In Aibak’s expedition to Benares, ‘which was the centre of the country of Hind… here they destroyed nearly one thousand temples, and raised mosques o… - Qutb-ud-din Aibak

" "

In Aibak’s expedition to Benares, ‘which was the centre of the country of Hind… here they destroyed nearly one thousand temples, and raised mosques on their foundations; and the knowledge of the law (Sharia) became promulgated, and the foundations of religion were established,’ adds Nizami. In January 1197, Qutbuddin Aibak advanced against Nahrwala, the capital of Gujarat and ‘fifty thousand infidels were dispatched to hell by the sword and from the heaps of the slain, the hills and the plains became of one level’ and ‘more than twenty thousand slaves, and cattle beyond all calculation fell into the hands of the victors.’ On Aibak’s brilliant achievement in the expedition to Kalinjar in 1202, records Nizami: ‘The temples were converted into mosques… and the voices of summoners to prayer ascended to the highest heaven and the very name of idolatry was annihilated.’ ‘Fifty thousand came under the collar of slavery and the plain became black as pitch with Hindus,’ continues Nizami.