ABSTRACT
The Muslim conquest of India began a thousand years ago. Wave after wave of invaders poured in out of the Persian-Afghan west. Native Indian resistance was strong and passionately determined, but all to no avail. Muslim armies ultimately succeeded in conquering and establishing rule over almost all of the subcontinents. Only parts of the south escaped incorporation. The conquest began in earnest in 1001, when Mahmud of Ghazni, ruler of a small Afghan kingdom, launched the first of seventeen invasions into northwestern India. Between 1001 and 1026, Mahmud's fierce horse armies plundered and devastated huge portions of northern India. Successive waves of Muslim invaders followed Mahmud, extending Muslim rule throughout most of North India. Although Kabir's people were of the native stock, they were not Hindus. Nanak was the founder of the Sikh religion, followers of which are those dignified, turbaned Indians one sees in seemingly all parts of the world.
