History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c17.10

v1.c17.10

Some of these ruins and thrown down images are graphically described by Sir W. Hunter and we will notice them in brief. They are still well preserved for “even the icono-clast fury of Islam and the vandalism of the English public works department have failed to obliterate the artistic magnificence of the Lion line. A well proportioned column rises above the jungle and bears traces of the impotent fury of the Mussulman troops. The Afghans tried to drag it down by chains and teams of elephants; but the barbarian conquerors of the sixteenth century found themselves unable to destroy the graceful Hindu creations of the tenth. They, however, managed to pull down the sacred Vulture (गरुड) which crowned its capital and the exquisite shaft lifts its dishonoured head in witness against a creed which sought the glory of God in the destruction of the finest works of man” (ditto p. 267).