SOMANATH

But the irrepressible religious fervor of Hinduism soared higher than the invincible Islamic ardor, and soon Somanath appeared a new, and lured the reverent due to the Herculean efforts of the then ruling princes and emperors, particularly that of Malwa, Gujarat, Ajnur and Junagadh. Many far-off emperors visited the temple and endowed it in such grandiose manner that the great temple of the great Lord witnessed greater glory and showered on the devotees the bliss greatest. Again in 1293, Allauddin Khilji carried away all the accumulated wealth by defeating the king. Repetition of misery-converting the helpless into Islam, carrying the women-folk for sale and nefarious purposes, ravaging the temple, looting of its property and the like, occurred with greater ferocity, but rebuilding was undertaken at once. Again Mohammed Tuglak in 1345; Feroz in 1367; Zafer Khan in 1395; 1402; 1406; Ahmad Shah in 1411 and Mohammed Begda in 1452, plundered it, but every time the vitality of Hinduism used to reassert itself sooner than the plunder. Unfortunately it tasted the wrath of D'Casto, the Portugese Admiral in 1547. like the Muslim conqueror, he spared neither the temple nor the mosques. The worst of it, he carried many inscriptions with him. It also witnessed Moghul bigotry during the reign of Aurangazeb in 1658 and 1704.

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