Hindu Temples: What Happened to Them v2.c19.s2.33

v2.c19.s2.33

The destruction of Hindu temples and their conversion into mosques was, as we shall see, a normal occupation for most of the Muslim rulers in medieval India. What adds a touch of pathos to the destruction and conversion of the Rudramahalaya is that its builder, Siddharaja JayasiMha, had become known to the Muslims as a protector of their places of worship in Gujarat. Many other Hindu rulers provided the same protection to their Muslim subjects, as is evident from the presence of Muslim populations and religious establishments in all leading towns of western, southwestern and northern India long before these towns were sacked and occupied by Islamic invaders. K.A. Nizami has devoted a long essay to this subject and named Lahore, Benares, Bahraich, Ajmer, Badaun, Kanauj, Bilgram, Gopamau and Koil (Aligarh), etc., in this context.²³ Other sources point to Muslim presence in the towns of Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The doings of Siddharaja JayasiMha have, however, found place in a Muslim history. *Jamiu-l Hikayat*, written by Muhammad Ufi who lived at Delhi in the reign of Shamsud-Din Iltutmish (AD 1210-36). The writer was a great collector of anecdotes regarding persons, places and events. He wrote: