The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS

by Robert Spencer

  Jahangir passed on this sage advice without comment. Since he juxtaposed it in his memoirs with his account of how he destroyed the temple and built the mosque at Banaras, he apparently intended this quotation to stand as a subtle rebuke of his father, and an indication of how he had eschewed his heresy and returned to Islamic orthodoxy.

  During Jahangir’s reign, the perilous existence that the Hindus had endured before Akbar the Great abandoned Islam returned. The Dutch merchant Francisco Pelsaert, in India while Jahangir was emperor, recounted that the Hindus were not safe even when Sunnis and Shi’a fought among themselves. He wrote that during Muharram, when the Shi’a mourn publicly the death of Husayn at Karbala, the Sunnis and Shi’a would battle, and Hindus could all too easily get caught in the middle: “The outcry [of mourning] lasts till the first quarter of the day; the coffins [tazias] are brought to the river, and if the two parties meet carrying their biers [it is worse on that day], and one will not give place to the other, then if they are evenly matched, they may kill each other as if they were enemies at open war, for they run with naked swords like madmen. No Hindu can venture into the streets before midday, for even if they should escape with their life, at the least their arms and legs would be broken to pieces.”105

  The English merchant William Finch, also in India around the same time, stated that Jahangir and his noblemen also used Hindu peasants for sport, and traded for horses and dogs. They played a game called Kamargha (human circle), which consisted of having guards surround a tract of wooded land. Inside the enclosed space, everything alive was prey. “Whatever is taken in this enclosure,” Finch related, “is called the King’s shikar or game, whether men or beasts.… The beasts taken, if men’s meat, are sold…if men, they remain the King’s slaves, which he sends yearly to Kabul to barter for horses and dogs: these being poor, miserable, thievish people, that live in woods and deserts, little differing from beasts.”106 Some of those Hindus who lived in woods and deserts may have been there in order to escape the persecution of the Muslims. In any case, Jahangir’s rejection of his father’s words—“With all of the human race, with all of God’s creatures, I am at peace: why then should I permit myself under any consideration, to be the cause of molestation or aggression to any one?”—could not have been more complete.

  Shah Jahan

  Jahangir died in 1627. His successor, Shah Jahan, continued his persecution of the Hindus. Shah Jahan’s court historian Abdul Hamid Lahori recorded in his Padshahnama (Chronicle of the Emperor) the emperor’s swift action in 1633 against Hindus who tried to build new temples to replace the many that Muslims had destroyed: “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 infidelism. 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 at every place, all temples that had been begun should be cast down. It was now reported from the province of Allahabad that 76 temples had been destroyed in the district of Benares.”107

  That same year, according to Lahori, “400 Christian prisoners, male and female, young and old, with the idols of their worship” were brought “to the presence of the faith-defending Emperor. He ordered that the principles of the Muhammadan religion should be explained to them, and that they should be called upon to adopt it. A few appreciated the honour offered to them and embraced the faith: they experienced the kindness of the Emperor. But the majority in perversity and wilfulness rejected the proposal. These were distributed among the amirs, who were directed to keep these despicable wretches in rigorous confinement. When any one of them accepted the true faith, a report was to be made to the Emperor, so that provision might be made for him. Those who refused were to be kept in continual confinement. So it came to pass that many of them passed from prison to hell. Such of their idols as were likenesses of the prophets were thrown into the Jumna [river], the rest were broken to pieces.”108

  Two years later, Shah Jahan’s jihadis overran Bundela, the Rajput kingdom in central India. The jihadis seized the wives of Jajhar Singh, the Bundela king, and presented them to Shah Jahan, who, heedless of their status, made them sex slaves. To head off the possibility of future rebellions, Shah Jahan had Jajhar’s son and grandson forcibly converted to Islam.109 In Orchha, the capital of the Bundela kingdom, Shah Jahan had the majestic temple of Bir Singh Dev demolished and a mosque built where it had stood.110

  Aurangzeb

  This continued when Shah Jahan became seriously ill in 1657, for his son and heir apparent, Dara Shikoh, was a man in the mold of his great-grandfather, Akbar the Great: he was deeply influenced by Sufism and so admired Hinduism that he declared the Upanishads to be a divine revelation that predated the Qur’an. He was also so friendly with the Portuguese Jesuits that he was rumored to be on the verge of converting to Christianity. All of this made the prospect of his becoming Mughal emperor abominable to his younger brother, Aurangzeb, a devout and committed Muslim.111 Aurangzeb defeated his brother in battle and had him beheaded; when the head was presented to him, Aurangzeb was said to have shed tears.112 He had Shah Jahan placed under house arrest, and dedicated himself to outdoing all his predecessors in persecuting and waging jihad against the Hindus.

  The contemporary historian Mirza Muhammad Kazim recounted that Aurangzeb undertook this task with relish: “In 1661 Aurangzeb in his zeal to uphold the law of Islam sent orders to his Viceroy of Bihar, Daud Khan, to conquer Palamau. In the military operations that followed many temples were destroyed.… Towards the end of the same year, when Mir Jumla made a war on the Raja of Kuch Bihar, the Mughals destroyed many temples during the course of their operations. Idols were broken and some temples were converted into mosques.”113

  Another Muslim historian, Saqa Mustad Khan, writing just after Aurangzeb died in 1707, compiled a detailed record of Aurangzeb’s jihad activity from the emperor’s state archives. In 1669, “the Lord Cherisher of the Faith,” Khan wrote, “learnt that in the provinces of Tatta, Multan, and especially at Benares, the Brahman misbelievers used to teach their false books in their established schools, and that admirers and students both Hindu and Muslim, used to come from great distances to these misguided men in order to acquire this vile learning. His Majesty, eager to establish Islam, issued orders to the governors of all the provinces to demolish the schools and temples of the infidels and with the utmost urgency put down the teaching and the public practice of the religion of these misbelievers.”114

  Khan recorded with obvious pride how, in 1670, the present capital of Pakistan got its name:

  During this month of Ramzan [Ramadan] abounding in miracles, the Emperor as the promoter of justice and overthrower of mischief, as a knower of truth and destroyer of oppression, as the zephyr of the garden of victory and the reviver of the faith of the Prophet, issued orders for the demolition of the temple situated in Mathura, famous as the Dehra of Kesho Rai. In a short time, by the great exertions of his officers, the destruction of this strong foundation of infidelity was accomplished, and on its site a lofty mosque was built at the expenditure of a large sum. Praised be the august God of the faith of Islam, that in the auspicious reign of this destroyer of infidelity and turbulence, such a wonderful and seemingly impossible work was successfully accomplished. On seeing this instance of the strength of the Emperor’s faith and the grandeur of his devotion to God, the proud Rajas were stifled and in amazement they stood like images facing the wall. The idols, large and small, set with costly jewels which had been set up in the temple were brought to Agra, and buried under the steps of the mosque of the Begam Sahib, in order to be continually trodden upon. The name of Mathura was changed to Islamabad.115

  That same year, Aurangzeb also issued this sweeping decree: “Every idol-house built during the last 10 or 12 years, whether with brick or clay, should be demolished without delay. Also, do not allow the crus
hed Hindus and despicable infidels to repair their old temples. Reports of the destruction of temples should be sent to the Court under the seal of the qazis and attested by pious Shaikhs.”116

  Aurangzeb also had the temple Viswanath at Kashi destroyed.117 At Khandela in 1679, his jihadis demolished the temple and killed the three hundred Hindus who were defending it. Aurangzeb’s commander followed the familiar practice: “Khan Jahan Bahadur came from Jodhpur, after demolishing the temples and bringing with himself some cart-loads of idols, and had audience of the Emperor, who highly praised him and ordered that the idols, which were mostly jewelled, golden, silvery, bronze, copper or stone, should be cast in the yard [jilaukhanah] of the Court and under the steps of the Jama mosque, to be trodden on. They remained so for some time and at last their very names were lost.”118

  And on and on. Saqa Mustad Khan reported that in January 1680, “the Emperor went to view lake Udaisagar, constructed by the Rana, and ordered all the three temples on its banks to be demolished.” The following day, “Hasan Ali Khan brought to the Emperor twenty camel-loads of tents and other things captured from the Rana’s palace and reported that one hundred and seventy-two other temples in the environs of Udaipur had been destroyed.”119 Later that year, “Abu Turab, who had been sent to demolish the temples of Amber, returned to Court…and reported that he had pulled down sixty-six temples.”120

  Aurangzeb rewarded the destroyers of temples. Hasan Ali Khan “received the title of Bahadur Alamgirshahi.”121 And Hamiduddin Khan Bahadur, “who had gone to demolish a temple and build a mosque [in its place] in Bijapur, having excellently carried out his orders, came to Court and gained praise and the post of darogha of gusalkhanah, which brought him near the Emperor’s person.”122

  Aurangzeb personally issued orders for the destruction of temples. “The temple of Somnath,” he wrote, “was demolished early in my reign and idol worship [there] put down. It is not known what the state of things there is at present. If the idolaters have again taken to the worship of images at the place, then destroy the temple in such a way that no trace of the building may be left, and also expel them [the worshippers] from the place.”123

  On another occasion, he issued this order: “The houses of this country [Maharashtra] are exceedingly strong and built solely of stone and iron. The hatchet-men of the government in the course of my marching do not get sufficient strength and power [that is, time] to destroy and raze the temples of the infidels that meet the eye on the way. You should appoint an orthodox inspector [darogha] who may afterwards destroy them at leisure and dig up their foundations.”124 Aurangzeb had Sikh as well as Hindu temples demolished, and mosques built in their place.125 He observed: “The demolition of a temple is possible at any time, as it cannot walk away from its place.”126

  The Ganj i-Arshadi, another contemporary Muslim account of Aurangzeb’s reign, related an instance of Hindu resistance that resulted in the emperor’s undertaking even harsher measures:

  The infidels demolished a mosque that was under construction and wounded the artisans. When the news reached Shah Yasin [one of Aurangzeb’s commanders], he came to Banaras from Mandyawa and collecting the Muslim weavers, demolished the big temple. A Sayyid who was an artisan by profession agreed with one Abdul Rasul to build a mosque at Banaras, and accordingly the foundation was laid. Near the place there was a temple and many houses belonging to it were in the occupation of the Rajputs. The infidels decided that the construction of a mosque in the locality was not proper and that it should be razed to the ground. At night, the walls of the mosque were found demolished. Next day, the wall was rebuilt but it was again destroyed. This happened three or four times.127

  Finally Shah Yasin “determined to vindicate the cause of Islam.” He and his jihadis “demolished about 500 temples. They desired to destroy the temple of Beni Madho, but as lanes were barricaded, they desisted from going further.”128

  According to the eighteenth-century Muslim history Kanzu i-Mahfuz, there was in the city of Agra a temple that was a popular pilgrimage site. The Mughal rulers had for years collected a fee from the pilgrims, thereby considerably augmenting the royal treasury. When he found out about it, however, Aurangzeb was furious and forbade pilgrimages to the temple. His noblemen tried to reason with him, explaining that there would be a great loss of revenue for the government if these pilgrimages were forbidden. Aurangzeb replied: “What you say is right, but I have considered well on the subject, and have reflected on it deeply; but if you wish to augment the revenue, there is a better plan for attaining the object by exacting the jizya. By this means, idolatry will be suppressed, the Muhammadan religion and the true faith will be honoured, our proper duty will be performed, the finances of the state will be increased, and the infidels will be disgraced.” The noblemen were pleased with this solution, and Aurangzeb ordered the Agra temple destroyed.129

  Aurangzeb did not reintroduce the jizya only for the Hindus of Agra, but in 1679 for all the Hindus in his domains, in order to, so said the decree, “spread Islam and put down the practice of infidelism.”130 A delegation of Hindus appealed to Aurangzeb to reconsider. They reminded him that Akbar the Great, as well as Jahangir and Shah Jahan, had not collected the jizya, and their domains had prospered:

  Such were the benevolent intentions of your ancestors. Whilst they pursued these great and generous principles, wheresoever they directed their steps, conquest and prosperity went before them, and then they reduced many countries and fortresses to their obedience. During your majesty’s reign, many have been alienated from the empire, and further loss of territory must necessarily follow, since devastation and rapine now universally prevail without restraint. Your subjects are trampled under foot, and every province of your empire is impoverished, depopulation spreads, and difficulties accumulate.

  If Your Majesty places any faith in those books by distinction called divine, you will there be instructed that God is the God of all mankind, not the God of Muhammadans alone. The Pagan and the Musalman are equally in His presence. Distinctions of colour are of his ordination. It is He who gives existence. In your temples, to His name the voice is raised in prayer; in a house of images, when the bell is shaken, still He is the object of adoration. To vilify the religion or customs of other men is to set at naught the pleasure of the Almighty. When we deface a picture we naturally incur the resentment of the painter; and justly has the poet said, “Presume not to arraign or scrutinize the various works of power divine.” In fine, the tribute you demand from the Hindus is repugnant to justice; it is equally foreign from good policy, as it must impoverish the country; moreover, it is an innovation and an infringement of the laws of Hindostan.131

  Aurangzeb was as unmoved by this as Jahangir was by Akbar the Great’s explanation of why he didn’t persecute the Hindus. The jizya was reimposed, and Aurangzeb persecuted the Sikhs as well. The historian Khafi Khan, a contemporary of Aurangzeb, noted that he also “ordered the temples of the Sikhs to be destroyed and the guru’s agents [masands] for collecting the tithes and presents of the faithful to be expelled from the cities.”132

  Saqa Mustad Khan found much to admire in Aurangzeb because of all this:

  As his blessed nature dictated, he was characterized by perfect devotion to the rites of the Faith; he followed the teaching of the great Imam, Abu Hanifa (God be pleased with him!), and established and enforced to the best of his power the five foundations of Islam. Through the auspices of his hearty endeavour, the Hanafi creed [that is, the Orthodox Sunni faith)] has gained such strength and currency in the great country of Hindustan as was never seen in the times of any of the preceding sovereigns. By one stroke of the pen, the Hindu clerks [writers] were dismissed from the public employment. Large numbers of the places of worship of the infidels and great temples of these wicked people have been thrown down and desolated. Men who can see only the outside of things are filled with wonder at the successful accomplishment of such a seemingly difficult t
ask. And on the sites of the temples, lofty mosques have been built.133

  Bakhtawar Khan, a nobleman during Aurangzeb’s reign, was also pleased, noting that “Hindu writers have been entirely excluded from holding public offices, and all the worshipping places of the infidels and great temples of these infamous people have been thrown down and destroyed in a manner which excites astonishment at the successful completion of so difficult a task. His Majesty personally teaches the sacred kalima [fundamentals of the Islamic faith] to many infidels with success. All the mosques in the empire are repaired at public expense. Imams, criers to the daily prayers, and readers of the khutba [sermon] have been appointed to each of them, so that a large sum of money has been and is still laid out in these disbursements.”134

  By the time of Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, he was so hated for his harshness, and not just toward the Hindus and Sikhs, that the Mughals faced numerous rebellions. But the jihad, as always, would go on.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  DÉGRINGOLADE

  Jihad in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

  I. THE OTTOMANS IN DECLINE

  Wars with Russia and Austria

  The Ottoman Empire for much of its existence conducted its affairs in much the same way European states did, declaring war and concluding treaties. Underlying all of its activity, however, was the jihad imperative, which ensured that its foreign policy remained imperialistic and expansionist. Yet this expansion, as the empire declined, was often more a matter of theory than of practice.