Historians debate the primary motivations of battles or wars in medieval times: Some argue they were primarily political acts aimed at disempowering rival rulers, primarily annexing the wealth such as their properties, women in the harem, land while others include religious intolerance as well in some cases.
This being the general rule of wars, there is recorded history of Indian hindu kings, victorious in battles plundering the temples their vanquished rivals patronised, ferreted away the deities installed there, and in extreme cases, even broke them. Yes, similar to those occurring during the mogul invasion.
As early as 642 CE (or Common Era, equivalent to AD), the Pallava ruler Narasimhavarman I vanquished the Chalukyas, sacked their capital of Vatapi, and brought the image of Ganesha to his kingdom in Tamil Nadu.
In 950 CE, the Chandella ruler Yashovarman built the Lakshman temple at Khajuraho to house the Vishnu Vaikunth, made of gold.
Pandyan ruler Srimara Srivallabha invaded Sri Lanka around 835 CE and routed the army of the Sinhala king, Sena I, who fled to the mountains. Srimara plundered the royal treasury and took away, among other things, “the statue of the Teacher (Buddha)”, which had been made in gold and placed on a pedestal in the Jewel Palace about 50 years earlier. Later when the Pandyan army had been weakened because of the three battles it had fought against the Pallavas, the Lankan army swept its way to Madurai, and Srimara died of the wounds sustained in the conflict. The Lankan army entered Madurai, sacked the city, and took back the gold statue of the Buddha. Amidst much festivity, the statue was placed on the pedestal in the Jewel Palace.
In the 11 the century, for the new capital city of Gangaikondacholapuram, where Rajendra built a Shiva temple, placed idols he had captured from other kings – Durga and Ganesha images from the Chalukyas; Bhairava, Bhairavi, and Kali images from the Kalingas of Orrisa, a bronze Shiva image from the Palas of Bengal, etc.
Hindu temples were centres of political resistance which had to be suppressed. But, hindu destruction of Buddhist and Jain places of worship took place before the 10th century, but the evidence for such ‘Hindu iconoclasm’ is incidental. Mutilation and defilement of sacred icons is rarely evidenced in Hindu texts, in contrast to Muslim texts on the Islamic iconoclasm in India.
The wars/battles took a dramatic turn to religious motivations with great iconoclastic rhetoric in the Muslim period though some historians argue that iconoclasm of Muslim invaders from the 11th century onwards was already an established political behaviour in large parts of India!
Prophet Muhammad, hated idol worship, and advocated their destruction. Muslim invaders minds filled with venom against the idol-worshippers. Hindu temples were looted and became the strategic targets during the medieval Islamic era in India since temples served as centres of immense wealth like gold, silver, jewels, and other precious offerings from kings and devotees. Also, for political authority, and cultural identity. Thus Muslim invaders turned towards India, it was the earth’s richest region for its wealth in precious stones, gold and silver; religion and culture; and its fine arts.
Prominent examples of temples that suffered maximum damage, destruction and looting by moguls occurred in northern part of India. For example,
- Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, Ayodhya: The existing temple at the supposed birthplace of Lord Rama was demolished by Mir Baqi, a general of Babur, in 1528, and the Babri Masjid was constructed on the site.
- Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi: The original temple was destroyed multiple times by various Muslim rulers. The most notable destruction during the Mughal period occurred in 1669 when Emperor Aurangzeb ordered its demolition and the construction of the Gyanvapi Mosque in its place.
- Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple, Mathura:Aurangzeb ordered the demolition of this grand temple in 1670, building the Shahi Idgah mosque on the site.
- Somnath Temple, Gujarat: This temple was attacked and looted multiple times by various rulers, most famously by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1024 CE. Aurangzeb also ordered its destruction later in 1706.
- Bijamandal Temple, Vidisha: This large temple was destroyed by Aurangzeb’s forces, and the Alamgiri Masjid (or Bijamandal mosque) was built from its ruins.
- Madan Mohan Temple, Vrindavan: The original Madan Mohan Temple in Vrindavan was damaged during Aurangzeb’s rule. In 1670, the temple was attacked, and its spire (shikhara) was destroyed. The original deity of Madan Mohan was also moved to Jaipur and later to Karauli in Rajasthan to protect it from destruction.
- Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik: The Trimbakeshwar Shiva temple in Nashik is one of the 12 Jyotirlings. Aurangzeb’s forces destroyed this ancient shrine and built a masjid in 1690.
- Bindu Madhav Temple, Varanasi:This ancient temple was destroyed by Aurangzeb, and the Alamgir Mosque was built using its pillars and materials.
- Chausath Yogini Temple, Jabalpur: The Chausath Yogini Temple in Jabalpur was built on a 50-foot-high hill situated at the confluence of Narmada and Banganga. In the present form, fragmented statues of yoginis are installed. These idols were demolished by his army on the orders of Aurangzeb.
- Temples in Hampi: The capital of the Vijayanagara Empire was destroyed and its temples razed during a battle involving Deccan sultanates, which were part of the broader Islamic expansion in India.
- Various Temples in Rajputana:Aurangzeb’s official biography, Maasir-i-Alamgiri, proudly records the destruction of hundreds of temples in regions like Mewar, including those in Udaipur and Chittorgarh.
There are also historical accounts of Rajput rulers and chieftains demolishing mosques and building or rebuilding temples, often in retaliation for similar acts by Muslim rulers, particularly the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
Specific examples include:
Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur is recorded in a Persian report from 1658-1659 as having destroyed several mosques and built Hindu temples in their place.
Bhim Singh, son of Rana Raj Singh, was enraged by Aurangzeb’s destruction of Hindu temples and the imposition of the jaziya (tax) after the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Marwar in 1678. In retaliation, he invaded the Mughal province of Gujarat, destroyed about 300 small mosques and a large one, and drove away imperialists from Idar.
To end the conflict, a peace treaty was agreed upon with Aurangzeb. The primary condition was that the destruction of sacred places by both sides would cease.
After the peace treaty, Bhim Singh was received graciously at the Mughal court and was granted the jagir of Banera and the mansab of Char Hazari, which was later raised to Panj Hazari.
These actions were often part of a cycle of conflict and religious power dynamics during the medieval period, where the destruction of an enemy’s place of worship was a symbolic act of political and military dominance, rather than purely a religious one. These instances stand in contrast to the much larger scale of temple destruction attributed to various Islamic rulers throughout Indian history.
Marathas also retaliated the destruction of temples. Shivaji Maharaj restored Hindu temples that had been converted into mosques, such as the Shonachalpati and Samottir-Perumal temples in Jinji and the Tiruvannamalai Temple.
No doubt the Hindus in north india are very sensitive to the destruction of temples and reacted violently, their southern counterparts not that sensitive but for Maratha?
In March 1311, Malik Kafur, a prominent general of Alauddin Khilji, led an expedition into South India.
After attacking other cities and temples, his army targeted Srirangam, which was renowned for its wealth. Kafur’s forces entered the temple complex, overpowered the resident Vaishnava saints, plundered the treasury of its gold, jewels, and precious gems, and took a golden idol of the deity back to Delhi. The temple structure itself was damaged but not destroyed.
The second and more devastating invasion occurred in 1323 CE, under Ulugh Khan, the son of Ghiyasuddin Tughluq. During a major temple festival, the temple’s chief priest, Pillai Lokacharya, and other devotees managed to secretly move the main processional idol (Namperumal) and its jewels to safety, starting a 48-year period of exile for the idol. The idol of the deity was eventually brought back to Srirangam and reinstalled in 1371 CE by the Vijayanagara Empire commander, Kumara Kampana, who had driven out the Sultanate forces. The Vijayanagara rulers subsequently fortified the temple town and initiated extensive reconstruction and expansion efforts, which restored the temple to its former glory.
Malik Kafur, also raided the Madurai Meenakshi temple in 1311. This was followed by several raids by other sultans between 1334 and 1370, which resulted in significant destruction of the temple. It was later rebuilt and expanded in the 16th century by the Nayak dynasty.
Vijayanagara empire protected south India from muslim invasions. They acted as buffer state between the sultans and the deep south. Vijayanagara rulers were conscious of their role as defenders of dharma. Ater the fall of Vijayanagar empire at Talikota (1565), deccan sultanates goal was weakening Vijayanagara, not expanding to Tamil Nadu. Thus, the South did not collapse after 1565. Talikota toppled a capital, not a civilization.
The rise of the Maratha Empire further protected southern temples by resisting and ultimately pushing back against Mughal advances in the Deccan.
Some invasions were conducted by only the governors or satraps who, after establishing their own domains, and were not always fully committed to the central Mughal agenda or couldn’t sustain large-scale campaigns so far south.
The South Indian temples survived Mughal invasions due to a combination of factors including the region’s geographic distance from the main centers of Mughal power, the use of durable stone in construction. So, South did not suffer much like the destruction of temples in the North. The Hindus of south are a little more tolerant lots than their counterparts of the north. But our education system mutes much of the bloody religious incursions.
The essence of history being to know one’s past with all the facts told without concealing. For reasons best known to the then rulers of post independent India, in our education system, it got mutilated beyond recognition. The truth was hidden from at least five generations. Let the truth be told; it was the future generations to assimilate and shape the next course!
