Number of words: 165

Mahmud’s raids are a big event in Indian history, though politically India as a whole was not greatly affected by them and the heart of India remained untouched. They demonstrated the weakness and decay of north India, and Alberuni’s accounts throw further light on the political disintegration of the north and west.
These repeated incursions from the north-west brought many new elements into India’s closed thought and economy. Above all they brought Islam, for the first time, to the accompaniment of ruthless military conquest. So far, for over 300 years, Islam had come peacefully as a religion and taken its place among the many religions of India without trouble or conflict. The new approach produced powerful psychological reactions among the people and filled them with bitterness. There was no objection to a new religion but there was strong objection to anything which forcibly interfered with and upset their way of life.

Excerpted from pages 252-253 of ‘Jawaharlal Nehru The Discovery of India, by Jawaharlal Nehru