Pre-Islamic Religious Landscape of Pakistan before 711 AD

Pre-Islamic Religious Landscape

• Buddhism: Flourished in Gandhara and Sindh under the non hindu Mauryan (3rd century BCE) and Kushan empires (1st–3rd century CE). By the 7th–8th century CE, however, Buddhism had significantly declined due to:

  • The revival of Hinduism under the Gupta (4th–6th century CE).
  • Economic decline of monastic centers and disruptions from Hephthalite ("White Hun") invasions (5th–6th century CE).

The Hephthalites destroyed key Buddhist sites in Gandhara and the northwest, massacring monks and disrupting trade routes. Mihirakula, a Hephthalite ruler, persecuted Buddhists, forcing many to flee or abandon their faith .

• Persecution of Buddhist by later more prominent hindu Gupta emipre.

-Loss of royal support, absorption into Hinduism. The Bhakti movement. Hindu philosophers like Adi Shankaracharya debated Buddhist scholars, absorbing Buddhist concepts (e.g., ahimsa, karma) into Hinduism, which reduced Buddhism’s distinctiveness.

• Hinduism:

  By 711 CE, Brahmanical Hinduism had reasserted itself, particularly among elites. The caste system and temple-centric practices were prevalent, though Buddhism persisted in pockets like Sindh’s urban centers.

Islamic Conquest (711 CE)

• Muhammad bin Qasim’s invasion targeted Sindh, a region with mixed Hindu-Buddhist populations. Early converts included:

  • Buddhists:

Some Buddhist communities (e.g., in Nirun, Sindh) allied with Arab forces, seeing them as liberators from oppressor Hindu rulers like Raja Dahir, who taxed monastic wealth heavily. Facing economic marginalization and temple destruction, Over time, many acepted to Islam.

• Lower-caste Hindus:

Marginalized groups acepted to escape caste oppression groups like hudras, Dalits often facilitated by Sufi Saints and embraced Islam to escape caste discrimination hindus.