History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.323

v7.c91.323

A few more striking examples of tolerance of other faiths and spirit of accommodation may be cited here. The great Hindu emperor Samudragupta allowed the building of a splendid three-storied convent at Bodh Gaya at the request of the Buddhist king Meghavarna of Ceylon about 360 A. D Vide 'Early History of India' by V. A. Smith (4th ed. of 1924 pp. 303-304), where the historian further points out that when Yuan Chwang visited Bodh Gaya, that convent was a magnificent establishment occupied by a thousand monks. One Muhammad Ufi relates an anecdote Though Mahomed of Gazni plundered Kathiawad and Gujarat several times and desecrated temples, the Hindus made a distinction between such invading and destructive marauders and peaceful Muslims residing in Gujarat for trade. Some Hindus at Cambay, being incited by some Parsis, destroyed a mosque and killed some Muslims. One Muslim that escaped approached the king Siddharāja with a petition. The king in disguise inquired into the matter, punished the offenders, gave to the Moslems one lakh of *Balotras* to rebuild the mosque and presented to the Khatib four articles of dress which were preserved in the mosque. Ufi declares that he never heard a story comparable to this. Vide Elliotts' History of India, Vol. II pp 162-163. The Somanath-Pattan Inscription (in I. A. Vol. XI p. 241) is a most remarkable document. A Muslim ship-owner from Hormuz acquired a piece of land in the sacred town of Somanath-pattan, built a mosque, a house and shops thereon. The purpose of the grant was to confirm the purchase and to provide for the application of the income from the shops for particular Moslem religious festivals to be celebrated by the Shia sailors of Somanath and to provide that the surplus left, if any, was to be made over to the sacred towns of *Mecca* and *Medina*. It is dated in four eras, first in Rasul Mahammad *sanaat* i e Hijra year 662, then Vikrama *samvat* 1320 (1264 A. D.), Valabhi year 945 and Simha samvat 151 (i e. probably of Cālukya Siddharāja Jayasimha ). Syrian Christians were given special privileges by generous Hindu rulers in South India.