Afghans were described as ugly, white persons with broad foreheads on
which their various atrocities could be inscribed. They were described as
“horrible of speech,” “impure of complexion,” and the slaughterers of cows.^8
By at least the seventeenth century, there was a rhetoric accusing Muslim
rulers of destroying temples and pillaging the countryside. To be sure, there
were instances of sacking of mosques as well as of Buddhist and Hindu
shrines. Sanjay Subrahmanyan reports, for example, on the destruction
of a mosque in Khambayat, Gujarat, in the 1220s and of another instance
some 500 years later in Ahmadabad, Gujarat.^9 Similarly, there was pillaging
at temples, especially during “foreign” incursions (e.g., Afghans, the
Mongols, Timur of Samarkand). Yet, as Subrahmanyan and others remind
us, there were instances of inter-sectarian violence well before the coming
of Islam.^10 The destruction of Buddhist institutions was occasionally done
by “Hindu” rulers as at Na ̄ga ̄rjunakonda; even the looting of Hindu temples
occurred in such places as Kashmı ̄r by “Hindu” rulers seeking to avenge
brahmans who were perceived to be too wealthy, corrupt, and powerful.^11
Conversely, there were Hindu temples constructed or renovated during
periods of Islamic governance^12 or by individual Muslims who believed
themselves to have been cured by a resident deity.
Devotionalism
A major wave of devotionalism (bhakti) occurred during this period when
Islam was increasingly visible. Was it a coincidence? Possibly but probably
not always. Certainly, bhaktihad thrived in the Tamil vernacular marking the
Tamilization of S ́aivism and Vais.n.avism in the seventh to ninth centuries.
And tantrism and worship of the goddess were occurring in the eighth to
tenth centuries, in a number of regions of India. Yet these movements
seemed to have occurred at times and in places of transition. There was
reaffirmation of regional and vernacular idioms, and a dialectic of “self” and
“other.” The “other” had sometimes been other sects or communities. It had
also included response to Buddhism and Jainism. Islam may well have been
one of the catalysts of a resurgence of devotionalism in this period, whether
directly or indirectly.^13 The connections were sometimes explicit in those
bhaktipoets who were singing after the thirteenth century, though there were
clearly other factors as well. These factors included an emerging conscious-
ness of regional and vernacular identities, the appropriation of indigenous
and “folk” forms of religious expression, and the borrowing of (and
distancing from) brahmanic forms of orthopraxy.
Three vernaculars in particular were beginning to reflect a rich devotional
surge: Mara ̄thı ̄, Benga ̄lı ̄, and Hindı ̄. We look briefly at each context.
Developments in the Late Medieval Period 141