The Arabs had their trade relations with south of India long before the advent of Islam.Therefore Islam was brought to the south west coast of India during the early years of the Hegira.Thanks to the tolerance of the Hindu ruler of Calicut,the Zamorin,Muslims were allowed to travel around and preach.Thier first mosque was built in Cranganore.Conversions to Islam were peaceful and very good relations existed between the local Hindu rulers and the Hindu community on the one hand and the Muslim preachers and converts in the south.
In contrast,in north of India there was large scale destruction of Hindu and Jain temples and looting of their wealth during the early Muslim invasions from the north-west,followed by conversions of temples into mosques and the taxation of non-muslims.This created the image of Islam as a religion which came in with the sword.However,later Muslim rulers,especially the mughal emperor Akbar,introduced peace and amity in the relationship between the Hindus and Muslims who learned to respect each other’s religion and to draw inspiration from the spiritual beliefs of one another.
Most of the north India came under Muslim rule from the 12th century onwards for about six centuries and this region was greatly influenced culturally by Islamic institutions as also by the fine arts,handicrafts,jewellery etc.of Persian and Arabic origin.The Mughal rulers,Akbar,Jehangir and Shah Jahan contributed greatly towards combining Islamic,Hindu and Jain forms in architecture,sculpture and the fine arts.The Mughal period was indeed a glorious phase in the history of art,architecture and literature of North India.
