86 quotes found
"The power of the Marathas already established in the South, began to be extended to the North, so that by the middle of the eighteenth century, Rustam Ali, who was compelled to “travel from city to city in search of employment and subsistence”, writes in his Tarikh-i-Hind (composed C.E. 1741-42) that “from the day he left Shah Jahanabad (Delhi), and travelled through the country of idolatry, it was here (at Bhopal) only that he found Islam to be predominant.”"
"Bhopal is known as the “city of lakes”; its name is a derivation of Bhoj Tal (“Bhoj’s Lake”), a lake constructed by Bhoj, a Hindu raja, in the 11th century."
"Bhopal is an old town with Moghul past...situated at the centre of India, surrounded by hills, forest and fields...has two large lakes, the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake built 1000 years ago."
"Bhopal has never been pastoral locale. It has drawn people into itself out of violent currents. It has been a place of migrancy, of continual upheaval and re-inscription. What has not changed is the way the poor of Bhopal are swept into grand narrations, in scripted roles. ... The city of Bhopal besides being the capital of Madhya Pradesh, is popularly known as the cultural capital of India. The city, situated in the plateau of Malwa in Central India, can be divided into three distinct areas. The old city, which was established during the reign of Nawabs, where most people are dependent on wage labour and petty trade for their livelihood. The New city where the government officers and staff quarters were built after Bhopal was made the capital of the State, is to the south of the Old City. Most of the residents of this part of the city are government officers and other employees. The industrial township of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is the third distinct segment of the city of Bhopal."
"During World War II, the locality of Bairagarh was a prisoner-of-war camp. After independence, the Bairagarh camp was used to house Hindu refugees from Pakistan. Muslims from across India also migrated to Bhopal in large numbers, seeking the security of the largest Muslim state after Hyderabad. In 1961, half of the residents of Bhopal were migrants. ... The city of Bhopal that stands today was established by Afghan chief Dost Mohammed Khan during Aurangzeb’s reign. Dost Mohammed carved out his own small kingdom. Muslim control over the city was sustained until independence, through collaboration with the British."
"Shaukat Mahal and Sadar Manzil, an architectural curiosity, is a mixture of styles in occidental idioms and sets it apart from the predominantly Islamic architecture of the area. It was designed by a Frenchman, said to be a descendant of an offshoot of the Bourbon kings of France. Post-renaissance and Gothic styles are combined to charming effect here."
"... 'Bhoj pal', which became Bhopal, was the nucleus of a walled city which the successive rulers improved continuously. Gates were built and named after the days of the week: Pir and Jumerati on the north side, Itwara and Budhawara on the east. Others were added to these four; Imami, Ginnori, Kila Darwaza. Until the rule of Qudsia Begum, the population consisted of mainly Afghan adventurers seeking military service and with no intention of settling down permanently. Things started to change in the mid-nineteenth century.... During the colonial era, the Begums and the Nawabs added many new buildings, mostly in the Old City, or in the adjoining northern area. Shah Jehan Begum initiated the Taj-ul-Masjid, the largest mosque in India, which started in 1887, being built on the model of Delhi’s Jama Masjid and was completed in the 1970s.Her daughter created the suburb of Ahmedabad.... the communalization of Bhopal politics and society remained limited. First the Hindu and Muslim intelligentsia shared one common grievance vis-à-vis the Nawab.... In 1934, local Hindus and Muslims launched together the Mulki movement whose motto was ‘Bhopal for Bhopalis’. Local Hindus and Muslims continued to join hands against the Nawab, when as Chancellor of the Chamber of Princes, he tried to defend his domination. He tied with rulers who wanted ‘to form an organization of those states which were scattered from Bhopal to Karachi’ with the support of Jinnah. Partition destroyed these plans. But then the Nawab of Bhopal resisted the merger of his state with the rest of the Indian Union. And like the 1930s with the Mulki movement, Hindus and Muslims rallied round the Congress to mobilise the masses in favour of such a merger. The Nawab conceded defeat in 1948, and Bhopal state became a Part C state of India in 1949.... Bhopal grew quickly after independence, especially after the city was made the capital of Madhya Pradesh in 1956... The relative communal harmony reflected forms of tolerance and syncretism symbolized by a practice that is today recalled with nostalgia by the elderly people in Bhopal…Certainly Hindu merchants were interested in communal peace also because their shops were often located in the vicinity of the three mosques of Bhopal, including Taj-ul-Masjid, which became the largest in India at the turn of the twentieth century... The communal peace which prevails in Bhopal is all the more remarkable as the city welcomes thousands of Muslim pilgrims every year when they come to celebrate Tabligi Ijtema, in the Taj-ul-Masjid."
"The Old Nawabi Jewel [Bhopal], today capital of Madhya Pradesh, brought to mind the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Nizami Hyderabad was the only Muslim state that outsized Bhopal. Both offer a rich built and culinary Nawabi heritage, and both offer glimpses of varieties of food eaten in all the corners of their respective states. ... Old Bhopal, like Old Delhi, is a Muslim city and takes its time waking up. Sensibly, its streets are widest awake by 7PM."
"Split by a pair of lakes, Bhopal offers two starkly contrasting cityscapes. In the north is the Muslim-dominated old city, a fascinating area of mosques and crowded bazaars. Bhopal’s population is 40% Muslim – one of India’s highest concentration of Muslims – and the women in black niqabs (veils) are reminders of the female Islamic rulers who built up Bhopal in the 19th century."
"I have resided in Delhi, Bhopal and Hyderabad (Deccan) for many years. In all these places I could hardly locate any temples left of the medieval period. Hindu learning was dependent on schools and Brahman teachers, and both were attached to temples mostly in urban areas. And all the three - schools, teachers and temples - were systematically destroyed."
"Tradition assigns to him [Raja Bhoj] the construction of the great lake in Bhopal that once covered the district of Tal. A village near the ancient embankment is called Bhojpur, and the word Bhopal, indeed it is said to be derived from Bhoj pal – pal signifying embankment. After a long reign it is probable that Bhoj died, near the close of the eleventh century."
"...a fascinating combination of a traditional city, rich in history, and a modern one, with a strong emphasis on urban planning and industrialization. Bhopal is informally divided into two parts – the Old City and the New Bhopal. The Old City (often referred to in Bhopal as just the 'City') is the one built and developed by the Begums of Bhopal.... You can see their legacy alive in all kinds of ways: in Bhopal’s zardosi work, a kind of embroidery done on bridal outfits, sherwanis, and purses; in the famous handicraft of batua, a small string purse usually used with Indian traditional clothes; even in the continuing popularity of shairi and poetry recitals and in the nafasat (or sophistication) of its old residents; or in nay recipes for the preparation of betel leaf or paan that are still consumed here... An integral part of old Bhopal culture are the eunuchs, who are intrinsic to the city’s public spaces and can still be seen roaming the streets and joining every major celebration."
"I am very, very happy to announce that for the first time, Dow is accepting full responsibility for the Bhopal catastrophe. We have a $12 billion plan to finally, at long last, fully compensate the victims, including the 120,000 who may need medical care for their entire lives, and to fully and swiftly remediate the Bhopal plant site. .... And I would also like to say that this is no small matter, Steve. This is the first time in history that a publicly owned company of anything near the size of Dow has performed an action which is significantly against its bottom line simply because it’s the right thing to do. And our shareholders may take a bit of a hit, Steve, but I think that if they’re anything like me, they will be ecstatic to be part of such a historic occasion of doing right by those that we’ve wronged."
"Of course, it was a multinational that caused this catastrophe. Of course they will deny causing it. Of course, it was a very poor and powerless population that was hit. Of course, they will not get the support to which they should have the right."
"The gas leakage from Union Carbide's plant (UC) in Bhopal, in 1984 is the largest industrial hazard ever experienced in the world. Over 500, 000 were exposed to the gases; between 3000 and 10,000 people died within the first weeks; and between 100,000 and 200,000 may have permanent injuries."
"The scene inside the factory was terrible. I saw dead bodies and injured people with foam coming out of their mouths. Since the gas leak we have all been sick. Because of this, my children couldn't study and now they can't get good jobs. Today I am the only breadwinner of the family. If this disaster would have taken place in America, the US government would have taken good care of their citizens. We want UC to take their waste back to America."
"Even today, 120,000 people exposed to the gas have chronic medical conditions."
"Bhopal is a calamity without end...Today, fully a quarter of a century later, victims of this, the world's worst industrial disaster, are still being born."
"We want to see a full clean-up of the disaster site and surrounding area, including the ground water aquifer – a huge undertaking, but reasonable considering this was the world's worst industrial disaster. The $470m compensation payout only ever pertained to people affected by exposure to the gas on that night. It does not, and never did, cover children born with terrible defects as a result of their parent's exposure; people being affected by the environmental or water contamination; and it does not cover the environmental contamination itself."
"Neither Union Carbide nor its officials are subject to the jurisdiction of the Indian court since they did not have any involvement in the operation of the plant... The government of India needs to address any ongoing medical and health concerns of the Bhopal people."
"Today, Bhopal is synonymous with that disaster - nothing else. All the publicity that's come out of this has been negative against multinationals."
"Mother Teresa’s timing shows every sign of instinctive genius. She possesses an intuition about the need for her message and about the way in which this message should be delivered. To take a relatively small example: In 1984 the Indian town of Bhopal was the scene of an appalling industrial calamity. The Union Carbide plant, which had been located in the town to take advantage of low labor costs and government tax incentives, exploded and spilled toxic chemicals over a large swath of the citizenry. Two and a half thousand persons perished almost at once, and many thousands more were choked by lung-searing emissions and had their health permanently impaired. The subsequent investigation revealed a pattern of negligence and showed that previous safety warnings at the plant had been shelved or ignored. Here was no “Act of God,” as the insurance companies like to phrase it in the fine print of their contracts, but a shocking case of callousness on the part of a giant multinational corporation. Mother Teresa was on the next plane to Bhopal. At the airport, greeted by throngs of angry relatives of the victims, she was pressed to give her advice and counsel, and she did so unhesitatingly. I have a videotape of the moment. “Forgive,” she said. “Forgive, forgive.” On the face of it, a strange injunction. How did she know there was anything to forgive? Had anybody asked for forgiveness? What are the duties of the poor to the rich in such a situation? And who is authorized to recommend, or to dispense, forgiveness?5 In the absence of any answer to these questions, Mother Teresa’s flying visit to Bhopal read like a hasty exercise in damage control, the expedient containment of righteous secular indignation."
"Mandu became the capital of the Muhammadan Sultãns of Mãlvã who set about buildings themselves palaces and mosques, first with material pilfered from Hindu temples (already for the most part desecrated and ruined by the iconoclastic fury of their earlier co-religionists), and afterwards with their own quarried material. Thus nearly all the traces of the splendid shrines of the ParamAras of MAlvA have disappeared save what we find utilized in the ruined mosques and tombs…"
"The date of the construction of the Hindola Mahall cannot be fixed with exactitude… There can, however, be no doubt that it is one of the earliest of the Muhammadan buildings in MãNDû. From its outward appearance there is no sign of Hindu workmanship but the repairs, that have been going on for the past one year, have brought to light a very large number of stones used in the structure, which appear, to have been taken from some pre-existing Hindu temple. The facing stones, which have been most accurately and smoothly cut on their outer surfaces, bear in very many cases on their inner sides the under faced images of Hindu gods, or patterns of purely Hindu design, while pieces of Hindu carving and broken parts of images are found indiscriminately mixed with the rubble, of which the core of the walls is made."
"“The transfer of the capital from Dhar to Mandu by Dilwar Khan in AH 794/AD 1392, marks a new phase in the development of Mosque architecture in Malwa. The Mosque built by him in C. AH 808/AD 1405-06 is oblong in ground plan, the western side being formed by the liwan. Its roof is supported by Hindu pillars…”"
"When sultan Mahmud led an expedition against the Hara Rajputs in 1454, he put many of them to the sword, “and sent their children into slavery at Mandu.”"
"[There are ] a number of impressive Jain sculptures along the cliffs of the ravine that were carved in the 1400’s. The biggest of them is image number 20 of Adinatha, which stands 17 meters tall. As we wander around the fort, some of the things we will see are the 9th century Teli-ka-Mandir, a tall Hindu temple that rises 75 feet high and is covered with carvings, and has an unusual design for a temple. There is also the Suraj Kund, a lake that cured Suraj Sen of leprosy after the hermit Gwalipa made Suraj drink from it. The Sasbahu temples are along the east wall, dating back to the ninth century. The larger one was once a Vishnu temple and the interior is especially interesting with pillars and walls covered with carvings."
"When the affairs of this tract was settled, the royal army marched, in the year 592 h., (1196 a.d.) "towards Galewar (Gwalior), and invested that fort, which is the pearl of the necklace of the castles of Hind, the summit of which the nimble-footed wind from below cannot reach, and on the bastion of which the rapid clouds have never cast their shade, and which the swift imagination has never surmounted, and at the height of which the celestial sphere is dazzled....."
"In compliance with the divine injunction of holy war, they drew out the bloodthirsty sword before the faces of the enemies of religion...Solankh Pal who had raised the standard of infidelity, and perdition, and prided himself on his countless army and elephants, and who expanded the fist of oppression from the hiding place of deceit, and who had lighted the flame of turbulence and rebellion, and who had fixed the root of sedition and enmity firm in his heart, and in the courtyard of whose breast the shrub of tyranny and commotion had shot forth its branches, when he saw the power and majesty of the army of Islam," he became alarmed and dispirited. " Wherever he looked, he saw the road of flight blocked up." He therefore " sued for pardon, and placed the ring of servitude in his ear," and agreed to pay tribute..."
"In the reign of the great Prince Alamgir, Like the full shining moon, The enlightener of the world, Praise be to God that this happy place, Was by Motamid Khan completed as an alms. It was the idol temple of the vile Gwali, He made it a mosque, like a mansion of paradise. The Khan of enlightened heart, Nay light itself from head to foot, Displayed the divine light, like that of mid-day, He closed the idol temple: Exclamations rose from earth to heaven, When the light put far away the abode of darkness,"
"At the same time the Sultan thought that though ‘Sultan Sikandar had led several expeditions for conquering the fort of Gwalior and the country attached to it but met with no success.’ Consequently he sent ‘Azam Humayun, the governor of Kara, with 300,000 horsemen and 300 elephants for the conquest of Gwalior… After some time the royal army laid a mine, filled it with gunpowder, and set fire to it. He entered the fort and took possession of it after the wall of the fort was breached. He saw there a bull made of brass, which the Hindus had worshipped for years. In keeping with a royal order, the bull was brought to Delhi and placed at the Baghdad Gate. It was still there till the reign of Akbar. The writer of this history saw it himself."
"An example, as to how the tradition lives in India through the ages, may be cited. Alexander Cunningham found during his stay in the Gwalior Fort ... an epigraph recording the construction of a Sun Temple at Gwalior... The Sun Temple mentioned in the inscription had supposedly been destroyed. But there existed on the eastern bank of the Suraj-Kund a small temple... The inscription mentioned purnima of the month of Karttika as the date of its consecration and, surprisingly, even after one and a half millenniums, the tradition was still alive and till late a fair was annually held here on the Karttika-Purnima and devotees used to worship in the temple with the water of the Suraj-Kund and this author was able to identify it mainly on the basis of this living tradition."
"Sultan Sikandar passed the rainy season of that year at agra. After the rising of the star Canopus, he assembled an army, and set forth to take possession of Gwalior and territories belonging to it. In a short space of time he took most of the Gwalior district, and after building mosques in the places of idol-temples returned towards Agra."
"“It so happened that Raja Man, the ruler of Gwalior who had been warring with the Sultans for years, went to hell. His son, Bikarmajit, became his successor. The Sultan captured the fort after a hard fight. There was a quadruped, made of copper, at the door of the fort. It used to speak. It was brought from there and placed in the fort at Agra. It remained there till the reign of Akbar Badshah. It was melted and a cannon was made out of it at the order of the Badshah.”"
"“…When the thought occurred to Sultan Ibrahim, he sent ‘Ãzam Humayun on this expedition… The Afghan army captured from the infidels the statue of a bull which was made of metals such as copper and brass, which was outside the gate of the fort and which the Hindus used to worship. They brought it to the Sultan. The Sultan was highly pleased and ordered that it should be taken to Delhi and placed outside the ‘Red Gate’ which was known as the Baghdad Gate in those days. The statue was so fixed in front of the ‘Red Gate’ till the time of the Mughal emperor, Akbar the Great, who ordered in AH 999 that it be melted down and used for making cannon as well as some other equipment, which are still there in the government armoury. The author of this history… has seen it in both shapes.”"
"'Next day, at the time of the noon prayer, we went out for seeing those places in Gwalior which we had not yet seen' Going out of the Hathipole Gate of the fort, we arrived at a place called Urwa'...'Solid rocks surround Urwa on three sides' On these sides people have carved statues in stone. They are in all sizes, small and big. A very big statue, which is on the southern side, is perhaps 20 yards high. These statues are altogether naked and even their private parts are not covered'...'Urwa is not a bad place. It is an enclosed space. Its biggest blemish is its statues. I ordered that they should be destroyed.'"
"“…The fortress of Badalgarh, which lies below the fortress of Gwaliar, a very lofty structure, was taken from Rai Man Singh and fell into the hands of the Muslims, and a brazen animal which was worshipped by the Hindus also fell into their hands, and was sent by them to Agra, whence it was sent by Sultan Ibrahim to Dihli, and was put over the city gate. The image was removed to Fathpur in the year AH 992 (AD 1584), ten years before the composition of this history, where it was seen by the author of this work. It was converted into gongs, and bells, and implements of all kinds.”"
"“…The Dehly army, arriving before Gualiar, invested the place… After the siege had been carried on for some months, the army of Ibrahim Lody at length got possession of an outwork at the foot of the hill, on which stood the fort of Badilgur. They found in that place a brazen bull, which had been for a long time an object of worship, and sent it to Agra, from whence it was afterwards conveyed to Dehly, and thrown down before the Bagdad gate (AH 924, AD 1518).”"
"Gwalior is one of the Vidyasthanas or seats of learning of the Digambara Jains and the fort contains one small Jain temple to Parasnath, and the remains of another Jain temple, both of the twelfth century...The only really important Jain remains are the five great collection of figures carved on the face of the rock itself, which were all executed between 1440 and 1473 during the sway of the Tonwara dynasty. Some of the figures are colossal, one in the group near Urwahi gate being 57 feet high. Babur noticed this figure and adds that he ordered all of them to be destroyed, but, as a matter of fact, only some of those most easily were partially mutilated, while others were destroyed later on by Muhammadan governors of the fort, and a large number by the Public Works Department, who in 1869 broke them up for use as road metal."
"In Ujjain (Ozene of Ptolemy’s geography) where there had been an astronomical laboratory and on the meridian of which town the ‘world summit’-originally an Indian conception-was supposed to lie."
"To describe all regions of the earth and to establish all local times would be tedious and unfeasible since, for innumerable times and for boundless regions, the meridians have been recorded with respect to Arin, in such a way that it would not be difficult to determine from this radix by geometrical and arithmetical rules the other places and times... if we are removed in longitude from this (place, namely Arin), then the distance between our place and the locality of Arin must be taken into account’ for calculating the mean positions of planets."
"From his Guru the student might pass, about the age of sixteen, to one of the great universities that were the glory of ancient and medieval India: Benares, Taxila, Vidarbha, Ajanta, Ujjain, or Nalanda. .... Ujjain was held in high repute for astronomy..."
"Ujjain, which used to be called Avantipura in the Sanskrit tradition, is located on the banks of the Shipra River. The Shipra flows into the Chambal River, which goes on into the Yamuna which flows into the Ganges. The most popular part of the Shipra River in Ujjain is along Ram Ghat where there are more small temples and shrines, mostly to Shiva, and is where many thousands of people gather during the Kumbha Mela festival to bathe in the river which is especially purifying at that time. Bathing in it is said to give liberation. Ram Ghat is also said to be where Lord Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana did pinda, or the funeral rites for Lord Rama’s father, Dasaratha. Ujjain is sacred for Shaivites due to the Mahakal temple. It is sacred for Shaktas due to the Siddhi Devi temple, and it is special for Vaishnavas because Lord Krishna went to school here at the Sandipani Ashrama."
"Ujjain becomes the sight of the huge Kumbha Mela festival every 12 years, starting on the full moon day in Chaitra (May-June) and lasts for a month. During the festival as many as three million pilgrims, and as of 2004 possibly 30 million, come from all over India to associate with other holy men and to bathe in the holy waters at the most auspicious time for spiritual purification. Besides this, there are a number of temples in this town that are worth visiting. Most of them are dedicated to Lord Shiva."
"[He] took the city of Oojein, where he destroyed a magnificent temple dedicated to Mahakaly, formed upon the same plan with that of Somnat. This temple is said to have occupied three hundred years in building, and was surrounded by a wall one hundred cubits in height. The image of Vikramaditya, who had been formerly prince of this country, and so renowned, that the Hindoos have taken an era from his death..."
"“When he advanced from the capital of Karra, the Hindus, in alarm, descended into the earth like ants. He departed towards the garden of Behar to dye that soil with blood as red as tulip. He cleared the road to Ujjain of vile wretches, and created consternation in Bhilsan. When he effected his conquests in that country, he drew out of the river the idols which had been concealed in it.”66"
"“From thence he advanced to Ujjain-Nagari and destroyed the idol-temple of Mahakal Diw. The effigy of Bikramjit who was sovereign of Ujjain-Nagari, and from whose reign to the present time one thousand, three hundred, and sixteen years have elapsed, and from whose reign they date the Hindui era, together with other effigies besides his, which were formed of molten brass, together with the stone (idol) of Mahakal were carried away to Delhi, the capital.”"
"Among his “Victories and Conquests” is counted the “bringing away of the idol of Mahakal, which they have planted before the gateway of the Jami’ Masjid at the capital city of Delhi in order that all true believers might tread upon it.”"
"“In AH 631 he invaded Malwah, and after suppressing the rebels of that place, he destroyed that idol-temple which had existed there for the past three hundred years.... “Next he turned towards Ujjain and conquered it, and after demolishing the idol-temple of Mahakal, he uprooted the statue of Bikramajit together with all other statues and images which were placed on pedestals, and brought them to the capital where they were laid before the Jami‘ Masjid for being trodden under foot by the people.”"
"…[He] also captured the city of Ujjain, and having destroyed the idol-temple of Ujjain which had been built six hundred years previously, and was called Mahakal, he levelled it to its foundations, and threw down the image of Rai Vikrmajit from whom the Hindus reckon their era… and brought certain other images of cast molten brass and placed them on the ground in front of the door of the mosque of old Dihli and ordered the people to trample them under foot…"
"“After the reduction of Gualiar, the King marched his army towards Malwa, reduced the fort of Bhilsa, and took the city of Oojein, where he destroyed a magnificent temple dedicated to Mahakaly, formed upon the same plan with that of Somnat. This temple is said to have occupied three hundred years in building, and was surrounded by a wall one hundred cubits in height. The image of Vikramaditya, who had been formerly prince of this country, and so renowned, that the Hindoos have taken an era from his death, as also the image of Mahakaly, both of stone, with many other figures of brass, were found in the temple. These images the King caused to be conveyed to Dehly, and broken at the door of the great mosque.”"
"“…In the year AH 631, he invaded the country of Mãlwah and conquered the fort of Bhîlsã. He also took the city of Ujjain, and had the temple of Mahãkãl… completely demolished, destroying it from its foundations; and he carried away the effigy of Bikramãjît… and certain other statues which were fashioned in molten brass, and placed them in the ground in front of the Jãmi’ Masjid, so that they might he trampled upon by the people.”"
"News came from Malwa that Wazir Khan had sent Gada Beg, a slave, with 400 troopers, to destroy all temples around Ujjain' A Rawat of the place resisted and slew Gada Beg with 121 of his men (1670)."
"..They have a place called Ujjayn with a large idol representing (Maha-kal). They take before him their needs in this lower world and the world beyond and from him learn charms (aza‘im). They do wonderful things saying that they all are from (Maha-kal’s) teaching... Some people come to worship him while for several days they refrain from food and humble themselves asking him for their needs. Some take an iron lamp and shaping its bottom like a spear place it on their palm and press it: until it has pierced the palm and made a hole in it. Then they light the lamp and kneel down on both knees before the idol with lamentation saying: “accept from us our visit to this house”"
"He (Iltutmish) sent, in A.H. 632 (1234 A.D.), the army of Islam towards Malwa and took the fort and city of Bhilsa. There was a temple there which was three hunqired years in building. It was about one hundred and five gaz high. He demolished it. From thence he proceeded to Ujjain, where there was a temple of Maha-kal, which he destroyed as well as the image of Bikramajit, who was king of Ujjain, and reigned 1316 years before his time. The Hindu era dates from his reign. Some other images cast in copp@r were carried with the stone image of Maha-kal to Dehli."
"He (Iltutmish) also captured the city of Ujjain, and having destroyed the idol-temple of Ujjain which had been built six hundred years previously, and was callled Mahakal, he levelled it to its foundations, and threw down the image... from whom the Hindus reckon their era."
"Bhilsan (Bhilsa, Vidisha) he (Alberuni) calls “a place most famous among the Hindus.”"
"After he returned to the capital in the year AH 632 (AD 1234) the Sultan led the hosts of Islam toward Malwah, and took the fortress and town of Bhilsan, and demolished the idol-temple which took three hundred years in building and which, in altitude, was about one hundred ells."
"“In AH 631 he invaded Malwah, and after suppressing the rebels of that place, he destroyed that idol-temple which had existed there for the past three hundred years...."
"“…In 631 (1233), Shamsuddin marched to Malwa and conquered the city of Bailsan and its fort and demolished its famous temple. The historians have narrated that its citizens built the temple by digging its foundation and raising its walls one hundred cubits from the ground in 300 years. All the images are fixed with lead. The temple is called Gawajit (?) (Vikramajit) Sultan of Ujjain Nagari. The history of the temple is a proof of what is said about its construction and demolition, that is, eleven hundred years. People of Hind are ignorant of history.”"
"Sages such as Sri Aurobindo who have meditated on Hindu iconography, and savants such as Ananda Coomara-swamy, Stella Kramrisch, and Alice Boner who have studied the subject, assure us that the forms and features of Hindu icons have a source higher than the normal reaches of the human mind. The icons are no photocopies of any human or animal forms as we find them in their physical frames. They are in fact crystallizations of the abstract into the concrete, of the infinite into the finite. They always point beyond themselves, and a contemplation of them always draws us from the outer to the inner. Hindu Šilpašãstras lay down not only technical formulas for carving holy icons in stone, and metal, and other materials. They also lay down elaborate rules about how the artist is to fast, and pray, and otherwise purify himself for long periods before he is permitted, if at all, to have a psychic image of the God or Goddess whom he wants to incarnate in a physical form. It is this sublime source of the Šilpašãstras which alone can explain a Sarnath Buddha, or a Chidambram Natarãja, or a Vidisha Varãha, to name only a few of the large assembly of divine images inhabiting the earth. It is because this sublime source is not accessible to modern sculptors that we have to be content with poor copies which look like parodies of the original marvels."
"“Afterwards he went towards Bhîlsã which country had been conquered for Islãm by Sultãn Shamsu’d-dîn (Altamsh), King of Delhî. Since eighteen years the estate of Bhîlsã had been subject to Silahdî, and the laws of Islãm had been changed there for the customs of infidelity. When the Sultãn reached the above place, he abrogated the ordinances of infidelity and introduced the laws of Islãm, and slew the idolaters and threw down their temples…”"
"“When he advanced from the capital of Karra, the Hindus, in alarm, descended into the earth like ants. He departed towards the garden of Behar to dye that soil with blood as red as tulip. He cleared the road to Ujjain of vile wretches, and created consternation in Bhilsan. When he effected his conquests in that country, he drew out of the river the idols which had been concealed in it.”"
"“ ’Alau’d-din at this time held the territory of Karra, and with the permission of the Sultan he marched to Bhailsan (Bhilsa). He captured some bronze idols which the Hindus worshipped and sent them on carts with a variety of rich booty as presents to the Sultan. The idols were laid before the Badaun gate for true believers to tread upon…”"
"“He permitted ‘Alauddin for a religious war in Bhilastan. Jalaluddin had marched to Mandu. ‘Alauddin influenced his uncle by the booty of the religious war. It was immense. It contained a Nandi idol carved in yellow metal and equal in weight to an animal. Jalaluddin ordered it to be placed at the entrance to the Gate of Delhi famous as Badaun Gate. He was pleased with ‘Alauddin and put the ‘Diwan-ul-‘Ard’ under his charge and added Oudh to Kara…”"
"About the same time Malik Alãu’d-Dîn, the nephew of the Sultãn, begged that he might have permission to march against Bhîlsah and pillage those tracts. He received the necessary orders, and went and ravaged the country and brought much booty for the Sultãn’s service. He also brought two brass idols which had been the object of the worship of the Hindus of these parts; and cast them down in front of the Badãûn Gate to be trampled upon by the people…"
"Among Indian secularists, the done thing is to deny the long history of Islamic temple-destruction. Government policy is to sweep the topic under the carper whenever it raises its head, as by fortuitous archaeological discoveries. Thus, at the Rudramahalaya complex in Siddhpur, Gujarat, ASI excavation work was stopped under Muslim pressure, when temple remains came to light. When a flood brought Hindu sculptures under and around the Bijamandal mosque in Vidisha (where four successive Hindu temples had been destroyed by Shamsuddin Iltutmish, Alauddin Khilji, Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and Aurangzeb) to the surface in 1991, the ASI was likewise prevented from excavating further."
"“One night during the monsoon of 1991, the rain was so heavy that it washed away the wall that was concealing the frontage of the Bijamandal mosque raised by Aurangzeb in 1682” in Vidisha, and “the broken wall exposed so many Hindu idols that the Archaeological Survey of India had no choice but to excavate”, as mentioned by Prafull Goradia: “Heritage hushed up”...."
"“In the year AH 692 (AD 1293), the King marched against the Hindoos in the neighbourhood of Mando, and having devastated the country in that vicinity, returned to Dehly. In the mean time, Mullik Allood-Deen, the King’s nephew, governor of Kurra, requested permission to attack the Hindoos of Bhilsa, who infested his province. Having obtained leave, he marched in the same year to that place, which he subdued; and having pillaged the country, returned with much spoil, part of which was sent to the King. Among other things, there were two brazen idols which were thrown down before the Budaoon gate of Dehly, to be trodden under foot...“Julal-ood-Deen Feroze was much pleased with the success and conduct of his nephew on this expedition, for which he rewarded him with princely presents, and annexed the province of Oude to his former government of Kurra.”"
"Jalaluddin Khalji led an expedition to Ranthambhor in 1291 AD. On the way he destroyed Hindu temples at Jhain. The broken idols were sent to Delhi to be spread before the gates of the Jama Masjid. His nephew Alauddin led an expedition to Vidisha in 1292 AD. According to Badauni, Alauddin “brought much booty to the Sultan and the idol which was the object of worship of the Hindus, he caused to be cast in front of the Badaun gate to be trampled upon by the people. The services of Alauddin were highly appreciated, the jagir of Oudh also was added to his other estates.”"
"The Bijamandal mandir was destroyed on orders of Aurangzeb in 1682 ce and a mosque built on its ruins. Alexander Cunningham, who visited Bhilsa in 1874 and 1876, wrote of the temple, Inside the town there is a stone Masjid called Bijay Mandir, or the temple of Bijay. The Hindu name is said to have been derived from the founder of the original temple, Bijay Rani. The temple was destroyed by the order of Aurangzeb, and the present Masjid was erected in its place; but the Hindus still frequent it at the time of the annual fair. By the Muhammadans it is called the Alamgiri Masjid, while Bhilsa itself is called Alamgirpur"
"Of the mosque built over that temple, the ASI recorded, This mosque is built on the site of, and in the main with the materials of a large old Hindu temple. The plinth of the temple is still to be seen underneath the mosque. Most of the numerous pillars, pilasters and lintels used in the building are carved in the Hindu and Jain style of the medieval period, and some also bear Sanskrit inscriptions. No doubt is thus left that the major portion of the materials with which the mosque is constructed were taken from one or more older temples. An inscription on one of the pillars mentions a temple of the goddess Charchika, which was perhaps identical with the demolished temple on the site of which the mosque now stands. The old temple, it is said, was built by Vijaya, a Baniya lady. This perhaps explains the reason why the mosque still goes by the Hindu name of Bijay mandal, which is nothing but a corrupt form of Vijaya- mandira."
"In 1991, heavy rains washed away the wall that concealed the frontage of the mosque. A large number of sculptural pieces, some as high as eight feet, were brought to light. They had been buried under a platform on the northern side, which was used as the Hall of Prayer, especially during Eid. The statues had remained concealed from the time of the destruction of the Bijamandal temple, almost three centuries earlier. The huge cache left the Archaeological Survey of India with little option but to excavate the site. However, it soon received instructions to stop all work. The name of the mosque, Bijamandal mosque, preserved its Hindu association."
"When the environs of Orchha became the site of the royal standards, an ordinance was issued authorising the demolition of the idol temple, which Bir Singh Deo had erected at a great expense by the side of his private palace, and also the idols contained in it…"
"At the Bundela capital the Islam-cherishing Emperor demolished the lofty and massive temple of Bir Singh Dev near his palace, and erected a mosque on its site."
"Chandiri I stormed in 934 A.H. (1528 A.D.) and, by God's pleasure, took it in a few hours; in it was Rana Sanga's great and trusted man Midni Rao, we made general massacre of the Pagans in it and, as will be narrated, converted what for many years had been a mansion of hostility, into a mansion of Islam."
"Why they had gone so suddenly off the walls seems to have been that they had taken the resolve of those who give up a place as lost; they put all ladies and beauties to death, then, looking themselves to die, came naked out to fight. Our men attacking, each one from his post, drove them from the walls whereupon 2 or 300 of them entered Medini Rao's house and there almost killed one another in this way: -- one having taken stand with a sword, the rest eagerly stretched out the neckblow. Thus went the greater number to hell. By God's grace this renowned fort was captured in 2 or 3 garis (cir. an hour), without drum and standard, with no hard fighting done. A pillar of pagan-heads was ordered set up on a hill north-west of Chanderi. A chronogram of this victory having been found in the words of Fath-i-daru'l-harb (Conquest of a hostile seat), I thus composed them: Was for a while the station Chandiri Pagan-full, the seat of hostile force; By fighting, I vanquished its fort, The date was Fath-i-daru'l-harb."
"The contemporary Tarikh-i-Babari describes how Babar’s troops “demolished many Hindu temples at Chanderi” when they occupied it."
"Similarly, when sultan Mahmud led an expedition against the Hara Rajputs in 1454, he put many of them to the sword, “and sent their children into slavery at Mandu.” In 1468 from the ravaged and burning town of Karahra (near Chanderi), 7,000 prisoners were taken."
"In AH 934 (AD 1528), I attacked Chanderî and, by the grace of Allãh, captured it in a few hours… We got the infidels slaughtered and the place which had been a dãru’l-harb for years, was made into a dãru’l-Islãm."
"Baburnama, Translated by S.A.A. Rizvi included in Mughal Kãlîna Bhãrata: Bãbur, Aligarh, 1960, p. 167"
"Professor Sri Ram Sharma cites from Tãrîkh-i-Bãburî that “His Sadr, Shaikh Zain, demolished many Hindu temples at Chanderî when he occupied it”."
"....before finally taking leave of the seven temples, I shall state my opinion, that they are most probably the finest aggregate number of temples congregated in one place to be met with in all India, and all are within a stone’s throw of one another (Burt 1840: 162-167)."
"“perhaps the largest group of costly Hindu temples that is now to be found in Northern India.”"
"The Moroccan traveller, Ibn Battuta (1304-1369) who visited Khajuraho in 1335, provided the earliest record of Muslim iconoclasm at the site. He wrote that at Kajarrti, ..there is a great pond about a mile in length near which are temples containing idols which the Muslims have mutilated. In the centre of that pond there are three cupolas of red stone, each of three storeys; and at the four corners of the pond are cupolas in which live a body of the jogis who have clotted their hair and let them grow so that they become as long as their bodies and on account of their practicing asceticism their colour had become extremely yellow. Many Musalmans follow them in order to take lessons from them. Itis said that, whoever is subjected to diseases like the leprosy or elephantiasis lives with them for a long period of time and is cured by the permission of God."
"We went from Parwan [Narwar] to Kajarra [Khajuraho], where there is a large tank about a mile long having on its banks temples with idols, which have been made examples of [i.e. mutilated] by the Muslims."