Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c3.3

c3.3

As I have said, Mr. Law begins with Sulṭān Maḥmūd of Ghaznī. He was the son of a Turkish slave, and a great iconoclast. A village in Afghanistan is still known by the name of Būtkhāk, or Idol-dust, because Maḥmūd is said there to have had Hindu idols broken to pieces. Maḥmūd is, perhaps, chiefly remembered nowadays for his rapacity, and for his breach of promise to Firdausī; so far is it from being true that genius and priority of enterprise have the privilege of being able to commit great mistakes with impunity. The remark is made by Voltaire, who says, in his *Siècles de Louis XIV. et de Louis XV.*, “*C’est le privilege du vrai génie, et surtout du génie qui ouvre une carrière, de faire impunément de grandes fautes.*” Voltaire is here speaking of the Great Condé, and Count Noer applies it to Akbar with reference to his claim to Divine honours. But the remark is not satisfactory in respect of either of these heroes, and Voltaire is in himself a striking instance of its