The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c20.12

c20.12

For the most part, such damage resulted from military operations; where it did not, the motive is to be sought, not in the conqueror’s religious zeal, but in his greed for precious metals. For, it is well known that a Hindu temple in those day and even now, contained fabulous amount of precious metals; in its inviolable sanctuary was deposited the treasure both of the people and the princes. India was a fabled country of gold; in point of fact, her export trade in manufactured goods enabled her to receive more of this metal than she sent out. The financial success of Mahmud’s campaigns rested, it was believed, on his systematic spoliation of the temples, and the story of the bejewelled idol of Somnath and the gold contained in its hollow, had passed into a universally believed tradition. And material wealth, not so much an enthusiasm for religion, which in any case sat lightly on him, irresistibly attracted the Turk, the child of the desolate central Asian steppe. It is not without significance that after the overthrow of the Gahdvala king, Muizzudin’s army marched to occupy, not the capital Kanouj, but Benares and Asni where the fallen king’s treasure was known to have been deposited. It was by the amount of wealth rather than his success in glorifying Islam that Muizzuddin’s achievements were estimated by the chronicler¹.