ABSTRACT
Originating in the seventh century, Islam soon became a dominant spiritual force and a powerful political one throughout much of the world. In 751 Islam was established permanently in the region when Muslim armies defeated Chinese forces at the battle of Talas. Through a series of raids, the Afghans carried the banner of Islam into the northwest corner of the Indian subcontinent by the late tenth century. From the perspective of many Muslims, the community of Islam has been in political and social decline since the advent of western imperialism and the ensuing imposition of the nation state system. Muslims distinguished themselves from the majority Hindu population not only spiritually but also in broader cultural terms. This distinction eventually led Muslims to create their own organization, the Muslim League, in 1906 and began advocating a separate homeland on the Subcontinent. Mohammed Iqbal, a poet by trade, was one of the first to formulate a conception of Muslim nationalism.
