"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."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Sir Cunningham, quoted from Goradia, P. (2002). Hindu masjids.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kannauj
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Kannauj
Kannauj (formerly Cannodge) is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a modern form of the classical name Kanyakubja. It was also known as Mahodaya during the time of Mihira Bhoja
16 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Kannauj →
Related Quotes
"Kanauj, writes he (Alberuni), was “a very large place”, but “most of it is now in ruins and desolate”. He thus confir…"
"Then a scion of the Gupta line, Harsha-Vardhana, recaptured northern India, built a capital at Kanauj, and for forty-…"
"Kinnouge, before the period of the Mahometan conquest, ranked amongst the most populous and opulent cities of Hindost…"
"The Sultan advanced to the fortifications of Kanauj, which consisted of seven distinct forts, washed by the Ganges wh…"
"Mahmud broke temples and desecrated idols wherever he went. The number of temples destroyed by him during his campaig…"
"When Muhammad later took Kanauj, in A. D. 1017, he took so much booty and so many prisoners that the fingers of those…"
"While describing ‘the conquest of Kanauj’, Utbi sums up the situation thus: ‘The Sultan levelled to the ground every …"
"From that place the Sultan proceeded to a certain city, which was accounted holy by the people of the country. In tha…"
"Kanauj was the capital of Hind, which the infidels regarded as their pole-star."
"The author's colleagues felt that he was being unduly mild while describing a major molestation of Hindu civilisation…"