islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

Islamic Jihad4. Aurangzeb proceeded to Chittor, where ‘Temples to the number of sixty-three weredemolished.’5. Upon executing the order ‘to effect the destruction of the idol-temples of Amber,’ AbuTurab reported ‘that threescore and six of these edifices had been leveled with theground.’ 452More than 200 Hindu temples were destroyed in 1679 alone by Aurangzeb’s order. It is not difficult to guesshow many thousand temples were destroyed during his fifty-year reign, which some estimates put at up to5,000. The defenders of the temples were also often wiped out. He did not spare even his own brother DaraSikoh, whom he declared an apostate for taking interest in Hinduism and had him executed. As mentionedalready, Aurangzeb killed Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur Singh, along with two of his associates, for objecting tohis forced conversion of the Kashmiri Hindus.The Persian ruler Nadir Shah, in his invasion of India in 1738, killed some 200,000 people andreturned with a huge quantity of booty and a large number of slaves, including a few thousand beautiful girls.Alain Danielou (d. 1994), French scholar of Indian philosophy, religion, history and arts, described NadirShah’s assault of Delhi as follows: ‘…for a week his soldiers massacred everybody, ransacked everything,and razed the entire countryside, so that the survivors would have nothing to eat. He went back to Iran takingwith him precious furniture, works of art, horses, the Kohinoor diamond, the famous Peacock throne, and 150million rupees in gold.’ 453 The plunder was so huge ‘that Nader Shah stopped taxation in Iran for a period ofthree years, following his triumphant return.’ 454The scale of the destruction of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh religious institutions by Muslims inIndia have few parallels in the history of conquests. In most instances, after a temple was destroyed, the idolsand treasures therein were carried away, while the remains of the destroyed temple were often used asmaterials for the construction of a mosque at its place. The Kwat-ul-Islam (Might of Islam) mosque in Delhiwas constructed from the materials of seventeen destroyed temples of the area. 455 The priests of the templesand monasteries were normally slaughtered, as joyfully narrated by Amir Khasrau and Sultan Firoz Tughlaqamongst others (mentioned already).These vivid descriptions of savagery of Muslim invaders and rulers are drawn exclusively from therecords of leading Muslim historians of the time; they generally recorded these catastrophic brutality anddestruction with delightful religious pride. In summarizing the zeal for the destruction of temples by Musliminvaders and rulers, Francis Watson writes:Their minds filled with venom against the idol-worshippers of Hindustan, the Muslims destroyeda large number of ancient Hindu temples. This is a historical fact, mentioned by Muslimchroniclers and others of the time. A number of temples were merely damaged and remainedstanding. But a large number—not hundreds but many thousands—of the ancient temples werebroken into shreds of cracked stone. In the ancient cities of Varanasi and Mathura, Ujjain andMaheshwar, Jwalamukhi and Dwarka, not one temple survives whole and intact from the ancienttimes. 456Even the most magnanimous amongst Muslim rulers, the reputedly enlightened Akbar, had ordered themassacre of about 30,000 surrendered Hindu peasants at Chittor (1568) for supporting the Rajput princes.452. Elliot & Dawson, Vol. VII, p. 187–88453. Danielou A (2003) A Brief History of India, trs. Kenneth F. Hurry, Inner Traditions, Rochester, p. 290454. Nader Shah, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadir_Shah455. Watson F and Hiro D (1979) India: A Concise History, Thames & Hudson, India, p. 96456. Ibid, p. 96151