A brief history from the Prophet Muhammad to the Mughal Empire
How do we get from the Prophet in Arabia to Mughal India?
How do Muslims establish political power in India?
How can we understand the multiethnic nature of Muslim empires?
Prophet Muhammad was alive from 570-632CE
Lived in Mecca and Medina in what is today Saudi Arabia
Muhammad fought battles internally in order to establish religious freedom; he did not
engage in conquests outside of the Arabian Peninsula
After Muhammad’s death, conquests outside of Arabia begin
Conquest led largely by the Rashidun caliphs, centered in Mecca, 632-661, and the
Umayyad caliphs, centered in Damascus, 661-750
Arab-led conquests largely completed by mid-8th century
Who did they conquer?
Maps:
Muslim world circa 1000CE:
https://cmes.uchicago.edu/sites/cmes.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/Maps/Map%20-
%20Islamic%20World%2C%201000.pdf
Muslim world to 1500CE:
https://cmes.uchicago.edu/sites/cmes.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/Maps/Map%20-
%20Islamic%20Expansion%20to%201500.pdf
Time period: 630s-750s
Byzantine Syria, Palestine, Armenia, Egypt, North Africa, Cyprus
Byzantine Empire is not officially conquered until the conquest of Constantinople in
1453 by Osmali Turks (not Arabs, though Arabs did try to conquer Constantinople in the
670s and 710s)
Sassanid Empire
Afghanistan
Transoxiana = Central Asia/Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Spain 711-1492 (conquered by Berber North Africans and Arabs)
Sicily 827-1300 (Berber and Arab)
Caucasus/Georgia from 736-1122
India
Military campaigns into northwest India from Persia 664-712
War chest and extension of conquest of Persia
No durable conquests but Islam introduced
Delhi sultanate 1206-1526
Map: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Delhi_History_Map.png
Established via Turkic slave in Afghanistan, Qutub l-Din Aibak
Didn’t rule all of India, but significant political influence
Minority ruling over majority
Mughal Empire 1526-1857
Map: Mughal Empire to 1707:
https://cmes.uchicago.edu/sites/cmes.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/Maps/Map%20-
%20India%20Mughals.pdf
The name says it all—they draw their lineage to the Mongols, not to Arab Muslim imperialists
1st Mughal ruler = Babur
--Babur was a direct descendent of Timur on his father’s side and Chinggis Khan on his
mother’s side
--Timur = Tamerlane (born 1336; r.1370-1405)
--First ruler of the Timurid Dynasty
--Took control of Chagatai Khanate/Samarkand and Bukhara, today’s Uzbekistan
--Led long list of military campaigns through Persia/Il Khanate, and Golden
Horde/Russia, emerging Ottoman lands
--Timur wanted to restore the glory of the Mongols
--Timur attacked Delhi Sultanate in 1398 but didn’t take over
Babur conquered Delhi Sultanate and established Mughal Empire in 1526; ruled 1526-30
--Muslims did not rule all of India at this time despite the fact that they unified most of
the subcontinent; for example there was a Hindu kingdom in southern India called
Vijayanagara (1336-1646), flourished in 15thc.
-- Portuguese trading post empires beginning in late 15thc.
Babur’s grandson Akbar (3rd ruler) took over in 1556-1605
Indian-Persian-Turkic culture
