SECTION I

INTRODUCTION OF MAHOMEDANISM—THE GHUZNI DYNASTY

Mahomed was born at Mecca, in Arabia, a.d. 569, and at the age of forty announced himself as a prophet commissioned by the Almighty to convert the human race to the ‘true faith’ by the agency of the sword. He obtained many proselytes in his native land by his genius and eloquence, and, having raised an army of Arabs to subjugate the surrounding nations to his creed and his power, commenced that career of conquest which was pursued by his successors with unexampled vigour and rapidity. Province after province and kingdom after kingdom succumbed to them, and before the close of a century they had conquered Egypt, Syria, Northern Africa, and a part of Spain. Persia was prostrate before them, and they were advancing towards Cabul. A few years after the death of Mahomed, the Caliph Omar founded Bussora, at the estuary of the Tigris, and his generals were enabled to make descents upon Sinde and Beloochistan by sea. Under the Caliph Walid, between 705 and 715 A.D., that province was entirely subjugated, and the banner of the crescent was planted on the turrets of Mooltan. About the same period the Mahomedans advanced into Central Asia, and overran the country north of the Oxus.