Destruction Of Hindu
Temples By Muslims - Part III
Destruction Of Hindu Temples
By Muslims - Part III
This is Part III of the series of articles on destruction of Hindu
Temples by Muslims.
Here too, I shall continue to provide the vast amount of literary
evidence available to us. This evidence is taken directly from the
books written by Muslim Historians themselves who glorify the
horrific deeds of their Islamic heroes.
Name Of The Book: Nuh Siphir
Name of the Historian: Amir Khusru
About the Author: The above mentioned book is the fourth
historical mathnavi which Amir Khusru wrote when he was 67 years
old. It celebrates the reign of Sultan Mubarak Shah Khalji.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
Sultan Mubarak Shah Khalji (AD 1315-1320)
Warrangal (Andhra Pradesh)
"They pursued the enemy to the gates and set everything on
fire. They burnt down all those gardens and groves. That paradise
of idol-worshippers became like hell. The fire-worshippers of
"Bud" were in alarm and flocked round their
idols.."
Name of the Book: Siyaru'l-Auliya
Name of the Historian: Sayyed Muhammed bin Mubarak bin Muhammed
About the Author: He was the grandson of an Iranian merchant who
traded between Kirman in Iran and Lahore. The family travelled to
Delhi after Shykh Farid's death and became devoted to Shykh
Nizamu'd-din Auliya.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
Shykh Mu'in al-Din Chisti Ajmer (AD 1236)
Ajmer (Rajasthan)
"..Because of his Sword, instead of idols and temples in the
land of unbelief now there are mosques, mihrab amd mimbar. In the
land where there were the sayings of the idol-worshippers, there
is the sound of 'Allahu Akbar'...The descendants of those who were
converted to Islam in this land will live until Day of Judgement;
so too will those who bring others into the fold of Islam by the
sword of Islam. Until the Day of Judgement these converts will be
in debt of Shaykh al-Islam Mu'in al-din Hasam Sijzi..."
Name of the Book: Masalik'ul Absar fi Mamalik'ul Amsar
Name of the Historian: Shihabu'd-Din 'Abu'l Abbas Ahmed bin Yahya.
About the Author: He was born in AD 1301. He was educated in
Damascus and Cairo. He is considered to be a great man scholar of
his time and author of many books. He occupied high positions in
Syria and Egypt.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
Sultan Muhammed bin Tughlaq (AD 1325-1351)
"The Sultan is not slack in Jihad. He never lets go of his
spear or bridle in pursuing jihad by land and sea routes. This is
his main occupation which engages his eyes and ears. Five temples
have been destroyed and the images and idols of "Budd"
have been broken, and the lands have been freed from those who
were not included in the daru'l Islam that is, those who had
refused to become zimmis. Thereafter he got mosques and places of
worship erected, and music replaced by call to prayers to Allah...
The Sultan who is ruling at present has achieved that which had
not been achieved so far by any king. He has achieved victory,
supremacy, conquest of countries, destruction of the infidels, and
exposure of magicians. He has destroyed idols by which the people
of Hindustan were deceived in vain..."
Name of the Book: Rehala of Ibn Battuta
Name of the Historian: Shykh Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Lawatt
at-Tanji al-Maruf be Ibn Battuta.
About the Author: He belonged to an Arab family which was settled
in Spain since AD 1312. His grandfather and father enjoyed the
reputation of scholars and theologians. He himself was a great
scholar who travelled extensively and over many lands. He came to
India in 1325 and visited many places. He was very fond of
sampling Hindu girls from different parts of India. They were
presented to him by the Sultan Mohammed bin-Tughlaq with whom Ibn
Battuta came in close contact. He also married Muslim women
wherever he stayed and divorced them before his departure.
His Travel description:
(Delhi)
"Near the eastern gate of the mosque, lie two very big idols
of copper connected together by stones. Every one who comes in and
goes out of the mosque treads over them. On the site of this
mosque was a bud Khana that is an idol-house. After the conquest
of Delhi, it was turned into a mosque..."
Name of the Book: Tarikh-i-Firuz
Name of the Historian: Shams Siraj Alif
About the Author: The author became a courtier of Sultan Firuz
Shah Tughlaq and undertook to complete the aforementioned history
of Barani who had stopped at the sixth year of Firuz Shah's reign.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (AD 1351-1388)
Puri (Orissa)
"The Sultan left Banarasi with the intention of pursuing the
Rani of Jajnagar, who had fled to an island in the river...News
was then brought that in the jangal were seven elephants, and one
old shoe-elephant, which was very fierce. The Sultan resolved upon
endeavouring to capture these elephants before continuing the
pursuit of the Rai... After the hunt was over, the Sultan directed
his attention to the Rai of Jajnagar, and entering the palace
where he dwelt he found many fine buildings. It is reported that
inside the Rai's fort, there was a stone idol which the infidels
called Jagannath, and to which they paid their devotions. Sultan
Firoz, in emulation of Mahmud Subuktign, having rooted up the
idol, carried it away to Delhi where he placed it in an
ignominious position."
Nagarkot Kangra(Himachal Pradesh)
"..Sultan Muhammed Shah bin Tughlaq and Sultan Firuz Shah
Tughlaq were sovereigns especially chosen by Almighty from among
the faithful, and in their whole course of their reigns, wherever
they took an idol temple they broke and destroyed it.."
Delhi
"A report was brought to the Sultan that there was in Delhi
an old Brahmin who persisted in publicly performing the worship of
idols in his house; and that people of the city, both Musalmans
and Hindus, used to resort to his house to worhsip the idol. the
Brahmin had constructed a wooden tablet which was covered within
and without with paintings of demons and other objects..An order
was accordingly given that the Brahmin, with his tablet, should be
brought into the presence of the Sultan at Firozabad. the judges
and doctors and elders and lawyers were summoned, and the case of
the Brahaman was submitted for their opinion. Their reply was that
the provisions of the Law were clear: the Brahmin must either
become a Musalman or be burned. The true faith was declared to the
Brahmin, and the right course pointed out, but he refused to
accept it. Orders were given for raising a pile of faggots before
the door of the darbar (court). The Brahmin was tied hand and foot
and cast into it ; the tablet was thrown on top and the pile was
lighted. The writer of this book was present at the darbar and
witnessed the execution. The tablet of the Brahmin was lighted in
two places, at his head and at his feet; the wood was dry and the
fire first reached his feet, and drew him a cry, but the flames
quickly enveloped his head and consumed him. Behold the Sultan's
strict adherence to law and rectitude, how he would not deviate in
the least from its decrees !"
Here Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq glorifies his own criminal acts in
Bharat as sanctioned by the "holy" Koran.
Name of the Book: Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi
Name of the Historian: Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq
About the Author: Sultan had got the eight chapters of his work
inscribed on eight slabs of stone which were fixed on eight sides
of the octagonal dome of a building near the Jami Masjid at
Firuzabad.
Prayers of Temple-destroyers in this Book
"The next matter which by God's help I accomplished, was the
repetition of names and titles of former sovereigns which had been
omitted from the prayers of Sabbaths and Feasts. The names of
those sovereigns of Islam, under whose happy fortune and favour
infidel countries had been conquered, whose banners had waved over
many a land, under whom idol-temples had been demolished, and
mosques and pulpits built and exalted..."
Delhi and Evirons
"The Hindus and idol-worshippers had agreed to pay the money
for toleration (zar-i zimmiya) and had consented to the poll-tax(jiziya)
in return for which they and their families enjoyed security.
These people now erected new idol-temples in the city and the
enviorns in opposition to the law of the Prophet which declares
that such temples are not to be tolerated. Under divine guidance I
destroyed these edifices and I killed those leaders of infidelity
who seduced others into error, and the lower orders I subjected to
stripes and chastisement, until this abuse was entirely abolshed.
the following is an instance: In the viallge of Maluh, there is a
tank which they call kund (tank). Here they had built idol-temples
and on certain days the Hindus were accustomed to proceed thither
on horseback, and wearing arms. their women and children also went
out in palankins and carts. Then they assembled in thousands and
performed idol-worship....when intelligence of this came to my
ears my religious feelings propmted me at once to put a stop to
this scandal and offence to the religion of Islam. On the day of
the assembly I wnet there in person and I ordered that the leaders
of these people and the promoters of this abominations should be
put to death. I destroyed their idol-temples and instead thereof
raised mosques."
Gohana (Haryana)
"Some Hindus had erected a new idol-temple in the village of
Kohana and the idolators used to assemble there and perform their
idolatrous rites. These people were seized and brought before me.
I ordered that the perverse conduct of the leaders of this
wickedness should be publicly proclaimed, and that they should be
put to death before the gate of the palace. I also ordered that
the infidel books, the idols and the vessels used in their
worship, which had been taken with idols, should all be publicly
burnt. The others were restrained by threats and punishments, as a
warning to all men, that no zimmi could follow such wicked
practices in a Muslaman country."
Name of the Book: Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi
Name of the Historian: Yahya Ammad bin Abdullah Sirhindi
About the Author: The author lived in the reign of Sultan Muizu'd-Din
Abu'l Fath Mubarak Shah (AD 1421-1434) of the Sayyid dynasty which
ruled at Delhi from AD 1414-1451.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
Sultan Shamsu'd-Din Iltutmish (AD 1210-1236)
Vidisha and Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh)
"In AH 631 he invaded Malwah, and after supressing the rebels
of that place, he destroyed that idol-temple which had existed
there for the past three hundred years. Next he turned towards
Ujjain and conquered it, and after demolishing the idol-temple of
Mahakal, he uprooted the statue of Bikramajit together with all
other statues and images which were placed on pedestals, and
brought them to the capital where they were laid before the Jami
Masjid for being trodden under foot by the people
Name of the Book: Tarikh-i-Muhammadi
Name of the Historian: Muhammed Bihamad Khani
About the Author: The author was the son of the governor of Irich
in Bundelkhand. He was a soldier who participated in several wars.
His history covers a long period - from Prophet Mohammed to AD
1438-39
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
Sultan Ghiyasu'd-Din Tughlaq Shah II (AD 1388-89)
Kalpi (Uttar Pradesh)
"In the meanwhile Delhi received news of the defeat of the
armies of Islam which were with Malikzada Mahmud bin Firuz
Khan...This Malikzada reached the bank of the Yamuna via Shahpur
and renamed Kalpi which was the abode and center of the infidels
and the wicked, as Muhammadabad, after the name of Prophet
Muhammed. He got mosques erected for the worship of Allah in
places occupied by temples, and made that city his capital. "
Sultan Nasiru'd-Din Mahmud Shah Tughlaq (AD 1389-1412)
Prayag and Kara (Uttar Pradesh)
"The Sultan moved with the armies of Islam towards Prayag and
Arail with the aim of destroying the infidels, and he laid waste
both those places. The vast crowd which had collected at Prayag
for worshipping false gods was made captive. The inhabitants of
Kara were freed from the mischief of rebels on account of this aid
from King and the name of this king of Islam became famous by this
reason."
Another Moghul ruler by the name of Babur who was in love with a
young boy named Baburi glorifies his lecherously Islamic deeds in
the Babur-Nama
Name of the Book: Babur-Nama Name of the Author: Zahiru'd-Din
Muhammed Babur About the Author: The author of this book was the
founder of Mughal dynasty in India who proclaimed himself a
Padshah (Ruler) after his victory in the First Battle of Panipat
(AD 1526), and a Ghazi (killer of kafirs) after the defeat of Rana
Sanga in the Battle of Khanwa (AD 1528) While presenting himself
as an indefatigable warrior and drug-addict he does not hide the
cruelties he committed on the defeated people, particularly his
fondness for building towers of the heads of those he captured as
prisoners of war or killed in battle. He is very liberal in citing
appropriate verses from the Quran on the eve of the battle with
Rana Sanga. In order to ensure his victory, he makes a covenant
with Allah by breaking the vessels containing wine as also the
cups for drinking it, swearing at the same time that "he
would break the idols of the idol-worshippers in a similar
manner". In the Fath-Nama (prayer for victory) composed for
him by Shykh Zain, Allah is described as "destroyers of idols
from their foundations" The language he uses for his Hindu
adversaries is typically Islamic.
Zahirud-Din Muhammed Babur Padshah Ghazi (AD 1526-1530)
Chanderi (Madhya Pradesh)
"In AH 934 (AD 1528), I attacked Chanderi and, by the grace
of Allah, captured it in a few hours..We got the infidels
slaughtered and the place which had been a daru'l-harb for years,
was made into daru'l-Islam."
Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh)
"Next day, at the time of the noon prayer, we went out for
seeing those places in Gwalior which we had not seen yet..Going
out of the Hathipole Gate of the fort, we arrived at a place
called Urwa.. Urwa is not a bad place It is an enclosed space. Its
biggest blemish is its statues. I ordered that they should be
destroyed..."
Part IV of the series of articles on this subject will contain the
Epigraphic evidence which is available to us. There are
inscriptions on present day Mosques in India which clearly state
that the Muslims have converted the existing Hindu temples into
Mosques.
Note: The passages presented in this article have been taken from
Shri Sita Ram Goel's book, Hindu Temples: What Happened To Them
Vol. I & II.
If you enjoyed this
article , please visit: http://www.hinduunity.org
|
|
