Eaton thus seeks to dismiss the notion that various Muslim rulers in India wantonly engaged in destroying Hindu temples, allegedly driven by a theology of iconoclasm. Such a picture, he insists, cannot, sustained by evidence from original sources from the early thirteenth century onwards. Had instances of temple desecration been driven by a theology of iconoclasm, he argues, this would have committed Muslims in India to destroying all temples everywhere, including ordinary village temples, as opposed to the highly selective operation that seems actually to have taken place. In contrast, Eaton meticulous research leads him to believe that the original data associate instances of temple desecration with the annexation of newly conquered territories held by enemy kings whose domains lay on the path of moving military frontiers. Temple desecration also occurred when Hindu patrons of prominent temples committed acts of treason or disloyalty to the Indo-Muslim states they served. Otherwise, he notes, temples lying within Indo-Muslim sovereign domains, viewed normally as protected state property, were left unmolested.
This slim volume is a path-breaking book, a passionate protest against the horrendous uses to which the notion of the theology of iconoclasm has been put by contemporary Hindutva ideologues to justify murder in the name of avenging historical wrongs. It urgently deserves to be translated into various Indian languages and made readily available at a more affordable price.
That some Muslim kings did indeed destroy certain Hindu temples is an undeniable fact, which even most Muslims familiar with medieval history would readily concede. However, as this remarkable book by the noted historian Richard Eaton points out, extreme caution needs to be exercised in accepting the claims of medieval historians as well as in interpreting past events in terms of today%u2019s categories. Failure to do this, he says, has resulted in the construction of the image of all Muslims as allegedly fired by an irrepressible hatred of Hindus, a gross distortion of actual history.
The notion of the Muslim Sultan as temple-breaker, Eaton says, derives essentially from history texts written by British colonial administrators, who, in turn, drew upon Persian chronicles by Muslim historians attached to the courts of various Indian Muslim rulers. Eaton argues that British colonial historians were at pains to project the image of Muslim rulers as wholly oppressive and anti-Hindu, in order to present British rule as enlightened and civilized and thereby enlist Hindu support. For this they carefully selected from the earlier Persian chronicles those reports that glorified various Muslim Sultans as destroyers of temples and presented these as proof that Hindus and Muslims could not possibly live peacefully with each other without the presence of the British to rule over them to prevent them from massacring each other. Although some of these reports quoted in British texts were true, many others were simply the figment of the imagination of court chroniclers anxious to present their royal patrons as great champions of Islamic orthodoxy even if in actual fact these rulers were lax Muslims.
Central to the diverse memories of Hindus and Muslims in India about the history of Hindu-Muslim relations are incidents or claims of the destruction of Hindu temples by Muslim rulers. These memories are a defining element in the construction of contemporary communal identities. Some Muslims see medieval Muslims Sultans who are said to have destroyed temples as valiant heroes who struggled against Brahminism, idolatry and polytheism. For many Hindus, these very kings are the epitome of evil and godlessness.
The theme of the iconoclast Muslim Sultan is routinely put to use for political mobilization by communal forces, as so tragically illustrated in the case of the Babri Masjid controversy, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people. Not content with that, Hindutva forces are on record as declaring that they aim at destroying or capturing some 30,000 mosques and Muslim shrines, which, they claim, were built on the sites of Hindu temples allegedly destroyed by Muslim rulers. Hindutva literature is replete with exhortations to Hindus to avenge the misdeeds, both real and imaginary, of medieval Muslim kings, including destruction of temples. This propaganda and the communal mobilization that it has provoked have resulted in a sharp deterioration of inter-communal relations in recent years.
RE:TERROR & HATE ACADEMIES - BAL SHISHU PATHSHALAS AND, VIDYA BHARTI SCHOOLS
by Truth Finder on Apr 08, 2007 08:30 PM Permalink
Why are you crying? Is Mullah put their Bamboo Ass in your pant. They already put bamboo to Bush and Blair. Wait Bamboo Ass is coming.
RE:Bal Shishu Mandirs, Saraswathi Shishu Mandirs, Vidiya Bharati Schools, Etcs. Are Terrorist Factories. Banned them all. Send all of them to Madarasa
by Truth Finder on Apr 08, 2007 08:28 PM Permalink
Why are so terrified, did i not telll the truth. They Mullah did the bamboo to Bush and Blair. They will put bamboo ass to you also. Wait and feel.
RE:Bal Shishu Mandirs, Saraswathi Shishu Mandirs, Vidiya Bharati Schools, Etcs. Are Terrorist Factories. Banned them all. Send all of them to Madarasa
by CG NAIR on Apr 09, 2007 06:17 PM Permalink
Dear friend, you see only one side of the story. Have you not noticed the postings of Mr. Mike Gandhi, Mr. Rafiuddin, etc which are full of hatred for the majority community? When you get a reply in the same coin, you cannot digest the same. Please try to understand that we are followers of a particular religion by the accident of birth. If I was born to Muslim parents, I would probably have been a devoute Muslim. We should believe in Humanism and the basic goodness of all human beings rather than fighting in the name of Religion. Please remember what Karl Marx said more than 150 years ago:"Religion is the opium of masses" Please be vigilant enough not to fall into the hands of vested interests (be of majority or minority)trying to exploit us in the name of Religion.
RE:Bal Shishu Mandirs, Sarwasthi Shishumandirs, Vidiya Bharati Schools funded by the Government.
by CG NAIR on Apr 09, 2007 09:28 AM Permalink
Dear friend, you see only one side of the story. Have you not noticed the postings of Mr. Mike Gandhi, Mr. Rafiuddin, etc which are full of hate for the majority community? When you get a reply in the same coin, you cannot digest the same. Please try to understand that we are followers of a particular religion by the accident of birth. If I was born to Muslim parents, I would probably have been a devoute Muslim. We should believe in Humanity and the basic goodness of all human beings rather than fighting in the name of Religion. Please remember what Karl Marx said more than 150 years ago about religion: "Religion is the opium of masses"
