what religion was India ruled by?

[Ummu Sufyaan]

I know this isn't in the right section but I figured I'd get more of an accurate and educated answer here...
Thus far, my knowledge of history goes that before the English came to the subcontinent, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was one entity (correct me if I'm wrong) so I'm wondering, at that time, which religion was india ruled by? Hindism or Islam?

 

[Eliphaz]

I think it was ruled by the Mughal Empire, which had become pretty weakened by that point.

 

['Abdul Rahmaan]

Hinduism or Islam?

Islam

 

[Rafeeq]

Ruled by Islam for more then 1000 years.

Before that, obviously, Hinduism.

 

[Ummu Sufyaan]

can you people direct me to some non-bias pro-British empire* articles/documentaries about its history and who it was ruled by?

*im not racist or anyhting but the stuff i so far have come across just seems really bias and i cant distinguish whats right from whats wrong...

 

[Fishman]

Actually the Mughals had declined a lot by the time of the British arrival. The large Hindu Maratha Empire covered most of the subcontinent, with the remnants of the Mughal Empire confined mainly to Pakistan. Sikhs also had a small empire in the Punjab, and the area around Hyderabad in central India was Muslim.

:wa:

 

[OurIslamic]

I know this isn't in the right section but I figured I'd get more of an accurate and educated answer here...
Thus far, my knowledge of history goes that before the English came to the subcontinent, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was one entity (correct me if I'm wrong) so I'm wondering, at that time, which religion was india ruled by? Hindism or Islam?

At THAT time, it was Hinduism. That is one of the main reasons Muslims wanted their own separate state (Pakistan).

 

['Abdul Rahmaan]

At THAT time, it was Hinduism. That is one of the main reasons Muslims wanted their own separate state (Pakistan).

Muslims wanted a seperate state just because of the fear that Hindues would be ruling over them after that brits quit India.

 

[Eliphaz]

I am just getting into studying Pakistan's history lately, so thought I would share a few bits from a pretty decent book I am reading:

'The fact is that Muslims constituted about one-quarter of India's population around the time the British arrived, concentrated in East Bengal and Sindh, Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), and parts of Punjab. Muslims were a majority in East Bengal and parts of India's northwest, although it took the British nearly a hundred years to realise this.

The first British "government" in India was that of the crown-chartered East India Company. The Company gradually assumed responsibility for governance from the decaying Mughal (Muslim) Empire and layered a Chinese-inspired bureaucracy over existing Mughal and Hindu patterns. This was a major innovation in the history of South Asia.'

From The Idea of Pakistan by S. P. Cohen​

Although the Mughals were Muslim, their downfall was caused by weak leadership and repeated invasions by the Persians, Afghans, and Sikhs. By the time of the British invasion came about, the Mughals only really controlled one city: Delhi. The last Mughal, Shah Alam II, was formally known as the 'King of Delhi', and was used as a puppet by the British until his death, at which point the EIC assumed full control.

There was a Mughal 'Golden Age' (during which the Taj Mahal was built) but this had long ended by the time the British arrived.

 

[OurIslamic]

Muslims wanted a seperate state just because of the fear that Hindues would be ruling over them after that brits quit India.

Exactly my point.

 

[alcurad]

if you look into it no religion really 'ruled' India, given such a vast territory and different peoples the rulers were more concerned with keeping their territory and invading others, not spreading religion, this is of course in a general sense.

notice that most 'Indian' religions are synthetic, and that the Mughul's never really followed Islam to that extent or encouraged it's spread, rather they were mostly concerned with ruling, hence while other areas such as Afghnaistan and Persia became majority Muslim states after a few cnturies India never did.

 

[waji]

Pakistan, India, Bangladesh were under one ruler during the time of Ashoka whom
Qutub ud deen Aybaq(im doubtful about the name) defeated and after him no body ruled this whole part
Even Mughals never ruled the whole sub continent although they were ruling the
most part and they were strong entity.
That is also the reason that British easily occupied the subcontinent.

 

[meer5sd]

mughals ruled only pakistan, bangladesh, northern india and some parts of south India for 400 years later british took control of entire subcontinent

 

[waji]

if you are talking about entire subcontinent then NWFP which is a province of Pakistan was not completely occupied or controlled by British

South Waziristan and North Waziristan remained in Tribal control even Britishers made an agreement that they will not go in their area and nor they will come

 

[waji]

if you are talking about entire subcontinent then NWFP which is a province of Pakistan was not completely occupied or controlled by British

South Waziristan and North Waziristan remained in Tribal control even Britishers made an agreement that they will not go in their area and nor they will come

 

[cat eyes]

well its hard to say depends how far you actually want to go back.. i love history and always have. well india became a british colony in the latter half of the 18th century. the british rule lasted for 150years. they pretty much caused the separation between the hindu and muslims also and caused them to hate eachother thats why they could not live peacefully together as they were very good at doing that before british then it would have been muslims who ruled over the majority of hindus

 

[Fishman]

the british rule lasted for 150years. they pretty much caused the separation between the hindu and muslims also and caused them to hate eachother thats why they could not live peacefully together as they were very good at doing that

'Muslim' rulers had been butchering Hindus for centuries before the British showed up. The west didn't cause the Hindu-Muslim conflict, it was much more to do with people like Arungzeb, Babur and Timurlane.

before british then it would have been muslims who ruled over the majority of hindus

Muslim rule over India have collapsed significantly before the British showed up. The Hindu Maratha Empire and its successors dominated the continent, Mughals were confined to a few scattered territories due to the combined efforts of the Marathas and the Sikhs.

 

[cat eyes]

Your right there would have been problems going on before but british rule actually made it worse

 

[meer5sd]

Muslim rule over India have collapsed significantly before the British showed up. The Hindu Maratha Empire and its successors dominated the continent, Mughals were confined to a few scattered territories due to the combined efforts of the Marathas and the Sikhs.

Maratha Empire was confined to some part of western INDIA,

Hyderabad kingdom which was largest kingdom in Indian subcontinent before independence was ruled by Muslim Nizams till 1948

 

[Fishman]

Your right there would have been problems going on before but british rule actually made it worse

Yeah I'd agree there, to an extent.

Maratha Empire was confined to some part of western INDIA,

Hyderabad kingdom which was largest kingdom in Indian subcontinent before independence was ruled by Muslim Nizams till 1948

The Marathas look a lot larger than that in this map. But yeah, I would argree with you that there were still some strong Muslim states. However, the days when the Mughals ruled were long gone.