Bravehearts of Bharat: Vignettes from Indian History

by Vikram Sampath

From Multan, which he vanquished, he marched to Somnath in 1025 CE, via Anahilapatan that fell on his path to the temple town. Bhimadeva was taken by surprise as he had not expected this invasion of Mahmud and hence retreated to Kutch to reorganize himself. The defenceless capital (referred to by the Muslim chroniclers, numerously as Nahrwara, Narwalla, Naharwalah) was ravaged by the plunderer. But his eyes were set on Somnath to which he marched without delay. He was not expecting to see over 50,000 armed Hindus trying to defend their faith against this onslaught, even as they were ‘prostrating themselves in tears before the Idol, prayed for assistance’.13 The struggle to defend Somnath went on for three long days and Bhima and another Indian prince whom Ferishta calls as Dabishleem sent reinforcements to those who were defending their temple and their faith. But after three days of successfully holding back the invader, a dance of death followed with most of the defenders being killed by the marauders. Nearly all of the 50,000 men were mercilessly butchered.14 Mahmud then rushed to the sanctum to find the stone idol of Somnath, ‘five yards in height, two of which were sunk in the ground’.15 The Brahmin priests tried their best to save their God by making a last-ditch attempt with Mahmud, bribing him with some crores in gold if he left the place without destroying the deity. The Sultan haughtily replied that accepting this offer would make him a seller of idols and that h...