Nehru on Ghaznavi
Vinod Kumar
Posted on Internet group, March 12, 2003
I think it is silly to blame the Muslims -- let Ayodhya alone, Muslim
chronicles are full of Muslim invaders and rulers demolishing Hindu temples by
the thousands -- in Kannauj alone Mahmud talks of the ten thousand temples which
were laid waste.
The most interesting behavior of Hindus is reflected in Nehru's description of
Mahmud as an admirer of art and architecture. How Nehru qualifies Mahmud as an
admirer of art and architecture -- he (Mahmud) admired the temple at Mathura
before he ordered it to be burnt down to the ground with naphtha.
Nehru wrote about Mahmud:
"Mahmud was far more a warrior than a man of faith." and he went on to write:
"Mahmud was much impressed by the city of Mathura (modern Muttra) near Delhi."
And what was this temple and this city like and what he did to it? The
description is worth reading from Tarikh-e- Yamini by Utbi -- Mahmud's
secretary:
"The Sultan then departed from the environs of the city,28 in which was a temple
of the Hindus. The name of this place was Maharatu-l29 Hind. He saw there a
building of exquisite structure, which the inhabitants said had been built, not
by men, but by Genii, and there he witnessed practices contrary to the nature of
man, and which could not be believed but from evidence of actual sight. The wall
of the city was constructed of hard stone, and two gates opened upon the river
flowing under the city, which were erected upon strong and lofty foundations, to
protect them against the floods of the river and rains. 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;
and; opposite to them were other buildings, supported on broad wooden pillars,
to give them strength."
"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 hundred thousand thousand red dinars, and it would
occupy two hundred years, even though the most experienced and able workmen were
[p. 40] employed." Among the idols there were five made of red gold, each five
yards high, fixed in the air without support. In the eyes of one of these idols
there were two rubies, of such value, that if anyone were to sell such as are
like them, he would obtain fifty thousand dinars. On another, there was a
sapphire purer than water, and more sparkling than crystal; the weight was four
hundred and fifty miskals. The two feet of another idol weighed four thousand
four hundred miskals, and the entire quantity of gold yielded by the bodies of
these idols was ninety-eight thousand three hundred miskals. The idols of silver
amounted to two hundred, but they could not be weighed without breaking them to
pieces and putting them into scales. The Sultan gave orders that all the temples
should be burnt with naphtha and fire, and leveled with the ground."
Is anyone talking of Mathura temple?
And on Kannauj:
"The Sultan advanced to the fortifications of Kanauj, which consisted of seven
distinct forts, washed by the Ganges, which flowed tinder them like the ocean.
In, Kanauj, there were nearly ten thousand temples, which the idolaters falsely
and absurdly represented to have been founded by their ancestors two or three
hundred thousand years ago. They worshipped and offered their vows and
supplications to them, in consequence of their great antiquity. 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 effected
their escape, and those who did not fly were put to death. The Sultan took all
seven forts in one day, and gave his soldiers leave to plunder them and take
prisoners."
The Muslims know how Hindus will behave. They know the Hindus have got so used
to Muslim slavery that except a few no one will make any noise and those who
make noise will be shut down by the other Hindus. All they (the Muslims) have to
do is watch the fun -- Hindus fighting with other Hindus to glorify Muslim raids
of India.
Vinod
March 12, 2003
Also read Nehru's thoughts on Timur Lang
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