Farang Chronicler (The
Nation)
20 May, 2017
The immediate cause
of the almost complete disappearance of organised Buddhism from northern India
after the 12th century was without doubt its persecution during the Islamic
invasions between the years 1001 and 1199. The first Muslims to invade were
Arabs under the leadership of Muhammad bin Kasim, who conquered Sindh in about
712, systematically destroying its Buddhist institutions, persecuting the
religion’s followers and gradually converting the local populace to Islam. The
next Muslim invaders were the Yamini Turks led by Sultan Mahmud, who between
1001 and 1027 launched at least 17 military incursions into India from
Afghanistan with devastating consequences endured particularly by the Buddhist
community.
The next large
Muslim invasion took place in 1175 under Muhammad Ghuri, who made it as far as
Thanesar just north of Delhi before being blocked by the united armies of the
Hindus in 1191. He returned a year later and completely overwhelmed the
Indians, sweeping away resistance to his eastward march. At this point
Qutb-ud-din Aibak, a former slave from Turkistan; was appointed commander of
the avaricious hordes, who in 1193 succeeded in capturing Delhi. It took only
four more years under the leadership of the notorious Muhammad Khilji to sweep
across Uttar Pradesh and conquer the whole of Bihar in the northeast. Muslim
historians proudly record that the inhabitants of this area were mostly
bare-shaven Brahmins who were ruthlessly put to the sword. There can be little
doubt that these victims of Muslim hegemony were mostly peace-abiding Buddhist
monks whose monasteries were systematically defiled, plundered and subsequently
destroyed. Meanwhile, Muhammad Khilji drove further eastward and conquered
Bengal in 1199–1200, without meeting any serious resistance.
The complete
subjugation of northeastern India by the Muslims in the late 12th century
resulted in the swift and almost complete extinction of organised monastic
Buddhist activities, which never recovered.
The eastward drive
of the Muslims came to an end in Bengal in the years 1199-1200 as a result of
Burmese resistance.
Without the Burmese
bulwark, Muslim conquerors would have carried their jihad further east and
likely wiped out Buddhism in Myanmar, Thailand and surrounding countries.
Thus the so-called
Rohingya crisis marks the point at which the 800-year eastward expansion of
Islam was successfully checked.
Related:
The
meaningless propaganda, pushing Rohingyas into terrorists groups. The reality
is “Rohingyas are struggling to save themselves from the long term planned
attacks of the government and ongoing genocide but unfortunately some writers
are mixing them with unrelated organizations. Rohingya Crisis in Southeast
Asia: The Jihadi Dimension: https://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/icpvtr/co17069-rohingya-crisis-in-southeast-asia-the-jihadi-dimension/#.WSCJ8_l97cs