Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States

Eaton, Richard M.

doi:10.1093/jis/11.3.283

Cited by 100 publications

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“…Another instance cited by historians is the order issued in the 12 th year of his reign which Akbar And Aurangzeb-The "Saint" And The DOI: 10.9790/0837-2203050110 www.iosrjournals.org 7 | Page mandated "destruction of all schools and temples of the infidels and to put down their religious teachings and practices". The order is cited in a passage from the Ma'athir-i 'Alamgiri which goes -"Orders respecting Islamic affairs were issued to the governors of all the provinces that the schools and places of worship of the irreligious be subject to demolition and that with the utmost urgency the manner of teaching and the public practices of the sect of these misbelievers be suppressed" (Eaton, 2001, p. 74) . The order did not state that schools or places of worship be demolished, but rather that they be subject to demolition, implying that local authorities were required to make investigations before taking action.…”

Section: ) After His Accessionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The order did not state that schools or places of worship be demolished, but rather that they be subject to demolition, implying that local authorities were required to make investigations before taking action. More importantly, the sentence immediately preceding this passage provides the context in which we may find the order's overall intent (Eaton, 2001, p. 74). On April 8, 1669 Aurangzeb's court received reports that in Thatta, Multan and especially in Benares Brahmins in "established schools" had been engaged in teaching "false books" to the masses and that both "Hindu and Muslim" admirers had been travelling over great distances to study the "ominous sciences" taught by this "deviant group" (Eaton, 2001, p. 74).…”

Section: ) After His Accessionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More importantly, the sentence immediately preceding this passage provides the context in which we may find the order's overall intent (Eaton, 2001, p. 74). On April 8, 1669 Aurangzeb's court received reports that in Thatta, Multan and especially in Benares Brahmins in "established schools" had been engaged in teaching "false books" to the masses and that both "Hindu and Muslim" admirers had been travelling over great distances to study the "ominous sciences" taught by this "deviant group" (Eaton, 2001, p. 74). Thus the court was more interested in curbing a certain kind of teaching within the imperial domain and the order called for investigations of institutions which propagated such teachings rather than the general destruction of temples all over the empire.…”

Section: ) After His Accessionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the king derived legitimacy to rule by claiming descent from the state deity and supposedly his power is drawn from the presence of the deity and the temple in the kingdom. This relationship between king, god, temple and land in early medieval India is apparent from a passage in the Brhatsamhita-"If a Shiva linga, image, or temple breaks apart, moves, sweats, cries, speaks, or otherwise acts with no apparent cause, this warns of the destruction of the king and his territory" (Eaton, 2001, p. 65). Considering politically charged relationship between a royal Hindu patron and his client temple, later rulers like the Delhi Sultans and the Mughals were aware that even if the earlier ruling classes accepted the ruler's suzerainty, there always remained the possibility and occasional suspicion that the temple's latent political significance might be activated in times of rebellion and provide a platform to further the interests of the patron.…”

Section: ) After His Accessionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Akbar And Aurangzeb- The “Saint” And The “Villain”?

Khaund¹

2017

IOSR JHSS

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Abstract;-Akbar and Aurangzeb-the 'saint' and the' villain' of the Mughal episode of India's history. Such an oversimplified view has tended to distort understanding of India's past and is often based on narrow and onesided examination of historical facts. Was Aurangzeb really the evil, bigot ruler who led the empire built by his ancestors on the basis of alliances with indigenous elements to decline? Were the discriminatory policies of jiziya and temple desecration carried out with the aim of waging war against idolatry or they had underlying shrewd political motives? Wasn't he an able administrator and a pragmatic ruler as compared to his other brothers, especially Dara? If tyranny of the past is judged by today's terms then even Akbar doesn't escape from the scaffold. It should be kept in mind that the policies of bigotry either by Hindu or Muslim rulers are actually part of Machiavellian political and administrative strategies.

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Section: ) After His Accessionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ) After His Accessionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ) After His Accessionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ) After His Accessionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Akbar And Aurangzeb- The “Saint” And The “Villain”?

Khaund¹

2017

IOSR JHSS

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“…On another level, the construction of a mosque or church over a pre-existing sacred building can be more an expression of divinely sanctioned political domination than a reflection of either a 'low' or 'high' analysis of the past. Recent studies of Islamicization in India, for example (Eaton 2001) have suggested that the appropriation of temple wealth was a greater driving factor behind temple destruction than the more commonly cited Islamic revulsion at idolatry. It is interesting to note that the less violent method of religious appropriation, whereby certain aspects of the past are assimilated in order to facilitate conversion, also conforms to a 'low' analysis, although its success depends on posing as a 'high' analysis.…”

Section: Continuity V Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeology of religious change: introduction

Shaw¹

2013

World Archaeology

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This issue explores archaeology's contribution to the study of religious change, transmission, interaction and reception. While the study of how certain religious traditions move into new areas and relate to pre-existing religious, cultural, political and economic structures has been dominated by sociology, anthropology and comparative religion, archaeology has made significant contributions to the field. The aim of this volume is to bring together recent field-based research on the material correlates of religious change. Of particular interest are those studies which look beyond the traditional ritual-based focus of religious change, to its wider economic, political or 'practical' ramifications.The resulting papers encompass a broad chronological and geographical scope, ranging from the fifth millennium BC to the sixteenth century AD, and including case studies from Australia, the Indian subcontinent, South America, Scandinavia, Spain and northern England. Eight out of a total of ten papers deal with three of the major 'religions of the book', Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, and their interaction with pre-existing traditions; the remaining two deal with the origins of prehistoric religions in northern Europe (Bradley and Numara), while Eeckhout focuses on early Peruvian traditions prior to European contact. Religion as 'worldview'Many of the contributors have problematized the narrowness of the term 'religion' as an etic, and culturally specific, concept which fails to encompass adequately the diverse levels of human existence into which its influence extends. Graham et al. stress that prior to European contact the Maya had no word for a separate entity that was equivalent to such a term and that, rather than 'religion', we should speak of the Maya 'worldview': religious change is actually change in worldview, which in this context includes decisions over warfare and the treatment of the dead. They argue that many aspects of Christian ritual were not too unfamiliar to the Mayas, but that what was novel to them was the Spanish attitude towards warfare and in particular the religious sanctioning of killing 'under the umbrella of war'. The fundamental contradictions between Christian and Maya concepts of victory, the former being based on mass killing, the latter on the taking of captives, led to the Spanish maintaining the upper hand as the Mayas were unable to 'win' without

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Countering the Narratives of Destruction: Textual Evidence and the Tradition of Heritage Preservation in Islam

Olaniyan

Bello

2022

50 Years World Heritage Convention: Shared Responsibility – Conflict &Amp; Reconciliation

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The relationship between Islam and cultural heritage preservation continually comes under scrutiny. This is because of vicious attacks on heritage and artefacts by groups laying claim to Islamic tenets and texts to justify their action. Thus, under this pretext, heritage sites and cultural actors and icons, are eliminated. Why is this so? What is the position of Islam on heritage preservation? How can the narratives of destruction be countered? This chapter interrogates these questions. It argues that the narratives of destruction derive from poor interpretations of the texts and traditions of Islam in respect of cultural heritage. Several monuments in the Islamic world also predate the establishment of Islam. The study brings out textual facts and traditions to counter the narratives of violent elements such as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Al-Qaida, Boko Haram, Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

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Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States

Cited by 100 publications

References 0 publications

Akbar And Aurangzeb- The “Saint” And The “Villain”?

Akbar And Aurangzeb- The “Saint” And The “Villain”?

Archaeology of religious change: introduction

Countering the Narratives of Destruction: Textual Evidence and the Tradition of Heritage Preservation in Islam

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