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Encyclopedia of Islam
southern coast around the eighth and ninth
centuries. Ismailis from Persia introduced Islam
into northern India around the 10th and 11th
centuries by winning Hindu converts through
their missionary activities. They were followed
by Turkish and Afghan warriors who invaded to
pillage and conquer but ended up establishing
the Delhi Sultanate, which ruled much of the
north and the Deccan Plateau between the 13th
and 16th centuries. Contrary to the “conquest
by the sword” thesis, large numbers of Hin-
dus did not convert to Islam. Rather, scholarly
research indicates that there was an inverse rela-
tionship between where the centers of Muslim
political power were and where the most con-
versions occurred, which was on the political
periphery. The indigenous peoples of Bengal in
the northeast, for example, did not convert until
the 16th century, when rulers of the Mughal
dynasty encouraged the introduction of wet rice
agriculture in new land made available when
the Ganges River shifted its course eastward.
The agents of this development were Sufis and
Muslim scholars, who built mosques and shrines
that became magnets for the native people, and
educational centers for the dissemination of
Islamic knowledge and lore. As the historian
Richard Eaton has observed, rather than conver-
sion by the sword, Bengalis were converted by
the plow.
2
In summary, conquest was but one among
many factors that contributed to the expansion of
Islam. Emigration, trade, intermarriage, political
patronage, the systematization of Islamic tradi-
tion, urbanism, and the quest for knowledge must
also be recognized. Sufis, too, played a role in
the spread of Islam along trade routes and even
to the remotest areas. Pilgrimage should also be
recognized as a factor, especially the annual hajj
to Mecca, which gathered scholars, mystics, mer-
chants, and ordinary believers from many coun-
tries together in one place. After performing the
required hajj rituals, pilgrims often took up resi-
dence in Mecca to study and meet with scholars
and mystics, but eventually they returned home
with stories about the Islamic holy land and new
insights about Islam to convey to their families
and neighbors.
These factors continue to be in effect today,
although in modern forms. They have been
involved in Islam’s spread into western Europe,
the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. Many
mosques and Islamic centers have opened in
these countries since the 1960s, and the Muslim
presence is being increasingly felt in schools,
the workplace, and the public sphere. Likewise,
global forces are changing the ways Muslims
think about themselves and their religion—for
better or worse. This includes the colonization of
many Muslim lands by European powers during
the 19th and 20th centuries. The rapid pace with
which such changes have occurred, compared
with earlier times, has been assisted significantly
by the widespread availability of motorized trans-
portation and the emergence of the new print and
electronic media, which have closed the distances
that once posed limitations on the movement of
people, commercial goods, and, above all, ideas
and religious beliefs.
Scope of this Encyclopedia
The purpose of any encyclopedia is to be compre-
hensive, balanced, and up-to-date. It should also
provide readers with new information, familiarize
them with foreign concepts and terms, and direct
them to additional publications on the subjects
presented in it. It is a challenge to meet all of these
objectives in any single undertaking, particularly
one such as this, which is limited to one volume
2
Richard Eaton, “Approaches to the Study of Conversion to
Islam in India.” In Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies,
edited by Richard C. Martin, 108–123 (New York: One World
Press, 1987); ———, “Who Are the Bengal Muslims? Conver-
sion and Islamization in Bengal.” In Understanding the Bengal
Muslims: Interpretative Essays, edited by Rafiuddin Ahmed,
25–51 (Oxford and Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001).
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