Iconoclasm
Topic: Turkic Invasions and the Delhi Sultanate · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"; Class 7, Ch 4 "Turning Tides: The 11th and 12th Centuries"; Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"
Meaning
Iconoclasm means rejecting or destroying religious images that are thought to be idolatrous (wrongly worshipped). From the 11th century, invaders and several Delhi sultans attacked sacred images in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain temples. Plunder was one reason, because large temples held great wealth. Religious zeal was another. NCERT says both motives were real. Note the words: "image" is the neutral English word. Indian texts say murti, vigraha, pratima or rupa.
Example
Mahmud of Ghazni destroyed the Somanatha Shiva temple at Somnath in Saurashtra in the 11th century. According to al-Biruni, parts of the image were laid at the door of the mosque in Ghazni so that people would wipe their feet on them. This was meant to humiliate, not just to rob.
Don't confuse with
- Plunder: taking a temple's wealth for money. Iconoclasm means destroying the image itself for religious reasons. Contemporary sources show that both often happened in the same raid.