This is Part III of the series of articles on destruction of Hindu Temples by Muslims.

Here too, I shall continue to provide the vast amount of literary evidence available to us. This evidence is taken directly from the books written by Muslim Historians themselves who glorify the horrific deeds of their Islamic heroes.

Name Of The Book: Nuh Siphir
Name of the Historian: Amir Khusru
About the Author: The above mentioned book is the fourth historical mathnavi which Amir Khusru wrote when he was 67 years old. It celebrates the reign of Sultan Mubarak Shah Khalji.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:

1. Sultan Mubarak Shah Khalji (AD 1315-1320)
   Warrangal (Andhra Pradesh)
   "They pursued the enemy to the gates and set everything on fire. They burnt down all those gardens and groves. That paradise of idol-worshippers became like hell. The fire-worshippers of "Bud" were in alarm and flocked round their idols.."

Name of the Book: Siyaru'l-Auliya
Name of the Historian: Sayyed Muhammed bin Mubarak bin Muhammed
About the Author: He was the grandson of an Iranian merchant who traded between Kirman in Iran and Lahore. The family travelled to Delhi after Shykh Farid's death and became devoted to Shykh Nizamu'd-din Auliya.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:

1. Shykh Mu'in al-Din Chisti Ajmer (AD 1236)
   Ajmer (Rajasthan)
   "..Because of his Sword, instead of idols and temples in the land of unbelief now there are mosques, mihrab amd mimbar. In the land where there were the sayings of the idol-worshippers, there is the sound of 'Allahu Akbar'...The descendants of those who were converted to Islam in this land will live until Day of Judgement; so too will those who bring others into the fold of Islam by the sword of Islam. Until the Day of Judgement these converts will be in debt of Shaykh al-Islam Mu'in al-din Hasam Sijzi..."

Name of the Book: Masalik'ul Absar fi Mamalik'ul Amsar
Name of the Historian: Shihabu'd-Din 'Abu'l Abbas Ahmed bin Yahya.
About the Author: He was born in AD 1301. He was educated in Damascus and Cairo. He is considered to be a great man scholar of his time and author of many books. He occupied high positions in Syria and Egypt.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:

1. Sultan Muhammed bin Tughlaq (AD 1325-1351)
   "The Sultan is not slack in Jihad. He never lets go of his spear or bridle in pursuing jihad by land and sea routes. This is his main occupation which engages his eyes and ears. Five temples have been destroyed and the images and idols of "Budd" have been broken, and the lands have been freed from those who were not included in the daru'l Islam that is, those who had refused to become zimmis. Thereafter he got mosques and places of worship erected, and music replaced by call to prayers to Allah... The Sultan who is ruling at present has achieved that which had not been achieved so far by any king. He has achieved victory, supremacy, conquest of countries, destruction of the infidels, and exposure of magicians. He has destroyed idols by which the people of Hindustan were deceived in vain..."

Name of the Book: Rehala of Ibn Battuta
Name of the Historian: Shykh Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Lawatt at-Tanji al-Maruf be Ibn Battuta.
About the Author: He belonged to an Arab family which was settled in Spain since AD 1312. His grandfather and father enjoyed the reputation of scholars and theologians. He himself was a great scholar who travelled extensively and over many lands. He came to India in 1325 and visited many places. He was very fond of sampling Hindu girls from different parts of India. They were presented to him by the Sultan Mohammed bin-Tughlaq with whom Ibn Battuta came in close contact. He also married Muslim women wherever he stayed and divorced them before his departure.

1. His Travel description:
   (Delhi)
   "Near the eastern gate of the mosque, lie two very big idols of copper connected together by stones. Every one who comes in and goes out of the mosque treads over them. On the site of this mosque was a bud Khana that is an idol-house. After the conquest of Delhi, it was turned into a mosque..."

Name of the Book: Tarikh-i-Firuz
Name of the Historian: Shams Siraj Alif
About the Author: The author became a courtier of Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq and undertook to complete the aforementioned history of Barani who had stopped at the sixth year of Firuz Shah's reign.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:

1. Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (AD 1351-1388)
   Puri (Orissa)
   "The Sultan left Banarasi with the intention of pursuing the Rani of Jajnagar, who had fled to an island in the river...News was then brought that in the jangal were seven elephants, and one old shoe-elephant, which was very fierce. The Sultan resolved upon endeavouring to capture these elephants before continuing the pursuit of the Rai... After the hunt was over, the Sultan directed his attention to the Rai of Jajnagar, and entering the palace where he dwelt he found many fine buildings. It is reported that inside the Rai's fort, there was a stone idol which the infidels called Jagannath, and to which they paid their devotions. Sultan Firoz, in emulation of Mahmud Subuktign, having rooted up the idol, carried it away to Delhi where he placed it in an ignominious position."
   
   
2. Nagarkot Kangra(Himachal Pradesh)
   "..Sultan Muhammed Shah bin Tughlaq and Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq were sovereigns especially chosen by Almighty from among the faithful, and in their whole course of their reigns, wherever they took an idol temple they broke and destroyed it.."
   Delhi
   "A report was brought to the Sultan that there was in Delhi an old Brahmin who persisted in publicly performing the worship of idols in his house; and that people of the city, both Musalmans and Hindus, used to resort to his house to worhsip the idol. the Brahmin had constructed a wooden tablet which was covered within and without with paintings of demons and other objects..An order was accordingly given that the Brahmin, with his tablet, should be brought into the presence of the Sultan at Firozabad. the judges and doctors and elders and lawyers were summoned, and the case of the Brahaman was submitted for their opinion. Their reply was that the provisions of the Law were clear: the Brahmin must either become a Musalman or be burned. The true faith was declared to the Brahmin, and the right course pointed out, but he refused to accept it. Orders were given for raising a pile of faggots before the door of the darbar (court). The Brahmin was tied hand and foot and cast into it ; the tablet was thrown on top and the pile was lighted. The writer of this book was present at the darbar and witnessed the execution. The tablet of the Brahmin was lighted in two places, at his head and at his feet; the wood was dry and the fire first reached his feet, and drew him a cry, but the flames quickly enveloped his head and consumed him. Behold the Sultan's strict adherence to law and rectitude, how he would not deviate in the least from its decrees !"

Here Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq glorifies his own criminal acts in Bharat as sanctioned by the "holy" Koran.
Name of the Book: Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi
Name of the Historian: Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq
About the Author: Sultan had got the eight chapters of his work inscribed on eight slabs of stone which were fixed on eight sides of the octagonal dome of a building near the Jami Masjid at Firuzabad.

1. Prayers of Temple-destroyers in this Book
   "The next matter which by God's help I accomplished, was the repetition of names and titles of former sovereigns which had been omitted from the prayers of Sabbaths and Feasts. The names of those sovereigns of Islam, under whose happy fortune and favour infidel countries had been conquered, whose banners had waved over many a land, under whom idol-temples had been demolished, and mosques and pulpits built and exalted..."
   
   Delhi and Evirons
   "The Hindus and idol-worshippers had agreed to pay the money for toleration (zar-i zimmiya) and had consented to the poll-tax(jiziya) in return for which they and their families enjoyed security. These people now erected new idol-temples in the city and the enviorns in opposition to the law of the Prophet which declares that such temples are not to be tolerated. Under divine guidance I destroyed these edifices and I killed those leaders of infidelity who seduced others into error, and the lower orders I subjected to stripes and chastisement, until this abuse was entirely abolshed. the following is an instance: In the viallge of Maluh, there is a tank which they call kund (tank). Here they had built idol-temples and on certain days the Hindus were accustomed to proceed thither on horseback, and wearing arms. their women and children also went out in palankins and carts. Then they assembled in thousands and performed idol-worship....when intelligence of this came to my ears my religious feelings propmted me at once to put a stop to this scandal and offence to the religion of Islam. On the day of the assembly I wnet there in person and I ordered that the leaders of these people and the promoters of this abominations should be put to death. I destroyed their idol-temples and instead thereof raised mosques."
   
   Gohana (Haryana)
   "Some Hindus had erected a new idol-temple in the village of Kohana and the idolators used to assemble there and perform their idolatrous rites. These people were seized and brought before me. I ordered that the perverse conduct of the leaders of this wickedness should be publicly proclaimed, and that they should be put to death before the gate of the palace. I also ordered that the infidel books, the idols and the vessels used in their worship, which had been taken with idols, should all be publicly burnt. The others were restrained by threats and punishments, as a warning to all men, that no zimmi could follow such wicked practices in a Muslaman country."

Name of the Book: Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi
Name of the Historian: Yahya Ammad bin Abdullah Sirhindi
About the Author: The author lived in the reign of Sultan Muizu'd-Din Abu'l Fath Mubarak Shah (AD 1421-1434) of the Sayyid dynasty which ruled at Delhi from AD 1414-1451.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:

1. Sultan Shamsu'd-Din Iltutmish (AD 1210-1236)
   Vidisha and Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh)
   "In AH 631 he invaded Malwah, and after supressing the rebels of that place, he destroyed that idol-temple which had existed there for the past three hundred years. Next he turned towards Ujjain and conquered it, and after demolishing the idol-temple of Mahakal, he uprooted the statue of Bikramajit together with all other statues and images which were placed on pedestals, and brought them to the capital where they were laid before the Jami Masjid for being trodden under foot by the people