{"id":8831,"date":"2016-06-28T13:27:26","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T13:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org?p=8828&preview_id=8828"},"modified":"2016-06-28T13:27:26","modified_gmt":"2016-06-28T13:27:26","slug":"ayodhya-ram-temple-demolished-during-aurangzebs-reign-not-baburs-claims-ex-ips-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=8831","title":{"rendered":"Ayodhya Ram temple demolished during Aurangzeb\u2019s reign not Babur\u2019s, claims ex-IPS officer | The Indian Express"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pilgrims come to see the stone half prepared for proposed Ram Temple on Ram Janam Bhoomi in Ayodhya. EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ram janmabhoomi temple at Ayodhya was demolished during the reign of Auranagzeb and not by Babur\u2019s commander Mir Baqi, says former IPS officer Kishore Kunal in his book \u2018Ayodhya Revisited\u2019.<\/p>\n

In an interview to IANS, Kunal \u2014 who was an Officer on Special Duty in the Union home ministry in the 1990s \u2014 revealed that the misconception about Babur\u2019s role was due to Francis Buchanan who surveyed Ayodhya in 1813-1814 and was misled by an inscription at the mosque which mentioned one Baqi.<\/p>\n

\u201cBabur had no role in the demolition of any temple at Ayodhya or in the construction of the mosque there. He has been maligned for the last 200 years for an act with which he was not associated. It is an injustice to such a liberal emperor,\u201d Kunal said.<\/p>\n

According to Kunal, the temple was demolished by Awadh Governor Fedai Khan in 1660 during the reign of Aurangzeb. The temple was not demolished in 1528 as is generally claimed nowadays, he said.<\/p>\n

The so-called Babri Masjid had three domes that resembled other mosques built during Aurangzeb\u2019s time, Kunal stressed.\u201cFrancis Buchanan surveyed Ayodhya in 1813-1814 and was misled by an inscription at the mosque which was not properly examined by him. People knew that Aurangzeb had destroyed the Ram temple, but Buchanan was beguiled by the fictitious inscription to believe that it was built by Babur,\u201d Kunal added.<\/p>\n

The much-cited inscription inside the mosque was actually affixed centuries after the supposed construction in 1528, said Kunal.<\/p>\n

According to Kunal, Mir Baqi who\u2019s referred in the inscription was different from Baqi of \u201cBaburnama\u201d. In fact, Babur never visited Ayodhya, he said.<\/p>\n

The temples in Ayodhya were not affected during the Mughal period till Aurangzeb ascended to power, Kunal said, adding that the situation changed under Aurangzeb.<\/p>\n

After the report on Ayodhya was published in Martin\u2019s book a \u201cHistory Topography Antiquities of Eastern India\u201d in 1838, scholars started attributing construction of the mosque to Babur.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, no reference of \u2018Babri Masjid\u2019 could be found in any text for more than 240 years after its supposed construction in 1528. It was mentioned for the first time in the travelogue of Jesuit priest Tieffenthelar in 1768, Kunal said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have also presented accounts of foreign travellers like Thomas Herbert published in 1634 and Joannes De Leat published in 1631 on Ayodhya. Both had explained about a temple of Rama there and people visiting the place,\u201d Kunal said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have produced a clinching evidence which proved that there was a temple at the birthplace of Lord Rama and there was an idol inside it as it is described in the \u2018Ayodhya Mahatmya\u2019 of the Rudra Yamala,\u201d Kunal said.<\/p>\n

According to Kunal, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) failed to produce any document beyond the \u201cAyodhya Mahatmya\u201d of Skanda Purana. \u201cBut I have referred to four texts which corroborate the fact that Ayodhya was Lord Rama\u2019s birthplace,\u201d Kunal asserted.<\/p>\n

He further said VHP\u2019s reliance on a fictitious book \u201cSahifar-i-Chihal-Nasaih Bahadur Shahi\u201d is totally misplaced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pilgrims come to see the stone half prepared for proposed Ram Temple on Ram Janam Bhoomi in Ayodhya. EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA The Ram janmabhoomi temple at Ayodhya was demolished during the reign of Auranagzeb and not by Babur\u2019s commander Mir Baqi, says former IPS officer Kishore Kunal in his book \u2018Ayodhya Revisited\u2019. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[15,1134],"tags":[166,76,1368,1764,143,85],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8831"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}