Babur was the only foreign Muslim invader ruling India, others fought against Muslim invaders
Aurangzeb’s policies shook the core of the Mughal rule after which no Mughal ruler could regain the old glory of the Mughals again. The Mughal Sultanate lasted for about one and a half hundred years after Aurangzeb. It is stupefying to learn that in 182 years from Babur to Aurangzeb (minus 10 years of Sher Shah Suri) there were a total of 6 Mughal rulers and then in 150 years from Aurangzeb to Bahadur Shah Zafar, there were 13 Mughal emperors but instead of increasing the span of Mughal rule day by day, it diminished.
Nadir Shah, the ruler of Iran conquered Delhi (in 1739 AD) by attacking the kingdom of the Mughal emperor Mohammad Shah Rangeele. Nadir Shah not only plundered Delhi, but also killed the Muslims of Delhi, but despite being victorious, he did not rule India.
Nadir Shah returned his Sultanate to Mohammad Shah Rangeel, but took with him the wealth of crores of rupees and the favorite frame of the Mughals, which was studded with a priceless diamond like the Kohinoor.
Besides Babur, no other foreign invaders ruled India
Strangely, it is interesting to note that in all the foreign rulers who attacked India, no one but Babur reigned India. Ghauri handed over his empire to the Mamluk dynasty to take over. Timur handed over the Sultanate to the Sayyids after the conquest, Nadir Shah also went back to his country and Ahmad Shah Abdali also decided not to rule India.
Muslim kings in India apart from Ghauri and Abdali fought against foreign Muslim invaders
The special thing is that among those who invaded India, only Ghauri competed with the Rajputs and Abdali was against the Marathas. Apart from this, all the invaders were fought by the Muslim armies. Is this not proof that all these wars were not for religion but for wealth?
When the bad days of the Mughal Sultanate came, for the Mughal ruler Shah Alam, the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-daula, along with the ruler of Bengal, Mir Qasim, fought the British in the Battle of Buxar, but were defeated paving the way for the for British rule over India.
The Mughal Empire became weak paving way for the British
The Mughal court had become so weak that its appointed governors and subedars themselves became rulers. At that time, while there was a Mughal rule, different small kingdoms were scattered over India such as the Marathas kingdom where Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan were the rulers, the kingdom of Siraj-ud-daula, Nawab of Awadh, and Ghaziuddin Haider, who turned his back on the Mughal rule and announced his royal establishment in 1814 AD.
The British captured India
These independent sultanates had to face the strength of the British army and gradually all were captured by the British till the Mughal rule remained only up to Delhi.
In this environment, the British started creating a divide between Hindus and Muslims in the country, and with the goal of division, they made the land of Awadh (Uttar Pradesh, Oudh) their center.
Hindus built mosques for Muslims and Muslims built temples for Hindus in Awadh
Because Awadh was a state where the Hindu community was building mosques and imam enclosures for the Muslims, the Muslims were building temples for the Hindus.
Ruler Nawab Wajid Ali Shah unified Hindus and Muslims
Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the last ruler of Awadh, had made his court the center of Hindu-Muslim unity. He played a very important role in promoting classical music and dance of India. While on one hand he took care of the culture and religion of the Muslims, he also took great care of the Hindu religion. He showed great interest in staging Ram Leela and Raas Leela and also promoted the fading arts. He made a condition for those coming to his court that he would not address the ruler by saying Salaam Alaikum or Namaskar, but men would say aada’b and women would say taslim, so that the religion of the visitor to the court would not be known.
The British broke the unity after capturing Awadh
Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was popular among Hindu and Muslim communities stirring on the jealousy and hostility of the British. They captured Awadh, which created unrest and made the holy city of Ayodhya the arena of Hindu-Muslim dispute.
Hindus and Muslims who had lived together in Ayodhya peacefully for hundreds of years were now divided by a small spark that ruined the peace there. The story is such that in 1855 AD, near the famous Hanuman Garhi Temple of Ayodhya, a Muslim Sufi mystic had a hut in which he lived and offered prayers in the same place. When that fakir died, his hut was removed by the temple administration. A rumor was then spread that a mosque near Hanuman Garhi was demolished, while the Hindu community said that there was no mosque there.
(To be continued)