Mehmed II made it clear at the meeting of his courtiers which decided and agreed to proceed with the conquest of Constantinople, that the Byzantine Empire had given refuge to claimants to the Ottoman throne, thus causing frequent civil wars. They also discussed that it was the Byzantine Empire which had been the main instigator of crusades. Constantinople, if surrendered to Western Catholics, as Salonica was, would mean that Ottoman Empire would never be fully integrated. The siege of Constantinople lasted for fifty-four days, April 6—May 29,1453.
News had come of preparations by the Hungarians and leaving the ports by Venetian navy to help Byzantine Emperor XI Palaeologus. Mehmed II ordered his army to deliver a general assault. The enemy barricaded the Bay of Constantinople to block the penetration of the Ottoman fleet. Mehmed ordered transportation of his fleet to the other side of the city. His soldiers managed it through the desert, considered inaccessible so far, and reached the back gates of Constantinople. The Constantinople fell. The Greeks were allowed to return to Constantinople, who, after the conquest paid ransom. They were granted immunity from taxation for a certain period. The day after the conquest, Chandarle, Grand Wazir of Constantinople, was dismissed and imprisoned. In his place his rival, Zaganuz, was appointed. The conquest of Constantinople turned Mehmed II overnight the most celebrated Sultan in the Muslim World.
"The ghazwa is our basic duty, and it was in the case of our fathers. The conquest of Constantinople is, therefore, essential to the future and the safety of the Ottoman state".
MEHMED II
The Armenian-Mongol alliance, however, was a reality of some importance in the great Mongol offensive. Baghdad had fallen to Mongols in 1258, Aleppo in 1260 and entered undefended city of Damascus the same year. Of the old heartlands of Islam, only Egypt and Arabia remained inviolate.
A Mongol ambassador went to Cairo to demand the submission of the Sultan Qutuz, who had succeeded to sultanate in 1259. Sultan refused the demand and defiantly put the ambassador to death. Kitbuga Noyon, with his Mongol troops and his Armenian and Georgian auxiliaries, had crossed the Jordon into Galilee. The Mamluk army, camping in the neighbourhood of Acre in August, moved southeast to meet the Mongols.The two armies clashed at a place called 'Ayn Jalut', 'the Spring of Goliath', a village between Baysan and Nabulus. In this famous battle, the Mamluks lured the enemy into a trap. They destroyed the Mongol army, captured its commander and put him to death. This was the first time that Mongol army suffered defeat in a pitched battle—the unconquerable had been conquered on Friday 3 September, 1260.
Egypt was saved from the Mongols. The captured cities of Syria at once rose against their Mongol garrisons and welcomed the victorious Mamluks.
"The terror of the mongols preceded them. Scattered tribes and broken armies, fleeing before the Mongol invaders of the Muslim East—had begun to move westward— as raiders, a freebooters and as condottieri willing to serve any prince".
Shahabuddin was a great warrior and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghaurid forces. He wanted to win for his house large empire than even Mahmud had been able to acquire. He invaded India first in 1175 and conquered Multan. Then he reached south to Uch, which is now in Bahawalpur Division. The battle for India was to come, and Shahabuddin had a much stronger foe to contend with, Prithvi Raj, the Raja of Ajmer and Delhi, and a great fighter. The first time they met, Prithvi Raj had the advantage. Shahabuddin was defeated at Tarain near Thanesar in south-east Punjab and although he fought with great valour, he was grievously wounded. The Ghauri soldiers fled. The Ghauri felt greatly ashamed and punished all those soldiers of his army who had turned their backs on the enemy.
In 1192 he came back with preparations and commanding a strong force. Prithvi Raj moved forward with his allies and a fierce battle ensued between the Hindus and the Muslims, but this time Shahabuddin was victorious. Prithvi Raj died in the battle. Raja Jaichand of Kannawj put up a good resistance but Shahabuddin defeated him. Raja died in the field.
"The Ghauri felt greatly ashamed and punished all those soldiers of his army who had turned their backs on the enemy".
Salah al-Din served with his uncle, Shirkuh, under Nur al-Din Zangi. At the age of 31 he was made Commander of Syrian forces and Chief Minister of Egypt and in 1186 assumed sole rule of all Egypt and Muslim Syria. Salah al-Din sent his brother, Turan Shah,with an army into al-Hijaz which he conquered along with Yemen. He now turned to the Christians. He first attacked Tiberias and took it on 1 July, 1187. Crusaders with a large army came to meet him. He fell on them with such a fury that he cut them to pieces and captured the King of Jerusalem. Salah al-Din, however, killed, with his won sword, Reginald of Chitillon, a treacherous Christian nobleman, who had broken his word to Salah al-Din, again and again, ill-treated Muslims, looted caravans of pilgrims and molested the innocents and the weak. The Muslim troops advanced rapidly, winning a decisive victory at the battle of Hattin, captured Jerusalem, together with a number of other Crusading outposts. Jerusalem was taken by Muslims after 88 years.
The fall of Jerusalem made a tremendous impact on both Islam and Christendom. From Europe it brought the Third Crusade, and a mighty but vain effort to recover what had been lost. After hard fighting and protracted negotiations, the two sides came to terms on 2-3 September, 1192. The peace recognized Salah al-Din's gains. All Palestine, save a coastal strip, was now Muslim, the Crusaders reserving only the right of unarmed pilgrimage to the holy places. Salah al-Din died in 1193 in Damascus.
"Crusaders carved four states—County of Edessa, Anti-och, County of Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem on the straits. The Muslims and Jewish population of the city, men, women and children were massacred by the victorious Crusaders. By next day Jerusalem was a Christian City".
FIRST CRUSADE-1099
After the first Crusade, the Muslims were subdued. Gradually Muslim world began to realise that stranger was in its midst, though it must not be forgotten that the Muslim world was no longer one continuous belt from Kashghar to Cordova as before. Imad Al-Din Zangi moved to west and had gradually made himself master of the area between Mosul and Aleppo. He was a strong man and a fearless fighter and was soon at grips with Christians. He conquered al-Ruha town which lay on the caravan route from Syria to Baghdad and was under the rule of Christians.
The news of al-Ruha'sfall was received with concern by Pope Eugenius III and preparations were madeforthe Second Crusade. The German Emperor, Conrad III, and the King of France, Louis VII, answered the call. The Crusaders besieged Damascus, but they did not succeed in their venture. At the same time King of Sicily attacked the Muslim Islands in the Aegean Sea and drove the Muslim out of them all. This was a great blow to the prestige of Islam and it was widely resented. Nur al-Din, a very capable son of Imdad al-Din Zangi, had succeeded his father in 1146. He immediately set about fighting Crusaders systematically. He captured the entire district of al-Ruha and imprisoned its governor, Count Jocelin II. He later attacked the ruler Antioch, Bohemund II, defeated them and captured them too. Nur al-Din became a terror to the Christians. He died in 1174.
"For the first time the Crusaders confronted a united and powerful Muslim state in Syria and Mesopotamia—increasingly affected by the new mood of Holy War against the Christian invaders".
Sebuktigin succeeded to power at Ghazni in 962 and started vigorously to expand his dominion. Jayapal of Hind saw danger in the consolidation of the Kingdom of Ghazni and decided to destroy it. He invaded, but was defeated and agreed to pay an indemnity. He defaulted, took to field again and was once more defeated.
The great Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, who made the name of the Ghaznavids famous in Asia, succeeded his father. Jayapal stopped indemnity. Mahmud defeated him in 1001 and he immolated himself by fire. Later, Jayapals's son Anandapai, formed a confederacy of the Hindu rulers of Ujjain, Gwalior, Kalinjar, Kannawj, Delhi and Ajmer. The confederacy was also beaten by Mahmud at Peshawar in 1008 and Sultan appointed a governor to reside at Lahore.
Mahmud made 17 invasions. Nagarkot, Thanesar, Kannawj and Kalinjar were all conquered but left in the hands of the Hindu vassals. His most famous attack was the one on Somnath, famous place of Hindu worship in Gujrat, Kathiawar. Crossing the difficult Rajputana desert, he reached there and faced the combined forces of almost all the Hindu rajas of India. He was a great military commander and his courage knew no bounds. He defeated them, captured the city and entered the temple. Mahmud was offered fabulous wealth not to enter the temple and destroy the idols, but he refused. He said that he should be known in the history as 'destroyer of idols and not the trader'. The great Sultan at the height of his power ruled over the area between the Jamuna in India and the Tigris in the west.
"For any amount you offer to spare the idols of your god, is not acceptable to me as historians should not mistake me for trader of idols instead of their breaker".
SULTAN MAHMUD GHAZNA VI
During the early years of the 8th century A.D., men of Sind's Brahmin tyrant, Raja Dahirhad intercepted some Arab navigation from Ceylon. They had confiscated the merchandise and enslaved Muslim families. Ai-Hajjaj sent his son-in-law, Muhammad ibn al~Gasim, with an army consisting of 1000 horse and about the same number of camel-borne troops, altogether not more than 6000 Mujahideen. Young Muhammad was, however, a fine military commander and possessed high ability of fighting. He came by land capturing Mekran on the way and pushing through the already conquered Baluchistan. He attacked Debal, the capital of Raja Dahir's kingdom and crushed the enemy in 712. The Raja fled and Muslim families freed.
Muhammad ibn Al-Qasim then followed the Raja and came up with him near Nirun (now known as Hyderabad). The Raja had assembled a large army of 50,000 strong men to check the advance of Muhammad. Mujahideen defeated the enemy and the Raja fell in the battle. The whole Sind was now conquered but Muhammad did not stop there. He fought another battle at Brahmanabad, pushed upto lower Punjab and reached Multan. Here too he was victorious. His generous treatment and devotion won Mohammad ibn Al-Qasim the hearts of the locals. Thus Muhammad laid the foundation of Muslim Empire in sub-continent.
"Toleration, protection of life and goods with honourable terms in return for loyal submission is offered. If you want to accept Islam, you are to be treated as equals".
MUHAMMAD IBNAL-QASIM
