He was a stout partisan of Islãm and made great endeavours on this score. He got all temples of the infidels demolished, and did not allow even a trace of them to remain. In Mathurã, where the infidels used to get together for bathing, he got constructed caravanserais, markets, mosques and madrasas, and appointed there officers with instructions that they should allow no one to bathe; if any Hindû desired to get his beard or head shaved in the city of Mathurã, no barber was prepared to cut his hair.

He got the temples of the infidels destroyed. No trace of infidelity was left at the place in Mathura where the infidels used to take bath. He got caravanserais constructed so that people could stay there, and also the shops of various professionals such as the butchers, bawarchis, nanbais and sweetmeatsellers. If a Hindu went there for bathing even by mistake, he was made to lose his limbs and punished severely. No Hindu could get shaved at that place. No barber would go near a Hindu, whatever be the payment offered.

The Islamic sentiment (in him) was so strong that he demolished all temples in his kingdom and left no trace of them. He constructed sarais, bazars, madrasas and mosques in Mathura which is a holy place of the Hindus and where they go for bathing. He appointed government officials in order to see that no Hindu could bathe in Mathra. No barber was permitted to shave the head of any Hindu with his razor. That is how he completely curtailed the public celebration of infidel customs...

…He was firmly attached to the Mahomedan religion, and made a point of destroying all Hindoo temples. In the city of Mutra he caused musjids and bazars to be built opposite the bathing-stairs leading to the river and ordered that no Hindoos should be allowed to bathe there. He forbade the barbers to shave the beards and beads of the inhabitants, in order to prevent the Hindoos following their usual practices at such pilgrimages…

[Sikander Lodi] maintained a partisanship for Islam to such extent that he went beyond excess. He demolished all the unbelievers’ temples, leaving these without name or trace. In Mathura and other places that are centers for the Hindus’ bathing, he built guesthouses and bazaars and mosques and theological schools. He appointed guards, who gave no one permission to bathe. If a Hindu in Mathura city wished to have his beard or head shaved, no barber would put a hand to his beard or head. He suppressed absolutely any public display of custom$ of the unbelievers. He forbade women to go to saints’ tombs. In his youth, his time as prince, he heard there was a tank in Thanesar where Hindus gathered to bathe. He asked the religious scholars: “What is the command of the Sharma in this regard?” They said: “It is not authorized to lay waste ancient temples; and it is not for you to forbid bathing in a tank, which has been customary from ancient times.” The prince put his hand to his dagger, threatened a scholar, and said: “You take the unbelievers’ side!” That great man replied: “I speak what has come down in the Sharma, and I do not fear to speak truly.” The prince calmed down.

His faith (bigotry) in Islam was to that extent, that he went beyond the bounds even of excess. He levelled to the ground all the places of worship of the kafirs ; and left neither their name nor any vestige of them. In Mathurah and other places, where there are places for the ablution of the Hindus, he built serais, and bazaars, and mosques, and colleges, and employed men to prevent the Hindus from bathing. If any Hindu wanted to shave his beard or head in Mathurah, the barber refused to place his hand on his beard or head ; and he completely abolished all heathenish practices by public orders. He forbade the annual procession of the lance of Salar Masa'ud. He also prohibited the going of women to the tombs of holy men.

In April, 1669 he ordered the provincial governors to ‘destroy the temples and schools of the Brahmans… and to utterly put down the teachings and religious practices of the infidels….

The Hindus and idol-worshippers had agreed to pay the money for toleration (zar-i zimmiya) and had consented to the poll-tax (jizya) in return for which they and their families enjoyed security. These people now erected new idol-temples in the city and the environs in opposition to the Law of the Prophet which declares that such temples are not to be tolerated. Under divine guidance I destroyed these edifices and I killed those leaders of infidelity who seduced others into error, and the lower orders I subjected to stripes and chastisement, until this abuse was entirely abolished. The following is an instance:- In the village of Maluh there is a tank which they call kund (tank). Here they had built idol-temples and on certain days the Hindus were accustomed to proceed thither on horseback, and wearing arms. Their women and children also went out in palankins and carts. There they assembled in thousands and performed idol-worship' When intelligence of this came to my ears my religious feelings prompted me at once to put a stop to this scandal and offence to the religion of Islam. On the day of the assembly I went there in person and I ordered that the leaders of these people and the promoters of this abomination should be put to death. I forbade the infliction of any severe punishments on Hindus in general, but I destroyed their idol-temples, and instead thereof raised mosques. I founded two flourishing towns (kasba), one called Tughlikpur, the other Salarpur. Where infidels and idolaters worshipped idols, Musulmans now, by God's mercy, perform their devotions to the true God. Praises of God and the summons to prayer are now heard there, and that place which was formerly the home of infidels has become the habitation of the faithful, who there repeat their creed and offer up their praises to God.....Information was brought to me that some Hindus had erected a new idol temple in the village of Salihpur, and were performing worship to their idols. I sent some persons there to destroy the idol temple, and put a stop to their pernicious incitements to error.

It had been brought to the notice of His Majesty that during the late reign many idol temples had been begun, but remained unfinished at Benares, the great stronghold of infidelity. The infidels were now desirous of completing them. His Majesty, the defender of the faith, gave orders that at Benares, and throughout all his dominions in every place, all temples that had been begun should be cast down. It was now reported from the province of Allahãbãd that seventy-six temples had been destroyed in the district of Benares.

The spread of the illustrious Sharia depends according to 'the shar is under the sword' upon the assistance and care of the great Sultans. ... The Indian infidels fearlessly destroy temples and erect temples in their place. In Tanesar, in the pool of Kurkhet, there was a mosque and a tomb of a saint. .They destroyed these and erected a big idol temple in their stead. The infidels publicly observe the customs of infedility...

So the temples were attacked “all along the way” as the armies of Islam advanced; they were “robbed of their sculptural wealth”, “pulled down”, “laid waste”, “burnt with naptha”, “trodden under horse’s hoofs”, and “destroyed from their very foundations”, till “not a trace of them remained”. Mahmûd of Ghazni robbed and burnt down 1,000 temples at Mathura, and 10,000 in and around Kanauj. One of his successors, Ibrãhîm, demolished 1,000 temples each in Hindustan (Ganga-Yamuna Doab) and Malwa. Muhammad Ghûrî destroyed another 1,000 at Varanasi. Qutbu’d-Dîn Aibak employed elephants for pulling down 1,000 temples in Delhi. “Alî I ‘Ãdil Shãh of Bijapur destroyed 200 to 300 temples in Karnataka. A sufi, Qãyim Shãh, destroyed 12 temples at Tiruchirapalli. Such exact or approximate counts, however, are available only in a few cases. Most of the time we are informed that “many strong temples which would have remained unshaken even by the trumpets blown on the Day of Judgment, were levelled with the ground when swept by the wind of Islãm”. (also quoted in Ibn Warraq, Defending the West)

He (Aurangzeb) also ordered every viceroy and governor to destroy all the temples within his jurisdiction. Among others was destroyed the great temple of Mathura which was of such a height that its gilded pinnacle could be seen from Agra, eighteen leagues away‛.

He several times waged war against the infidels of Hindustan, and he brought under his subjection a large portion of their country, until, having made himself master of Somnat, he destroyed all idol temples of that country'.

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. Every city thus conformed as he desired to the customs of Islam.