3. Decadence of Religion

religious thought was by no means of stagnant. New thoughts of life, new Religion. explanations of phenomena, new prae tises in worship, and new moral ideas were developed. In the process of amalgamation of the higher religious ideas of the Aryans with the lower ideas of the aborigines, the higher did not maintain their moral excellence, but descended to the plane of the lower, so that the Hinduism of the period immediately preceding the Mohammedan in vasion became corrupt and superstitious. Buddhism had disappeared as a moral force by assimilation with Brahmanism, and Jainism had no moral power to withstand the prevailing darkness. This period was consequently the darkest and most superstitious in the religious life of India.

S. The Period of Mohammedan Inauenoe, 1001

1781 A.D.: A temporary contact of Mohammedanism with Hinduism occurred soon after the death of Mohammed (632). The new faith r. The made rapid progress, and those who

Moham- were inspired by it were soon moved medan to the conquest of other nations.

Conquest. Hardly fifteen years after the death of Mohammed, an expedition from

Arabia, under Othman, sought a foothold in Sindh.

In 711 Kasim conquered and settled in the Indus valley. But by 829 the invaders were driven away, and the Hindus regained their hold in the Indus valley. This temporary contact with Mohammed anism left no visible marks on Indian religious history. The permanent contact of this religion with

Hinduism may be said to have begun with the successful raid of Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001, resulting in the defeat of Jaipal, the Hindu raja of

Lahore. Wave after wave of Mohammedans from beyond the natural frontier of India now flowed through the high paeeaa of the Himalayas, and over whelmed the northern plains. They met with fierce resistance, but one by one the divided king doms fell before the superior foreign force, till at length the larger part of India fell into their hands. The last effort to extend Mohammedan power resulted in the conquest of the great Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar in southern India in 1565. This period may be said to have ended with the battle of Panipat in 1761, in the victory of the Afghans over the rising. Mamtha power. The Marathas; however, instead of being crushed, turned upon their foe, and before their triumphal march the Mohammedan power melted away.

This period was one of humiliation for Hinduism. While many of the Mohammedan kings were tolerant of Hinduism, others were fanatical s. First iconoclasts. Aside from the pages of

Effects written history, the signs of this fanatupon icism may be read in the ruined tem-

Hindu ples, in the transformation of temples

Institutions. into mosques, and in the large Mohammedan population of Indian origin, descendants of those who were forcibly converted, or became converts through mercenary motives. The Emperor Akbar, 1542-1605, was the most tolerant of the Mohammedan rulers; and took a lively interest in Hindu literature and religion, his tolerance going even so far as the promulgation of an eclectic creed which included what seemed to him the best in Mohammedanism, Hinduism, Christianity, and other creeds with which he sought to make himself familiar. Mohammedan influence on Hinduism during this period appears to be twofold. On the one band it led Hindus to cling more tenaciously to their traditional faith. Their hatred of their fanatical rulers burst into fierce flame whenever possible; rebellion was ever ready to break out against those who treated them and their faith so cruelly: On the other hand, the higher moral character of the Mohammedan creed could not but affect Indian thought, and thus a strong monotheistic current began to set in, which in one form or another is still exerting influence.

The resultant of these two influences, combined with the natural development of Hinduism within itself, was the springing into existence