Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A (Socio, Phil) B.Sc. M. Ed, Ph.D.
Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India
“the Mohammedans used the greatest violence” and he asserted: “You know that the Hindu religion never persecutes. It is the land where all sects may live in peace and amity. The Mohammedans brought murder and slaughter in their train, but until their arrival peace prevailed.” (source: Complete Works – Swami Vivekananda volume 5 p. 190 and volume 8 p. 217).
The troubles of Mathura began with the Muslim invasions. The Muslim invaders found a great opportunity in the gold laden temples of India to amass wealth and discredit the native religions.The first to invade the city was Mahmud Ghazni in 1015 AD. . The original source of information respecting Mah- miid’s campaigns is the Tari’kh Yamini of Al Utbi, who was himself secretary to the Sultan, though he did not accompany him in his expeditions. He mentions by name neither Mathura nor Maha-ban, but only describes certain localities which have been so identified by Firishta and later historians He left behind him a trail of destruction. His army plundered the city and burnt the temples. They broke up several statues including a large golden image (probably of the Buddha or Krishna) weighing 98300 miskals or rapproximately456kilgorams and carried away a sapphire weighing 450 miskals or approximately 2.09 kilograms. .The Sultan obtained by this victory 185 fine elephants besides other booty.” In the neighboring holy city, identified as Mathura, ” he saw a building of exquisite structure, which the inhabitants declared to be the handiwork not of men but of Genii The town wall was constructed of hard stone, and had opening on to the river two gates, raised on high, and massive basements to protect them from the floods. On the two sides of the city were thousands of houses with idol temples attached, all of masonry and strengthened throuo-h- out with bars of iron ; and opposite them were other buildings supported on stout wooden pillars. In the middle of the city Avas a temple, larger and finer than the rest, to which neither painting nor description could do justice. The Sultan thus wrote respecting it :— ‘ If any one wished to construct a building equal to it, he would not be able to do so without expending a hundred million dinars, and the work would occupy two hundred years, even though the most able and experienced workmen were employed.’ Orders were given that all the temples should be burnt with naphtha and fire, and levelled with the ground.” The city was given up to plunder for twenty days. Among the spoil are said to have been five great idols of pure gold with eyes of rubies and adornments of other precious stones, together with a vast number of smaller silver images, which, when broken up, formed a load for more than a hundred camels. The total value of the spoil has been estimated at three millions of rupees ; while the number of Hindus carried away into captivity exceeded 5,000. Nizam-ud-din, Firishta, and the other late Muhammadan historians take for granted that Mathura was at that time an exclusively Brahmanical city. It is barely possible that such was really the case ; but the original authorities leave the point open, and speak only in general terms of idolaters, a name equally applicable to Buddhists. Many of the temples, after being gutted of all their valuable contents, were left standing; probably because they were too massive to admit of easy destruction. Some writers allege that the conqueror spared them on account of their exceeding beauty, founding this opinion on the eulogistic expressions employed by Mahmud in his letter to the Governor of Gazni quoted above. It is also stated that, on his return home, he introduced the Indian style of architecture at his own capital, where he erected a splendid mosque, upon which he bestowed the name of ‘ the Celestial Bride.’ But, how- ever much he may have admired the magnificence of Mathura, it is clear that he was influenced by other motives than admiration in sparing the fabric of the temples ; for the gold and silver images, which he did not hesitate to demolish, must have been of still more excellent workmanship.
Ghajni’s plunder and destruction did not dampen the spirit of the people of the city. While the new rulers of the Delhi Sultanate were busy spreading their empire, religious activity continued at Mathura though perhaps in a subdued manner. A brilliantly white temple of magnificent height was built in 12the century AD in the honor of Vishnu at the site of Krishna’s birth place . It was destroyed by the infamous Sikinder Lodi of the Delhi Sultanate 300 years later. of Sultan Sikandar Lodi ( 1516 A.D.), one of the most able and accomplished of all the occupants of the Dellii throne : ” He was so zealous a Musalman that he utterly destroyed many places of worship of the infidels, and left not a single vestige remaining of them. He entirely ruined the shrines of Mathura, that mine of heathenism, and turned their principal temples into saries and colleges. Their stone images were given to the butchers to serve them as meat-weights, and all the Hindus in Mathura were strictly prohibited from shaving their heads and beards, and performing their ablutions. He thus put an end to all the idolatrous rites of the infidels there; and no Hindu, if he wished to have his head or beard shaved, could get a barber to do it.”
During the reign of Akbar, Mathura witnessed some restoration activity. The temple of Radhakrishna (Krishna¬Janma¬bhoomi) was visited by at least two European travelers during the Mughal period. While Francois Bernier made a passing comment on the magnificent pagan temple at Mathura, Jean Baptiste Tavernier (1605 – 1689), described it at length interspersing his comments with his distaste for the native religion. At Mathura Tavernier saw a temple of immense height, which could be seen from a distance of six miles. It was built entirely with red sandstone, on an octagonal sandstone plinth. Its base was adorned with two rows of animal motifs in relief. The temple occupied half of it while the other half was empty. Two narrow staircases led to the main entrance of the temple and a choir. The temple had one large central dome and two smaller side domes. Its outer walls were covered with various. All the idols were dressed in richly embroidered clothes and adorned with pears and precious stones. A processional chariot was kept in the temple and used to carry the deities on ceremonial occasions through the streets of the city.
The reign of tolerance which Akbar had initiated was of very short duration ; for in 1636 we find Murshid Kuli Khan made a commander of 2,000 horse, and appointed by the Emperor Shah-jahan Grovernor of Mathura and Maha- ban with express instructions to be zealous in stamping out all rebellion and idolatry. But the climax of wanton destruction was attained by Aurangzeb,
the Oliver Cromwell of India, who, not content with demolishing the most sacred of its shrines, thought also to destroy even the ancient name of the city, by substituting for it Islampur or Islamabad. Thus it is only from the days when the Jats and Mahrattas began to be the virtual sovereigns of the country, that any series of monumental records exists.
Aurangazeb , the most infamous rulers of the Mughal dynasty, was notorious for his religious intolerance and fanatic zeal. He reversed the religious policies of his grand father Akbar and ordered for the destruction of several Hindu temples at Mathura and Varanasi .
In the very first year of his succession during the fast of Ramazan, the time when religious bigotry would be most infliamed, Aurangzeb had descended in person on Mathura. The temple, specially marked out for destruc- tion, was one built so recently as the reign of Jahaugir, at a cost of 33 lakhs, by Bir Sinh Deva, Bundela, of Urcha. The famous temple of Dehra Kesu Rai (Kesava Deo) was razed to the ground. Beyond all doubt this was the last of the famous shrines of Kesava Deva, of which further mention will be made hereafter. and in its place his provincial governor laid foundation for the building of a big mosque using its material which still stands today. His generals carried the temple deity to Agra, where it was broken into pieces and placed under the steps leading to the Nawab Begum Sahib’s mosque so that, in the words of the Mughal historians, the faithful could walk upon it and prove their faith. The name of Mathura was changed to Islamabad and remained so in the imperial documents of the Mughal era. To judge from the language of the author of the Maasir, its demo- lition was regarded as a death-blow to Hinduism. He writes in the following triumphant strain: — ” In a short time, with the help of numerous workmen, this seat of error was utterly broken down. Glory be to God that so difficult an undertaking has been successfully accomplished in the present auspicious reign, wherein so many dens of heathenism and idolatry have been destroyed.
Mathura witnessed another wave of mindless destruction during the invasion of Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Afghan ruler, who succeeded Nadir Shah in 1747 AD and led several expeditions into India with an ambition to establish his rule in the country. In 1757 he invaded India for the fourth time and plundered many holy cities including Mathura and Vrindavan. According to the chroniclers of his time, to terrorize the vanquished people, he offered a reward of five rupees to his soldiers for every Hindu massacred and raised mountains of slaughtered bodies unleashing a great terror. After accomplishing his bloody mission, this religious fanatic returned to his country with a rich booty and many thousands of captives. The Marathas who rose to prominence after the decline of the Mughal power, established normalcy in the land of Braj. They built new temples and provided a sense of security for the people in the region.
The British, who seized the power from the Mughals and the Marathas, established a cantonment at Mathura in 1830 under the supervision of a local Magistrate. Frederick Salmon Growse was one such Magistrate who had an unmatched curiosity in the history and culture of Mathura. He took an active interest in the restoration of many ancient temples in the city and left his impressions in a memoir . It is considered to be an authoritative source on the modern history of Mathura and its temples. Under the British rule, Mathura regained its glory and became a popular pilgrim center. Mathura and Vrindavan witnessed the emergence of many new temples, including a new temple at the birth place of Krishna adjoining the mosque that was raised during the reign of Aurganzeb. The Temples and Sacred Places of Mathura Following are some of the important temples located at Mathura Katra Kesha Dev temple. It is built over the place believed to be the prison cell where Lord Krishna was born. Standing adjacent to it is the Jama Masjid built by Abe¬In¬Nabir Khan, the local governor, in 1661 AD, on the ruins of the Keshav Deo temple destroyed under the instructions of Aurangazeb. Gita Mandir. A beautiful temple located on the MathuraVrindavan road it is frequented by many pilgrims. Its walls are inscribed with the verses of the entire Bhagavadgita. Dwarkadheesh Temple. Built by Seth Gokuldass of Gwalior in 1914, it is located within the city, near the Yamuna river, and considered to be the main temple of Mathura.
REFERANCE:
The British, who seized the power from the Mughals and the Marathas, established a cantonment at Mathura in 1830 under the supervision of a local Magistrate. Frederick Salmon Growse was one such Magistrate who had an unmatched curiosity in the history and culture of Mathura. He took an active interest in the restoration of many ancient temples in the city and left his impressions in a memoir . It is considered to be an authoritative source on the modern history of Mathura and its temples