Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/17

 AUTHOR'S PREFACE The Mediaeval Period of Indian history, though it does not exactly correspond with the Middle Age of Europe, is not less clearly denned. It begins when the immemorial systems, rule, and customs of Ancient India were invaded, subdued, and modified by a suc- cession of foreign conquerors who imposed a new rule and introduced an exotic creed, strange languages, and a foreign art. These conquerors were Moslems, and with the arrival of the Turks under Mahmud of Ghazni at the beginning of the eleventh century, India entered upon her Middle Age. From that epoch for nearly eight hundred years her history is grouped round the Mo- hammedan rulers who gradually brought under their control nearly the whole country from the Himalayas to the Krishna River. The period ends when one of the last of these rulers, oppressed by the revival of Hindu ascendency, placed himself under English protection, and Modern India came into being. Distinct and clearly marked as the Mediaeval or Mohammedan Period is, the transition implies no vio- lent change. History is always continuous; there can vu