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The middle ages were a terrible time for India. The Islamic Conquest put a definitive end to a relative era of peace and took India to the dark ages. Most India

The middle ages were a terrible time for India. The Islamic Conquest put a definitive end to a relative era of peace and took India to the dark ages. Most Indian kingdoms were soft (Buddhism was the prevalent religion) and fell like ninepins to hardened invaders. Vast libraries were burned and vast quantities of knowledge lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquests_in_the_Indian_subcontinent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquests_in_the_Indian... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda

boomboomsubban 6y ago
As we are talking about an entire millennium, the middle ages were a terrific time for India, containing multiple centuries that are considered golden ages with the Gupta Empire and the Chola dynasty. Both statements are true and false, it's meaningless to generalize to that degree.
- lenkite 6y ago
  The Gupta Empire aka Golden Age of India preceded the Islamic Conquest. 2nd to 6th Century AD. Not sure whether this fits into the Middle Ages. Islamic conquest of India started from ~700 AD, though it became serious only after 900 AD.
  - boomboomsubban 6y ago
    >. Not sure whether this fits into the Middle Ages. One or two centuries arguably do, which is why I worded my statement in that particular way.
teleforce 6y ago
Dark ages for India during Mughal Empire? You must be kidding right or you are in denial. Mughal dinasty is probably the richest Indian dinasty and most probably the richest dinasty ever comparable to Byzantine empires. The older Indian dinasties before Moghul are not that rich or successful otherwise tourists will be visiting their buildings like pyramids in Egypt or Aya Sophia in Turkey.
- lenkite 6y ago
  We are talking far before the Mughal Empire. Most older Indian dynasties were utterly demolished by invaders. Islamic Conquerors deliberately made it a point to demolish them - temples, libraries, etc. It is not surprising that Mughal Empire was rich for the ruling class. It imposed the Jizya tax on non-muslims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya
  - teleforce 6y ago
    Mughal empire started probably just after the Middle age but there were several separate Sultanates namely Gujarat, Bengal and Delhi. These were very rich Sultanates probably not as rich as the Mughal empire because they were smaller, but they were rich Kingdoms nonetheless even by modern standards. India was not at that time in dark ages, by any stretch of imagination. They probably economically fare much better than India nowadays, and you would not call India now as dark ages, would you? The jizya is tax for non Muslim and for Muslim they have got zakat and other normal taxes. It is not like Indian do not have any tax nowadays.
    - lenkite 6y ago
      The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur (reigned 1526–1530). The Delhi Sultanate (12th-15 century) was recognised for its oppression of Hindus. Muslim texts of that period even encourage oppression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus#Delhi_Sultanate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus#Delhi_Su... The Muslim texts of the Delhi Sultanate era treated Hindus with disdain, remarking "Hindus are never interesting in themselves, but only as converts, as capitation tax payers, or as corpses". "The Muslim commanders of Delhi Sultanate regularly raided Hindu kingdoms for plunder, mulct their treasuries and looted the Hindu temples therein" It was certainly one of the dark ages, unless you happened to be an Islamic conqueror! Comparing that era against modern India is hopefully a joke ? Perhaps you only meant to compare Muslim Nobles in that era against modern Indian citizens ? (Even then the life expectancy was lower). Being a Hindu citizen in that era meant you (and your family) could be enslaved for any reason and your village/town slaughtered to the last man, your template desecrated and looted. There are thousands of such documented cases. Oh, btw, the Zakat tax in that era was negligible compared to Jizya. Can dig up several sources on this too, if needed. If you didn't pay Jizya, you were killed or enslaved. You were freed from Jizya only if you converted to Islam.

boomboomsubban 6y ago

As we are talking about an entire millennium, the middle ages were a terrific time for India, containing multiple centuries that are considered golden ages with the Gupta Empire and the Chola dynasty. Both statements are true and false, it's meaningless to generalize to that degree.

lenkite 6y ago
The Gupta Empire aka Golden Age of India preceded the Islamic Conquest. 2nd to 6th Century AD. Not sure whether this fits into the Middle Ages. Islamic conquest of India started from ~700 AD, though it became serious only after 900 AD.
- boomboomsubban 6y ago
  >. Not sure whether this fits into the Middle Ages. One or two centuries arguably do, which is why I worded my statement in that particular way.

teleforce 6y ago

Dark ages for India during Mughal Empire? You must be kidding right or you are in denial. Mughal dinasty is probably the richest Indian dinasty and most probably the richest dinasty ever comparable to Byzantine empires. The older Indian dinasties before Moghul are not that rich or successful otherwise tourists will be visiting their buildings like pyramids in Egypt or Aya Sophia in Turkey.

lenkite 6y ago
We are talking far before the Mughal Empire. Most older Indian dynasties were utterly demolished by invaders. Islamic Conquerors deliberately made it a point to demolish them - temples, libraries, etc. It is not surprising that Mughal Empire was rich for the ruling class. It imposed the Jizya tax on non-muslims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya
- teleforce 6y ago
  Mughal empire started probably just after the Middle age but there were several separate Sultanates namely Gujarat, Bengal and Delhi. These were very rich Sultanates probably not as rich as the Mughal empire because they were smaller, but they were rich Kingdoms nonetheless even by modern standards. India was not at that time in dark ages, by any stretch of imagination. They probably economically fare much better than India nowadays, and you would not call India now as dark ages, would you? The jizya is tax for non Muslim and for Muslim they have got zakat and other normal taxes. It is not like Indian do not have any tax nowadays.
  - lenkite 6y ago
    The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur (reigned 1526–1530). The Delhi Sultanate (12th-15 century) was recognised for its oppression of Hindus. Muslim texts of that period even encourage oppression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus#Delhi_Sultanate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus#Delhi_Su... The Muslim texts of the Delhi Sultanate era treated Hindus with disdain, remarking "Hindus are never interesting in themselves, but only as converts, as capitation tax payers, or as corpses". "The Muslim commanders of Delhi Sultanate regularly raided Hindu kingdoms for plunder, mulct their treasuries and looted the Hindu temples therein" It was certainly one of the dark ages, unless you happened to be an Islamic conqueror! Comparing that era against modern India is hopefully a joke ? Perhaps you only meant to compare Muslim Nobles in that era against modern Indian citizens ? (Even then the life expectancy was lower). Being a Hindu citizen in that era meant you (and your family) could be enslaved for any reason and your village/town slaughtered to the last man, your template desecrated and looted. There are thousands of such documented cases. Oh, btw, the Zakat tax in that era was negligible compared to Jizya. Can dig up several sources on this too, if needed. If you didn't pay Jizya, you were killed or enslaved. You were freed from Jizya only if you converted to Islam.