[Buddha-l] Buddhist pacifism

[Dan Lusthaus]

History lays at least some of the blame for the loss of Central Asia and
India to the Muslims from Buddhists and Hindus on the Buddhists
themselves -- precisely because of their mercantile (capitalist) and
pacifistic leanings.

consider (re: the beginning of the success of the Ummayid Caliphate to
conquer the Sindh, after two failed attempts (initially thwarted by Muslim
Turks already controlling access to the area).

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The first two attempts to take Sindh were unsuccessful. However, in 711, at
about the same time as they took Samarqand, the Arabs finally achieved their
aim. At that time, Hajjaj bin-Yusuf Sakafi was the governor of the
easternmost provinces of the Umayyad Empire, which included modern-day
eastern Iran, Baluchistan (Mukran), and southern Afghanistan. He decided to
dispatch his nephew and son-in-law, General Muhammed bin-Qasim, with twenty
thousand troops, to launch a double-pronged invasion of Sindh by land and by
sea. The initial target was the coastal city of Debal, near present-day
Karachi.


Sindh, at this time, had a mixed population of Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains.
Xuanzang reported more than four hundred Buddhist monasteries there with
twenty-six thousand monks. The Buddhists constitiuted the majority of the
urban mercantile and artisan class, while the Hindus were mostly rural
farmers. The area was ruled by Chach, a Hindu brahmin with a rural basis,
who had usurped control of the government. He supported agriculture and was
not interested in protecting trade.


The Hindus had a warrior caste who, along with their political and religious
leaders, fought the huge Umayyid force. The Buddhists, on the other hand,
lacking any martial tradition or caste, and discontent with Chach’s
policies, were willing to avoid destruction and submit peacefully. General
bin-Qasim’s troops won the victory, and reportedly massacred large numbers
of the local population, inflicting heavy damage on the city as punishment
for their stiff resistance. It is hard to know how exaggerated that report
was. After all, the Arabs wished to preserve a financially viable Sindh in
order to increase and profit from the trade that passed through it.
Nevertheless, the Umayyids razed the main Hindu temple and erected a mosque
on its site.


The Umayyid forces then set out against Nirun near present-day Pakistani
Hyderabad. The Buddhist governor of the city surrendered voluntarily.
However, to set a further example, the triumphant Muslims constructed here
as well a mosque on the site of the main Buddhist monastery. They spared the
rest of the town.

http://www.berzinarchives.com/e-books/historic_interaction_buddhist_islamic/history_cultures_04.html


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In the long run, this policy proved disasterous for Buddhism -- as any
newspaper today will illustrate.



Any thoughts?



Dan Lusthaus