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. The entire series is based on an article by Stephen Knapp. (https://www.stephen-knapp.com/islamic_destruction_of_hindu_temples.htm)
Islamic Source: ‘Kitabu’l-Yamini’ by Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad al Jabbaru’l-Utbi
(This author’s work comprises the whole of the reign of Subuktigin and that of Sultan Mahmud down to the year 1020 CE.)
- Islamic invader: Sbuktigin Of Ghazni
Lamghan (Afghanistan) :- “The Amir marched out towards Lamghan, which is a city celebrated for its great strength and abounding wealth. He conquered it and set fire to the places in its vicinity which were inhabited by infidels, and demolishing idol temples, he established Islam in them. He marched and captured other cities and killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolaters and gratifying the Musulmans.”
- Islamic invader: Mahmud of Ghazni (997-1030 CE)
Narain (Rajasthan) :- “The Sultan again resolved on an expedition to Hind, and marched towards Narain, urging his horses and moving over ground, hard and soft, until he came to the middle of Hind, where he reduced chiefs, who, up to that time obeyed no master, overturned their idols, put to the sword the vagabonds of that country, and with delay and circumspection proceeded to accomplish his design…”
Nardin (Punjab) :- “After the Sultan had purified Hind from idolatry, and raised mosques therein, he determined to invade the capital of Hind to punish those who kept idols and would not acknowledge the unity of God…He marched with a large army in the year AH 404 (AD 1013) during a dark night…” “A stone was found there in the temple of the great Budda on which an inscription was written purporting that the temple had been founded 50,000 years ago. The Sultan was surprised at the ignorance of these people, because those who believe in the true faith represent that only seven hundred years have elapsed since the creation of the world, and the signs of resurrection are even now approaching. The Sultan asked his wise men the meaning of this inscription and they all concurred in saying that it was false, and no faith was to be put in the evidence of a stone.”
Thanesar (Haryana) :- “The chief of Tanesar was…obstinate in his infidelity and denial of God. So the Sultan marched against him with his valiant warriors, for the purpose of planting the standards of Islam and extirpating idolatry..” “The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously, that the stream was discoloured, not withstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it…The victory gained by God’s grace, who has established Islam for ever as the best religions, notwithstanding that idolaters revolt against it…Praise be to God, the protector of the world, for the honour he bestows upon Islam and Musulmans.”
Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) :- “The Sultan then departed from the environs of the city, in which was a temple of the Hindus. The name of this place was Mahartul Hind… On both sides of the city there were a thousand houses, to which idol temples were attached, all strengthened from top to bottom by rivets of iron, and all made of masonry work…” “In the middle of the city there was a temple larger and firmer than the rest, which can neither be described nor painted. The Sultan thus wrote respecting it: –‘If any should wish to construct a building equal to this, he would not be able to do it without expending an 100,000,000 red dinars, and it would occupy 200 years even though the most experience and able workmen were employed’… The Sultan gave orders that all temples should be burnt with naptha and fire, and levelled with the ground.”
Kanauj (Uttar Pradesh) :- “In Kanauj there were nearly 10,000 temples, which the idolaters falsely and absurdly represented to have been founded by their ancestors two or three hundred thousand years ago…Many of the inhabitants of the place fled and were scattered abroad like so many wretched widows and orphans, from the fear which oppressed them, in consequence of witnessing the fate of their deaf and dumb idols. Many of them thus affected their escape, and those who did not fly were put to death.”
