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CHAPTER III.

Sunnis.

The progress of this antagonism in Mussulman Materialism of India reveals phenomena of historical importance. Sunnís were hostile to Hinduism; Shíahs gravitated towards Hinduism. The fact is patent throughout the after history. The cause lies underneath the surface. The religion of the Sunnís is more human. They accept the election of the four Khalifs by the congregation at Medina. They have no sympathy with dogmas respecting the supreme spirit, the transmigrations of souls, the apostolic or hereditary succession of prophetic authority through the family of Muhammad. They regard Brahmanism as the worship of idols, and nothing more.

Spiritual ideas of the Shiahs.

The religion of the Shíahs is more divine. They believe in God as the supreme spirit; in Muhammad and his family as emanations from the supreme spirit. They ignore the election of the four Khalifs. They believe in a succession, at once hereditary and apostolic, through Ali and his two sons. Their distinctive dogmas thus approximated to those of Brahmanism; they were worked upon by Brahmanism. The doctrines of the Shíahs changed the face of Islam. They were not confined to the Dekhan; they soon began to spread northward into Hindustan.10

aloud amidst groans and lamentations. Men and women weep and wail over the sufferings of the beloved grandson of the prophet. The excitement grows into a religious furor. The first three Khalifs are cursed as usurpers; Muávia and his son Yezid, the first Omeyad Khalifs of Damascus, are cursed as the destroyers of the three Imams. At night models of the tombs of the three Imáms are carried through the streets in a blaze of torches in commemoration of their martyrdom.

One proof of the working of Hinduism on the outer life of Islam is still to be seen in the celebration of the Muharram in Peninsular India. Images are expressly forbidden in the Koran; yet images of Ali and his two sons, as the three Imáms, are often set up in the model tombs.

10 Further developments in the Shíah religion will be brought under review in the next chapter.

between

Dekhanís.

In the Dekhan the Shíah movement was mixed CHAPTER III. up with a political antagonism. The first Mussul- Antagonism man invaders of the Dekhan were Sunnís; the native eigners and born Mussulmans of the Dekhan were also Sunnís; hence the Sunnís were known as "Dekhanís.” But a large Shíah element entered the Dekhan armies. The Moghuls, known as "New Mussulmans," were Shíahs; so were many Persian immigrants; hence the Shíahs were known as "Foreigners," and hated as aliens.11

the Shíah, 1347

against the

The reign of Hasan Gangu is obscure; one fact Hasan Gangu, however stands out. He was emphatically a man -1358; turns of the time. He stood in a different position from Hindús. the conquerors of Hindustan; he belonged to a different stamp. He was no zealot like Mahmud of Ghazní. At the outset he had to trim between Hindus and Mussulmans. Zeal for Islam would have stood him in little stead when he wanted the help of Hindú Rajas. He was a Shíah; he made a Bráhman his minister. Strange to say, nothing further is heard of this Brahman who gave his name to the dynasty. Later on Hasan Gangu left off trimming. When his Hindú allies of Telinga and Karnata had served his purpose, he turned against them. This looks like ingratitude; possibly Hasan Gangu was forced to show ingra

11 There is a necessary confusion in this division of Mussulmans; race and religion are two different things. It is impossible to make religion a question of race. It is notorious that men of the same race or nation adopt different views. Thus Hasan Gangu was a Shíah, whilst his son and successor, Muhammad Shah, was a Sunní. Again, the terms Dekhanís and Foreigners are vague and unsatisfactory. Many Arabs and Abyssinians took service in the Dekhan; they were aliens, but they were Sunnís; hence they were known as Dekhanís. On the other hand, many Hindús, natives of the Dekhan, were converted to Islam and became Shíahs. They were natives of the Dekhan; yet they were known as Foreigners.

CHAPTER III. titude. In all probability the Rajas acted as Asiatics are accustomed to act under like circumstances. They gave themselves airs; they exaggerated their services; they demanded impossible or absurd concessions; they assumed a tone of superiority or hostility. All who know Asiatics will understand the ingratitude of Hasan Gangu. In the end he seized their frontier fortresses; he compelled them to pay him the same tribute which they had previously paid to Delhi. The Hindú Rajas obtained nothing by the revolt beyond a change of masters.12

Political status

of the Bahmani kingdom: Mussulman

rounded by Hindús.

The new kingdom of the Dekhan comprised a large square of table land about three hundred miles dominion sur- each way. It corresponded to Maharashtra, or the Mahratta country. It had no outlet whatever to the sea. Towards the north was the river Nerbudda; on the west was the Western Gháts; on the south was the river Krishna; on the east were the jungles of Gondwana and kingdom of Telinga. On the north the new kingdom was linked on to Hindustan by the kingdoms of Malwa and Khandesh, which were growing up out of the dismemberment of the Delhi empire. Malwa lay to the north of the Nerbudda; Khandesh to the south of the Nerbudda. The Bahmani kingdom has already been described as a Mussulman promontory stretching southward into a sea of Hinduism. West, east, and south it

12 Those who remember the claims for reward put forward by certain princes of India after the mutiny of Fifty-seven, will easily account for the ingratitude of Hasan Gangu. Had the rebels succeeded, they would have been worried by similar demands, possibly from the same princes. If the British Government had accepted the help of the Afghans at that crisis, the Afghans would have expected the cession of the Punjab and Kashmir. Had this been conceded they would have asked for Hindustan.

was surrounded by Hindú kingdoms. Its own sub- CHAPTER III. jects were Hindús. It was exposed in every way to

Hindú influences.

of Telinga and

Shah the Sunní,

quarrel respect

The two Hindú enemies which the new kingdom Hindú powers had to dread were Telinga and Karnata. Telinga Karnata. was a well-known enemy to the eastward. Karnata on the south was more obscure. It had undergone a transformation which rendered it a dangerous enemy to Islam. An offshoot of the royal house of Warangal established a dynasty in the south, at the city of Vijayanagar on the river Tumbadra. The name of Karnata fell into disuse. The new Hindú dominion was named Vijayanagar; it became the paramount power in the Peninsula; it established an empire to the south of the river Krishna, which extended from sea to sea. Kulbarga was the capital of the Bahmani king- Muhammad dom. It was situated a hundred and fifty miles 1358, 1375: to the west of Warangal; it was 13 a hundred and fifty for res miles to the north of Vijayanagar. Hasan Gangu died in 1358; he was succeeded by his son Muhammad Shah. The father was a Shíah, the son was a Sunní; consequently the accession of the son was accompanied by a Sunní reaction. Muhammad Shah cast aside the black canopy and curtain of the Shíahs; he adopted the crimson and gold of the Sunnís. He still maintained a show of friendship with his Hindú neighbours; it was only to secure himself upon the throne. Meantime the two Rajas to the east and south acted in concert. They withheld their tribute; they demanded the restoration of their frontier fortress; they threatened to invite the aid of Fírúz Shah of Delhi. Had they attacked Muhammad Shah at

13 Kulbarga is now a railway station on the line between Bombay and Madras.

fortresses.

CHAPTER III. Once they might possibly have driven him out of the Dekhan. But Hindú princes always delay. Muhammad Shah on his part was quite willing to play a waiting game until he had strengthened himself in his kingdom. He received ambassadors from his Hindú neighbours. He detained them at court as long as possible; he sent other ambassadors in return. In this way he outwitted the Hindús. When he was strong enough he fell upon the Hindús and defeated them. Henceforth there was bitter hatred between Hindús and Mussulmans.

Insolence of the
Telegu prince.

Intrigues of
Telinga and

He

Vinaik Deva was the son of the Raja of Telinga. He was an Asiatic to the back-bone. He covertly insulted the Sultan. He stopped some dealers who were carrying horses to Muhammad Shah; he took the horses at his own price. He then shut himself up in a fort, and hoped to escape consequences. Muhammad Shah was furious at the affront. entered Telinga with a troop of horsemen, captured the fort, and took Vinaik Deva prisoner. Vinaik Deva saw that all was lost. In sheer desperation he abused the Sultan in the foulest language. At last Muhammad Shah cut out his tongue and burnt him alive. This wild revenge raised the whole Telegu people. They harassed the army of the Sultan day and night. He escaped to Kulbarga, but not until two-thirds of his horsemen were killed.14

At this time both Telinga in the east and Vijayanagar. Vijayanagar in the south must have repented the part they played in the revolt against Delhi. They

14 Hindús have a power of abuse which stings a foe to madness. It is a race characteristic; it reveals their peculiar instinct. They do not abuse the opponent direct; they insult his mother and sisters in the coarsest language. The Telugu people to this day will use expressions which cannot be printed.

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