DR BR Ambedkar: Pakistan or Partition of India Book

[MeraBharat_Mahan]

https://mea.gov.in/Images/attach/amb/Volume_08.pdf

Page 56

These Muslim invasions were not undertaken merely out of lust for loot or conquest. There was another object behind them. The expedition against Sind by Mahommad bin Qasim was of a punitive character and was undertaken to punish Raja. Dahir of Sind who had refused to make restitution for the seizure of an Arab ship at Debul, one of the sea-port towns of Sind. But, there is no doubt that striking a blow at the idolatry and polytheism of Hindus and establishing Islam in India was also one of the aims of this expedition. In one of his despatches to Hajjaj, Mahommad bin Qasim is quoted to have said :
“The nephew of Raja Dahir, his warriors and principal officers have been dispatched, and the infidels converted to Islam or destroyed. Instead of idol-temples, mosques and other places of worship have been created, the Kutbah is read, the call to prayers is raised, so that devotions are performed at stated hours. The Takbir and praise to the Almighty God are offered every morning and evening.”*
After receiving the above despatch, which had been forwarded with the head of the Raja, Hajjaj sent the following reply to his general :
“Except that you give protection to all, great and small alike, make no difference between enemy and friend. God, says, ‘Give no quarter to infidels but cut their throats’. Then know that this is the command of the great God. You shall not be too ready to grant protection, because it will prolong your work. After this give no quarter to any enemy except those who are of rank.”*
Muhammad of Ghazni also looked upon his numerous invasions of India as the waging of a holy war. Al’ Utbi, the historian of Muhammad, describing his raids writes:
“He demolished idol temples and established Islam. He captured…… cities, killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolators, and gratifying Muslims. ‘He then returned home and promulgated accounts of the victories obtained for Islam……….and vowed that every year he would undertake a holy war against Hind’.”†
Mahommed Ghori was actuated by the same holy zeal in his invasions of India. Hasan Nizami, the historian, describes his work in the following terms :
“He purged by his sword the land of Hind from the filth of infidelity and vice, and freed the whole of that country from the thorn of God-plurality and the impurity of idol-worship, and by his royal vigour and intrepidity left not one temple standing. ”‡
Taimur has in his Memoir explained what led him to invade India. He says:
“My object in the invasions of Hindustan is to lead a campaign against the infidels, to convert them to the true faith according to the command of Muhammad (on whom and his family be the blessing and peace of God), to purify the land from the defilement of misbelief and polytheism, and overthrow the temples and idols, whereby we shall be Ghazis and Mujahids, companions and soldiers of the faith before God.” §