Revisiting the old notion of "acculturation" from the point of view of the "connected history" school of thought, Sanjay Subrahmanyam argues that when civilisations meet, "Time and again, then, we are forced to come to terms with a situation that is not one of mutual indifference, or of a turning of backs, or of a deep-rooted incomprehension, but of shifting vocabularies, and changes that are wrought over time by improvisations that eventually come to be part of a received tradition."
In South Asia, Muslims have invented their own "brand" of Islam soon after their arrival in the region, following their encounter with the dominant civilisation, Hinduism. Certainly, the Caliphate played a role in the initial conquest of South Asian territories by Arabs in the 8th century. It was the Khalifah al-Walid bin Abdul Malik, who, hearing that Arab traders had been captured by the ruler of Sind, asked the governor of Baghdad to send an army to liberate them in 711. The soldiers of Muhammad bin Qasim did more than that and conquered the whole of Sind.
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