ABSTRACT
At the beginning of the eighth century the inhabitants of the Pamirs were confronted with Islam for the first time when they became involved in conflicts with Muslim military leaders advancing from the present-day Uzbek and Tajik western lowlands (see pp. 59-63). In view of the fact that many local princes had resisted the invaders over a long period of time, we can assume that it took centuries for Islam to spread throughout the valleys of the Pamirs.
