History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s13.3

v3.c41.s13.3

We have already described in Chapter VI-16 how idolatry had drifted into bigotry at this time in India. The idolatry of the Hindus was a mystery to the philosophic mind of Al-Beruni, though even he notices how the whole human race in ancient times including even the Arabs was idolatrous. There were, however, sober men in India, candidly admits Al-Beruni, who did not worship idols. While commenting on the ludicrous views of the Hindus on the subject of idols, he states that these views were held by the common uneducated people. "Those who march on the path to liberation or who study philosophy and theology would never dream of worshipping an image manufactured to represent God. We may not give the stories of Ambarīsha and Nārada related by him to explain how Hindus took to making idols; but it is necessary to detail the several famous idols in India described by him. First there was the idol of the sun at Multan "It was of wood covered with red Cordovan leather with two rubies for the eyes. It was said to have been made in the last Kritayuga (i. e. 43 lakhs of years before). Mahomed Kasim who conquered Multan spared it as it was a source of great revenue. On the same place, however, he built a mosque. When Karmatians occupied Multan, Jālam Ibn Shaiban broke the idol and killed the priests. He shut the mosque built by the Caliphs and made the sun-god's mansion his (Karmatian) mosque. When the blessed king Mahmud swept away the Karmatian rule, he made again the old mosque the place of the Friday worship and left the Karmatian mosque to decay". This is a very interesting account about the temple of the sun-god of Multan and the vicissitudes of its fortune.