions
• This will leave the area open to conquest by the
  Muslims

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South Asia

• Beginning in the early 8th century, waves of
  Muslim groups begin entering India and
  establishing a foothold (in the area of the Sind)
• At first, this caused little change the
  conquerors promised lower taxes and greater
  religious tolerance
• Hindus and Buddhists became dhimmis
• They also allowed local elites and rulers to stay
  in power

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South Asia

• Exchange
• Indian learning was transmitted through Muslim
  merchants to the west
• Of particular importance was Indian advances in
  algebra and geometry, which rivaled those of
  Greece
• Arabs also began using Indian numerals (which we
  now call Arabic numerals, but they started in
  India)

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South Asia

• In the 10th and 11th centuries, a new wave of
  Muslim invasions began
• More violent, more vicious, and much more
  interested in territorial conquest
• This wave conquered much of northern India, and
  established a capital at Delhi

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South Asia

• Since the ruler of this new empire called himself
  the sultan, this period in Indian history is
  known as the Delhi Sultanate

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South Asia

• However, most of this period is characterized by
  accommodation and peaceful exchanges since the
  Muslims needed Hindu elites and rulers to help
  them
• There were many conversions to Islam, but, again,
  few were forcible

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South Asia

• In spite of the number of conquests, the Delhi
  Sultanate made little impression on the Hindu
  community as a whole
• They took positions as administrators and
  soldiers in the empire, but stayed socially aloof
  from their conquerors

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South Asia

• Hindus probably expected that the Muslim invaders
  would soon become assimilated into their culture
  and religion, as so many had before
• But the Muslims held to their own beliefs and
  rituals and there are probably no two more
  opposing religions than Hinduism and Islam

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South Asia

• Hindus eventually realized that they were faced
  with an actively evangelical religion, with so
  many significant differences and beliefs, there
  was bound to be conflict between the two

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South Asia

• Over the centuries, it became obvious that, in
  spite of many peoples attempts, the two
  religions were not compatible, and could not be
  fused into one belief system

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South Asia

• The Muslim community continued to grow, and while
  Hinduism remained the majority religion (by far),
  the ruling elite was primarily Muslim
• Unlike other areas conquered by the Muslims, the
  Hindus showed little interest in conversion

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Southeast Asia

• Always significant as a trading area, the islands
  of Southeast Asia are a meeting point a place
  where merchants and traders from East Asia,
  India, Africa, and the Middle East all converge

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Southeast Asia

• By the 7th and 8th centuries, Muslim merchants
  were making their way from India into Southeast
  Asia
• By this point, Muslims controlled most of the
  trade coming into and out of India

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Southeast Asia

• Conversion in this area was easier than in India,
  because, while there were many faiths there, no
  one religious system dominated the islands
• Merchants introduced locals to the ideas and
  rituals of Islam and also brought Sufis to the
  area

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Southeast Asia

• Malacca the most important port in Southeast
  Asia
• Once the Muslim religion had conquered this
  city, it spread far and wide among the islands,
  ports, and trading villages of Southeast Asia

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Southeast Asia

• However, there were areas with strong Hindu
  and/or Buddhist traditions, and many of these
  were resistant to Muslim incursion

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Southeast Asia

• As Islam spread into this area, it underwent some
  significant changes, incorporating some of the
  local beliefs and rituals
• This will cause problems later, because orthodox
  Muslims will not accept it as true Islam

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Accommodation

• Now is a good time to bring up the reality that
  this fact is true of all major religions
• As religions spread, they are forced to
  accommodate themselves somewhat to local
  traditions and beliefs in order to gain converts

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Accommodation

• For example, Christianity incorporated some major
  Celtic traditions and beliefs into its religion
  to gain converts in northern and western Europe
• Many Christmas traditions evolved from this
  exchange of ideas