Indian Islam: A Legacy Born of the Sword’s Edge and the Womb of Slavery -

If Islam came with a message of peace and dignity, then why are the roots of 700 million Muslims of the Indian subcontinent entwined with those countless Hindu women who were turned into sexual slaves at sword point?

Those who beat the drum of Islam claim it to be a religion of peace that did not spread by the sword — then why did Aurangzeb feel the need to compile the Fatawa-e-Alamgiri in three volumes to legitimize the exploitation of enslaved women?

Introduction

“Historical records and the tradition of Shariah indicate that the majority of today’s Muslims are descendants of forcibly converted and enslaved women.”

This is not an emotional allegation but a bitter historical truth — based on Islamic military campaigns, laws of slavery in Shariah, and the social structures of Muslim sultanates.

In India, Islam is often portrayed as a symbol of cultural harmony and syncretism. Some intellectuals even go so far as to claim, “Indian Islam is different from Arab Islam — it is more peaceful and more Indian.”
But does this claim stand up to historical scrutiny?

The fundamental question is simple:

How did Islam come to India — through love or through invasion? Through preaching or through the power of the sword? Through equality or through the womb of slavery?

This article seeks to trace the roots of “Indian Islam” — those seeds that came through the blood-soaked paths of Arab, Turkic, Mongol, and Afghan invaders, and the population that now calls itself “Indian Muslims” — are they truly converts by choice or the offspring of defeated Hindu women?

“This entire article is not based on imagination or prejudice. The facts presented here are drawn directly from Islamic historians (such as al-Tabari, Ziauddin Barani, Minhaj-i-Siraj, Abul Fazl, and others), from Shariah texts (the Qur’an, Hadith, Fatawa-i-Alamgiri), and from the autobiographies and records of Muslim rulers themselves. We are merely quoting what they themselves have written.”

Part 1: The Truth of Demographics or a Game of Numbers?

1.1 The Illusion of Hindu-Muslim Population Balance

“If Islam had spread by the sword, then how are Hindus still 80% in India?” — This is not a logical argument, but a deceptive fallacy that conceals the truth.

In fact, it is not an argument at all but a deliberate distortion. During the Mughal era, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan were one unified cultural and political space. If we assess the population in today’s terms:

Pakistan: 240 million Muslims
Bangladesh: 180 million Muslims
India: 250 million Muslims

Total: 700 million Muslims versus 970 million Hindus (950 million in India, 15 million in Bangladesh, and 3.5 million in Pakistan).

Today, Muslims form 43% of the total population across this subcontinental region. And in a few decades, this number could equal or even surpass that of Hindus.

Thus, the illusion of a permanent Hindu majority no longer holds.

1.2 The Burning Question

The Arab army numbered only about 20,000 to 50,000. Even today, the total population of 10 Arab countries is just 330 million — less than half of India’s. So how did the Indian subcontinent end up with 700 million Muslims?

Did all these people embrace Islam voluntarily by reading the Quran? Or were their identities forged through the sword, slavery, and oppression?

Part 2: The History of the Sword — The Illusion of Peace

2.1 The Arrival of Islam

This religion, born in 7th-century Arabia, entered India through Iran and Central Asia, riding on the power of the sword. Tales of Sufis are often narrated, but the truth is of military plunder and massacres.

2.2 The Real Weapon — The Sword

Hindu and Buddhist kings also fought wars, but Islam introduced a new dimension — forced conversion. Threats of death, the burden of jizya, and chains of slavery were its primary tools. Remove the mask of peace, and what lies beneath is blood and loot.

Part 3: Forced Conversions — A Web of Coercion

3.1 At Sword’s Edge

Muslim rulers used doctrines like Hudna (strategic truce) and Kitman (concealment) to deceive Hindu kings and, upon victory, gave the people three choices:

Fear of death: Accept Islam or be beheaded
Oppression of Jizya: Such crushing taxes that people broke under the weight
Hell of Slavery: Women became concubines, children were converted to Islam

The tradition of Jauhar (mass self-immolation by Hindu women) arose from this terror.

3.2 Quranic Command

Surah 9:29 —

“Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day… until they pay the jizya with willing submission.”

This was not a message of peace, but a command of coercion. Hindus who could not pay jizya were forced to convert.

Part 4: Islamic Invasions and Women — The Womb of War

According to Shariah, non-Muslims captured in war were divided as spoils — the men were killed or enslaved, while the women became concubines. Sexual slavery was considered a “divine reward.”

4.1 The Game of Ghanimah (War Booty)

Surah Al-Anfal — Contains 75 verses on war booty.
The word Ghanimah (غَنِيمۃ) refers to property seized from non-Muslims — including wealth, land, and women.

4.2 Exploitation under Malik-ul-Yameen

Quranic verses 33:50, 23:5–6, 4:3, 4:24 legitimize sexual relations with slave women without marriage.

4.3 Testimonies of Islamic Historians

Historians like Ibn Saeed, Tabari, Waqidi, Ibn Kathir, and Ibn Hisham all document the plundering and sexual use of women in battles.

To learn more about the Islamic system of slavery, click here for reference articles.

Part 5: The Scars of Slavery in India

Muhammad bin Qasim (711 CE) — Invasion of Sindh

Sources: Chachnama, Tarikh-e-Hind, Tarikh al-Tabari

Raja Dahir’s daughters, Surya and Parmal, were gifted to Caliph Walid. Thousands of Hindu girls were enslaved and distributed among the soldiers.

“He (Qasim) captured many noble and beautiful young girls, sent them as gifts to the Caliph, and himself engaged in sensual pleasures with many concubines.”
— Chachnama (Translated by Mirza Kalich Beg)

Mahmud of Ghazni (11th Century) — 17 Invasions

Source: Tarikh-e-Yamini

Seventeen invasions of India, each marked by looting and the enslavement of thousands of women who were taken to Ghazni.

“Women and children were enslaved, and only the screams of the people echoed in the towns.”
— Tarikh-e-Yamini (History of Mahmud of Ghazni)

Muhammad Ghori (1192) — Battle of Tarain

Sources: Taj-ul-Masir, Tabaqat-i-Nasiri

After the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan, Hindu princesses and women were enslaved. Slave markets were established in Delhi and Ajmer.

“Countless Hindu women were taken captive, and their cries echoed in the markets of Ghazni.”
— Tabaqat-i-Nasiri (by Minhaj-us-Siraj)

Alauddin Khilji (1296–1316)

Sources: Tarikh-i-Firuzshahi (Ziauddin Barani), Amir Khusro

The 1303 episode of Rani Padmini — though considered mythical by some — is seen as a catalyst for the Rajput practice of jauhar. Thousands of women from South India were enslaved and brought to Delhi.

“The beautiful daughters of kings were turned into slave-girls.”
— Barani, Tarikh-i-Firuzshahi

Tamerlane (1398) — Invasion of Delhi

Source: Tuzk-i-Taimuri (Autobiography of Tamerlane)

He wrote himself:

“The sword of Islam was wielded. Hindus were slaughtered, their wives and daughters were distributed among my soldiers as spoils.”
— Tuzk-i-Taimuri

More than 100,000 Hindu women were raped and enslaved in Delhi.

“Every soldier captured 20 to 100 Hindu slaves. Women were raped, sold, or kept.”
— Tuzk-i-Taimuri (Translation: Elliot & Dowson)

Babur (1526)

Source: Baburnama

Babur openly praised “youth and beauty” and described the distribution of enemy women as spoils of war.

Akbar (1556–1605)

Sources: Ain-i-Akbari, Akbarnama (by Abul Fazl)

Often described as “tolerant,” but:

During the Rajasthan campaigns, Hindu princesses were brought into the harem.
The harem had over 5,000 women — most of them captured as war booty.

Aurangzeb (1658–1707)

Sources: Maasir-i-Alamgiri (Saqi Mustaid Khan), Fatawa-i-Alamgiri

During wars in Warangal, Ahmednagar, and Bijapur, women were enslaved.
Aurangzeb’s rule was based on Shariah, under which infidel women were considered maal-e-ghaneemat (war booty).

“Captured Hindu women were distributed among Muslim soldiers.”
— Maasir-i-Alamgiri

Rape and sexual enslavement of women during Islamic invasions of India were not exceptions, but systematic strategies with religious sanction.
This history is recorded by Muslim historians themselves — it is not a part of any “Hindu fabrication.”

Part 6: Religious Genocide and Forced Conversions

Qur’an 9:5 — “Kill the idolaters wherever you find them.”
Qur’an 8:12 — “I will instill terror in the hearts of the unbelievers… strike off their heads.”

These verses were not messages of peace, but clear directives for religious violence.

Historical Examples

Qasim (711):

Chachnama: “Thousands of Brahmins were massacred in Debal, Sindh.”
Tarikh al-Tabari: “40,000 captives were converted to Islam.”

“He slaughtered thousands of infidels and forcibly converted the rest to Islam under the threat of the sword.”
— Chachnama

Ghaznavi (1000–1025)

Tarikh-i-Yamini (by Al-Utbi):
More than 50,000 Hindus were slaughtered in Mathura.
During the attack on Somnath (1025), thousands were killed and 20,000 were taken as slaves.

“The blood of idol-worshippers flowed like streams… 50,000 were killed in a single day.”
— Tarikh-i-Yamini

Muhammad Ghori (1192)

Massacre in Delhi-Ajmer.
Tabaqat-i-Nasiri: “Thousands of kafirs were killed… those who survived were converted to Islam.”

“Those who resisted were killed; the rest were enslaved and forcibly converted.”
— Minhaj-i-Siraj