Ahmadiyyat or Qadianism! Islam or Apostasy? — Page 41
A BRITISH PROTEGE. The second equally absurd and unsubstantiated charge against the. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community relates to its opponents obsession with the theory of British sponsorship. Nearly every hostile witness alleges that the Ahmadiyya Community 'owes its formation, existence and success to the Imperial British Government yet none provides any concrete or conclusive evidence to support this oft repeated charge. . The whole premise of this allegation is based upon an ingenious misrepresentation of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's deep sense of gratitude towards the British Raj for its timely deliverance of the. Muslims from the savage and tyrannical rule of the Sikh despots and its noble sense of justice, equity and tolerance of all the faiths practised in its dominions. . END OF MUGHAL EMPIRE IN INDIA. The 12th century CE experienced the progressive expansion of the. Muslim rule in the sub continent of India which was eventually consolidated under the Mughal dynasty after Babur overran the Punjab in 1526. However. this great empire began to show signs of decline when the Persian king Nadir Shah crushed the Mughal army in 1739 and the Battle of Panipat in 1761 finally ushered an era of an effective end of the Mughal dynasty. . During this period of disintegration, the northern regions of the. Punjab which had been under Mughal domination for more than 200 years came under a constant threat of Sikh anarchists. By the first quarter of the 19th century CE. Maharajah Ranjit Singh consolidated the Sikh authority over the Punjab by bringing all the petty chiefs under his sway. 41