"Banaras experienced its first Muslim attack in AD 1033, when troops of Ahmad Nialtagin, son of Mahmud of Ghaznavi, suddenly appeared before the city. Banaras was totally devastated in AD 1994 by a Ghurid force led by Qutubuddin Aibak. Hardly a shrine survived the onslaught. Buddhist presence was almost wholly wiped out with the havoc wrought at Sarnath. In the ensuing centuries of Muslim political ascendancy, Banaras' great temples were destroyed several times. The Banaras of the Puranic mahatmyas was completely obliterated; the Krittivasa, Omkara, Mahadeva, Madhyaameshvara, Vishvanath, Bindu Madhava, and Kaal Bhairava temples were all razed. In many cases, mosques were built with "calculated insolence" in their place and the sites closed to Hindus."
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Varanasi
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