Hindu–Islamic relations

Akbar greeting Hindu Rajput rulers and other nobles at court, he attempted to foster communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims.^[1]

Interactions between Muslims and Hindus began in the 7th century, after the advent of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. These interactions were mainly by trade throughout the Indian Ocean. Historically, these interactions formed contrasting patterns in northern and southern India. While there is a history of conquest and domination in the north, Hindu-Muslim relations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been peaceful.^[2] However, historical evidence has shown that violence had existed by the year 1700 A.D.^[3]

In the 16th century, the Mughal Empire was established. Under the Mughals, India experienced a period of relative stability and prosperity.^[4][5][6] The Mughals were known for their religious tolerance,^{[7][8][9][10]} and they actively patronized the arts and literature. During the Mughal era, Indian art and culture thrived, with the construction of grand monuments such as the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort. While the Mughals promoted religious harmony and cultural advancements and nurtured Hindu scholars, poets, and artists, facilitating a dynamic cultural interchange that enriched both Islamic and Hindu traditions, there were instances of religious conflicts between the Mughals and the Rajput over control of territories. Aurangzeb was criticized for his policies of religious intolerance towards Hindus.^[1][11]

During the 18th to 20th centuries, India was ruled by the British, who introduced a policy of divide and rule to maintain their control over the country.^[12][13][14] The British also introduced a system of separate electorates, which further exacerbated the divide between the Hindu and Muslim communities.^[15][16] The First Indian War of Independence in 1857, also known as the mutiny of 1857, was a major uprising against British rule in India. The rebellion was fueled by a range of grievances, including economic exploitation, social and religious discrimination, and political oppression.^[17][18][19] While the rebellion was not solely based on religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims, these tensions did play a role in fueling the conflict. During the rebellion, there were instances of both Muslim and Hindu soldiers and civilians fighting together against the British, as well as instances of conflict between the two communities.^[20][21][22]

Islam and Hinduism share some ritual practices, such as fasting and pilgrimage, but their views differ on various aspects. There are also hundreds of shared ritual spaces, called dargahs (literally, “doorway” or “threshold”), for Hindus and Muslims. These mark shrines for revered Muslim (frequently Sufi) leaders and are visited by both Muslims and Hindus. Their interaction has witnessed periods of cooperation and syncretism, and periods of religious discrimination, intolerance, and violence. As a religious minority in India, Muslims are part of the Indian culture and have lived with Hindus for over 13 centuries. Despite the longtime assertion that the origins of Muslim-Hindu tensions were greatly attributed to 19th Century British colonial rule in India, it has been argued that Britain had little influence on constructing the religious identities of Islam and Hinduism in the region and that divisions existed beforehand as well.^[23] For example, 18th-century Mughal–Maratha Wars. Ajay Verghese argues that the Hindu-Muslim conflict in India can be better understood by analyzing the historical relationship between the two communities. He contends that precolonial India was marked by a fluidity of religious identity and that religious boundaries were not always clear-cut. This led to a degree of intermingling between Muslims and Hindus, but also created conditions for tension and conflict.^[3]

In popular culture

Music

Further information: Kazi Nazrul Islam

There have been instances of syncretic cooperation on music with Islamic and Hindu themes. For example, the national poet of Bangladesh, Kazi Nazrul Islam, wrote many Islamic devotional songs for mainstream Bengali folk music.^[24] He also explored Hindu devotional music by composing Shyama Sangeet, Durga Vandana, Sarswati Vandana, bhajans and kirtans, often merging Islamic and Hindu values. Nazrul's poetry and songs explored the philosophy of Islam and Hinduism.^[25]

Poetry (Shayari)

It is popularised under Mughals times, we have great poets in history like Amir Khusro, Baba_Bulle_Shah, etc

See also

• Alberuni's India
• Criticism of Hinduism
• Din-i Ilahi
• Kalki Avatar and Muhammad
• Legend of Cheraman Perumals(The story of Tajuddeen)
• Divisions of the world in Islam
• Hindu–Muslim unity
• Hinduism and other religions
• Islam and other religions
• Islam in South Asia
• Persecution of Muslims in India
• Sufism in India
• Violence against Muslims in India

References

1. Chandra 2007, p. 252
2. Vasudha Narayanan. Hinduism and Islam.
3. Verghese, Ajay; Foa, Roberto Stefan (5 November 2018). "Precolonial Ethnic Violence:The Case of Hindu-Muslim Conflict in India" (PDF). Boston University. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
4. Smith, Stephanie Honchell (1 August 2023). "Aurangzeb: Mughal Emperor". The Ohio State University. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
5. Kanwal, Fariha. "Mughal Rulers' (1526-1707) Religious Tolerance Policy and its Impacts on the Society of Sub-Continent". ANNALS OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PERSPECTIVE. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
6. "The majestic Mughal Empire: The rise and fall of India's most powerful dynasty". History Skills. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
7. Kinra, Rajeev (1 April 2020). "Revisiting the History and Historiography of Mughal Pluralism". Reorient. 5 (2). doi:10.13169/reorient.5.2.0137. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
8. "MUGHALS AND THE RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS". Proquest. September 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
9. Akhtar, Awais. "Religious Policy of Emperor Shahjahan (1627-1658AD)" (PDF). Journal of Indian Studies.
10. Giordan, Giuseppe (15 July 2019). "Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion. Volume 10 (2019)". Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh. p. 278. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
11. Mehrotra, Abhishek (9 December 2017). "The Real History of Hindu-Muslim Relations Under Akbar". The Diplomat. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
12. Rehman, Aziz (11 May 2018). "The British Art of Colonialism in India: Subjugation and Division". Peace And Conflict Studies Journal. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
13. Smith, Randall (10 August 2017). "The Partition: The British game of 'divide and rule'". Al-Jazeera. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
14. Belkacem, Belmekki (2014). "Muslim Separatism in Post-Revolt India: A British Game of "Divide et Impera"?". Oriente Moderno. 94 (1): 113–124. doi:10.1163/22138617-12340041. JSTOR 44280740. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
15. Tharoor, Shashi (2017). Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. Hurst. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-84904-808-8.
16. Markandey Katju. "The truth about Pakistan". The Nation. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
17. Metcalf & Metcalf 2006, pp. 100–103.
18. Brown 1994, pp. 85–86.
19. Peers, Douglas M. (2006), "Britain and Empire", in Williams, Chris (ed.), A Companion to 19th-Century Britain, John Wiley & Sons, p. 63, ISBN 978-1-4051-5679-0
20. Robb, Peter (18 May 2017). "On the Rebellion of 1857: A Brief History of an Idea". Economic and Political Weekly. 42 (19): 1696–1702. JSTOR 4419572. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
21. "1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue". Counter View. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
22. YADAV, SANJAY (1994). "The Indian Mutiny of 1857: Why Britain Succeeded and the Rebels Failed". Journal of Asian History. 28 (2): 136–153. JSTOR 41930953. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
23. Pillalamarri, Akhilesh (16 March 2019). "The Origins of Hindu-Muslim Conflict in South Asia". The Diplomat. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
24. Kamrunnessa Azad. 2001. Dharmiya Chetonay Nazrul. Nazrul Institute, Dhaka. 1999. pp. 173–174
25. Kamrunnessa Azad. 2001. Dharmiya Chetonay Nazrul. Nazrul Institute, Dhaka. 1999. pp. 19–20

Bibliography

Relations

• Friedrichs, Jörg (2018), Hindu–Muslim Relations: What Europe Might Learn from India, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 978-0-429-86207-6
• Jain, Meenakshi (2010), Parallel Pathways: Essays on Hindu-Muslim Relations 1707–1857, Konark Publishers, ISBN 9788122007831
• Sikand, Yoginder (2004), Muslims in India Since 1947: Islamic Perspectives on Inter-Faith Relations, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415314862

Islam in South Asia

• Holt, Peter M. (1977), Peter Malcolm Holt; Ann K. S. Lambton; Bernard Lewis (eds.), The Cambridge History of Islam (New ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521291378
• Khalidi, Omar (2009), Shiping Hua (ed.), Islam and democratization in Asia, Cambria Press, ISBN 978-1604976328
• Metcalf, Barbara D. (2009), Barbara D. Metcalf (ed.), Islam in South Asia in Practice, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691044200

Communal violence

• Wilkinson, Steven I. (2006), Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521536059
• Reference, Blackwell (1999). Townson, Duncan (ed.). "Indian communal massacres (1946–7)". Blackwell Reference. doi:10.1111/b.9780631209379.1999.x. ISBN 9780631209379.
• Markovits, Claude. "India from 1900 to 1947". Mass Violence.Org.
• D'Costa, Bina (2010), Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415565660
• Ghosh, Partha S. (2004), Ranabir Samaddar (ed.), Peace Studies: An Introduction To the Concept, Scope, and Themes, SAGE, ISBN 978-0761996606
• Hussain, Monirul (2009), Sibaji Pratim Basu (ed.), The Fleeing People of South Asia: Selections from Refugee Watch, Anthem, p. 261, ISBN 978-8190583572
• Berglund, Henrik (2011), Galina Lindquist; Don Handelman (eds.), Religion, Politics, and Globalization: Anthropological Approaches, Berghahn, p. 105, ISBN 978-1845457716
• Smith, Glenn (2005), Asvi Warman Adam; Dewi Fortuna Anwar (eds.), Violent Internal Conflicts in Asia Pacific: Histories, Political Economies, and Policies, Yayasan Obor, ISBN 9789794615140
• Pandey, Gyanendra (2005), Routine violence: nations, fragments, histories, Stanford University Press, ISBN 978-0804752640
• Ghassem-Fachandi, Parvis (2012), Pogrom in Gujarat: Hindu Nationalism and Anti-Muslim Violence in India, Princeton University Press, p. 2, ISBN 978-0691151779
• Metcalf, Barbara (2013), Deana Heath; Chandana Mathur (eds.), Communalism and Globalization in South Asia and its Diaspora, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415857857

General

• Brown, J. M. (1994), Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy, The Short Oxford History of the Modern World (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-873113-9
• Chandra, Satish (2007). History of Medieval India. New Delhi: Orient Longman. ISBN 978-81-250-3226-7.
• Chua, Amy (2007). Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance – and Why They Fall. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-51284-8.
• Fowler, Jeaneane D. (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 978-1898723936
• Metcalf, Barbara D.; Metcalf, Thomas R. (2006), A Concise History of Modern India (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-68225-1