Over the last 1200 years, Islamic barbarians have destroyed thousands of Hindu mandirs in India. Many apologists try to whitewash this brutal destruction of the Hindu religious and cultural symbols. Luckily for us, the invaders and their scribes left behind plenty of contemporary records, enabling scholars to piece together the sordid history of their brutal exploits.
We have launched a series of short articles to daylight this terrible destruction of Hindu mandirs. Each article will contain excerpts from the writings of a well-known Islamic scholar. This article, the last of the series, is based on “Maasir e Alamgiri,” the official chronicle of the Islamic ruler Aurangzeb (years of reign 1658-1707 CE).
Name of the Book: Maasir e Alamgiri by Saqi Musta’ad Khan
This book is a chronicle of the events during Aurangzeb’s reign. Its author, Saqi Musta’ad Khan, was the official scribe in Aurangzeb’s court. The book has been translated into English by Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1870-1958) [1], one of the foremost historians of the Mughal dynasty.
Ismalic Ruler: Aurangzeb (Reigned from 1658 to1707 CE)
- “By one stroke of the pen, the Hindu clerks (writers) were dismissed from the public employment. Large numbers of the places of worship of the infidels and great temples of these wicked people have been thrown down and desolated. Men who can see only the outside of things are filled with wonder at the successful accomplishment of such a seemingly difficult task. And on the sites of the temples lofty mosques have been built.” [2]
- Kashi (Modern Varanasi): “The Lord Cherisher of the Faith learnt that in the provinces of Tatta, Multan, and especially at Benares, the Brahman misbelievers used to teach their false books in their established schools, and that admirers and students both Hindu and Muslim, used to come from great distances to these misguided men in order to acquire this vile learning. His Majesty, eager to establish Islam, issued orders to the governors of all the provinces to demolish the schools and temples of the infidels and with the utmost urgency put down the teaching and the public practice of the religion of these misbelievers. (…) It was reported that, according to the Emperor’s command, his officers had demolished the temple of Viswanath at Kashi.” [3]
- Khandela: “Darab Khan who had been sent with a strong force to punish the Rajputs of Khandela and to demolish the great temple of the place… He attacked the place on the 8th March 1679/5th Safar, and slew the three hundred and odd men who made a bold defence, not one of them escaping alive. [16 October 1678] The temples of Khandela and Sanula and all other temples in the neighbourhood were demolished…’On Sunday, the 25th May/24th Rabi. S., Khan Jahan Bahadur came from Jodhpur, after demolishing the temples and bringing with himself some cart-loads of idols, and had audience of the Emperor, who highly praised him and ordered that the idols, which were mostly jewelled, golden, silvery, bronze, copper or stone, should be cast in the yard (jilaukhanah) of the Court and under the steps of the Jam’a mosque, to be trodden on.” [4]
- Mathura: “27 January 1670: During this month of Ramzan abounding in miracles, the Emperor as the promoter of justice and overthrower of mischief, as a knower of truth and destroyer of oppression, as the zephyr of the garden of victory and the reviver of the faith of the Prophet, issued orders for the demolition of the temple situated in Mathura, famous as the Dehra of Kesho Rai. In a short time by the great exertions of his officers, the destruction of this strong foundation of infidelity was accomplished, and on its site, a lofty mosque was built at the expenditure of a large sum.” [5]
- Udaipur and Amer (Jaipur): “On Saturday, the 24th January, 1680/2nd Muharram, the Emperor went to view lake Udaisagar, constructed by the Rana, and ordered all the three temples on its banks to be demolished.’…On the 29th January [1680]/7th Muharram, Hasan ‘Ali Khan brought to the Emperor twenty camel-loads of tents and other things captured from the Rana’s palace and reported that one hundred and seventy-two other temples in the environs of Udaipur had been destroyed. The Khan received the title of Bahadur ‘Alamgirshahi’…’Abu Turab, who had been sent to demolish the temples of Amber, returned to Court on Tuesday, the 10th August [1680]/24th Rajab, and reported that he had pulled down sixty-six temples.” [6]
- A research paper by Muhammad Ali Qureshi and Hasan Raza at the History Dept. of Karachi University, Pakistan [8], analyzes “Maasir a Alamgiri”, and, ends with the following conclusion: “…As narrated by the writer, ‘Saqi Must’ad Khan’ Alamgir was the first emperor who had cause(d) anarchy and created disturbance during his reign. Aurangzeb remained busy in living lavish lifestyle and had also adopted such policies that created rift and unrest in the society….Alamgir, after coming into throne started adopting religious policies that was offensive towards other beliefs. He was busy in spreading Islam and demolishing other faiths and religions. The Emperor had destroyed different temples and buildings of other faiths. Not only Alamgir demolishes the sacred place of Hindus and built a mosque instead and stopped other non-Muslims from their religious practices.”
Citations
- Maasir-i-Alamgiri, translated into English by Sir Jadu-Nath Sarkar, Calcutta, 1947
- ibid, pp 312-315
- ibid, pp. 51-55
- ibid, pp. 107-120
- ibid, pp. 60
- ibid, pp. 107-120
- Muhammad Ali Qureshi and Hasan Raza, Research report on History of South East Asia (1526 – 1761 CE), Department of History – Karachi University, Pakistan. Available online at https://www.academia.edu/36493914/Maasir_i_Alamgiri
