The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c12.s6.7

c12.s6.7

To the Indian world of his day Mahmud was a veritable devil incarnate—a daring bandit, an avaricious plunderer and wanton destroyer of Art. He plundered many dozens of our flourishing cities; he razed to the ground great temples which were wonderful works of art; he carried thousands of innocent women and children into slavery; he indulged in wanton massacre practically everywhere he went; and, above all, he forcibly converted hundreds of our unwilling people to Islam. A conqueror who leaves behind desolate towns and villages and dead bodies of innocent human beings cannot be remembered by posterity by any other title.