Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/744

* MOHAMMEDANISM. 666 MOHAMMEDANISM. century, liiis the spread of I>1;iim Ijccii rapiJ. Thft same period was the date of the rapid oonversion of Montenegro; in Hosnia, the liogomiles joined Islam in huge numhers after Moliammcd II. had released o'er seventy cities from Catholic perse- cution. The other inhabitants followed gradually, and the Christians left the way clear by emi- grating into the neighboring countries. The con- version of the inhabitants of Crete first took place in the ninth and teiith centuries, when the whole population joined Islam; at the beginning of the thirteenth century the Venetians acquired the island, and in Kiliit. when it was taken from Venice by the Turks, the inhabitants had to be reconverted; within 50 years half of thorn were again Moslem. In Persia, Islam made progress very early, for under Zoroastrianism the people were oppressed by priest and ruler alike. After the fall of the Sassanid dynasty in the middle of the seventh century, converts were easily made, at first mainly from among the despised industrial classes and artisans. Later the Shiitcs met with great success, for Hosein, son of Ali, had mar- ried Shabban, daughter of Yezdegird, the last Sassanid ; and in the middle of the eighth century the Ismailians showed a wonderful power of adapting themselves and th<'ir teachings to all classes and creeds. At the close of the eighth century Saman, a noble of Balkb, became a Mos- lem and founded the dynasty of the .Samanids (874-!)!)!t). Conversions were made in the ninth century by Karim ibn Shahriyar. the converted King of the Kabusivyah dynasty, and by Nasir al- Hakk of Dailam; "in 912 Hasan ibn Ali, of an Abd dynast.v on the Caspian, made many converts in Dailam and Tabaristan. North of Persia there had Iwen much opposi- tion to Islam, and allegiance to the Caliph was often renounced as soon as the armies were withdrawn. In Samarkand, however, conversions were brought about by Uin Kutaibab. who burned the heathens' idols. ilmong tlie Afghans the King of Kabul was converted about 800; in Transoxiana many converts were made in the eighth century, and by the middle of the ninth Mohammedanism was general. The greatest im- petus to the spread of the new faith came about the middle of the tenth century, when some of the Turkish chieftains were innvcrtcd; in Turk- estan the founder of the llak Kh;ins converted 2000 families of his tribe, who became known as Turcomans. In !);)ri the Seljuk Turks had their origin, when Selijek migrated with bis elan to Bokhara from the Kirghiz steppes. Much of the progress which Islam bad m;ule was lost by the Mongol invasion. Uokhara, Samarkand. Balkh, and Bagdad were left in ruins, and almost without inbaliitants. .Many Mongol rulers, such as Kublai Khan, were energetic in their opposition to Islam. I?ul in the time of Ogotai Khan (I22!l-I241) certain Buddhists were converted: Visun-Timur Khan (132.S-2S) was an earnest Moslem, and made converts of his troops; Baraka Khan ( 12:)t)-r>.">) turniMl Moslem with his subjects — the first ruling Mimgnl prince to lake this step in the eastern portion of the Mongol territory. But it was not till 120;") that Islam became the ruling religion of Persia; at that date Ohaznn, seventh of the llak khans, joined the new faith. In the Middle Kingdom, in the reigns of Tirnensbirin Khan (1.322-30) and Tukluk Tinuir Khan (1.347-63), Islam became generally adopted, though lUirak Khan (1266- 70) had also been a Moslem. In the Golden Horde the leaders and aristocracy followed Baraka Khan when he became converted ; Uzbeg Khan (1313-40) placed Islam On a solid basis. The Mongols were likewise successful, to some extent, in introducing Mohammedanism into Russia; e.g. in the Crimea and aipong tl»e Finns, the Tcheremisses, the Tchuvashes (whole vil- lages of which are Moslem), and the northeast Russian tribes, among whom there are many secret Mohammedans. In Siberia the first eon- versions were made in the latter half of the six- teenth ('entury. Since 174.T the Baraba Tatars, between the Irtish and Ob. have been converted. In India the first great Moluimmedan conquer- or was Mohammed Kasim (711), who took Dar- bul (capital of Sindh), Multan, and other cities early in the eighth century. Under Omar II. the native princes were called upon to become Mo- hammedans, and received .ral)ic names; but many of them later became heathens again. In lOlo" Hardat and 10,000 men accepted Islam: but it was some time before the new religion gained ' a firm footing in India. Down to near the close of the twelfth century Mohanuiiedan India was only a province of (ihazni; at th;it time Moham- med (Ihori conquered the northern part to the mouth of the Ganges, and his slave Kutb alDin was made Viceroy of Delhi. The latter then pro- claimed himself sovereign of Hindustan and founded the dynasty of the "Slave Kings," the first Mohammedan dynasty in India. Mohaunned (Jhori likewise converted the (ihakkars, in the mountains north of Punjab. Under the succeed- ing dynasty, the Khilji's ( 12n.-)-1320) . Moham- medan rule was extended to the Decc;in. The Tughlak dynasty which followed was troubled by revolt and desertion, and its power «as uuich re- duced ; the Sayyids, as well as the li<idis ( 14jl- 1520), were rulers over but one jirovince, Bengal, .launpur. Mahva. and Gujanit having independ- ent Moslem dynasties. The Mogul Empire was established in 252 by Baber. and then Islami'- inlluences were more successful. Many raj]iut~ were converted when idolatry was made a bar to advancement at court. In the eastern dis- tricts of the Punjab and in C.awnpore. many con verts were made in the reign of .urungzebe. In Southern India ;ind in Bengal the spreal of Islam was more rapid. The southern coa- was subject to the Mohammedan infiuences n: traders; even in the eighth century refugees had come there from Irak, and missionaries in the eleventh. In Malabar the ^lappilas. <leseendants of the early refugees, are estimated at one-fifth of the popvilation. The l.accadive and Maldivi' islands, as well as Malabar, have an almost c clusively Moslem population. In the Dcican, Arabs settled in the tenth century; it had the .Mohammedan dvnasties of the Bahmanids (1347 1400) and Bijiipur (1439-1080). Bengal was the scene of most active propaganda, ami Islam was welcomed .especially among the lower caste Brahmins. Lower Bengal has been the scene of a great Mohammedan revival even in the last few years. Kashmir had a Jlohammedan king in the fourteenth century; Islam became supreme in the time of .-Vkbar. and to-day claims over seventy per cent, of the populadon. In Baltistan there has been a Mohammedan population for over three centuries, and the faith is being carried by merchants from Kashmir, as well as from Per-