Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c28.s12.2

v1.c28.s12.2

Some significance may however be attached to the provisional date of AD 1200 by referring to the collapse of the Hindu dynasties in the northern half of the sub-continent in the face of the onslaught of the invaders. With remarkable objectivity, Al-Birunī described the Indian scenario of AD 1030: “Mahmud utterly ruined the prosperity of the country . . . . Hindu sciences have retired far away from those parts of the country conquered by us”. By AD 1200, the invaders reached the eastern part of the sub-continent. In February 1199 Muhammad Bakhtyar invaded and sacked the Buddhist monastery of Odantapurī burning a great number of books in the library.