The centuries following the first appearance of Islam in the subcontinent were among the most creative in the history of religion in India.

In some cases, these developments show little or no explicit relation to the role of Muslims. In other cases, the changes and continuities that occurred were the direct result of Islam’s presence and/or were in response to it. These responses were as varied as the nature of Islam itself and differed from region to region and community to community. In this chapter, we broadly outline these developments in terms of five thematic rubrics which illus­trate the diversity and scope of the period. These themes are: a) orthopraxy, b) devotionalism, c) accommodation and synthesis, d) conversion, and e) syncretism.