After conquering Persia, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate incorporated parts of what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan around 720. The Muslim rulers were keen to invade India,[134] a rich region with a flourishing international trade and the only known diamond mines in the world.[135] In 712, Arab Muslim general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered most of the Indus region in modern day Pakistan for the Umayyad empire, incorporating it as the "As-Sindh" province with its capital at Al-Mansurah, 72 km (45 mi) north of modern Hyderabad in Sindh, Pakistan. After several wars, the Hindu Rajas defeated the Arabs at the Battle of Rajasthan, halting their expansion and containing them at Sindh in Pakistan.[136] The north Indian Emperor Nagabhata of the Pratihara Dynasty and the south Indian Emperor Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya dynasty defeated the Arab invaders in the early 8th century and protected whole India. Many short-lived Islamic kingdoms (sultanates) under foreign rulers were established across the north western subcontinent (Afghanistan and Pakistan) over a period of a few centuries. Additionally, Muslim trading communities flourished throughout coastal south India, particularly on the western coast where Muslim traders arrived in small numbers, mainly from the Arabian peninsula. This marked the introduction of a third Abrahamic Middle Eastern religion, following Judaism and Christianity, often in puritanical form. Later, the Bahmani Sultanate and Deccan sultanates, founded by Turkic rulers, flourished in the south.
The Vijayanagara Empire rose to prominence by the end of the 13th century as a culmination of attempts by the southern powers to ward off Islamic invasions. The empire dominated all of Southern India and fought off invasions from the five established Deccan Sultanates.[137] The empire reached its peak during the rule of Krishnadevaraya when Vijayanagara armies were consistently victorious.[138] The empire annexed areas formerly under the Sultanates in the northern Deccan and the territories in the eastern Deccan, including Kalinga, while simultaneously maintaining control over all its subordinates in the south.[139] It lasted until 1646, though its power declined after a major military defeat in 1565 by the Deccan sultanates. As a result, much of the territory of the former Vijaynagar Empire were captured by Deccan Sultanates, and the remainder was divided into many states ruled by Hindu rulers.
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