Q: earliest Muslims in South Asia

[Sugandha Johar]

There are inscriptions from the western sea borard of Indi a- especially
around Konkan of the tenth century where some of the trustees for the temple
donations of Silahara kings were muslims - to name , ali, mohammad etc. (
see Mirashi edited inscriptions of Silahara kings)

Also, one of the viceroys/generals of the Rashtrakutas was a musllim.

Then there are some recent inscriptions discoverd around the Bombay area -
Dombivli is one of the places of discovery that I can remember that give
muslim names as kngs/subhedars - again of a quite early date, the precise
date escapes me, but can be found in a collection of inscriptions edited by
Prof. Deo and published by the Maharashtra govt. 

Also I seem to recall refernces of treatises on the navigation in the Indian
Ocean written by someone with an islamic name who actually hailed from
gujerat - again the dates are quite early.
Sugandha 




At 02:57 7/12/96 GMT, you wrote:
>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Sind around 711 -- is old and now superseded information.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
>
>
>
>



> From 71203.2563 at CompuServe.COM 09 96 Dec EST 00:36:11
Date: 09 Dec 96 00:36:11 EST
From: Swami Gitananda <71203.2563 at CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Significance of crossroads

Does anybody know what the sources are for the specific connotations attached to
crossroads? I'm thinking, for example, of how in the cAturmAsya sacrifice, the
tryambakeSTi must be offered at a crossroads. It's easy to see why Tryambaka
would be dealt with outside the sacrificial enclosure, but why precisely at a
crossroads? Is it because it's a sort of no-man's land?

Thank you in advance for any leads,
Swami Gitananda
Agama Research Centre