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Ottoman rule was over 630 years and it is inevitable that the world faced major changes and developments within this time. Of course, Ottoman time had many many significant developments and most were related to humanity in general.In all fields such as Science and Technology, Arts and Sports many areas saw the changes and advancement during this era.I will try to illustrate the picture related to science and technology here in detail with the words of Mr. Salim Ayduz, a scholar of Ottoman era….“The Ottoman contribution to science and technology during their over six-hundred-year rule is beyond measure. This article is a brief outline of just some of the Ottoman scientific activities and related institutions that brought about the revival of culture, science, and learning in civilization throughout the Islamic world and beyond. To instantiate the Ottoman scientific contributions, the author focuses on two significant examples from astronomy and geography in the 16th century: the foundation of Istanbul Observatory and Taqi Al-Din's achievements therein, map making and mapmakers such as the famous sailors Piri Reis, Saydi Ali Reis and Macar Ali Reis.In its history and development, the innovative features of Ottoman science are obvious and various. Whilst the older Islamic centres of science and culture influenced initially Ottoman scientific tradition, it quickly reached a point where it could itself influence these old centres and serve as an example to them.The great changes in the scientific and educational life of the Ottomans were achieved over an extensive period of time. Consequently, it is difficult to connect the radical changes in Ottoman history to specific events or to start from a certain date. In general, "old and new" existed side by side. To substantiate such a claim, the focus will be laid in this section on the formation and development of the classical Ottoman scientific tradition that was based on the Islamic classical scientific tradition, including the heritage of the Seljuks and other Muslim and Turkish states.The Ottoman Empire was established as a small principality at the turn of the 14th century and gradually expanded into the Byzantine Empire and other Muslim and non-Muslim states. Its authority reached its highest point in the 16th century, and it became the most powerful state of the world. The Empire extended from Central Europe to the Indian Ocean and lasted for many centuries by keeping the balance of power with modern EuropeScientific activities in the Ottoman state emerged and developed in Anatolian cities from the scientific legacy and institutions of the pre-Ottoman Seljuk period and benefited from the activities of scholars who came from Egypt, Syria, Iran, and Turkestan—that is, from the substantial scientific and cultural centres of the time. Alongside the old centres of Islamic civilization, new centres, such as Bursa, Edirne, Istanbul, Amasya, Skopje, and Sarajevo flourished during to Ottoman period. The developments of this period form the heritage that constitutes the cultural identity and scientific legacy of present-day Turkey, as well as an important part of the intellectual history of several Middle Eastern, North African, and Balkan countries. The Ottomans also benefited greatly from their non-Muslim subjects and European neighbours, and provided very favourable working conditions for scientists from many different fields, including medicine, astronomy, and mathematics, by inviting them to conduct their studies at the important centres of science and culture in the Islamic world. Engaging the services of scientists and artists from either the west or the east as needed, without regard to religion or nationality, was an established and advantageous practice in the Ottoman EmpireDuring the classical period, Ottoman scientists and scholars showed remarkable success in developing science and were able to produce many works in various branches. This paper provides an overview, with examples, of the formation and development of Ottoman science and scientific activities in the fields of geography and astronomy.From as far back as the time of the Prophet, we know that Muslims had needed astronomy for the determination of times, an important factor in religious duties, and geography to find the direction of the Ka'ba. The precise calculation of the prayer times, as well as of the beginning and the end of the daily fast in the month of Ramadan, fell naturally within the domain of the astronomer. It is true that for the times of regular prayers, for example, Muslims were given approximate directions and were allowed some latitude; simple rules concerning these matters could be found in the Traditions. From the very beginning of Islam, Muslim scholars had to work on these two subjects under very strict rules. Due to the closeness of the fields, most of the Muslim scholars had a deep knowledge of both sciences and they produced a considerable number of books.2. AstronomyAstronomical studies in the Islamic civilization started in the very early days. Observations of the sun and the moon and the calculation of the prayer times required precision. The observatory was one of the most highly developed institutions of science and learning in Islam and one of the high-water marks of the Muslim civilization. There is no doubt that the observatory, as a specialized scientific institution, owes a great deal to Islam. It may very reasonably be claimed that it was in Islam that the observatory, as a specialized institution with an official and legal status and with a fixed location where observation and other work on stellar bodies were systematically carried out through the cooperation of several scientists, first came into existence.Already early in the 9th century, the Caliph Al-Ma'mun initiated the tradition of founding observatories in Islam, by founding two majors but very short-lived observatories, the Shammasiya in Baghdad and Qasiyun in Damascus. There are eight other examples of the building of full-fledged and elaborate official state observatories in the Islamic realm up to the 17th century.The Maragha Observatory, founded in 1259 under the patronage of Hulagu, was one of the most elaborate institutions of its kind and the scene of important work. Prince Ulugh Bey built another gigantic observatory in Samarqand in 1420, and finally, the Tophane Observatory in Istanbul was founded by Murad III in 1577.2.1. Istanbul ObservatoryIn the Ottoman civilization, scientific institutions, in the field of astronomy, included the chief astronomer's office (munajjimbashi), the muvaqqithānes and the Istanbul Observatory. Though one can find original and translated works in the fields of astronomy and astrology from the early period, the first calendrical works only began during the time of Sultan Murad II (1421-1451). These calendars were prepared as palace almanacs and we have no idea about the authors. They continued the classical Islamic astronomical tradition in this field and combined the traditions of both the Samarkand and Maragha astronomy schools of astronomy in their works. Ulug Bey's Zīj, which was prepared in the Samarkand observatory, became a very significant manual for Ottoman astronomers and astrologersThe Ottomans had well organized astronomical institutions such as the post of Chief-astronomer (munajjimbashilik) and timekeeping houses (muwaqqithānas). In the Ottoman palace administration, the person in charge of directing the astronomers was called munajjimbashi, that is Chief Astronomer. The position of Chief Astronomer was established sometime between the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Chief Astronomer's most important duty was the preparation of annual calendars. They were responsible for determining the beginning of fasting times (imsāqiya) before the month of Ramadan and preparing horoscopes (zāyija) and astronomical tables (zījs) for the palace people and prominent officials.The timekeeper's offices (muvaqqithānes) were public buildings located in the courtyards of mosques or masjidsin almost every town. They were widely built by the Ottomans especially after the conquest of Istanbul. They were administered by the foundation (waqf) of the complex (külliye) and the people who worked in the muvaqqithānes were named muvaqqit, meaning the person who kept the time, especially for the times of prayer.In addition to other science-related institutions, the observatory founded in Istanbul was administered by the chief astronomer Taqī al-Dīn al-Rasid (d. 1585). The first Ottoman observatory was also the last big observatory of the Islamic Civilization. With the support of Sultan Murad III, he started the construction of the Istanbul Observatory. As well as using the existing instruments of observation, Taqī al-Dīn invented new ones in order to determine the equinoxes. He also developed and used gravity and spring driven mechanical clocks and invented a six-cylinder pump (engine) for raising water in a continuous manner. In addition, he wrote more than thirty books in mathematics, astronomy, mechanics, and medicine.Taqi al-Din, who was born in Damascus in 1526, worked for a time as a qadīi and a teacher after completing his education in Damascus and Egypt. During his time in Egypt and Damascus, he produced some important works in the fields of astronomy and mathematics. In 1570, he came to Istanbul from Cairo, and one year later (1571-2) was appointed Chief Astronomer (Munajjimbashi) on the death of the Chief Astronomer Mustafa b. Ali al-Muwaqqit. Taqi al-Din maintained close relationships with many important members of the ulemā (scholars) and statesmen, chief among whom was Hoca Sādeddin, and was presented to Sultan Murad by the Grand Vizier Sokullu Mehmed Pasha.Taqi al-Din informed Sultan Murad, who had an interest in astronomy and astrology, that the Ulug Beg's Astronomical Tables contained certain observational errors, resulting in errors in the calculations based on those tables. Taqi al-Din indicated that these errors could be corrected if new observations were made and proposed that an observatory be built in Istanbul for that purpose. Sultan Murad was very pleased to be the patron of the first observatory in Istanbul and asked that construction begin immediately. He also provided all the financial assistance required for the project. In the meantime, Taqi al-Din pursued his studies at the Galata Tower, and continued them in 1577, at the partially completed new observatory called Dār al-Rasad al-Jadīd(the New Observatory).The observatory, consisting of two separate buildings, one large and one small, was constructed at a location in the higher part of Tophane in Istanbul. Taqi al-Din had the instruments used in the old Islamic observatories reproduced with great care. In addition, he invented some new instruments, which were used for observational purposes for the first time. The observatory had a staff of sixteen people: eight "observers" (rāsid), four clerks, and four assistants.The observatory was designed to provide for the needs of the astronomers and included a library largely consisting of books on astronomy and mathematics. This institution was conceived as one of the largest observatories in the Islamic world and was completed in 1579. It was comparable to Tycho Brahe's (1546-1601) Uranienborg observatory built in 1576. In addition, there is a striking similarity between the instruments of Tycho Brahe and those of Taqi al-Din but those of Taqi al-Din were of superior quality. When compared with those of his contemporary Danish astronomer, Taqi al-Din's observations are more precise.In Taqi al-Din's astronomical tables, called the Sidratu Muntaha'l-Afkār fī Malakut al-Falak al-Davvār (Lotus of Culmination of Thoughts in the Kingdom of Rotating Spheres), Taqi al-Din states that he started astronomical activities in Istanbul with 15 assistants in 1573. The observatory continued to function until 22 January 1580, the date of its destruction. Religious arguments were put forth to justify this action, but it was really rooted in certain internal political struggles.2.2. New observational instruments of Taqi al-DinTaqi al-Din invented new observational instruments that were added to those already in use for observation in the Islamic world. Among the instruments invented by Taqi al-Din in the observatory were the following:· The Sextant (mushabbaha bi-'l manātiq): used to measure the distances between the stars. Taqi al-Din's mushabbaha bi'l manātiq and Tycho Brahe's sextant should be considered among the great achievements of the 16th-century astronomy. A mushabbaha bi-l manātiq is composed of three rulers. Two of them are attached as the rulers of the triquetrum. An arc is attached to the end of one of the rulers. Taqi al-Din made this instrument to observe the radius of Venus that was mentioned in the Xth book of the Almagest.· The instrument with cords (Dhāt al-awtar): designates the spring and autumn equinoxes. Some astronomers set up a ring, which was not divided, parallel to the equator to designate this. The instrument was composed of a base in the form of a rectangle and four columns. The two columns were set on this base so that a string was stretched between them. One of them was equal to the cosine of the latitude of the country and the other to the sine. A hole was made on each of these parts according to this proportion. A rope was hung from these holes with a plumb.· The astronomical clock: Taqi al-Din used a mechanical clock, which he made himself for his observations, and a wooden wall dial, which he set up in the observatory. He wrote in The Astronomical Instruments for the Emperor's Table: "The ninth instrument is an astronomical clock. The following statement is recorded from Ptolemy: ‘I would have been able to establish a great regularity in method if I was able to measure the time precisely.' Now Taqi al-Din planned, with the help of God, the astronomical clock by the command of the Sultan, God perpetuates his ruling days. Thus, he was able to do what Ptolemy had failed to do." Taqi al-Din says in Sidrat al-muntahā: "we built a mechanical clock with a dial showing the hours, minutes and seconds and we divided every minute into five seconds." This is a more precise clock than clocks used previously and is, as a result, considered to be one of the most important 16th-century developments in applied astronomy.When we compare the instruments which Taqi al-Din used in his observatory with those used by Tycho Brahe, they are mostly similar, but some of Taqi al-Din's are larger and more precise. Both, for example, used a mural quadrant (Libna) for the observations of the declinations of the sun and the stars. It is said that Taqi al-Din preferred the mural quadrant to the Fakhri sextant (Suds-i Fakhrī) and two rings used by previous astronomers. Taqi al-Din's quadrant was composed of two brass quadrants with a radius of six meters; it was placed on a wall and erected on the meridian. Tycho Brahe's similar instrument was only two meters in diameter.In his work, Taqi al-Din integrated two traditions of astronomy, those of Damascus and Samarkand. His first task at the observatory was to correct the Zīj book (Astronomical Table) of Ulugh Beg. He also undertook various observations of eclipses of the sun and the moon. The comet that was present in the skies of Istanbul for one month during September 1578 was observed day and night and the results of the observations were presented to the sultan. As a result of the new methods he developed and the equipment he invented, Taqi al-Din was able to approach his observations in an innovative way and produce novel solutions to astronomical problems. He also substituted the use of a decimally based system for a sexagesimal one and prepared trigonometric tables based on decimal fractions. He determined the ecliptic degree as 23° 28' 40", which is very close to the current value of 23° 27'. He used a new method in calculating solar parameters. He determined that the magnitude of the annual movement of the sun's apogee was 63 seconds. Considering that the value known today is 61 seconds, the method he used appears to have been more precise than that of Copernicus (24 seconds) and Tycho Brahe (45 seconds). Taqi al-Din also wrote the first Ottoman book on automatic machines, titled el-Turuq al-Saniyya fi'l-ālāt al-rūhāniyya.The observatory was witness to a great deal of activity within a short period of time. Observations undertaken there were collected in the above-mentioned treatise Sidratu Muntahā'l-Afkār fī Malakūt al-Falak al-Davvār.2.3. Mustafa bin Ali Al-MuwaqqitMustafa b. Ali al-Muwaqqit al-Salīmī was another essential Ottoman polymath scholar. He was well-known in the second half of the 16th century as an astronomer, mathematician, geographer, clock-maker (sa'atji) and muwaqqit (timekeeper). He made valuable contributions in the fields of astronomy and geography, producing many books of which those on making and using astronomical instruments are particularly important. These books were used as textbooks in madrasas, and some of them were copied until the middle of the 19th century.He was initially timekeeper at the Yavuz Selim Mosque in Istanbul and later became the Chief Astronomer (munajjimbashi) for ten years. He took astronomy courses and became muwaqqit at the Sultan Selim Mosque Muwaqqithana. He wrote most of his works while holding this post. He invented a new instrument for astronomical observation called the "rub-i āfākī" (horizontal quadrant).There are 24 works which are definitely known to have been written by him; three in Arabic, the rest is in Turkish. By writing in the Turkish language about astronomical matters, he was aiming to make astronomical works accessible in this language who was becoming the scientific language of the Ottoman Empire. He also produced new and original solutions to astronomical problems. Therefore, his ideas became widely diffused among astronomers, muwaqqits and other educated people. In particular, his book explaining astronomical instruments was very popular among those interested in astronomy. In addition to astronomy, he also wrote three treatises of geography: Hallu Dā'irati Mu'addil al-Nahār, I'lam al-‘Ibād fī A'lām al-Bilād I'lām al-‘Ibād fī A'lām al-Bilād and Kifayāt al-Wakt li Ma'rifat al-Dā'ir wa Fazlihī wa al-Samt.3. GeographyAs in the field of astronomy, the Ottomans continued the classical tradition in the field of geography. The Ottomans needed geographical knowledge in order to determine the borders of their continuously expanding territory and to establish control over military and commercial activities. They made use of both the geographical works of previous Muslim geographers and works of European origin. By adding their own observations, Ottoman geographers also produced original material. The Samarkand school of geography and astronomy provided the primary sources for the Ottoman's knowledge of geography, map-making and related fields. From the 16th century onwards, Pīrī Reis, Matrakci Nasuh, Saydī Ali Celebi and other scholars produced noteworthy geographical works.3.1. Pīrī ReīsThe most prominent Ottoman geographer is Muhiddin Pīrī Reīs (d. 962 A.H./1554 C.E.) who also produced original works in the fields of marine geography and navigation at the court of Selim I and Suleyman the Magnificent. He was interested in the science of cartography and completed a map of the world in 1513 C.E. This map is part of the large-scale world map prepared in two parts on a gazelle hide, of which only the western part is preserved. It was drawn based on both his rich and detailed drafts and European maps, including Columbus' map of America. This was the first Ottoman map which included preliminary information about the New World depicts southwestern Europe, northwestern Africa, southeastern and Central America. The map has the shape of a "portland" type of map which does not contain latitudinal and longitudinal lines but includes coastlines and islands and serves to familiarize one with the various regions of the world.Pīrī Reīs also drew a second world map in 1528 C.E. which he presented to Süleyman the Magnificent. Only the portion depicting the western hemisphere survives. It is in colour and has ornamental figures on the margins with explanatory notes. The extant portion shows the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and the newly discovered regions of North and Central America. It shows four wind roses and the Tropic of Cancer, which was not shown in his first map of the world, appears on this map. The scales used in the second map are larger than the first. The drawing of the coastlines shows a great improvement in technique and also bears a close resemblance to the modern conception of these areas. The stony and rocky sections are given special care.Pīrī Reis also wrote a book on marine geography entitled Kitāb-i Bahriye (Book of the Sea, 1521). In this work, he presents drawings and maps of the cities on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts and gives extensive information about navigation and nautical astronomy. The book contains 209 chapters with 215 maps, charts and pictures to give an exact account of the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, along with a description of the seas. Basically, the book is a kind of guide to navigation and is based on his personal observations. He gathered together all previous information on the subject but added to it other practical knowledge necessary for sailors on the most important coastal routes and drew large maps for every chapter. In this way, the book became not only a simple guide book but also the greatest Ottoman contemporary portolano with the most advanced cartography techniques.3.2. Seydī Ali ReisAnother outstanding personality was the Ottoman admiral, geographer, astronomer and poet Seydī ‘Ali Reis (also as known Kātibī or Kātib-i Rûmī) (d. 1562), who was an expert on marine geography. He wrote books on geography, mathematics and astronomy which show his scientific and navigational experience and knowledge. His works, written in Turkish, are chiefly translations from Persian or Arabic and deal with mathematics, astronomy and navigation in the Indian Ocean. Some of his works have been translated into many languages. In addition to geography, he also wrote books on mathematics and astronomy. He wrote a very valuable work in Turkish, entitled Kitāb al-Muhīt fī ‘ilm al-aflāk wa al-Abhur well-known as al-Muhīt (The Ocean) containing the astronomical and geographical information required for long sea voyages as well as his own observations about the Indian Ocean. After his travelogue, this is Saydī ‘Ali's most famous work and is based on Arabic works dealing with navigation in the Indian Ocean. The al-Muhīt consists of 10 sections and of Portuguese voyages of discovery, including Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe. Saydī ‘Ali's account enhances the reputation of the Ottoman sultan among his co-religionists everywhere he travelled and demonstrates the universality of the Turkish element and the effectiveness of Ottoman Turkish soldiers, who were in demand at every court.In addition to this geographical work, he also wrote treatises on astronomy. The first of which is Mir'āt-i kāināt(Mirror of the Universe), a treatise on astronomical measurements and instruments, chiefly applicable to the art of navigation by celestial observation. This has been translated into many languages. His second book on astronomy is Hulāsat al-hay'a (Essence of Astronomy), a treatise on geometry and mathematics containing a translation of ‘Ali Qushji's al-Fathiyya fī al-Hay'a, enriched with excerpts from Chaghmīnī and Kadizade-i Rumī. His other books on astronomy are: Risala-i Dhāt al-Qursī a treatise about astronomy and some astronomical instruments; Risala-i mir'at-i kā'inat min alāt-i irtifa' which is called the Mirror of the Universe according to instruments for measuring altitude. His other works are: Risala-yi hay'at (Treatise on Astronomy); Sayahat-nāma-yi asturlab rub' mujayyab ‘amal bi'l-jayb muqantarāt da'ira al-mu'addal dhāt al-kursī (Book of travel on the astrolabe, sine Quadrant, Equatorial Circle, and the Instrument with a Throne); Risala-i Da'irat al-Mu'addil ;Risala-i Asturlab and Risala-i Rub'i Mujayyab.Another significant Ottoman polymath scholar was Matrakci Nasûh b. Karagöz al-Bosnawī al-Silahī . He was renowned in the 16th century as a mathematician, historian, geographer, cartographer, topographer, musketeer, and was an outstanding soldier, calligrapher and engineer. He made contributions in the fields of geography, mathematics, history, military art and calligraphy and produced important books. He also invented a military lawn game called "Matrak". Matrakçi Nasuh was an important figure in the field of descriptive geography. His first important book Bayān-i Manāzil-i Safar Iraqayn (Explanation of encamping places of two expeditions of Iraq) was in Turkish. His miniatures showing the roads connecting Istanbul, Tabriz and Baghdad are like maps. His history of the 1534-36 campaign to Iran and Iraq includes a double folio depicting Istanbul with all the contemporary structures of the city shown in remarkable detail. The Golden Horn runs vertically in the centre, separating the Galata section with its famous tower (on the left) from the city proper (on the right), which includes such major structures as the Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, At Meydani (Hippodrome), Grand Bazaar, Old Palace, and the complex (kulliya) of Mehmed II. A major document for the study of Istanbul in the 1530s, the illustration is an example of the topographic genre of painting initiated by Nasuh that continued for centuries.Matrakçi's land maps are considered equal with Pīrī Reis' portland maritime maps to be found in his Kitāb-i Bahriye . Two other works of Matrakçi containing miniatures are important from a geographical perspective. In one called Ta'rikh-i Fath-i Shiklos wa Estergon wa Istolnibelgrad, Matrakçi drew the inns between Istanbul and Budapest as well as the cities of Nice, Toulon and Marseilles during Barbaros' visits and the Ottoman fleet with which he came.As a member of the administration, Nasuh accompanied Suleyman the Magnificent on various campaigns and carefully recorded the events and illustrated the cities and ports conquered by the Ottomans. He participated in the Mohaç campaign (1526) and the two Baghdad expeditions of Suleyman. He painted the picture of every city where the army was billeted or passed by.Another work of the 16th century in the field of geography, which contains information about the geographical discoveries and the New World (America), is the book entitled Tārih-i Hind-i Garbī (History of the West Indies) (probably written by Muhammad b. Amir al-Suûdī al-Niksarī (d. 1591) in the 16th century). This work, based on Spanish and Italian geographical sources, was presented to Sultan Murād III in 1573. It is important in showing that the Ottomans knew about the geographical discoveries of the West. The work has three parts; but the real weight, consisting of two-thirds of the book, is in the third section where Columbus' discovery of America and the European conquests over the period of sixty years between 1492 and 1552 are related. Tarih-i Hind-i Garbī tells the amazing stories of the explorations and conquests of Columbus, Cortes, Pizarro, and others, and it also endeavours to incorporate the new geographic information into the body of Islamic knowledge. It presents a major effort by an Ottoman Muslim scholar, almost unique in the 16th century; firstly, to transmit through translation information from one culture (European Christendom) to another (Ottoman Islam), and secondly, to correct and expand Islamic geography and cartography.In the Topkapi Palace Museum Library (Hazine 644), Istanbul, there is an Atlas entitled "Ali Macar Reis Atlas". The atlas consists of six portolan charts and one mappamundi, all on double pages, i.e., there are fourteen pages. They are drawn on parchment leaves and bound in leather, forming an appealing small volume. As a work of art, this atlas certainly ranks among the most successful. The artist-cartographer who drew these charts must have been professionally connected to those who drew other similar maps in Christian Europe; and the artistic perfection of this atlas strongly argues against it being the isolated work of a captain who would only have been imitating such models; the author must have been a craftsman with great experience of this type of work.Cartography seems to have been organized as a profession in the Ottoman Empire; for example, in the 17th century, fifteen individuals were occupied with the art of surveying, in eight locations in Istanbul and nearby areas.Ottoman geographers were able to obtain information about both West and East at a time when there were no maps of the East available in Europe. This indicates that the Ottomans were more advanced in this area that had previously been thought.Ottoman contributions to geography including cartography are very significant, vast, in content and have a definite place in the history of geography. It is also true that while the Arabs mostly influenced the Turks, they did not follow them slavishly. Ottoman geographers especially cartographers made some very significant contributions and they may be said to have formed a bridge between medieval Islamic and modern cartography.4. ConclusionOttoman contributions to Science and Technology during a six-hundred-year rule over a huge domain are beyond measure. The above is merely a brief outline of some of the Ottoman scientific activities and related institutions that brought about the revival of culture, science, and learning in civilizations throughout the world. Many excellent works exist that can guide future researchers interested in this subject. Opportunities for further study abound, as the examples presented in this paper could certainly be extended to cover a larger percentage of the vast contributions the Ottomans made over six hundred years. The classical scientific tradition that produced its finest works in the most magnificent period of the Empire was set forth in the scientific and educational institutions that have been briefly mentioned, in the scholarly circles established, and developed around these institutions. Still, the Ottoman classical tradition was preserved during this second phase of Ottoman science, when many more translations and transfers were made from European languages and survived with some of its basic elements until the second half of the 19th century.*Salim Ayduz is a Senior Researcher at the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC) and Visiting Scholar at the University of Manchester and Associate Professor at Fatih University, Istanbul.

ISLAM'S IMPACT ON INDIAISLAM'S IMPACT ON INDIA Islam exploded from the Arabian Peninsula eastward and westward after the Prophet's death in a.d. 632 By the start of the next century, Islam would reach Spain in the West and India in the East. What did the early Muslims find in these societies?In the West, Muslims came across Christian and Jewish communities with whom they were already familiar. These were faiths within the Abrahamic tradition. Muslims were aware that their God was the same, their prophets were shared and indeed many of their values and customs were familiar. In the East, however, Muslims were to encounter wholly different challenges in territory that had never been influenced by the Abrahamic tradition. In Persia, Muslims encountered a society in which people appeared to worship fire; further east, the Buddhists in Central Asia appeared to have no concept of a divine being; to the southeast, in what they would call Hindustan, or the land of the Hindus, societies appeared to worship numerous gods taking different forms. In Hindustan or India, a name derived from the river Indus, Islam came face to face with Hinduism—a polytheistic, ancient, and sophisticated religion.In the encounters in the East, Islam's response tended to be one of two extremes: that of the military commanders, who believed that the Hindu and Buddhist idols were to be destroyed and the people who worshiped them to be converted; or that of the Sufi scholars, who preached the essential oneness of humanity on the basis of sulh-i-kul (peace with all). The former advocated a jihad, which ignored moral elevation and emphasized religious war against the kafir, or nonbelievers, and an imposition of the jizya, or head tax. The image of one of the earliest invaders, Mahmud of Ghazni (971–1030), "notorious" as an idol breaker, is therefore only one aspect of Islam in South Asia.India presented what seemed to be intractable problems to the Muslims. The encounter changed the nature of Islam and was sometimes expressed in extravagant forms: Akbar, the great Mughal ruler, creating a new religion, the Din-i-Illahi; Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet of Islam, almost worshiped as a Hindu avatar with four arms; Duldul, the Prophet's mule, equated to Hanuman, the monkey god. Islam in India was meeting its most interesting set of challengesFor Hindus, the religion of Islam, too, was equally perplexing. In India people who were accustomed to looking for the divine in a stone or in a snake were now expected to believe in one God, who was also invisible. Individuals who were expected to be reborn in unending cycles of life now faced the prospect of a judgment day at the end of their lives when they would be sent either to heaven or hell. Finally, societies that had been divided rigidly into a hierarchy of castes were expected to accept the notion that all human beings were essentially the same and that their deeds, not their birth, determined their merit.In the stereotype created by the critics of Islam, the conversion of large parts of the population in India to Islam was effected by fanatical medieval warriors from Central Asia waving a sword in one hand and the holy Qurʾan in the other. This is not entirely a correct picture. Conversions and their lasting impact on society came from Sufi scholars and saints. The first response rested in the strength of the sinew; the second in the enlightenment of the heart. It was the second Islamic response that in time would develop into a specific South Asian brand of Islamic mysticism. Nonetheless, Muslims are aware of the tensions that the stereotype implies. Muhammad Iqbal(1877–1938), who best symbolizes the response of Islam to modernity, reflects the dilemmas in his popular poems Shikwa(Complaint) and Jawab-i-Shikwa (Response to complaint). He talks of quwat-i-ishq, or the power of love, while at the same time reminding God that it was the Muslims who—through the power of the sword—forced the infidel to acknowledge monotheism.Sometimes alone and sometimes with a few disciples, these Sufis settled in and went about their business in small towns and villages. Universalist, gentle, and visibly rejecting the material world, these Sufis reached out to ordinary people with their message of sulh-i-kul. Sufism was the attractive face of Islam in India.Perhaps the most famous Sufi saint of India is Muin al-Din Chishti (1142–1236). He came to Ajmer in the heart of Hindu India to preach sulh-i-kul and is buried in that town. His shrine attracts thousand of pilgrims annually. Many of these are Hindus who believe in the goodness of the saint. The annual anniversary of his death is the occasion for festivities and attracts hundreds of thousands of people.Ali Hujwiri, popularly called Datta Sahib, is buried in Lahore and came to India even before Muin-al-Din Chisti. He is the most renowned Sufi saint of Pakistan. His shrine in Lahore is the center of social and religious activity. The tradition of devotional singing is maintained at both shrines.From the time of Mahmud of Ghazni in the eleventh century to that of the establishment of the Mughal dynasty in the early sixteenth century, Delhi was ruled by several Muslim dynasties of Afghan/Turkic background. Serious attempts were made at establishing a permanent administration and a permanent viable presence in India. But it was with the arrival of Babur (Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad), originally from Farghana in Central Asia, that Muslims established what would be their most successful and famous dynasty, that of the Mughals.The Mughals of IndiaBabur conquered Delhi and established the Mughal empire early in the sixteenth century. It became one of the largest and most successful centralized states in early modern world history—greater in extent than the other great Muslim empires, the Ottoman and the Safavid. At the height of their power, the Mughals ruled what in effect are the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and parts of Myanmar.Six remarkable emperors ruled the empire over the span of three centuries from the time of Babur to Aurangzeb, his direct descendant. The Mughal empire would last until the uprisings against the British in 1857, although by then it was a shadow of its former self and its rulers mere puppets. The British would then step in as direct rulers, and Queen Victoria would be declared the empress of India.Akbar (1542–1605), the grandson of Babur, consolidated the empire during his fifty-year reign. Administrative, financial, and diplomatic structures were put in place that would convert the empire into one of the most powerful in the world. In particular, Akbar reached out to the majority population of the Hindus. Hindu warrior groups who had been excluded from power by the previous Muslim dynasty, the Lodhis, were favored by Akbar. Of these, the powerful Rajput chieftains now served the Mughal emperors, even giving wives to the emperors (as in the case of Akbar).Indian, Iranian, and Central Asian influences combined to create eclecticism and synthesis in the arts, architecture, literature, and music. The creation in the next century of the Taj Mahal at Agra by Shah Jahan (1592–1666), Akbar's grandson, is to be understood in this context. One of the finest glories of Mughal architecture, it is also one of the most recognized buildings in the world. Indeed, the Taj Mahal, the tomb Shah Jahan built for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, has come to symbolize romantic love. Shah Jahan also built the Red Fort and the Jumma Masjid in Delhi. The latter was then the largest communal mosque in India. Alongside these buildings he built colleges and hospitals.The mutual intellectual and artistic stimulation and synthesis between Hinduism and Islam reached a peak during the time of the great Mughal emperors. But from the late seventeenth century onward, Muslims became aware of their predicament as a minority, faced with two choices: they could either draw rigid boundaries around Islam, or allow the boundaries to become porous to the point where Islam itself became compromised. The first strategy emphasized an orthodox, formal, and legal interpretation of Islam; the second advocated synthesis, eclecticism, and informality. It is no historical accident that the two opposed forms of Indian Islam were embodied in the sons of Shah Jahan, Dara Shikoh (1615–1659) and Aurangzeb (1618–1707).The clash between Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb was more than a clash for succession. The victory of one over the other would influence the course of history and cast shadows on events today in South Asia. Here are the differentiating characteristics of the two princes: Dara Shikoh believed in a universalist humanity, encouraged art, and was known to dislike religious clerics (as is clear from his quotation "Paradise is there, where there is no Mullah"). He kept the company of Sufis and Hindu yogis, and the ring he wore bore the legend Prabhu, Sanskrit for "god." He helped translate the classic Hindu texts, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gītā, into Persian. He argued that Hinduism and Islam were not theologically incompatible and, as an example, he equated Adam with Brahman.Aurangzeb, in contrast, emphasized his commitment to the ummah, the Muslim community, discouraged art, and supported the clergy. He maintained the outward signs of orthodoxy, rejecting silk clothes and gold vessels. He patronized the Fatwa-i-Alamgiri, the most comprehensive digest of Muslim jurisprudence ever compiled. His favorite reading was the Qurīan, the holy book of Islam, which he learned by heart. He abandoned many of Akbar's liberal practices. The hated jizya tax was imposed on non-Muslims. Aurangzeb's understanding of Islam did not prevent him from ruthlessly executing his brothers and cruelly imprisoning his father Shah Jahan until his death in 1666.In the end, Aurangzeb would succeed to the throne of India, and Dara Shikoh would lose his life. Dara Shikoh was paraded in rags through the streets of Delhi and was executed in prison on the grounds that he was an apostate on 30 August 1659. The tension between the two brothers around the opposed forms and interpretations of Islam is reflected in modern South Asian society. It has been argued that the clash between General Zia ul-Haq and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, leaders of modern Pakistan, reflected the earlier clash between the two opposed models of Islam. Zia was more like Aurangzeb and Bhutto like Dara Shikoh in their approaches to Islam. Bhutto's death at the hands of Zia suggests that there is little compromise between the two positions. The death warrants signed by Aurangzeb and Zia, sealing the deaths of Dara Shikoh and Bhutto, reflect the unresolved dilemmas and tensions of South Asian Islam.Muslim Crisis and RenaissanceBy the middle of the nineteenth century, Muslim power in Delhi, however symbolic, was finally snuffed out after the uprisings against the British in 1857 and 1858. This was a major turning point in history for the Muslims of India. Delhi, their capital, was almost razed to the ground. The Red Fort and the Jumma Mosque, the two central symbols of Muslim rule, were almost blown up. To be Muslim was to be seen as an enemy of the British.The savagery on both sides was startling. Here is Robert Montgomery, a well-known British official, writing to Hodson, a colleague, congratulating him on a deed that found few defenders, even among the British. Hodson had cold-bloodedly shot the male members of the family of the last king of Delhi, the frail and old poet Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last of the Mughals: "My dear Hodson, All honour to you (and to your 'Horse') for catching the king and slaying his sons. I hope you will bag many more."It appeared that Islam in India was the prime target of the new masters of the land. This was a depressing time for Muslims. A letter written shortly after 1857 by one of the greatest Urdu poets, Mirza Ghalib, in Delhi, once the mighty and flourishing capital of the Mughals, captures the mood.At two separate points in your letter yesterday I see that you have written that Delhi is a big city and there must be plenty of people with all sorts of qualifications there. Alas, my dear boy, this is not the Delhi in which you were born, not the Delhi in which you got your schooling, not the Delhi in which you used to come to your lessons with me to Shaban Beg's mansion, not the Delhi in which I have passed fifty-one years of my life. It is a camp. The only Muslims here are artisans or servants of the British authorities. All the rest are Hindus. The male descendants of the deposed King—such as survived the sword—draw allowances of five rupees a month. The female descendants, if old, are bawds, and if young, prostitutes. . . . Agha Sultan, son of Paymaster Muhammad Ali Khan, who has himself held the rank of Paymaster, fell ill; without medicine, without food, at last he died. Your uncle provided for his shroud and his burial. (Russell and Islam, Ghalib: 1797–1869, 1969, p. 269)In not so subtle ways, the British now ridiculed the main figures of Islam, its kings and saints. Rulers such as Sirajud-Dawla (1733–1757) (notorious for the Black Hole of Calcutta in which many Britons were killed) and Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk (1780–1842) became "Sir Roger Dowler" and "Cha, Sugar and Milk," respectively. The saintly leader, the Akhund of Swat (1794–1877), became part of a "nonsense rhyme" in Edward Lear’s poem, "Who or why, or which or what, is the Akond of Swat?" Religious leaders of revolts against the British were simply dismissed as the "Mad Mullah." The British Empire’s most renowned writers reflected the prejudice: for Rudyard Kipling, South Asian "natives" were a "blackfaced crew" ("Gunga Din"), "half devil and half child" ("The White Man's Burden") and the women of the east, "funny an' yellow" ("The Ladies").Muslim society itself was affected. Professor Imtiaz Ahmad, in Delhi, has documented the growth of caste-like structures. The ashraf—especially the Sayyids and Pukhtuns—considered themselves superior to the ajlaf, the recently converted Muslims. But these divisions are to be taken with a pinch of salt: a well-known proverb tells of the recently self-elevated sheikh who calculates that if crops are good again next year he will elevate himself to Sayyid category. In society it appears as if leadership after the collapse of the Mughal empire in India was provided by the ashraf, by men like Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan. But the most prominent leaders, including Muhammad Iqbal and M. A. Jinnah, were not from ashraf families.Macaulay's Minute and Muslim SocietyConfronting the diverse mass of humanity in India that it was their destiny and intention to rule, the British outlined a strategy. British colonial philosophy would embrace the upper layers of society and encourage them to become as much as possible like their masters. T. B. Macaulay's "Minute on Education" in 1835 established English as the medium of instruction in India. When English replaced Persian, the court language of the Mughals, ordinary Muslims found themselves at a crippling disadvantage. With this one crucial step, Macaulay aimed to create a social class "who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect."The Indian generation after Macaulay, who would be "English in taste," was mainly Hindu. Schools, colleges, and service in the army and civil administration encouraged this process. Among the Muslims, the man who came closest to representing Macaulay's new ideal Indian was Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan, "loyal servant of the Crown."Islam in India had constantly faced the challenges posed by the majority Hindu population and as a result developed inner tensions within society. Now it also faced a hostile British presence. The result was a constant renewal and continuous vitality, which produced remarkable leaders in thought and action. The decline of Muslim power in the eighteenth century helped to sharpen sensibilities. This process began when the Mughal empire was still ruling from Delhi. It came with Shah Waliullah (1703–1762), who promoted the puritanical Muhammadia movement, which aimed to purge Islam of non-Islamic influences, in particular Hindu ones. Other reformers soon took to arms in different parts of the sub-continent: Sayyid Ahmad of Bareli (1781–1831) died waging jihad, or holy war, against the Sikhs in North India; and in Bengal, Haji Shariatullah (1781–1840) led the Faraizi movement to revive the teachings of Islam at the village level. Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan (1817–1898) fought the jihad, but in a different form: he opened a college at Aligarh.The Aligarh ModelSir Sayyid argued that if Muslims continued to shut out modern—by which he meant British—civilization they would be reduced to khansamas (cooks) and khidmatgars (attendants/servants). The Muslim tendency to ignore the present and wallow in past glory was, he argued, a dangerous opiate. His bluntly expressed views outraged religious circles.In The Loyal Muhammadans of India, Sir Sayyid defended Muslim loyalty to the British. Muslims, he argued, were as loyal as the most faithful Hindus. The college that he founded at Aligarh in 1875 was called the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, its very name illustrating the synthesis he wished to effect. His models were the universities at Oxford and Cambridge. The Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College was later upgraded to a university. Its main buildings, the clock tower, and the cricket fields all reflected nineteenth-century ideas of British architecture in alliance with Islam. Resigning from government service in 1876, Sir Sayyid lived in Aligarh, promoting the college until his death in 1898. His success affected the future course of events in India.The emblem of the college at Aligarh expressed its Islamic stance. In the center stood a date palm, a reminder of Arabia and the origins of Islam, on the right the book of learning—no doubt the Qurīban—and on the left a crescent, a widely recognized symbol of Islam. The emblem seems oddly out of tune with present-day India, which is undergoing Hindu cultural and religious revivalism.The college at Aligarh was to be the Muslim answer to modernity, introducing the study of mathematics, science, and modern languages in a syllabus in which Islam was also prominent. It offered Muslims from all over India a sense of direction and revived confidence. It educated those Muslims who would eventually lead the community in the movement that would create Pakistan. Indeed, it produced several presidents and prime ministers.Macaulay's vision and Sir Sayyid's ethos would bear triumphant fruit in one of the most influential and popular books written on Islam in the early part of the twentieth century, Justice Sayyid Amir Ali's The Spirit of Islam. Translated into numerous languages, including Arabic and Turkish, it was written in English. The Spirit of Islam reflects pride in Islam while placing it in a modern context, though Muslim critics cited it as too apologetic.Amir Ali's book inspired men like Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876–1948) who represented the political response of Islam to modern times. Jinnah argued for rights and security for his community. Upon failing to achieve them, he demanded a separate homeland. What is important to point out is that Jinnah fought for the Pakistan movement through constitutional means, using his skills as a trained lawyer. It was this response that gave the Muslims their most notable triumph in the twentieth century: the creation of Pakistan, then the largest Muslim nation on Earth.Aligarh was not the only Muslim model produced in India as a response to the modern era. Another educational center was opened in Deoband at around the same time as the college in Aligarh. However, in this case, lines would be rigidly drawn around Muslim identity and practice. Deoband has remained an important source of inspiration for many contemporary Islamic parties and movements, including the Taliban.The Pakistan MovementAlthough Jinnah skillfully and successfully led the Muslim League to the creation of Pakistan in 1947, he was representing an intellectual movement begun in the last century and one that was clear in the writings of Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan. Sir Sayyid's discussion of two distinct communities in India, both needing to live in harmony but as separate entities, had already outlined the idea of a separate Muslim polity. This argument culminated in the poetic vision of Iqbal, which saw a distinct geographical area for the Muslims of North India. Chaudhri Rahmat Ali in Cambridge gave the name Pakistan to the area—letters of the alphabet representing a distinct Muslim area and together forming the word Pakistan—thus "P" for Punjab, "A" for Afghanistan, "K" for Kashmir, "S" for Sind and "tan" for Baluchistan. Pakistan also means the land of the "pure," from pak. Jinnah, then, was expressing the sentiments of Muslims, not creating them.Early in his career, Jinnah had advocated dialogue and understanding with the Hindus. Indeed, Gopal Krishna Gokhalee, a leading Hindu politician, called him "the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity." Later Jinnah began to believe that, once in power, the Hindus would not honor their commitments to the Muslims. But Jinnah aimed high. In an inspiring speech that he made to the newly formed Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in August 1947, he underlined the tolerant and compassionate nature of the new Muslim state.But even Iqbal the visionary poet, or Jinnah the humanist, could not have envisioned the extent of disruption at the creation of Pakistan. A communal madness gripped the land in 1947. Centuries of fear and hatred exploded into savagery. No one was spared—young or old, male or female, high or low. The massacre and migration were unprecedented. It has been estimated that possibly 2 million people were killed, and 10 to possibly 15 million migrated from their homes, Muslims fleeing to Pakistan, Hindus and Sikhs to India. Not all Muslims in India could or indeed wished to migrate to Pakistan.Although the creation of Pakistan had solved one problem, that of establishing a separate homeland for Muslims, it did not solve the problem of identity. The debate about religious and political identity in Pakistan ensured stormy and unsettled politics; the periods of martial law were almost inevitable. Corruption and nepotism were also widespread. Bengalis in East Pakistan complained of being treated like colonial subjects by West Pakistanis and, in 1971, broke away to form Bangladesh—the "nation of Bengalis." After 1971, what remained of Pakistan was plunged more directly than ever before into attempts to resolve the dilemma of identity. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and later his daughter Benazir wished for a "democratic" Pakistan, while generals like Zia ul-Haq wanted a fundamentalist Islamic Pakistan, ruled by the army.There have been gains over the years. The number of universities and medical colleges has increased. Agriculture and the textile industry have shown development. Income per capita has risen to twice that of India. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s and the U.S. "war on terrorism" in the aftermath of 11 September 2001 have allowed Pakistan to play a major role in the region. Pakistan's self-conscious Islamic posture has assured it an important voice in the Muslim world.But Pakistan faces the new century with uncertainty. Ethnic tensions, breakdown of law and order, and an unpredictable international climate have created problems. India and Pakistan have so far fought three wars. The rise of the communal party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in India and its campaigns against Muslims, including the destruction of the mosque at Ayodhya and its support of riots (like the especially savage ones in Gujarat in 2002) confirm in Pakistani minds their worst fears of "Hindu domination"; for them, in retrospect, the orthodox Aurangzeb, not the tolerant Akbar nor Dara Shikoh, seems vindicated. The BJP recognize this, almost as in a mirror, and have a contemptuous title for the Muslims of India: Aurangzeb ki aulad, "the children of Aurangzeb." The failure of Pakistan to develop Jinnah's vision and its subsequent spiral into violence has meant that the community is pushed further away from the tolerant and compassionate model of Islam.The Creation of BangladeshWhile Bengali leadership enthusiastically embraced the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims in the first half of the twentieth century, once Pakistan was created, the Bengalis felt, rightly, that although they formed the majority of Pakistan's population, the more powerful West Pakistanis had sidelined them. West Pakistanis controlled the two key instruments of government, the civil service and the army. Bengali political and cultural feelings of alienation developed into an irresistible ethnic movement for independence, which was given its final shape in 1971, when the mainly West Pakistani army posted in East Pakistan attempted to control that province by force. Atrocities were committed, as West Pakistani soldiers sought to suppress Bengali demands for "autonomy" and full democratic control of a new national assembly, reflecting the victory won in the 1970 elections by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League. Adverse international public opinion against Pakistan, despite support from U.S. president Richard M. Nixon, further isolated it. India, with strong Soviet military assistance, easily won the war it fought with Pakistan toward the end of the year, ensuring the birth of Bangladesh, quickly recognized as an independent nation.Although Bengalis shared Islam with West Pakistan, they looked to Calcutta (Kolkata) for their poetry and literature. Their ideas were laced with the intellectual arguments emanating from the coffee shops and salons of Calcutta. They were also more politically sophisticated than the people of West Pakistan who, until then, were largely led by the feudal lords of Sind and Punjab and by tribal chiefs in the North-West Frontier province and Baluchistan. The breakup of Pakistan would act as a catalyst and help challenge this feudal and tribal way of thinking.The creation of Bangladesh meant that the Muslims of South Asia were now divided into three bodies increasingly isolated from one another. Yet each remains aware of the mutual predicament of living in South Asia with and in the presence of a far larger majority, that of the Hindus concentrated in India.The Muslims of IndiaMuslim leadership in India disintegrated in 1947 as millions fled to Pakistan. The next decades were traumatic. Muslims appeared uncertain and unsure. It has been a slow struggle to reestablish an Indian Muslim identity. The events and dates are clearly etched in the Muslim mind: the uprisings of 1857 and 1858, the partition of 1947, and then, at the turn of the century, the dramatic rise of communal violence.Muslims are aware of the cruel irony of history in the splendid monuments that lie scattered over India's landscape: the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, the Jumma Mosque, the Qutb Minar. It is precisely at this point where they are most threatened, for there is a growing movement among Hindus who claim that these monuments were built not by Muslims but by Hindus themselves, out of more ancient Hindu temples, that will be "restored" by force if necessary. Hindus argue that the now demolished Babri Masjid (Babur's mosque) in Ayodhya was just the first of these conversions.India's Muslims desperately cling to some sort of identity in the face of massive cultural and media onslaught. It is this desperation that partly explains their rallying behind three major cases which they saw as Muslim causes from the 1980s onward, but which led to deaths and further alienated them from the majority: the Shah Bano case, in which Muslims succeeded in overturning a Supreme Court decision granting better financial rights to Shah Bano than provided by her husband who had divorced her under Muslim personal law; the banning of The Satanic Verses in India; and the Babri Mosque controversy in Ayodhya. India's problems with Pakistan act as further pressure on the Muslims as communalist Hindu leaders accuse them of being secret supporters of Pakistan.So as they cling to their identity they are castigated for being isolationist, backward, and marginal; accusations of a "ghetto mentality" create the ghetto and reinforce it. It is a cycle in which they appear to be trapped and from which, for the time being, there appears little escape. On the bright side, individual Muslims have done very well in India, several of them becoming heads of state.The Muslims of South AsiaPakistan, Bangladesh, and India together have about one-third of the world's Muslim population. About 95 percent of Pakistan's population of 145 million, about 90 percent of Bangladesh's population of 135 million, and about 13 percent of India's 1 billion people are Muslim. It is estimated—and figures for population on the basis of religion are invariably "estimates"—that the total Muslim population in South Asia may well be over 400 million people.Muslims in South Asia have produced a remarkable modern Muslim renaissance. Some of the most renowned and influential modern Muslim intellectuals—including Iqbal, Maulana Azad, and Maulana Maududi—have lived there. The Muslims of South Asia have won international prizes, and they have produced world-class figures in sports, especially in cricket, hockey, and squash. South Asians have created a coherent and rich cultural legacy, starting from the time of Amir Khusrau (1253–1325), one of the earliest Sufi poets, who synthesized Hindu and Muslim cultures. They have created one of the most powerful and impressive empires of world history, the Mughals; achieved architectural excellence in the Taj Mahal; touched the highest peaks of literature in the verses of Mirza Ghalib, Iqbal, and Faiz Ahmed Faiz; and have led the most significant and successful Muslim political movement of the twentieth century, resulting in the creation of Pakistan in 1947.Women have always played an important role in South Asian Muslim society—from the time when Razia Sultana actually ruled over Delhi's sultanate in the thirteenth century, to the remarkable empress Nur Jehan, who ruled along with her husband, Mughal emperor Jahangir, in the seventeenth century, to modern times, when female prime ministers have been elected both in Pakistan and Bangladesh.The main communities, Hindus and Muslims, see history differently. If Muslims in Pakistan were asked to name their favorite historical figures, most would probably say: Mahmud of Ghazni (one of the earliest warriors to invade India from what is now modern Afghanistan); Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal emperor; and Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Most Hindus would respond to the question "who are your least favorite historical figures?" by giving the same names. Mahmud is associated with brutal military raids into India, smashing Hindu temples and statues; Aurangzeb with a harshly violent, triumphant Islamic rule and a narrow interpretation of Islamic law; and Jinnah is blamed for splitting Mother India in two.History is never far from the surface in contemporary India. Newspaper articles and letters constantly cite Mahmud, Aurangzeb, or Jinnah as a hero among some Muslims but a villain for most Hindus. Few mention that on the whole Muslims were sensitive to their Hindu compatriots. From the start, Babur abolished cow slaughter, and up to the last Mughal emperor it was banned in Delhi as a gesture toward the Hindus. Sir Sayyid did the same at Aligarh. The contribution to Hindu culture of rulers like Akbar and Dara Shikoh is forgotten.Bazaar sociology does not stop with the past; it feeds into the writing and perception of modern history. In India, if Muslim rulers are depicted in the stereotype as alien invaders, mainly drunk and destroying temples, in Pakistan the Hindu past simply does not exist. Hindus are dismissed as cowardly and mean. History in Pakistan begins in the seventh century, after the advent of Islam and the Muslim invasion of Sind; the great pre-Islamic civilizations of Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, and Taxila are more or less ignored.Trends in the FutureThe events of partition still haunt South Asia: for India the nightmare of disintegration; for Pakistan the terror of the violence. This mutual hatred still feeds into the complex political configuration of contemporary India and Pakistan. Three wars with India and now a nuclear confrontation further underscore the importance of reaching enduring agreements to ensure a peaceful future for South Asia. India and Pakistan's nuclear explosions, the struggle for independence among the Muslims of Kashmir, the exorbitant cost of keeping large armies and the geopolitics of the region all reflect the dreadful dangers and inordinate price of communal conflicts, rooted in history.Nuclear weapons on the one hand and starving peasants on the other are the reality of South Asia today. As a result one-fifth of humanity is mired in poverty (incomes per capita range between $200 and $400 in these countries). South Asia has produced world scientists and writers—including Nobel Prize winners—and yet seems incapable of improving its poor record on poverty and peace. The true enemies of South Asia are poverty, illiteracy, and communal hatred. Until this dawns upon all communities, South Asia will not enjoy peace, nor will it benefit from the uniqueness of its cultural legacy of synthesis and harmony.At the start of the twenty-first century, we could well ask which model of Muslim political action triumphed in South Asia for over a thousand years—the model called fanatical by its critics, or that of peace? The answer lies in the demographic figures of the subcontinent. The vast majority of the population is still Hindu. Had Muslim rulers been ruthless tyrants, they could have converted the people they ruled, virtually unchallenged, for the better part of a millennium.Jinnah's Pakistan anticipated the global questions that would be asked about modern Muslim states and societies in the aftermath of 11 September 2001: Is Islam compatible with democracy? Does Islam always subjugate women? Does Islam preach violence?Jinnah's vision of a tolerant and modern Muslim Pakistan had provided the answer to the first of those questions in the affirmative, while rejecting the second and third as totally biased and untrue. Current Indian and Pakistani "cease-fire" agreements in Jammu and Kahmir and plans to meet to discuss ways of further opening closed borders to help achieve permanent South Asian peace and stimulate economic trade suggest the possibility of hope for the more than 1 billion people of this long-suffering region.