PUNISHMENT TO BRAHMAN FOR WORSHOPING HIND GOD AND BURNING HIM BY MUSLIM SULTAN
PUNISHMENT TO BRAHMAN FOR WORSHOPING HIND GOD AND BURNING HIM BY MUSLIM SULTAN
LEGACY OF MUSLIM RULE IN INDIA BY K S
LalPage 20
A report was brought to the Sultan
(Firoz Tughlaq 1351-88) that there was in Delhi an old Brahman (Zunar dar) who
persisted in publicly performing the worship of idols in his house; and that the people of the city,
both Musalmans and Hindus, used to resort to his house to worship the idol.
This Brahman had constructed a wooden tablet (muhrak), which was covered within
and without with paintings of demons and other objects. On days appointed, the
infidels went to his house and worshipped the idol, without the fact becoming known
to the public officers. The Sultan was informed that this Brahman had perverted
Muhammadan women, and had led them to become infidels. (These women were surely
newly converted and had not been able to completely cut themselves off from
their original faith). An order was accordingly given that the Brahman, with
his tablet, should be brought in the presence of the Sultan at Firozabad. The
judges, doctors, and elders and lawyers were summoned, and the case of the
Brahman was submitted for their opinion. Their reply was that the provisions of
the Law were clear: the Brahman must either become a Musalman or be burned. The
true faith was declared to the Brahman, and the right course pointed out, but
he refused to accept it. Orders were given for raising a pile of faggots before
the door of the darbar. The Brahman was
tied hand and foot and cast into it; the tablet was thrown on the top and the
pile was lighted. The writer of this
book (Shams Siraj Afif) was present at the darbar and witnessed the execution
the wood was dry, and the fire first reached his feet, and drew from him a cry,
but the flames quickly enveloped his head and consumed him. Behold the
Sultans strict adherence to law and rectitude, how he would not deviate in the
least from its decrees.39
OTHER INSTANCES OF BRAHMAN KILLING
LEGACY OF
MUSLIM RULE IN INDIA BY K S LalPage 21
During the reign of Firoz himself the
Hindu governor of Uchch was killed. He was falsely accused of expressing
affirmation in Islam and then recanting.40 In the time of Sikandar Lodi
(1489-1517) a Brahman of Kaner in Sambhal was similarly punished with death for
committing the crime of declaring as much as that Islam was true, but his own
religion was also true.41
MURDER OF RAJPUTS AND BRAHMANS WHEN THEY CAME AGAIN IN
HINDU FAITH
LEGACY OF
MUSLIM RULE IN INDIA BY K S Lalpage 21
During the
reign of Firoz himself the Hindu governor of Uchch was killed. He was falsely
accused of expressing affirmation in Islam and then recanting.40 In the time of
Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517) a Brahman of Kaner in Sambhal was similarly punished
with death for committing the crime of declaring as much as that Islam was
true, but his own religion was also true.41
LEGACY OF
MUSLIM RULE IN INDIA BY K S Lal page 46
As an example, the language of some contemporary
chroniclers may be quoted as samples. Nawasa Shah was a scion of the Hindu
Shahiya dynasty and was converted to Islam by Mahmud of Ghazni. Such
conversions were common. But return to ones original religion was considered
apostasy punishable with death. Al Utbi, the author of Tarikh-i-Yamini, writes
how Sultan Mahmud punished Nawasa Shah: Satan had got the better of Nawasa
Shah, for he was again apostatizing towards the pit of plural worship, and had
thrown off the slough of Islam, and held conversation with the chiefs of
idolatry respecting the casting off the firm rope of religion from his neck. So
the Sultan went swifter than the wind in that direction, and made the sword
reek with the blood of his enemies. He turned Nawasa Shah out of his government,
took possession of all the treasures which he had accumulated, re-assumed the
government, and then cut down the harvest of idolatry with the sickle of his
sword and spear. After God had granted him this and the previous victory, which
were tried witnesses as to his exalted state and proselytism, he returned
without difficulty to Ghazna
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