niranjan

He whose studies are regulated by reason, and whose reason followeth the scriptures, and who never abstaineth from paying respect to those that are good, is called a wise man. -- Vidura ( Mahabharatha )

Sril La Prabhupada was just joking and having a few laughs.He was not a scholar in biology . Evolution as a theory is well-grounded in Hinduism, and Swami Vivekenanda has substantiated this theory too as well .

The significance of the development of the positional number system is probably best described by the French mathematician Pierre Simon Laplace (1749 - 1827) who wrote: It is India that gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by the means of ten symbols, each symbol receiving a value of position, as well as an absolute value; a profound and important idea which appears so simple to us now that we ignore its true merit, but its very simplicity, the great ease which it has lent to all computations, puts our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions, and we shall appreciate the grandeur of this achievement when we remember that it escaped the genius of Archimedes and Apollonius, two of the greatest minds produced by antiquity.

Perpetration of the Armenian Genocide by Islamic terrorists It is estimated that more than one and a half million armenians were slaughtered by the Islamic terrorists during the armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. It is widely acknowledged to have been one of the first modern, systematic genocides, as many Western sources point to the sheer scale of the death toll as evidence for a systematic, organized plan to eliminate the Armenians. The event is also said to be the second-most studied case of genocide.To date twenty-one countries have officially recognized it as genocide. Process and camps of deportation The remaining bones of the Armenians of Erzinjan.The Armenians were marched out to the Syrian town of Deir ez-Zor and the surrounding desert. A good deal of evidence suggests that the Ottoman government did not provide any facilities or supplies to sustain the Armenians during their deportation, nor when they arrived. The Ottoman government also prevented the deportees from supplying themselves. By August 1915, the New York Times reported that "the roads and the Euphrates are strewn with corpses of exiles, and those who survive are doomed to certain death. It is a plan to exterminate the whole Armenian people." Ottoman troops escorting the Armenians not only allowed others to rob, kill and rape the Armenians, but often participated in these activities themselves. Deprived of all possessions and marched into the desert by a hostile and desperate foe, hundreds of thousands of Armenians perished. “ Naturally, the death rate from starvation and sickness is very high and is increased by the brutal treatment of the authorities, whose bearing toward the exiles as they are being driven back and forth over the desert is not unlike that of slave drivers. With few exceptions no shelter of any kind is provided and the people coming from a cold climate are left under the scorching desert sun without food and water. Temporary relief can only be obtained by the few able to pay officials ." On the Middle Eastern front, the British military engaged Ottoman forces in southern Syria and Mesopotamia. British diplomat Gertrude Bell filed the following report after hearing the account of a captured Ottoman soldier: “ The battalion left Aleppo on 3 February and reached Ras al-Ain in twelve hours....some 12,000 Armenians were concentrated under the guardianship of some hundred Kurds...These Kurds were called gendarmes, but in reality mere butchers; bands of them were publicly ordered to take parties of Armenians, of both sexes, to various destinations, but had secret instructions to destroy the males, children and old women...One of these gendarmes confessed to killing 100 Armenian men himself...the empty desert cisterns and caves were also filled with corpses... Influence of the Armenian Genocide on Adolph Hitler The Armenian Genocide is often speculated to have influenced Adolf Hitler, owing to his various references to the Ottoman killings of Armenians.The extent of Hitler's knowledge of the Armenian Genocide is unclear, though he did refer to their destruction several times. The most notable quote attributed to Hitler on the Armenians is excerpted from an August 1939 military conference, prior to the invasion of Poland: “ I have issued the command -- and I’ll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad -- that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formation in readiness -- for the present only in the East -- with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space [Lebensraum] which we need. Who, after all, speaks to-day of the annihilation of the Armenians? We must already be thinking of resettlement of millions of men from Germany and Europe. Migrations of people have always taken place. Are we really going to remain a nation of have-nots forever? We have the capacity to rouse and lead the masses against this situation. We intend to introduce a great resettlement policy; In 1923 little Greece could resettle a million men. Think of the biblical deportations and the massacres of the Middle Ages and remember the extermination of the Armenians. -- Adolph Hitler in an interview with Richard Breiting that apeared in the German daily newspaper Leipziger Neueste Nachrichten (4 May 1931) Quotes with respect to the Armenian Genocide The Sultan's proclamation [of war] was an official public document, and dealt with the proposed Holy War [Jihad] only in a general way, but about this same time a secret pamphlet appeared which gave instructions to the faithful in more specific terms...It was a lengthy document full of quotations from the Koran, and its stile was frenzied in its appeal to racial and religious hatred. It described a detailed plan of operations for the assassination and extermination of all Christians except those of German nationality. ---Henry Morganthau, in Secrets of the Bosphorus (1918) London, Hutchinson & Co. pp. 106-7. The Armenian population which is being expelled from its homeland is not only being subjected to the greatest misery but also to a total extermination (27 June 1915) — The manner in which the Armenian are being deported for resettlement purposes is tantamount to death a verdict for the affected people. (1 July 1915) — the time will come when Turkey will have to account for this policy of extermination (13 August 1915). ---Johann Markgraf Pallavicini, Austrian Ambassador to Turkey, 1906-1918. Thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians were killed in Turkey. Almost no one dares speak but me, and the nationalists hate me for that. ---Orhan Pamuk, Internationally recognized Turkish author, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (2006) in an interview with Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger (2005) Kill every Armenian man, woman, and child without concern. ----Mehmed Talat Pasha, Minister of the Interior, Otoman Empire (24 April 1915)

It is all western racist propaganda , in order to justify their own excesses and conceal them and to pursue their gross materialistic and imperialistic agendas. If you care to study the hindu scriptures and epics you will find that Rama, Krishna ,Arjuna, Abhimanyu , Draupadi, Drona ,Nakula , Damayanti were all described by the scriptures to be black-skinned. Same too with Lord Vishnu.

Persecution of Bahais by Islamic fundamentalists in Iran Posting an article that shows how Baha'is are being targeted in Iran by various groups in education as well as in business...this is evidence of a general concerted effort to put pressure on Baha'is and violates their rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights... Everyone should deplore this heinous acts committed against the bahais. I hope all those who read this urge their government to pressurize the Iranian government to stop perpetrating excesses against the Bahais, and not to violate their human rights. Here's the article: http://www.bahai.org/persecution/iran/update

I believe that logical and rational thinking in itself can devise solutions for terrorism as well. Well, Krishna went as an ambassador to the Kauravas for negotiations and to make peace. However when the negotiations failed, then there was no choice for the Pandavas but war. But it should be seen that Krishna and the pandavas made every effort for peace,and opted for war logically, when there was no option left.

PERSECUTION OF THE JAINS BY ISLAMIC TERRORISTS Islamic fundamentalists persecuted the adherents of the Jain religion , even though theirs is a noble religion that advocates strict non-violence towards all beings, including animals, even in the face of aggression. They were persecuted by the Islamic fundamentalists, especially during the times of Jahangir and Aurangzeb and Shivaji, the great Indian king and warrior , who fought against the Mughal imperialism in central India, protested against the persecution of the Jains by Aurangzeb. There is evidence of a large number of Jain temples being destroyed in the Muslim invasions of southern Bihar and Jharkhand as well as of western and northern Bengal, during the thirteenth and subsequent centuries in India.

Perpetration of the Pontic Greek genocide by Islamic terrorists http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontic_Greek_Genocide According to a German military attaché, the Ottoman Turkish minister of war Ismail Enver had declared in October 1915 that he wanted to "solve the Greek problem during the war... in the same way he believe[d] he solved the Armenian problem." The death toll according to various sources ranges from 300,000 to 360,000 Anatolian Greeks. According to the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, between 1916 and 1923, up to 350,000 Greek Pontians were killed in massacres, persecution and death marches.[16] Merrill D. Peterson cites the death toll of 360,000 for the Greeks of Pontus[17]. According to G.K. Valavanis[18], "The loss of human life among the Pontian Greeks, since the Great War (World War I) until March 1924, can be estimated at 353,238, as a result of murders, hangings, and from hunger, disease, and other hardships." Hannibal Travis, Assistant Professor of Law at Florida International University, wrote in the peer-reviewed journal Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal that: The Turks extended their policy of exterminating the Christians of the [Ottoman Empire] to the Armenians, Greeks, Syrians, and Lebanese.... According to an Associated Press report, of 500,000 Greeks deported from Thrace, in Asia Minor, an estimated 250,000, or half, died of disease and torture. Starting in 1910, the Ottoman Turks made about one million Greeks homeless and deported hundreds of thousands; as many as 300,000 Greeks died of hunger, disease, and the cold as a result. In the 1920s, the Turkish nationalists massacred about 200,000 more Christians, mostly Greeks, in cities such as Smyrna. Greek men became victims of murder, torture, and starvation; Greek women suffered all this and also became slaves in Muslim households; Greek children wandered the streets as orphans ‘‘half-naked and begging for bread’’; and millions of dollars’ worth of Greek property passed into Muslim hands. Ambassador Morgenthau accused the "Turkish government" of a campaign of "outrageous terrorizing, cruel torturing, driving of women into harems, debauchery of innocent girls, the sale of many of them at 80 cents each, the murdering of hundreds of thousands and the deportation to and starvation in the desert of other hundreds of thousands, [and] the destruction of hundreds of villages and many cities", all part of "the willful execution" of a "scheme to annihilate the Armenian, Greek and Syrian Christians of Turkey." http://www.helleniccomserve.com/remembrance.html http://members.fortunecity.com/fstav.../genocide.html

In the manu smriti , when it comes to stance of hereditary caste system, the verse below is believed to sanction support for vocational non-hereditary caste system. "As the son of Shudra can attain the rank of a Brahmin, the son of Brahmin can attain rank of a shudra. Even so with him who is born of a Vaishya or a Kshatriya" (X: 65) Paramahansa Yogananda also opposed what he called to the un-Vedic caste system as we know it today. He taught that the caste system originated in a higher age, but became degraded through ignorance and self-interest. Yogananda said: "These were (originally) symbolic designations of the stages of spiritual refinement. They were not intended as social categories. And they were not intended to be hereditary. Things changed as the yugas [cycles of time] descended toward mental darkness. People in the higher castes wanted to make sure their children were accepted as members of their own caste. Thus, ego-identification caused them to freeze the ancient classifications into what is called the ‘caste system.’ Such was not the original intention. In obvious fact, however, the offspring of a brahmin may be a sudra by nature. And a peasant, sometimes, is a real saint.”" —from Conversations with Yogananda, Crystal Clarity Publishers, 2003.

Persecution of Hindus by Islamic terrorists The Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent led to widespread carnage as Muslims regarding the Hindus as infidels slaughtered and converted millions of Hindus. Will Durant argued in his 1935 book "The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage" (page 459): “ The Mohammedan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. The Islamic historians and scholars have recorded with great glee and pride of the slaughters of Hindus, forced conversions, abduction of Hindu women and children to slave markets and the destruction of temples carried out by the warriors of Islam during 800 AD to 1700 AD. Millions of Hindus were converted to Islam by sword during this period. There is no official estimate of the total death toll of Hindus at the hands of Muslims. Estimates have stated that over 13 centuries and over the entire subcontinent, the number of Hindus that died at the hands of the Muslims goes up into the millions. There have been several occasions when the Bahmani sultans in central India (1347-1528) killed around 80,000-100,000 Hindus over a short period of time, which they set as a minimum goal, to their anti-Hindu campaigns. “ The massacres perpetuated by Muslims in India are unparalleled in history, bigger than the Holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis; or the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks; more extensive even than the slaughter of the South American native populations by the invading Spanish and Portuguese. ” Prof. K.S. Lal, suggests a calculation in his book Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India which estimates that between the years 1000 AD and 1500 AD the population of Hindus decreased by 80 million. Even those Hindus who converted to Islam were not immune to persecution, as per the Muslim Caste System in India as established by Ziauddin al-Barani in the Fatawa-i Jahandari. , where they were regarded as "Ajlaf" caste and subjected to severe discrimination by the "Ashraf" castes. By Arabs Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent began during the early 8th century, when the Umayyad governor of what is now Iraq, Hajjaj responded to a casus belli provided by the kidnapping of Muslim women and treasures by pirates off the coast of Debal, by mobilizing an expedition of 6,000 cavalry under Muhammad bin-Qasim in 712 CE. Records from the campaign recorded in the Chach Nama record temple demolitions, and mass executions of resisting Sindhi forces and enslavement of their dependents. This action was particularly extensive of Debal, of which Qasim is reported to be under orders to make an example of while freeing both the captured women and the prisoners of a previous failed expedition. Bin Qasim then enlisted the support of the local Jat, Meds and Bhutto tribes and began the process of subduing and conquering the countryside. Capture of towns was also usually accomplished by means of a treaty with a party from among his "enemy", who were then extended special privileges and material rewards.[5] However, his superior Hajjaj is reported at objecting to his method by saying that it would make him look weak and advocated a more hardline military strategy: “ It appears from your letter that all the rules made by you for the comfort and convenience of your men are strictly in accordance with religious law. But the way of granting pardon prescribed by the law is different from the one adopted by you, for you go on giving pardon to everybody, high or low, without any discretion between a friend and a foe. The great God says in the Koran [47.4]: "0 True believers, when you encounter the unbelievers, strike off their heads." The above command of the Great God is a great command and must be respected and followed. You should not be so fond of showing mercy, as to nullify the virtue of the act. Henceforth grant pardon to no one of the enemy and spare none of them, or else all will consider you a weak-minded man. ” In a subsequent communication, Hajjaj reiterated that all able-bodied men were to be killed, and that their underage sons and daughters were to be imprisoned and retained as hostages. Qasim obeyed, and on his arrival at the town of Brahminabad massacred between 6,000 and 16,000 of the defending forces. The historian, Upendra Thakur records the persecution of Hindus and Buddhists: “ When Muhammad Kasim invaded Sind in 711 AD, Buddhism had no resistance to offer to their fire and steel. The rosary could not be a match for the sword and the terms Love and Peace had no meaning to them. They carried fire and sword wherever they went and obliterated all that came their way. Muhammad triumphantly marched into the country, conquering Debal, Sehwan, Nerun, Brahmanadabad, Alor and Multan one after the other in quick succession, and in less than a year and half, the far-flung Hindu kingdon was crushed, the great civilization fell back and Sind entered the darkest period of it's history. There was a fearful outbreak of religious bigotry in several places and temples were wantonly desecrated. At Debal, Nairun and Aror temples were demolished and converted into mosques.[Resistors] were put to death and women made captives. The Jizya was exacted with special care.[Hindus] were required to feed Muslim travellers for three days and three nights.. ” Mahmud of Ghazni Mahmud of Ghazni was an Afghan Sultan who invaded the Indian subcontinent during the early 11th century. His campaigns across the gangetic plains are often cited for their iconoclastic and plundering targeting of Hindu temples such as those at Mathura and looked upon them as "jihad". Pradyumna Prasad Karan further describes Mahmud invasion as one of putting "thousands of Hindu's to the sword" and making a pastime of "raising pyramids of the skulls of the infidels". Holt et al. hold an opposing view, that he was "no mere robber or bloody thirsty tyrant" . Mahmud shed no blood "except in the exegencies of war", and was tolerant in dealings with his own Hindu subjects, some of whom rose to high posts in his administration, such as his Hindu General Tilak . Mahmud of Ghazni sacked the second Somnath Temple in 1026, and looted it of gems and precious stones and the famous Shiva lingam of the temple was destroyed and it's fragments taken away to Ghazni where they were used as stepping stones of a mosque. In the Delhi Sultanate The first Muslim Empire of India, the Sultanate of Delhi, was established in 1210 CE by Turkic tribes that invaded the subcontinent from Afghanistan. Many temples were looted and destroyed. Infamous cases are the destruction of the Somnath. Muhammad Ghori Muhammad Ghori conducted genocide of Hindus at Koi (modern Aligarh), Kalinjar and Varanasi, according to Hasan Nizami's Taj-ul-Maasir, 20,000 Hindu prisoners were slaughtered and their heads offered to crows. Qutb-ud-din Aibak Historical records compiled by Muslim historian Maulana Hakim Saiyid Abdul Hai attest to the iconoclasm of Qutb-ud-din Aybak. The first mosque built in Delhi, the "Quwwat al-Islam" was built after demolishing the Hindu temple built previously by Prithvi Raj and leaving certain parts of the temple outside the mosque proper . This pattern of iconoclasm was common during his reign, although an argument goes that such iconoclasm was motivated more by politics than by religion. [edit] Iltutmish Another ruler of the sultanate, Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, conquered and subjugated the Hindu pilgrimage site Varanasi in the 11th century and had continued the destruction of Hindu temples and idols that had begun under the first attack in 1194. Firuz Shah Tughlaq Firuz Shah Tughluq was the third ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. The "Tarikh-i-Firuz Shah" is a historical record written during his reign that attests to the systematic persecution of Hindus under his rule. In particular, it records atrocities on Hindu Brahmin priests who refused to convert to Islam: “ An order was accordingly given to the Brahman and was brought before Sultan. The true faith was declared to the Brahman and the right course pointed out. but he refused to accept it. A pile was risen on which the Kaffir with his hands and legs tied was thrown into and the wooden tablet on the top. The pile was lit at two places his head and his feet. The fire first reached him in the feet and drew from him a cry and then fire completely enveloped him. Behold Sultan for his strict adherence to law and rectitude. ” Under his rule, Hindus who were forced to pay the mandatory Jizya tax were recorded as infidels, their communities monitored and, if they violated Imperial ordinance and built temples, they were destroyed. In particular, an incident in the village of Gohana in Haryana was recorded in the "Insha-i-Mahry" (another historical record written by Amud Din Abdullah bin Mahru) where Hindus had erected a deity and were arrested, brought to the palace and executed en-masse. In 1230, the Hindu King of Orissa Anangabhima III consolidated his rule and proclaimed that an attack on Orissa constituted an attack on the king's god. A sign of Anangabhima's determination to protect Hindu culture is the fact that he named is new capital in Cuttack “Abhinava Varanasi.” His anxieties about further Muslim advances in Orissa proved to be well founded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus

I would recommend looking at the creation of the roman silk road to the east and the activities of missionaries of Ashoka the Great (the first buddhist emperor of India). The foundations are clear and span hundreds of years prior to jesus' teachings. Ashoka the great sent buddhist missionaries into the west in about 300bc. The expansion of the roman silk road allowed for unprecidented mixtures of cultures and alexander's conquest into the east further drove the cultural mixing. Jesus is just the most obvious focal point for the hybridization of these two cultures. For example, Jesus quotes "Love thy neighbour". The Buddha himself , in the Lalitavistaras, states, "Through love alone can hate be vanquished; through perfect love evil may be overcome … Speak no harsh words to your neighbour, and he will respond to you in like terms." It should be mentioned that the term 'neighbour' is clearly used by the Buddha. Another similarity of Jesus with the Buddha is that both had stated that one should reciprocate evil or injury with good and love. As Swami Vivekananda said, Jesus ,Buddha and LaoTse are the only prophets in the world who have stated that one should reciprocate evil or injury with love and good. This above teaching of Jesus is far removed from the ' eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth' teaching of Judaism , in which he was born . The teachings of chastity and renunciation too by Christ , is not found in Judaism, but are found in Buddhism and Hinduism. Also , Jesus's teaching of " I and my Father are one " is similar to the Upanishadic teachings of monism or pantheism. An example of this is the verse in the Upanishads ," Aham Brahmasmi ", which means " I am He". There are much more of these striking similarities in the books I have mentioned that are more than mere coincidences.

The bible does not at all mention where he was during this period. The bible is focussed more on his teachings , then on his whereabouts during the unknown years. Nothing to report of Jesus for 12 years after he questioned the priests at the jewish temple !!!! I don't think such a restless youth would sit in a place for 12 years doing nothing. Check out the proofs given below.

And where have I talked of kindness in this thread .I was only talking about the importance given to logic and reasoning in HInduism by Krishna, Vasishta, Vedic philosophy ,Buddha , Vivekananda and the others. It has nothing to do with kindness or values. In fact reasoning and a logical frame of mind,will enable us to identify problems fast, and formulate solutions for them better.

Persecution of Hindus by Islamic terrorists The Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent led to widespread carnage as Muslims regarding the Hindus as infidels slaughtered and converted millions of Hindus. Will Durant argued in his 1935 book "The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage" (page 459): “ The Mohammedan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. The Islamic historians and scholars have recorded with great glee and pride of the slaughters of Hindus, forced conversions, abduction of Hindu women and children to slave markets and the destruction of temples carried out by the warriors of Islam during 800 AD to 1700 AD. Millions of Hindus were converted to Islam by sword during this period. There is no official estimate of the total death toll of Hindus at the hands of Muslims. Estimates have stated that over 13 centuries and over the entire subcontinent, the number of Hindus that died at the hands of the Muslims goes up into the millions. There have been several occasions when the Bahmani sultans in central India (1347-1528) killed around 80,000-100,000 Hindus over a short period of time, which they set as a minimum goal, to their anti-Hindu campaigns. “ The massacres perpetuated by Muslims in India are unparalleled in history, bigger than the Holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis; or the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks; more extensive even than the slaughter of the South American native populations by the invading Spanish and Portuguese. ” Prof. K.S. Lal, suggests a calculation in his book Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India which estimates that between the years 1000 AD and 1500 AD the population of Hindus decreased by 80 million. Even those Hindus who converted to Islam were not immune to persecution, as per the Muslim Caste System in India as established by Ziauddin al-Barani in the Fatawa-i Jahandari. , where they were regarded as "Ajlaf" caste and subjected to severe discrimination by the "Ashraf" castes. By Arabs Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent began during the early 8th century, when the Umayyad governor of what is now Iraq, Hajjaj responded to a casus belli provided by the kidnapping of Muslim women and treasures by pirates off the coast of Debal, by mobilizing an expedition of 6,000 cavalry under Muhammad bin-Qasim in 712 CE. Records from the campaign recorded in the Chach Nama record temple demolitions, and mass executions of resisting Sindhi forces and enslavement of their dependents. This action was particularly extensive of Debal, of which Qasim is reported to be under orders to make an example of while freeing both the captured women and the prisoners of a previous failed expedition. Bin Qasim then enlisted the support of the local Jat, Meds and Bhutto tribes and began the process of subduing and conquering the countryside. Capture of towns was also usually accomplished by means of a treaty with a party from among his "enemy", who were then extended special privileges and material rewards.[5] However, his superior Hajjaj is reported at objecting to his method by saying that it would make him look weak and advocated a more hardline military strategy: “ It appears from your letter that all the rules made by you for the comfort and convenience of your men are strictly in accordance with religious law. But the way of granting pardon prescribed by the law is different from the one adopted by you, for you go on giving pardon to everybody, high or low, without any discretion between a friend and a foe. The great God says in the Koran [47.4]: "0 True believers, when you encounter the unbelievers, strike off their heads." The above command of the Great God is a great command and must be respected and followed. You should not be so fond of showing mercy, as to nullify the virtue of the act. Henceforth grant pardon to no one of the enemy and spare none of them, or else all will consider you a weak-minded man. ” In a subsequent communication, Hajjaj reiterated that all able-bodied men were to be killed, and that their underage sons and daughters were to be imprisoned and retained as hostages. Qasim obeyed, and on his arrival at the town of Brahminabad massacred between 6,000 and 16,000 of the defending forces. The historian, Upendra Thakur records the persecution of Hindus and Buddhists: “ When Muhammad Kasim invaded Sind in 711 AD, Buddhism had no resistance to offer to their fire and steel. The rosary could not be a match for the sword and the terms Love and Peace had no meaning to them. They carried fire and sword wherever they went and obliterated all that came their way. Muhammad triumphantly marched into the country, conquering Debal, Sehwan, Nerun, Brahmanadabad, Alor and Multan one after the other in quick succession, and in less than a year and half, the far-flung Hindu kingdon was crushed, the great civilization fell back and Sind entered the darkest period of it's history. There was a fearful outbreak of religious bigotry in several places and temples were wantonly desecrated. At Debal, Nairun and Aror temples were demolished and converted into mosques.[Resistors] were put to death and women made captives. The Jizya was exacted with special care.[Hindus] were required to feed Muslim travellers for three days and three nights.. ” Mahmud of Ghazni Mahmud of Ghazni was an Afghan Sultan who invaded the Indian subcontinent during the early 11th century. His campaigns across the gangetic plains are often cited for their iconoclastic and plundering targeting of Hindu temples such as those at Mathura and looked upon them as "jihad". Pradyumna Prasad Karan further describes Mahmud invasion as one of putting "thousands of Hindu's to the sword" and making a pastime of "raising pyramids of the skulls of the infidels". Holt et al. hold an opposing view, that he was "no mere robber or bloody thirsty tyrant" . Mahmud shed no blood "except in the exegencies of war", and was tolerant in dealings with his own Hindu subjects, some of whom rose to high posts in his administration, such as his Hindu General Tilak . Mahmud of Ghazni sacked the second Somnath Temple in 1026, and looted it of gems and precious stones and the famous Shiva lingam of the temple was destroyed and it's fragments taken away to Ghazni where they were used as stepping stones of a mosque. In the Delhi Sultanate The first Muslim Empire of India, the Sultanate of Delhi, was established in 1210 CE by Turkic tribes that invaded the subcontinent from Afghanistan. Many temples were looted and destroyed. Infamous cases are the destruction of the Somnath. Muhammad Ghori Muhammad Ghori conducted genocide of Hindus at Koi (modern Aligarh), Kalinjar and Varanasi, according to Hasan Nizami's Taj-ul-Maasir, 20,000 Hindu prisoners were slaughtered and their heads offered to crows. Qutb-ud-din Aibak Historical records compiled by Muslim historian Maulana Hakim Saiyid Abdul Hai attest to the iconoclasm of Qutb-ud-din Aybak. The first mosque built in Delhi, the "Quwwat al-Islam" was built after demolishing the Hindu temple built previously by Prithvi Raj and leaving certain parts of the temple outside the mosque proper . This pattern of iconoclasm was common during his reign, although an argument goes that such iconoclasm was motivated more by politics than by religion. [edit] Iltutmish Another ruler of the sultanate, Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, conquered and subjugated the Hindu pilgrimage site Varanasi in the 11th century and had continued the destruction of Hindu temples and idols that had begun under the first attack in 1194. Firuz Shah Tughlaq Firuz Shah Tughluq was the third ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. The "Tarikh-i-Firuz Shah" is a historical record written during his reign that attests to the systematic persecution of Hindus under his rule. In particular, it records atrocities on Hindu Brahmin priests who refused to convert to Islam: “ An order was accordingly given to the Brahman and was brought before Sultan. The true faith was declared to the Brahman and the right course pointed out. but he refused to accept it. A pile was risen on which the Kaffir with his hands and legs tied was thrown into and the wooden tablet on the top. The pile was lit at two places his head and his feet. The fire first reached him in the feet and drew from him a cry and then fire completely enveloped him. Behold Sultan for his strict adherence to law and rectitude. ” Under his rule, Hindus who were forced to pay the mandatory Jizya tax were recorded as infidels, their communities monitored and, if they violated Imperial ordinance and built temples, they were destroyed. In particular, an incident in the village of Gohana in Haryana was recorded in the "Insha-i-Mahry" (another historical record written by Amud Din Abdullah bin Mahru) where Hindus had erected a deity and were arrested, brought to the palace and executed en-masse. In 1230, the Hindu King of Orissa Anangabhima III consolidated his rule and proclaimed that an attack on Orissa constituted an attack on the king's god. A sign of Anangabhima's determination to protect Hindu culture is the fact that he named is new capital in Cuttack “Abhinava Varanasi.” His anxieties about further Muslim advances in Orissa proved to be well founded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus