Analisa Journal of Social Science and Religion Website Journal : http://blasemarang.kemenag.go.id/journal/index.php/analisa DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18784/analisa.v3i1.595 TEMPLE DESTRUCTION AND THE GREAT MUGHALS’ RELIGIOUS POLICY IN NORTH INDIA: A Case Study of Banaras Region, 1526-1707 Parvez Alam Department of History, ABSTRACT Banaras Hindu University, Banaras also known as Varanasi (at present a district of Uttar Pradesh state, India) Varanasi, India, 221005
[email protected] was a sarkar (district) under Allahabad Subah (province) during the great Mughals period (1526-1707). The great Mughals have immortal position for their contribu- Paper received: 07 February 2018 tions to Indian economic, society and culture, most important in the development of Paper revised: 15 – 23 May 2018 Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb (Hindustani culture). With the establishment of their state in Paper approved: 11 July 2018 Northern India, Mughal emperors had effected changes by their policies. One of them was their religious policy which is a very controversial topic though is very impor- tant to the history of medieval India. There are debates among the historians about it. According to one group, Mughals’ religious policy was very intolerance towards non- Muslims and their holy places, while the opposite group does not agree with it, and say that Mughlas adopted a liberal religious policy which was in favour of non-Mus- lims and their deities. In the context of Banaras we see the second view. As far as the destruction of temples is concerned was not the result of Mughals’ bigotry, but due to the contemporary political and social circumstances.