The Diffusion of Islam in the Eastern Frontier of South Asia: A Fresh Approach

A hinterland in the old world of Islam, the early history of diffusion of Islamic civilization in Bengal is shrouded with mystery. Though the maritime and trade contacts between Arab world and Bengal can be traced during the early period of Islam, the religious and cultural interaction between these two far-fetched lands started growing only after the Muslim conquest of the region in the early 13th century. After the establishment of Muslim rule in the region, the mass conversion to Islam took place over centuries in different forms and phases. In my present research work, I have been able to make a major breakthrough in constructing history of early religious and cultural contact between the Arab world and Bengal using the substantively rich and hitherto untapped archaeological materials, namely epigraphic sources (i.e., Arabic inscriptions), scattered abundantly all over the region. A well-known French colonial administrator in North Africa once compared the world of Islam to a resonant box: the faintest sound in one corner reverberates through the whole. As elsewhere in the Arab-Islamic world, this apt metaphor finds expression also in the Bengal frontier. In spite of their many distinctive local cultural features, one soon discovers the most vibrant message among the Muslims of Bengal the unity within the diversity that is prevalent everywhere in the Arab-Islamic civilization. * This study was made possible through generous grants from Iran Heritage Foundation, London, U.K., Fondation Max Van Berchem, Geneva, Switzerland, and Higher Education Commission, Islamabad, Pakistan. ** Higher Education Commission Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan Jihāt al-Islām Vol.2 (January-June 2009) No.2