Islamic influence on Indian Society before
the arrival of Islam and after Harsha's rule, India witnessed a spell of
political disintegration and intellectual stagnation. The country was divided
into several smaller states. People developed parochial attitudes and
identities.
ISLAMIC INFLUENCE ON INDIAN
SOCIETY
Although
the Muslims conquered India with the help of the sword, they followed the
policy of peace in the country. He followed a policy of religious propagation
with few exceptions. He mostly realized the need for harmony rather than
oppression. Some Muslims adopted Hindu religious practices. He also visited
Hindu pilgrimage centers. Hindus too felt the need to give up a hostile
attitude and started living peaceful lives. Hindus who converted to Islam
maintained Hindu customs and etiquette even in their Hindu Muslim society.
Formalism
and totalitarianism dominated religions and cultural life. No innovative
religious writings, ideas, or comments were contributed by intellectuals.
Shakas, Hunas, and Gurjars end the golden age of the Gupta dynasty. However,
these foreigners gradually adopted Hinduism and culture. These invaders called
themselves descendants of Kshatriyas. This was the start of Rajput culture,
art, literature, poetry, and drama. Malwa, Kannauji, Bengali, Kashmir, Ajmer,
Gwalior, Chittor, Ranthambore, and Mandu were not only places of Rajput
etiquette, but also a new culture, architecture, and literature. South India
remained stable during this era and, therefore, didn't experience political
disintegration just like the North.
The Cholas ruled all over peninsular India.
Historian
Tarachand in his book The Influence of Islam on Indian Culture states that
social and cultural revivalism in the South was due to the influence of Islamic
culture. Muslim Arabs had trade relations with South India for many centuries
before the rise of Islam in India.
Indo-Iranian
maritime trade reached its zenith, with some of these foreign merchants also
settling along the coast of Sri Lanka and Malabar. Some Arab Muslims also
visited Sind and Gujarat, but their influence was limited. However, a definite
influence of Islamic culture is seen in 12th-century Indian society. Hindus and
Muslims represent two different cultures, world views, and ways of life.
Islamic and Hindu traditions remained interconnected, synthesized, and
untouched.
Y.
Singh mentions three major phases of Islamic traditions in India. These are -
(1)
the period of Islamic rule in India
(2)
during the British dominion and
(3)
the independence of India and the partition of the country during the Indian
independence movement.
The first phase is marked by conflict, tension, adaptation, and cultural
coordination between Hindu and Islamic traditions. The Muslim rulers waged religious warfare (Jihad) with the help of the Ulemas.
There
is no doubt that Muslims assimilated many Hindu practices. On the other hand,
Indian society and culture were largely influenced by Islamic tradition.
The impact of Islam on Indian culture is negative and positive H.V Srinivas
Murthy and S. V. Kamath have highlighted both negative and positive aspects of
the influence of Islam on Indian society.
He
writes, "Islam was indirectly responsible for making Hindu society
caste-based and exclusive. The Hindu woman was draped and the practice of sati
was made more strict. Child marriage became more popular”.
Negative Impact:
The
Muslim occupation of India had intensified some undesirable tendencies that had
already manifested themselves in Hindu society - the eve of the Muslim
conquest. Indian society as K.M. Panikkar was divided on a vertical basis due
to the beginning of Islam and Muslim rule. Before the thirteenth century, Hindu
society was divided horizontally. Neither Buddhism nor Jainism could affect this
division, but both easily assimilated. In contrast, Islam has divided Indian
society into two distinct parts - Hindu and Muslim.
Due
to time, these two classes developed in two different countries in the same
country. Two parallel societies were founded on the same soil. The ardent zeal
for Islam reinforced the shackles of conservatism in conservative circles of
his approach and practiced them more than in the past.
To
strengthen their position against the spread and spread of Islam, Hindus
introduced very social taboo, and caste rules were tightened. Continued
progress disappeared from the lives of Hindus under the influence of Islam.
Purdah system:
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ISLAMIC INFLUENCE ON INDIAN SOCIETY
Islam and Muslim rule seriously affected the status of Indian women. The birth of a girl was seen as an inauspicious event. As a result, female feticide spread widely among Hindus. It was also adopted by Hindus to avoid the risk of Muslims losing their purity.
Hindu
women used to move freely without any Purdah. But the Muslim conquest of India
resulted in the spread of the Purdah system. Women were forced to follow Purdah
in their homes and live in solitude. The spread of the Purdah system was also
due to the fulfillment of the threat of kidnapping of Hindu women by Muslims.
Before the arrival of Muslims on the Indian scene, there was an unknown,
dangerous system in the early days of Hindu rule, which took the initiative to
separate women from men. Women usually lived in solitude in the area of their
homes.
Child marriage and Sati
practice:
Child
marriage started in society. Gradually child marriage was implemented.
Early marriage of Hindu girls became a custom by Muslims to avoid tying their
knots. Sati practice was another social evil of this period. During Muslim
rule, the inhuman practice of Sat was introduced. Women were expected to follow
rigorous devotion in their Satvik life.
The practice of child marriage became prevalent among Hindus over fears that Muslim
rule and high officials could marry beautiful Hindu girls. Hence Hindu girls
had to get married at a very young age. The scriptures were amended to give
legal sanction to child marriages above the age of 11 or 12.
After
conquering various parts of India, the Muslim conquerors were deprived of women
and girls. As a sequel to the same, Hindu women, especially Rajput women, burnt
themselves in front of their husbands and relatives and went to the battlefield
to fight their final battle against the Muslims. This was known as the practice
of Jauhar. Apart from this, the sati practice was also introduced. According to
the Sati practice, the wife had to burn on the funeral pyre of the husband's
feature of Hindu society. The condition of Hindu women became very bad. The
dependence of women on their male relatives or husbands became a prominent
Slavery:
An
unhealthy feature of social life that was spread in Hindu society due to
Muslims. Slavery was common in the Muslim tradition. This was a custom among
the Sultans. To keep both men and women slaves both rich and nobles. This
influenced the Hindu chiefs to retain slaves. Therefore, slavery appeared due
to Muslims in India.
The
institution of slavery became quite common after the advent of Islam, as it was
a common feature of Muslim society, and the retention of slaves was considered
a status and status symbol. Even the Sultan retained slaves at the expense of
the kingdom. The institution of slavery became so common among Rajputs that
female slaves were offered as dowry by Rajput royal families.
The
upper classes of Hindu society were also influenced by the dress, food, and
social etiquette of the Muslims. However, Hindus belonging to the lower strata
remained unaffected by such influence. The Hindus also adopted the method of
gambling and drinking alcohol from Muslims. The influence of Islam also
replaced some of the earlier sports and entertainment. K.M. Pannikar believes
that due to Islamic influence, Indian society was divided on a vertical basis.
More rigid caste system:
The missionary zeal of Islam which was aimed at converting Hindus to Muslims forced
Hindus to be conservative in attitude and behavior to protect their religion
and culture from the invasion of Islam.
Attempts
were made to make the rules more stringent and the daily rules were made more
stringent. Restrictions regarding caste and marriage among Hindus became more
stringent. New rules regarding caste and marriage were also laid down.
Conversation:
When
Hindu society became more rigid and conservative, the miseries of the lower
castes increased substantially. For this reason, lower-caste Hindus,
particularly untouchables, converted to Islam.
Positive Impact:
The
negative aspects of the influence of Islam on Indian society are discussed as
follows:
1. Religious Influence:
Islam brought human equality in India,
pride in one's religion, a legal system that in many ways enabled Hindu rulers
to function. For effects as stakeholders of Hinduism. Islam gave the message of
universal brotherhood, introduced equality in society, rejected the caste
system and untouchability.
Of course, these ideas had a conscious
or unconscious influence on the rise of liberal movements under the
philosophical Hindu mind and religious reformers.
Paved the way for the development of the
Bhakti culture. Fifteenth and sixteenth-century saints and reformers such as
Kabira, Nanak, and Srichaitanya preached fundamental equality of all religions.
However, the medieval Bhakti culture was in some ways a reaction to Islam's
attack on Hinduism.
2.
Impact on the upper-class Hindu:
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ISLAMIC INFLUENCE ON INDIAN
SOCIETY
3.
Music:
Indian music and musical instruments
were also influenced by Islam. Indian musical instruments were revised and new
instruments were produced. The tabla was produced by modification of the Hindu
musical instrument Mridanga. The Indian Veena was combined with the Iranian
Tambura and Sitar were produced.
A fusion of Hindu and Iranian systems of
music led to the development of lighter songs like Quwwalis. Contact with
Muslim singers in various classical music in India resulted in radical changes.
4.
Architecture:
The combination and synthesis between
Hindu and Islamic culture led to the development of new styles of architecture.
According to Dr.Tarachand, "craftsmanship, ornamental richness and general
design remained largely Hindu, with arched motifs, plain domes, smooth walls,
and largely inlaid Muslim impulses." In the field of architecture, new
fields were introduced.
5. Arts
and Crafts:
New arts and crafts were introduced in
the country; For example, many workshops were set up for paper-making, enamellings,
metal, and jewelry, etc. gold and silver articles and embroidery. The Mughal
rulers, except Aurangzeb, patronized architecture, fine arts, and paintings. A
lot of material was loaded under Jahangir's painting.
6. Language and literature:
Hindu-Muslim
contact leads to linguistic synthesis. Urdu is the result of a mixture of
Persian, Arabic, and Turkish words and thoughts with concepts and languages of
Sanskrit origin. Urdu became the language of the people. It differs in
vocabulary, grammar, and style. Literature in India was largely influenced by
Turko-Afghans. Books like Hassan Nizami's Taj-ul-Moa, Sir, Qazi
Minhaz-Us-Siraj's, Tabakat-ul-Nasiri, etc. influenced Hindus. Many fine
compositions were written in Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, and Marathi, etc. and
many Arabic Persian language words made their place in local languages.
The long association brought two different groups of Hindus and Muslims closer and
closer to this result. Given that the development of Hindu culture was colored
with Islamic things. But in return Hindu culture influenced Islamic elements.
The fact that Hindus and Muslims in India contributed to the development of
common cultural heritage is an integral part of the social and cultural life of
Islam in present-day India.
Despite
adapting to Indian conditions, it has developed its own characteristics and
imagined in social, political, and intellectual spheres, contributing to many
ways to the solidarity of the nation. Now one finds a good blend of traditional
Indian culture and Islamic cultural heritage.
One
only hears prayers in the mosque and temple bells in the morning in praise of
the universal God. The poets of Amir Khusru and Mirza Ghalib are no less Indian
than Kalidas and Rabindranath Tagore. It is equally true that the Taj Mahal is
no less than Ajanta or Ellora. No one can deny Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad and
Zakir Hussain's contributions as great sons of Mother India and it would be
unwise to compare them to Gandhi or Nehru.
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