"The Nehru-Gandhi family’s relationship with Amethi started from the threshold of the Amethi royal house. Older people of Amethi say that the foundation of this relationship was laid a long time before Independence. This bond goes all the way back to the king of Amethi, Raja Madhav Bakhsh Singh, and the noted lawyer Motilal Nehru. Although Pandit Motilal Nehru was known for his advocacy and role in the freedom struggle, he was also known for his luxurious lifestyle."

"The Nehru-Gandhi family’s relation with Amethi has never been as egalitarian as it appears or has been made out to be. In a way, it has always been a party of satraps, landlords, heads of maths (Hindu monasteries) and middlemen."

"During the period of Government of Sultan Ibrahim, the Hindus were prohibited from openly worshipping idols, sounding nakus, and leaving their houses in the rainy season for the purpose of burning their dead on the banks of the river near the city. He also levied a tax on them, and at length, in the year of the Hijri 806 or AD 1403-04 ordered them to leave Jaunpur, and to take up their residence in its vicinity. Their houses were given to the professors of the faith, and the Hindus, being without friend or assistant, were obliged to abandon their homes and to reside in the circumjacent villages. This is quoted from Khair-ud-din's History of Jaunpur translated by Pogson and reported by Cunningham. ... Khair-ud-din, in his History of Jaunpur, observed that the Sultan then gave an order for the destruction of the Dewal (temple) A tala, the Dewal of Bijay Manda! and the Dewal of Chachakpur ... He also commended mosques should be built on their foundations. He continued that Bijay Mandai be converted into Khalis-Mukhlis and Chachakpur into Jhanjhari (chain like) masjid."

"The Mosque at Jaunpur : This was built by Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi with chiselled stones. Originally it was a Hindu temple after demolishing which he constructed the mosque. It is known as the Atala Masjid. The Sultan used to offer his Friday and Id prayers in it, and Qazi Shihabud-Din gave lessons in it… Jami (Masjid) at Etawah : This mosque stands on the bank of the Jamuna at Etawah. There was a Hindu temple at this place, on the site of which this mosque was constructed. It is also patterned after the mosque at Qanauj. Probably it is one of the monuments of the Sharqi Sultans. The Mosque at Qanauj : This mosque stands on an elevated ground inside the Fort of Qanauj. It is well-known that it was built on the foundations of some Hindu temple (that stood) here. It is a beautiful mosque. They say that it was built by Ibrahim Sharqi in H. 809 as is (recorded) in ‘Gharabat Nigar’."

"The work of demolition was so complete that hardly a vestige remains of this early epoch; but it is clear that Jaunpur must have been a place of considerable size, at any rate in the days of the last Hindu kings of Kannauj."

"The Jami Masjid is the largest masjid at Jaunpur ; its erection was ordered for the convenience of Hazrat Khwaja Is, who used to suffer much during his walk to the Khlis Mukhlis Masjid. The foundation was laid in A.H. 8i2, or A.D. 14-38 ; it is said that the date of the completion of the masjid was found in the words Masjid Jami us sliarq which were engraved on the front of the eastern gate. This would fix the date in A.H. 852 during the reign of Mahmud Shah Sharqi, According to some people, the inscription on the eastern gate was At Masjid Jami us sa’g', which would make the date A.H. 883, during the reign of Husain Shah. The plan of the Jami Masjid is essentially the same as that of the Atala Masjid; but there are many differences, of which the most remarked is the high platform on which it stands, all the other masjids being raised but little above the ground level. Another difference is the piling up the cloisters to the height of three storeys on each side of the gateway. The shafts of the pillars are all square and plain, and on many of them there are socket holes for iron cramps which tell their own tale of ha^dng been brought from some earlier Hindu temple. The masjid proper is 235 feet long by 59 feet broad."

"The oldest building in Jaunpur is the masjid of Ibrahim Naih Barhak in the fort ; it is a long narrow building of the early Bengali type, that is, a simple arcade supported on carved Hindu pillars, with three low domes in the middle."

"Thanks that by the guidance of the Everlasting and Living (Allãh), this house of infidelity became the niche of prayer (i.e. mosque). As a reward for that, the generous Lord, constructed an abode for its builder in paradise: The Pen of Reason wrote (the words): the mosque of Nawwãb Muhsin Khãn for the date of its construction."

"The Atala Masjid was the work of Ibrahim Shiih during the early part of his reign. It was built on the site of the Hindu temple of Atala Devi, which is said to have been erected by Jayachchhandra Deva (1175 — 1193), the last Rathor prince of Kanauj. Of all the masjids remaining at Jaunpur, the Atala Masjid is the most ornate and the most beautiful. .... As is proved by nine inscnptions found in the Atala Masjid, Piruz Shah commenced the appropriation of the Ataladevi temple in A.D. 1376 and Ibrahim Shah finished the Atala Masjid in A.D. 1408."

"The mosque at Sambhal was constructed in 1526 by Babur's General, Mir Hindu Beg. It was the largest built in the Delhi region since Timur's sack of the city in 1398... The choice of Sambhal was noteworthy. According to Hindu tradition... the last incarnation of Vishnu would appear in Sambhal at the end of the era... While recording this tradition of the Kalki avatar, Abul Fazl was careful not to divulge that the Hari temple had been destroyed and a mosque constructed at the site with its debris... The use of temple material in the Sambhal mosque is evident in the internal architecture of the building (e.g. two rosettes on stone slabs leading from the eastern gateway to the quadrangle; the chain for hanging the temple bell, and a passage at the back for the performance of parikarma by worshippers, are still visible.)"

"Earlier too it was a place of worship and even now it is a place of worship. ... After this, in place of tears, the heart comes out."

"In the city of Sambal is a temple called Hari Mandal (the temple of Vishnu) belonging to a Brahman, from among whose descendants the tenth avatar will appear in this spot."

"It was the hot-season when we came to Agra. All the inhabitants {khaldtq) had run away in terror. Neither grain for ourselves nor corn for our horses was to be had. The villages, out of hostility and hatred to us had taken to thieving and highway-robbery ; there was no moving on the roads."

"They call it Agra, mother, and those who come from those parts say there is not a finer city on earth."

"Praised be the august God of the faith of Islam, that in the auspicious reign of this destroyer of infidelity and turbulence [Aurangzeb], such a wonderful and seemingly impossible work was successfully accomplished. On seeing this instance of the strength of the Emperor’s faith and the grandeur of his devotion to God, the proud Rajas were stifled, and in amazement they stood like facing the wall. The idols, large and small, set with costly jewels, which had been set up in the temple, were brought to Agra, and buried under the steps of the mosque of the Begam Sahib, in order to be continually trodden upon. The name of Mathura was changed to Islamabad."

"In the city of Agra there was a large temple, in which there were numerous idols, adorned and embellished with precious jewels and valuable pearls. It was the custom of the infidels to resort to this temple from far and near several times in each year to worship the idols, and a certain fee to the Government was fixed upon each man, for which he obtained admittance. As there was a large congress of pilgrims, a very considerable amount was realized from them, and paid into the royal treasury. This practice had been observed to the end of the reign of the Emperor Shah Jahan, and in the commencement of Aurangzeb's government; but when the latter was informed of it, he was exceedingly angry and abolished the custom. The greatest nobles of his court represented to him that a large sum was realized and paid into the public treasury, and that if it was abolished, a great reduction in the income of the state would take place. The Emperor observed, 'What you say is right, but I have considered well on the subject, and have reflected on it deeply; but if you wish to augment the revenue, there is a better plan for attaining the object by exacting the jizya. By this means idolatry will be suppressed, the Muhammadan religion and the true faith will be honoured, our proper duty will be performed, the finances of the state will be increased, and the infidels will be disgraced.' 'This was highly approved by all the nobles; and the Emperor ordered all the golden and silver idols to be broken, and the temple destroyed."

"The magnificence of the court of the Great Moguls at Delhi and Agra is one of the most splendid traditions of the East."

""The city of Agra is a great place, swarming with fanatics and fierce devil-worshippers of all sorts. Our handful of men were lost among the narrow, winding streets. Our leader moved across the river, therefore, and took up his position in the old fort of Agra. I don't know if any of you gentlemen have ever read or heard anything of that old fort. It is a very queer place — the queerest that ever I was in, and I have been in some rum corners, too. First of all it is enormous in size. I should think that the enclosure must be acres and acres. There is a modern part, which took all our garrison, women, children, stores, and everything else, with plenty of room over. But the modern part is nothing like the size of the old quarter, where nobody goes, and which is given over to the scorpions and the centipedes. It is all full of great deserted halls, and winding passages, and long corridors twisting in and out, so that it is easy enough for folk to get lost in it. For this reason it was seldom that anyone went into it, though now and again a party with torches might go exploring."

"It is also notable that when Sir Syed Ahmed Khan founded the Aligarh Muslim University in 1875, it banned admission to low caste Muslims."

"Maratha documents show that one of their main objectives was the liberation of the sacred cities of Ayodhya, Varanasi and Prayag. In the year 1751, Maratha armies led by Malhar Rao Holkar defeated the Pathan forces in Doab and immediately after victory, requested Safdarjang to handover Ayodhya, Kashi and Prayag to the Peshwa."

"At least five thousand years before Akbar, this area was the habitat of Ilā, the daughter and eldest child of Manu. ... Ilā moved out to Pratiṣṭhānapura, next to the virgin land where Akbar was to build his divine city. This is where her son Purūravas founded the Lunar Dynasty. ... The Vedic seers rightly glorified their ancestress Ilā, who became a goddess and member of a typical goddess triad: Ilā, Bhāratī and Sarasvatī. ... In the spirit of this new religion, Akbar called the city he founded Ilāhābād, “city of the deity”, “divine city”. It lay on one of the most sacred places of Hinduism, the saṅgam (confluence) of Gaṅgā en Yamunā. The British interpreted the name wrongly as Allāhābād.. So many cities have already been renamed, and I will presently propose to rename Ilāhābād as well, viz. as, well, Ilāhābād. It can retain its name, that saves us all the renaming on road maps, street signs and letterheads. Only, it would get a new interpretation: “city of Ilā”. So, after her, this city’s name should be re-analyzed as Ilā-h-ābād, “city of Ilā”."

"A gentlemen president from the upper strata of society, his upbringing seldom allowed anger and prejudices to get the better of him. He was also staunch Congressman, with a deep sense of commitment to secularism...later in life he had to contend with being called "communal" because he tried to attract young Muslims who had been educated at Aligarh Muslim University – a campus then perceived to be influenced by the communal ideas of the Muslim League – to the Congress."

"“The Sultãn moved with the armies of Islãm towards Prayãg and Arail with the aim of destroying the infidels, and he laid waste both those places. The vast crowd which had collected at Prayãg for worshipping false gods was made captive. The inhabitants of Karã were freed from the mischief of rebels on account of this aid from the king and the name of this king of Islãm became famous by this reason.”"

"'There was a certain tribe in the neighbourhood of Kol which had' occasioned much trouble' 'Three bastions were raised as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcases became the food of beasts of prey. That tract was freed from idols and idol-worship and the foundations of infidelity were destroyed'."

""Qutb-ud-Din, whose reputation for destroying temples was almost as great as that of Muhammad, in the latter part of the twelfth century and early years of the thirteenth, must have frequently resorted to force as an incentive to conversion. One instance may be noted: when he approached Koil (Aligarh) in A. D. 1194, ' those of the garrison who were wise and acute were converted to Islam, but the others were slain with the sword '."

"The Mosque at Qanauj : This mosque stands on an elevated ground inside the Fort of Qanauj. It is well-known that it was built on the foundations of some Hindu temple (that stood) here. It is a beautiful mosque. They say that it was built by Ibrahim Sharqi in H. 809 as is (recorded) in ‘Gharabat Nigar’."

"Having read what was said by Cunningham as well as Neave, it would be useful to also see what Stanley Lane-Poole, wrote: Sultan Mahmud Ghazni fought his greatest campaign in 1018, and pushed further east than ever before. He marched upon Kanauj, the capital of the To mara rajas and then reputed the chief city of Hindus tan. The march was an orgy and an ovation... Kanauj was reached before Christmas. The raja had already fled at the mere bruit of the sultan's coming, and the seven forts of the great city on the Ganges fell in one day. Of all its gorgeous shrines not a temple was spared. Nor were the neighbouring princes more fortunate. 174 years later came another cataclysm this time perpetrated by Muhammad Ghauri in 1192. The Rathorsjled south to found a new principality at Marwar, and Kanauj and Benares became part of the empire of Ghor."

"The author's colleagues felt that he was being unduly mild while describing a major molestation of Hindu civilisation. They promptly showed the author Volume I of Cunningham's report. The author cannot help quoting, however sparingly, from what the most outstanding archaeologist of India reported: The Jama or Dina Masjid of Kanoj is cited by Fergusson (James Fergusson was a British architect who surveyed many buildings in north India during the 19th century) as a specimen of Hindu cloisters, which has been rearranged to suit the purposes of Muhammadan worship; and in this opinion I most fully concur ... it must originally have been the site of some Hindu building of considerable importance. This conclusion is partly confirmed by the traditions of the temple, who, however, most absurdly call the place Sita-ka-Rasui, or "Sita 's kitchen" ... When I first visited Kanoj in January 1838, the arrangement of the pillars was somewhat different from what I found in November 1862. The cloisters which originally extended all round the square, are now confined to the masjid itself, that is, to the west side only. This change is said to have been made by a Muhammadan Tahsildar shortly before 1857. The same individual is also accused of having destroyed all the remains of figures that had been built into the walls of the Jama and Makhdum Jahaniya masjids ... Also, the inscription over the doorway is said to have been removed at the same time for the purpose of cutting off a Hindu figure on the back of it. I recovered this inscription by sending for the present Tahsildar. The Gazetteer of Farrukhabad district edited and compiled by E.R. Neave, 15 ICS, 1911, is even more forthright. To quote: The iconoclastic fury of Mahmud Ghazni swept awa~ all the Hindu religious edifices of dates anterior to the tenth century, and later buildings of any size or importance are almost exclusively Muhammdan ... A luckily preserved copy of the much obliterated inscription over the entrance doorway shows that it was by Ibrahim Shah of Jaunpur that the building was regenerated in 1406 AD."

"In the year 409 H. (1018-19 A.D.), during the season of flowery spring, when the days and nights are equal, when the lord of vegetation leads his army of verdure and of odoriferous herbs over the deserts and gardens, and when from the temperature of the air of Ardibihisht,. and from the blowing of the morning breeze, he has subdued the citadels of the green rose-buds, Yaminu-d daula again formed the resolution of warring against the infidels of Hindustan. With an excellent anny of 20,000 volunteers, who, for the sake of obtaining the reward of making war upon infidels, had joined the mighty camp, he marched towards Kanauj, which was distant a three months journey. In the middle of his way he came upon an impregnable fort, which was the residence of a certain king possessed of bravery in war. When that [p. 152] king saw the multitudes of the warriors of the religion of the chief of the righteous, having come to the foot of the fort, he confessed the unity of God. .... The Sultan then directed his steps towards a fort which was in the possession of a certain infidel named Kulchand. Kulchand fought with the faithful, but the infidels were defeated; and Kulchand, through excessive ignorance, having drawn his dagger, first killed his wife and then plunged it into his own breast, and thus went to hell. Out of the country of Kulchand the dependents of Yaminu-d daula obtained 185 elephants. .... From that place the Sultan proceeded to a certain city, which was accounted holy by the people of the country. In that city the men of Ghaznin saw so many strange and wonderful things, that to tell them or to write a description of them is no easy matter. There were a hundred palaces made of stone and marble, and the Sultan, in writing a description of these buildings to the nobles at Ghaznin, said “that if anyone wished to make palaces like these, even if he expended a hundred thousand times thousand dinars, and employed experienced superintendents for 200 years, even then they would not be finished. Again, they found five idols of the purest gold, in the eyes of each of which there were placed two rubies, and each of these rubies was worth 50,000 dinars: in another idol there were sapphires, which weighed 600 drachms. The number of silver idols upon the spot was more than 100.5 In short, Sultan Mahmud, having possessed himself of the booty, burned their idol-temples, and proceeded towards Kanauj.... Jaipal, who was the King of Kanauj, hearing of the Sultan’s approach, fled, and on the 18th of Sha’ban, of [p. 153] the year above mentioned, Yaminu-d daula, having arrived in that country, saw on the banks of the Ganges seven forts, like those of Khalbar, but, as they were destitute of brave men, he subdued them in one day. The Ghaznivides found in these forts and their dependencies 10,000 idol-temples, and they ascertained the vicious belief of the Hindus to be, that since the erection of those buildings no less than three or four hundred thousand years had elapsed. Sultan Mahmud during this expedition achieved many other conquests after he left Kanauj,6 and sent to hell many of the infidels with blows of the well-tempered sword. Such a number of slaves were assembled in that great camp, that the price of a single one did not exceed ten dirhams."

"The Sultan advanced to the fortifications of Kanauj, which consisted of seven distinct forts, washed by the Ganges which flowed under them like the ocean. In Kanauj there were nearly ten thousand temples, which the idolaters falsely and absurdly represented to have been founded by their ancestors two or three hundred thousand years ago. They worshipped and offered their vows and supplications to them in consequence of their great antiquity. Many of the inhabitants of the place fled and were scattered abroad like so many wretched widows and orphans, from the fear which oppressed them, in consequence of witnessing the fate of their deaf and dumb idols. Many of them thus effected their escape, and those who did not fly were put to death. The Sultan took all seven forts in one day, and gave his soldiers leave to plunder them and take prisoners."

"When Muhammad later took Kanauj, in A. D. 1017, he took so much booty and so many prisoners that the fingers of those who counted them would have tired '."

"Then a scion of the Gupta line, Harsha-Vardhana, recaptured northern India, built a capital at Kanauj, and for forty-two years gave peace and security to a wide realm, in which once more native arts and letters flourished. We may conjecture the size, splendor and prosperity of Kanauj from the one unbelievable item that when the Moslems sacked it (1018 A.D.) they destroyed 10,000 temples. Its fine public gardens and free bathing tanks were but a small part of the beneficence of the new dynasty."

"Kanauj, writes he (Alberuni), was “a very large place”, but “most of it is now in ruins and desolate”. He thus confirms the statement of AI Masudi, quoted earlier, that at one time Kanauj was very populous and prosperous, but he knew of its destruction in 1018-19 ; hence the remark."

"Mahmud broke temples and desecrated idols wherever he went. The number of temples destroyed by him during his campaigns is so large that a detailed list is neither possible nor necessary. However, he concentrated more on razing renowned temples to bring glory to Islam rather than waste time on small ones. Some famous temples destroyed by him may be noted here. At Thaneshwar, the temple of Chakraswamin was sacked and its bronze image of Vishnu was taken to Ghazni to be thrown into the hippodrome of the city. Similarly, the magnificent central temple of Mathura was destroyed and its idols broken. At Mathura there was no armed resistance; the people had fled, and Mahmud had been greatly impressed with the beauty and grandeur of the shrines. And yet the temples in the city were thoroughly sacked. Kanauj had a large number of temples (Utbi’s ‘ten thousand’ merely signifies a large number), some of great antiquity. Their destruction was made easy by the flight of those who were not prepared either to die or embrace Islam. Somnath shared the fate of Chakraswamin."

"From that place the Sultan proceeded to a certain city, which was accounted holy by the people of the country. In that city the men of Ghaznin saw so many strange and wonderful things, that to tell them or to write a description of them is not easy' In short, the Sultan Mahmud having possessed himself of the booty, burned their idol temples and proceeded towards Kanauj.....The Ghaznivids found in these forts and their dependencies 10,000 idol temples, and they ascertained the vicious belief of the Hindus to be, that since the erection of these buildings no less than three or four hundred thousand years had elapsed. Sultan Mahmud during this expedition achieved many other conquests after he left Kanauj, and sent to hell many of the infidels with blows of the well tempered sword. Such a number of slaves were assembled in that great camp, that the price of a single one did not exceed ten dirhams."

"Kanauj was the capital of Hind, which the infidels regarded as their pole-star."

"An observation or two about the surviving Makhdum Jahaniya is necessary if an archaeological highlight is not to be missed in our report on Kannauj. The mosquecum- tomb is situated on a lofty mound or a peak, in what has come to be known as the Sikhana Mahalla. Apart from what has been briefly mentioned earlier, there is little that is noteworthy except what Cunningham reported. When he visited, there was inscribed on a panel on the back wall the name of Allah on a tablet suspended by a rope. He goes on: The appearance of the tablet and rope is so like that of the Hindu bell and chain that one is almost tempted to believe that the Muhammadan architect must have simply chiselled away the bolder points of the Hindu ornament to suit his own design. Incidentally, he goes on to say that during his 1838 visit: I had found a broken figure of Shasti, the goddess of fecundity, and a pedestal with a short inscription, dated in Sam vat 119 3, or A.D. 113 6. The people also affirm that a large statue formerly stood under a tree close by. All of these are now gone, but the fact that two of them were built into the entrance steps is sufficient to show that the mound on which the masjid stands must once have been the site of some important Hindu building. Moved by the rampant destruction that he saw as well as surmised, towards the end of his report on Kannauj, Cunningham says: The probable position of these Brahmanical temples was on the high mound ofMakhdum Jahaniya, in the Sikhana Mahalla which is about 700 feet to the south of the last mentioned mound in the Bhatpuri Mahalla. That this mound was the site of one or more Brahmanical temples seems almost certain from my discovery of a figure of Shasti, the goddess of fecundity, and of a pedestal. bearing the date of Sam vat 119 3 or AD 113 6."

"In AD 1016, when Mahmud of Ghazni approached Kanoj, the historian relates that he there saw a city which raised its head to the skies, and which in strength and structure might justly boast to have no equal. Just one century earlier, or in AD 915, Kanoj is mentioned by Masudi as the capital of one of the Kings of India, and about AD 900 Abu Zaid, on the authority of Ibn Wahab, calls Kaduge, a great city in the kingdom ofGozar. At a still earlier date in AD 634, we have the account of the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thasang, who describes Kanoj as being 20 li, or three and a quarter miles, in length, and 4 or 5 li, or three quarter of a mile, in breadth. The city was surrounded by strong walls and deep ditches, and was washed by the Ganges along its eastern face. The last fact is corroborated by Fa Hian, who states that the city touched the River Heng (Ganges) when he visited it in AD 400. Kanoj is also mentioned by Ptolemy, about AD 140, as Kanogiza. But the earliest notice of the place is undoubtedly the old familiar legend of the Puranas, which refers the Sanskrit name ofKanya-Kubja, or the hump-backed maiden to the curse of the sage Vayu on the hundred daughters of Kusanabha."

"Kinnouge, before the period of the Mahometan conquest, ranked amongst the most populous and opulent cities of Hindostan. It is mentioned in testimony of its grandeur, that Kinnouge contained thirty thousand shops for the sale of betle and afforded employment for six thousand female dancers and musicians. – A vast mass of ruins interspersed through a wide space, marks the ancient extent and grandeur of Kinnouge; though few distinct vestiges now exist, except some parts of a stone temple erected in ancient times to the honour of Setah, the wife of Ram, which has been exorcised by some zealous Mahometan, and converted into a place of worship."

"While describing ‘the conquest of Kanauj’, Utbi sums up the situation thus: ‘The Sultan levelled to the ground every fort…, and the inhabitants of them either accepted Islam, or took up arms against him.” ...According to Nizamuddin Ahmad, ‘Islam spread in this part of the country by the consent of the people and the influence of force’."

"Kanauj was the most important of the religious centres of early medieval India, the brahmanical capital of Madhyadesha, a very large city, consisting of seven fortresses (qilii', qal'ajiit), with a total of 10,000 'idolhouses' (buyut al-asniim, butkhiinahii), 'in which enormous treasure was collected', on the west bank of the Ganges, where 'kings and brahmans' (riiyiin-o-bariihima) from far away came to seek religious liberation and do worship 'in the tradition of their ancestors' (bi-taqlZd-i-asliij).141 'Utbi refers to the Kanauj ruler as 'the chief (muqaddam) of the kings of Hind'. It was, in effect, the capital of the Gurjara Pratiharas from 815 to 1019 AD, when it was sacked by Mahmud. By then the dynasty was already powerless. But Kanauj may well have been the wealthiest of Indian cities still. When the Muslim army approached, most of the inhabitants had taken refuge 'with the gods', i.e. in the temples. The city was taken possession of in one day, and emptied of its treasure. The 'idols' were destroyed; the 'infidels', 'worshipers of the sun and fire' Cubbiid ash-shams wa-l-niir), fleeing, were pursued by the Muslims, and great numbers of them were killed. Kanauj probably never recovered its status as sacred capital of the brahmans. In Biruni's time, Kanauj was still in ruins, and the reigning king had removed himself to the town of Bari, east of the Ganges. Later in the eleventh and twelfth century the city revived under a northern branch of the Rashtrakutas and then the Gahadavalas; it ceased to be of any real importance by 1193 AD, when the last of the Gahadavala kings was defeated."

"Ayodhya is the town of Lord Rama himself. Lord Rama himself has described the glory of Ayodhya “जन्मभूमि मम पूरी सुहावनि।।“ (janma bhoomi mama poori suhaavani) i.e“My birthplace Ayodhya is the city of supernatural beauty.”"

"Ayodhya is as holy to Hindus as Mecca to Muslims."

"Thereafter one should go to Gopratāra which is the best pilgrim place (tīrtha) on the Sarayū river where Rāma went to heaven with all his followers along with the splendour of that tirth. By the grace and efforts of Rāma, a man attains heaven by taking bath in Gopratāra and becomes pure from all sins."

"The excavations revealed that the settlement at Ayodhya began with a phase when a very distinctive and deluxe pottery called the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) had come into being... Without any break, the settlement continued through what are known as the Sunga, Kushan and Gupta periods."

"P. Carnegy has written that Ayodhyā is to the Hindus what Mecca is to the Mahomedon and Jerusalem to the Jews. R.T. Griffith, the celebrated translator of Vālmīki Rāmayana, was of the opinion that ‘Ajudhyā is the Jerusalem or Mecca of the Hindus’."

"All of them (temples at Hardwar and Ayodhya) are thronged with worshippers, even those that are destroyed are still venerated by the Hindus and visited by the offering of alms."

"[On the eve of the Mahāparinirvāna of Lord Buddha, Ānanda requested him in these words:] “Let it not be, Lord, that the Blessed One should pass away in this mean place, this uncivilized township in the midst of the jungle, a mere outpost of the province. There are great cities, Lord, such as Campa, Rajagaha, Savatthi, Saketa, Kosambi, and Benares. Let the Blessed One have his final passing away in one of those. For in those cities dwell many wealthy nobles and brahmans and householders who are devotees of the Tathagata, and they will render due honor to the remains of the Tathagata.”"

"Ayodhyā was like a divine city descended from heaven under the load of abundant pleasure. It was the best amongst all towns because of prosperity and looking like a śamī tree full of royal fire."

"Emperor Aurangzeb constructed two mosques in the Svargadvara area, where had stood two Vishnu shrines built by the Gahadavala kings - the Chandra Hari by Chandradeva's and the Dharma Hari (or Treta ka Thakur) by Jayachandra. The ruins of the mosque at Chandra Hari survive and "may still hide an inscription" that commemorated Chandradeva visit, just as the ruins of the mosque built by Aurangzeb at Dharma Hari revealed an inscription of Jayachandra. Small insignificant temples were subsequently constructed to commemorate the earlier shrines; they retained the names Chandra Hari and Dharma Hari."