It was in the last quarter of the 12th century when Muhammad Ghuri renewed the attacks on India. His idea was not merely to raid the areas, but to retain his conquests and then build his empire therein. When he engaged in the Battle of Tarain in 1191, he met with fierce opposition from Prithiviraj Chauhan who managed to get help from his fellow Rajput kings.

Prithiviraj actually defeated and captured Muhammad Ghuri, but following the Rajput martial code, he released him. But Muhammad did not have the same respect, and
returned with a larger army in 1192 and defeated and killed Prithiviraj, thus taking the kingdom of Delhi.

Thereafter, he attacked Ajmer in 1192 after he had defeated Prithiviraj Chauhan. The Islamic record of Hasan Nizami, Taj-ul-Ma, describes that in Ajmer the Sultan destroyed all of the temples and built mosques in their places, along with colleges to teach the precepts of Islam.

The next year he attacked and defeated Jayachandra of Kanauj, which was followed by the usual slaughter of people, rape of women, and destruction of temples.

Hasan Nizami rejoices in his records that during the attack of Asni and Varanasi (Benares) they destroyed 1000 temples and built mosques in their places.

In Ibn Asir’s Kamil-ut-Tawarikh, it says that the killing of Hindus was immense; none were spared except the women and children, and the carnage of men went on until the earth was weary. The women were taken as slaves and sold all over the Islamic world.

The Buddhist temples at Sarnath were also destroyed and the Buddhist monks were killed.

Source : Stephen Knapp-Crimes Against India, Image Credit : Tutorial At Home

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