Book Review [131] : Somanatha - The Many Voices Of History

Every civilization has a love that warms its heart; India has many such hearts and Somnath is one of them. 

Mahmud of Ghazni raided Somnath, desecrated the holy temple, broke the Shiva lingam into pieces and carried those pieces to Ghazni and installed those below the footsteps of the Mosque of Ghazni to be trampled by feet of the people going to/coming from Mosque (according to Al Beruni, who was contemporary of Mahmud of Ghazni and an eye witness of the destruction). This happened in 1024. Al Beruni also writes that the raids of Mahmud caused such devastation that the Hindus came to dislike the Muslims permanently.  

'Somanatha - The Many Voices of History' by Romila Thapar is a very good attempt to whitewash the barbaric invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni and to rationalize it.

Farrukhi Sistani was the court poet of Mahmud of Ghazni. He writes that Mahmud destroyed the temple by setting it on fire. According to him the word Somanatha was a garbled version of su-manat – referring to the goddess Manat of Arabia. She was originally worshiped as Semitic Goddess Ishtar and was one of the important trio of Goddesses – Lat, Uzza and Manat, mentioned in a verse of Quran. These were the goddesses of the three shrines close to Mecca and were considered daughters of God. They each were represented by natural stones. The pilgrimage to Kaba was considered incomplete without a visit to the shrine of Manat.  Prophet Muhammad had called for the destruction of these shrines. Ali destroyed the shrine of Manat on instruction from Muhammad but some sources say that it was saved.

These Goddesses were involved in what is called satanic verses; Initially Muhammad said that these Goddesses can be worshiped as intermediaries of God. Later Muhammad declared that these verses were inspired by Satan and these were expunged from Quran. Gardizi was another contemporary historian. According to Gardizi and Sistani the images of the two goddesses were destroyed while Manat was saved and taken over to Kathiawar for safekeeping in a land where idol worship was considered normal.

According to Romila Thapar there might be many reasons behind Mahmud expedition to Somnath:

•         He wanted to destroy Hindu temple
•         He wanted to destroy the temple of Manat (i.e. the Somnatha Temple)
•         He wanted to stop the horse trade between Arabia and Veraval so that he  could benefit from the horse trade through his territory.

During the time of Mahmud of Ghazni, Multan was ruled by Ismaili ruler. Mahmud sacked Multan and put Ismailis to death. The Ismailis were considered heretics by the Sunni Muslims. These Ismailis had earlier destroyed the Multan temple and constructed their Mosque in 10th century. Mahmud in his letters to Caliph of Baghdad mentioned in great details the richness of Somnath. Barani, Isami and Minhaj Siraj also mention that Idol was of Manat at Somnatha.  Badayuni wrote that Somnatha was not Manat. He says that the part of broken idol was sent to be placed at the entrance of Ghazni mosque (Al Beruni also mentions the same).

Ulugh Khan destroyed the temple and built the mosque at its place in 1299 and sent the Idol to the Alauddin Khilji, the Idol was taken around the city to entertain the people. Mujaffar Khan (Governor of Gujarat) destroyed temple in 1395 and built a mosque over it. Zafar Khan did the same in 1398 and Mahmud Beghada in 1469. Akbar permitted the worship of Shivlinga at Somnath and appointed officers to administer it. Aurangzeb ordered its destruction in 1706. Ahalyabai Holkar built a small temple in its vicinity. Turkish and Persian texts mention destruction of Somnath temple in great details but did not give so much importance to other destroyed temples while Indian texts are almost silent on this gory event.

A Kadamba King ruling Goa region records his pilgrimage to Somnath in an inscription in 1038. He did not mention anything about destruction or desecration. There is no mention of the attack of Mahmud on Somnath temple in any Indian text. An inscription dated 1264 in Sanskrit and Arabic mentions grant of land to a Muslim trader from Hormuz, named Nuruddin Firuz, to build a mosque in the vicinity of Somnath temple. The Arabic text of the inscription has a sentence expressing the desirability of Somnatha Pattana becoming a city of Islam with no infidels and no idols, a wish that is tactfully omitted in the Sanskrit version. There is one inscription of 1406 in Veraval in Sanskrit. It begins with the Muslim greetings “Bismillah –e- Rahman –e- Rahim”. It gives details of a Bohra named Farid who died defending the Somnath town against the invading Turks.

The poet Dhanapala, the poet in the court of Bhoja Paramara, contemporary of Mahmud of Ghazni mentioned that Mahmud looted a lot of towns en-route to Somnath and broke the idol of Somnath. He also mentioned that Mahmud failed to break the idol of Mahavira at Satyapura in south Rajasthan. The Idol was too strong and may be the writer was trying to prove the superiority of Mahavira Idol over others. Kashmiri poet Bilhana visited the place fifty years after the event but he does not mention the Mahmud desecration. Kalhana though mentions the expedition of Mahmud against Shahis, does not mention the expedition of Mahmud to Somnath.

Some verses in the ‘Shabara Tantra’ refer to Mahmud of Ghazni. These verses praise Mahmud of Ghazni. These were recited by the Tantrics/Nathapanthis/Shaktas etc. Some verses of these sects venerate Allah and Muslim pirs.

Alexander Burnes deputed to the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh mentions that Maharaja was negotiating with Shuja and his offer of help to Shuja was contingent on Shuja’s returning gates of Somnatha temple from Ghazni. This was in 1831. Before this period there is no mention of any such gates taken by Mahmud to Ghazni. Though locals of Ghazni thought the gates had come from some sacred place (i.e. Somnath Temple). The custodians of the Mahmud’s tomb pleaded with General Nott to leave the gates behind but General Nott refused (as instructed by the Governor General of India Lord Ellenborough), it was in 1842 and happened during first Anglo-Afghan war. Ferishta mentions the raid of Mahmud on Somnath but he did not mention anything about gates. Lord Ellenborough was fiercely attacked in the House of Commons by other MPs including Lord Macaulay for promoting ‘superstitious’ Hindu religion and antagonizing Muslims. Lord Ellenborough said that the insult that was heaped on India by Mahmud of Ghazni 800 years back had to be avenged and the painful feelings that were rankling in the hearts of the Hindus needed to be removed. Lord Ellenborough won the debate in the Parliament. 

The Somnatha Temple site was excavated in 1950s and some evidence of burning and desecration of sculpture have been found. The new temple was built in 1951 and inaugurated by the first President of India. K M Munshi played a great role in it.

In my humble opinion this temple is a symbol of the victory of faith over the dark powers of destruction.
Recommended (7/10)