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History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā
are evidence of the fact that these temples were centres of Jaina worship even in the eleventh century AD, one of them even about sixty years after Mahmud's destruction of Mathurā.
Mathurā was in a state of ruin for many centuries after Mahmud's invasion. This is evident from the fact that the next mention of this place in contemporary Muslim histories occurs as late as the latter half of the fifteenth century AD. Mathurā could not recover from this annihilation for many centuries. It made some recovery, but misfortune once again struck sometime between AD 1489 and AD 1517 and Mathurā suffered heavy destruction at the hands of Sikandar Lodi. It is because of these unfortunate developments that we are in dark about the state of this city in the period between the eleventh century AD and the fifteenth century AD.
The two Jaina temples which escaped destruction in AD 1018 either perished of their own after AD 1077 or 'were destroyed at some unknown date. Some Jaina texts inform that Jaina religious life flourished at Mathurā even in the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth century AD," and VividhaTīrtha-Kalpa seems to convey the impression that the Jaina stūpa was in existence even in the first half of the fourteenth century AD. 12 There is no confirmation of this in contemporary Muslim histories and other texts. In fact, between AD 1018 and the latter half of the sixteenth century AD, the only mention of Mathurā in contemporary Muslim accounts is Sikandar Lodi's destruction of Hindu temples and idols in this city.
F.S. Growse comments,
During the period of Muhammadan supremacy, the history of Mathurā is almost a total blank. The natural dislike of the ruling
8. JS, Introduction, pp. 3-4. 9. Elliot and Dowson, IV, p. 447. 10. JS, Introduction, p. 4; Yaśastilaka, p. 433. 11. R.C. Sharma, Braj Ka Präcin Tirtha Kankäli Sthala; paper presented at the National
Seminar held at Ajmer on 15 and 16 October, 1999, pp. 5-6. 12. MCH, pp. 210-11.
