Q: earliest Muslims in South Asia

[Hueckstedt]

Two years ago, in conversation with a Hindi writer whose works I am 
currently translating, I was told that there was evidence on the Malabar 
coast of a mosque that dates to the seventh century. I was told that the 
standard line -- the earliest Muslims in South Asia were Arab settlers in 
Sind around 711 -- is old and now superseded information. Has anyone else 
heard this? During that conversation two years ago, when I asked for 
proof, I didn't get any, but I have no reason to sense that I was being 
deliberately misled.

Gratefully,
Bob Hueckstedt 

Robert A. Hueckstedt, Associate Professor of Indic Languages
Asian Studies Centre, 328 Fletcher Argue, University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2 Canada
http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/asian_studies
fax 1 204-261-4483 phones 1 204-474-8964, 1 204-488-4797