Indian campaigns of Muhammad of Ghor

The Indian campaigns of Muhammad of Ghor were a series of invasions for 31 years (1175-1206) by the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor (r. 1173–1206) in the last quarter of the twelfth and early decade of the thirteenth century which lead to the widespread expansion of the Ghurid empire in the Indian subcontinent.

Quotes

Capture of Koil (1193)

• 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 beads, 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’…
  • Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) Sadru’d-Dîn Muhammad Hasan Nizãmî, Tãju’l-Ma’sîr Elliot and Dowson, Vol. II. pp. 224-31

Battle of Chandawar (1194)

• From that place [Asni] the royal army proceeded towards Benares ‘which is the centre of the country of Hind’ and here they destroyed nearly one thousand temples, and raised mosques on their foundations; and the knowledge of the law became promulgated, and the foundations of religion were established…
  • About the fight with the Rai of Banares and capture of Asni and of Benares. Hasan Nizami: Taju’l-Ma’sir, in Elliot and Dowson, Vol. II : Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians, 8 Volumes, Allahabad Reprint, 1964. pp. 219-223 Also quoted in Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts.

Siege of Bayana (1195)

• When Kutbu-d dîn beard of the Sultãn’s march from Ghazna, he was much rejoiced and advanced as far as Hãnsî to meet him… In the year AH 592 (AD 1196), they marched towards Thangar, and the centre of idolatry and perdition became the abode of glory and splendour…
  • Bayana (Rajasthan) Sadru’d-Dîn Muhammad Hasan Nizãmî, Tãju’l-Ma’sîr Elliot and Dowson, Vol. II. pp. 224-31

Siege of Kalinjar (1203)

• In the year AH 599 (AD 1202), Kutbu-d dîn proceeded to the investment Kãlinjar, on which expedition he was accompanied by the Sãhib-Kirãn, Shamsu-d dîn Altamsh… The temples were converted into mosques and abodes of goodness, and the ejaculations of bead-counters and voices of summoners to prayer ascended to high heaven, and the very name of idolatry was annihilated…
  • Kalinjar (Uttar Pradesh) Sadru’d-Dîn Muhammad Hasan Nizãmî, Tãju’l-Ma’sîr Elliot and Dowson, Vol. II. pp. 224-31

Kashi (Varanasi)

• From that place the royal army proceeded towards Benares, ‘which is in the centre of the country of Hind,’ and here they destroyed nearly one thousand temples, and raised mosques on their foundations; and the knowledge of the law became promulgated, and the foundations of religion were established; ‘and the face of the dinar and the diram was adorned with the name and blessed titles’ of the king. The Rais and chiefs of Hind came forward to proffer their allegiance. ‘The government of that country was bestowed on one of the most celebrated and exalted servants of the State,’ in order that he might distribute justice and repress idolatry.
  • About the sack of Benares by the forces of Muhammed of Ghor (comomander Q. Aibak). Hasan Nizami in Elliot and Dowson, Vol. II : Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians, 8 Volumes, Allahabad Reprint, 1964. (223ff) and quoted in part in Eck, D. L. (1999). Banaras: city of light. New York: Columbia University Press. Also quoted in Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. also in Jain, M. (2019). Flight of deities and rebirth of temples: Espisodes from Indian history.(Elliot and Dowson Vol. II: 223-224)

• Next year he [Muhammad of Ghor] defeated Jayachandra of Kanauj. A general massacre, rapine, and pillage followed. The Gahadvad treasuries at Asni and Varanasi were plundered. Hasan Nizami rejoices that in Benares which is the centre of the country of Hind, they destroyed one thousand temples and raised mosques on their foundations. According to Kamil-ut-Tawarikh of Ibn Asir, 'The slaughter of Hindus (at Varanasi) was immense; none were spared except women and children, and the carnage of men went on until the earth was weary.' The women and children were spared so that they could be enslaved and sold all over the Islamic world. It may be added that the Buddhist complex at Sarnath was sacked at this time, and the Bhikshus were slaughtered.
  • Kamil-ut-Tawarikh of Ibn Asir, in Sita Ram Goel, The Story of Islamic Imperialism in India

• 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 1194 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.
  • Jain, M. (2013). Rama and Ayodhya., p 106 (quoting Lannoy, Richard. 1999. Ba11arns Seen from Within, p 569,) also in Jain, M. (2017). The battle of Rama: Case of the temple at Ayodhya. ch 4