Hello everyone. I have encountered several people in various threads propagating this myth, and I got tired of correcting them, so I decided to make a thread on this topic.
First of all, lets aknowledge the truth behind the myth. There are some parts of Northern India(mainly UP, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, and parts of MP) that were ruled by Muslims for long periods of time. Muslim rule in India was first established in the 10th Century CE when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded east of the Indus. The Dehli Sultanate was established in 1206 and lasted until 1526, or 320 years. It was succeeded by the Mughal Empire started by Babur which remained a major power until the early 18th century.
However, that is only the story of Northern India. South India was a completely different story. Many proponents of this myth use the Tughlaq Dynasty of proof that the Delhi Sultanate had conquered even south India
However, they neglect to point out that the Tughlaqs lasted for less than a century, shorter than the amount of time modern day Pakistan and Afghanistan were ruled by the Mauryans.
Towards the end of the Tughlaqs, a Kannadiga commander in the army of the Hoysal Empire called Harihara began resisting the invaders from the North. By 1336, the Tughlazs had completely fallen, and the entirety of Southern India was under Harihara's control. His Empire became known as the Vijayanagar Empire. The Vijayanagar Empire became extremely powerful and defeated many nearby Kingdoms such as the Gajapatis of kalinga(
The Vijayanagar Empire became extremely powerful and defeated many nearby Kingdoms such as the Gajapatis of kalinga(Odisha) and the Sultanate of Madurai In 1407, King Deva Raya I of Vijayanagar forced Sultan Firoz Bahmani to enter a treaty that required Bahmani to pay tribute to Vijayanagara. It was described as the most powerful Empire of medieval India by International travelers such as Domingo Paes, Fernao Nunes, and Niccolo Da Conti. Even King Akbar considered it one of the most powerful empires of the subcontinent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagara_Empire
In 1565, the Vijayanagara Empire lost the battle of Talikota against the combined force of the northern Deccan Sultanates. This loss weakened Vijayanagar which finally fell in 1646, although remnants of it survived in areas such as Tami Nadu and Kerala(Travancore is a good example). After Vijayanagar fell, the Deccan Sultanates rose to power, such as Hyderabad and Mysore. But their dominance did not last long, because the next major player the Marathas, rose to power.
For a short period of time, the Mughal King Aurangzeb came close to finally conquering the Deccan. The height of his Empire is shown below
However, this lasted very shortly, as the Marathas under SHivaji rebelled and fought Mughal control in the Deccan. Shivaji was eventually able to liberate Maharashtra, of which he was crowned king in 1674. By Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the Marathas had already gained control of most of the Deccan. Below shows the Marathas at their height
Obviously, the Marathas were not able to control that much territory in modern day Pakistan for long. But this picture shows they were the major power in India by the second half of the 18th century. And contrary to popular belief, they did not fall after Panipat. Ten years later, the Marathas had regained control of Northern India. When the British arrived, the Mughal "Empire" was just a City state with a puppet ruler that paid tribute to the Marathas. To gain control of India, the British had to defeat the Marathas in the Angol Maratha Wars. Here are some more pictures.
And of course, there is also the story of Northeast India. The Mughlas made several attempts to cross the Brahmaputra and invade the Ahom Empire(Assam) but failed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahom_kingdom
https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/lachit-barphukan-the-battle-of-saraighat.304596/
So, in conclusion:
1. North India WAS ruled by the DS and Mughals, but only for about 500 years.
2..South and East India(with the exception of Bengal) was mostly ruled by indigenous kngdoms/empires.
3. The entirety of Modern day India(including Northeast) was never ruled until the British
4. The entirety of India did come CLOSE to being conquered, but for very short periods of time.
I hope this post was educational. I am always willing to engage in open debate and discussion, but please keep it civil and stay on topic.
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