Meenakshi Jain - The Battle For Rama (Case of The Temple at Ayodhya) - Aryan Books International (2017)

The Battle for
Case of the Temple at Ayodhya
Meenakshi Jain
Aryan Books International

New Delhi
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THE 13A1TLE F R RAl\1A
J.' flheTempleatAyodh a Contents
E- C
TSBN: 97 1-7305-579-9
!l'crlakshi Jain, 2017 List of 1l/11stratio11s vii
, I n�h - nc. 'rYed. 1o p.irt of this book may be reproduced or

IT.mmuttt-d m .my r m1 or by any means, electronic and 1. Introduction I
ml'\.--hJm al. including photocopy, recording or any other 2. Babur in Ayodhya 11
informJtion $t rage .ind relTiev;il system or otherwise, without 3. Accounts of Foreign Travellers and 17
wntten permission from the author and the publisher.
British Administrators
D1.c· l.lr.a: The ,iews and contents of the book are solely of 4. Attempts to Reclaim Sacred Spaces '.>4
the author. The publisher may not subscribe to them. 5. Muslim Sources on Ramjanmabhumi/Babri Masjid 48
6. The Conflict at Ayodhya Documented 53
First published: 2017
7, Left Historians Intervene 78
Reprinted in 2020 by 8. Hindu Sources on Rama Worship and 88
Aryan Books International the Janmabhumi Temple
Poo,a Apartments. 4B, Ansari Road 9. Pillar Bases - the First Archaeological Evidence 9-l
, New Delhi-11 O 002 (India)
Tet 23287589, 23255799; Fax: 9 103
l-l l-23270385 10. A Gahadavala Inscription Recovered and
E-mail: [email protected]
Trela Ka TI1akur Re-discovered
www.aryanbooks.com
11. Left Historians and the ASI Report 116
gned and Printed in lndia by

AB I Pn!nts & Publis
hing Co., New Delhi C NTENTS I V

Masjid in the Revenue
I 2 . N o Mention of Babri 136
Records
Court Judgement on the
13. The Allahabad High 140
Ramjarunabhumi /Bab ri Masjid Case
Select Bibliograplty 147

Index 157
List of Illustrations
E,l"------c
1. A view of Ayodhya, painting by William Hodges, 1785.

2. The Alamgiri Mosque at Ayodhya which stands on land
in possession of Hanuman Garhi since 1765.
3. Babri Masjid, Ayodhya.
4. Babur's mosque at Panipat.
5. Mir Hindu Beg's mosque at Sa.mbhal.
6. Wash drawing of Sambhal mosque by Thomas Daniell
and William Daniell, 1789.
7. Title page of Samuel Purchas's book, Purchas His
Pilgrimage.
8. Title page of de Laet's book.
9. Title page of Thomas Herbert's book.
IO. Joseph Tieffenthaler's map of the Ganges and Ghaghara
rivers.
11. Sketch by Joseph Tieffenthaler.
vi I THE BATTL
E FOR RAMA
UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS I vii

's m;ip o A_•odhya , J 70.
f
1 · Patrick Camegy an.1th tempi!? after its
34. Ram., and Lnkshman as depicted at the Gandha Madhana
. g Clf the KJsh - i 1.hv
17. A d rawan . hill, H;impi.
Prin.ep in 1826.
demoliti0n, by Jame u
35. Akb.ir's Rama Siya coin·.
a nwapi mo
A photogrJph of the back �de of_ t�c Gy q c 36. Hama and Llkshm.u,a bemoaning the loss of Sila, Pahari
V1 lw,math te mple
WU I •c1, � t on pJrt of the K:1sh1 School, Kangra, 1780-1785.
The MaJJmnohan temple, VrinJ:1,·nn i1 published in 37. TI,e Rajim stone inscription dated AD 1145 recording the
F .. Grow 's i\lat/111r,1: A Distr
ict Memoir, 1882.
construction of a "beautiful temple" for Rama.
rtcd into a mosque. The
20. 11,c GobinJ De,· temple con\'e 38. The Trela ka TI1akur inscription.
mrhrnl i vi. ible on top (photo by John Murray, c. 1850). 39. TI1e Vishnu Hari inscription recovered in the aftermath
21. Report f the /11,mtdir of Awadh dated 28th November of 6th December 1992.
t on 111mm ;ind / uja inside Bahri Masjid.
22. luhJmmJd 1\sghar' complain I of 30th November 1858 Some finds from the AS! excavations at Babri Masjid
n /u.-,m .-ind puja inside Bahri Masjid. 40. Glazed ware sherds.
2J. Report of the t/1a11cdar on eviction of Sikhs from Bahri 41. Glazed ware large bowl.
lil.jid. 42. Porcelain ware sherds.
24. A 2nd-1st century BCE terracotta from Kaushambi 43. Terracotta glazed ware sherds.
h ""in Ravana carrying away Sita. 44. Sprouted pot.
25. A terracotta figure from Nachara Khera, with the 45. Pots from Kushan period.
name RJmJ inscribed in Brahmi characters of the 46. Leg portion resting on pedestal.
3rd century CE. 47. A human leg, terracotta.
26. Terracotta from Bhitargaon showing a scene from the 48. Torso of human figure wearing uttariya, terracotta.
Ranzaya 1 1a, 5th century CE, presently in Brooklyn Museum, 49. Male holding a perforated disc, terracotta.
U.S.A. 50. A decorated human head, terracotta.
27. Ahalya offering fruits lo Rama, 5th century C , Deogarh, 51. Human head with large earrings, terracotta.
E
presently in National Museum, Delhi. 52. Animal head.
28. �amayana scenes from the Durga temple, 53. General view of the excavated trenches in the southern
Aihole,
Kamataka. area.
29· Rama, Vali, and Sugriva from 54. North-south oriented brick wall with plastered inner
the Papanatha temple,
Kamataka. face.
30. V�rwras, Hoysalesvara tem 55. Wall of the temple with decorated architectural members.
ple, Halebid.
31. Sn Rama c,· <>iv·mg a bh'1gnam (nng) 56. Pillar bases attached to the contemporary floor 2 in
. to Hanuman HaJeb1d.
32. A depiction of R northern area.
ama from t he Pattabhirama temple · '
Hampi. 57. Circular shrine.
33. The Haza.re Ram 58. Tank like structure below Rama Chabutra.
a temple, Hampi.
\'iii I TI-IE BATTL LIST or- fl..LUST RATIONS I

E FOR RAMA

'wt1lt1 used in wal l of the mo quc.
S Clo c up of ,\I1" k•nrn-pr . .
edmBabn
.
kp1 llarsu
60.· omr ' I:! d l-lstoneblac
• o fth c d t'CO rat>
M,Ljid. . .
into large bnck p avin g.
I. G/1111 1 1-shaped pit cut
1
B"'------1.C
Introduction
T he holiness of Ayodhya and its identity as Rama's

birthplace was freely acknowledged in several Persian
works in the medieval era. Abul Fazl Allami (1551-1602),
official historian of Emperor Akbar, noted that Ayodhya was
regarded as "sacred ground" and "on the ninth of the light
half of the month of Chaitra a great religious festival is held."
Rama was born "in the city of Ayodhya ... esteemed one of
the holiest places of antiquity" (Ai11-i Akbari lll: 334, 316-17).
Another interesting reference to the jnnn111b/11m1i of Rama
came from a sn11nrl is ued by the Mughal authorities in July
1723. Akbar had granted si bighns of land to Hanuman Tila at
Ayodhya, on lhe 13th Ramzan of 1008 AH (28th March 1600). 1
The sn11nrl was renewed to Sadhu Abhayarama Das on 8th
July 1723, by the Superintendent of Endowments. The writer
of the sn11nd stated, in Persian, that he was writing it from the
"1111111/1111" (jn1111111b/1111111) of Rama. The English translation of
the sn11nrl stated,
This insignificant writer, who is native of the holy place

which is the mn11/11d of Rama, is reducing it (the sannd} in
x I lrlE B mE FOR
RAM,\ INTRODUCTION I

.. certified that six big!ta of
wn t mg \vith pe n: Dy or d er, I'tis
· t he province o r O u dh wh ich was granted for th e
I dnd m
Jn T'II a, is give n to Abhayarama m
con strue t'ion of H 'inum
.
l' ailed reig a ft e r compa ring it with the deed
the fifth n
_ All, · ,
1.e. 28th March 1600
Lsurd on the IJLh Ram1nn of 1008
(KunJI 2016: -105- I 2).
. to Lhe Ja11amstha11 (birthplace
The fir t d c f'mi.1 e rcf"rence
...
of Rama ) als o ca m ...
c from a Mu Lim source. On 30th November
.. • . . ••
1858, the Mutawalli of Babri Maspd, m his first petition to �e
Briti h government referred to the disputed structure as Mns11d
Innams tiinn; u•nd 1·n a ubsequent appeal on 21st January 1870
as Mn jid Bab 11 ri Wnqia Janmaslltan. The English translation of
hi first appeal said,
Ghnrib Panmr Aadil-e-Zamm1 Salama/ Sir,

I n a recent incident one Nihang Sikh re ident of Punjab
Sikl..han, ,1 government employee (sic) is creating riot on
Janam Sthan Ma jid situat ed in Oudh (Allahabad High
Court Judgement pages 2300-13 para 2317).2
Several works in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu composed in

the nineteenth century also explicitly referred to the demolition
of the temple and its replacement by Babri Masjid
(Narain
1993: 16-37). One such work was the Jnnnnlt nl-Masl,riq
wn Matin
'a11-N11r nl-Mnsliriq, re-titled AI-Hi
11d-11 Ji nl- 'Altd nl-Jsla111 i, by
Maulana Hakim Sayyid Abd al-Hayy
. It was tTanslatcd into
Urdu by MaL1lan.i Shams Tabriz Khan
, under the title Hi 11d 11 sta11
lslnmi A/1d 111ci11. In an introduc
tion, Lhe author's on, Maulana
Abu I-Hasan 'Ali Nadawi alia
s Ali Mian stated,
And a on t hem is the great mos
� ? que lhat wa built by the
Ti_ urid king 13.lbar in the
� acred city of Ajodhya. It i
believed that R,1ma Ch
andra considered to be
manife tJti n of God. wa the
s � s born here. There is a
_
J� out his wife S1t,1. long tory
There w,1s a big temple
_
c ity. At a certain for them in thi
place Sita used to sit
consort. Well, the Silid and cook food for her
king 13Jbar demoli
shed it and built a
2 I THE BAmll
FOR RAMA

mosque at that very pl.ice with chiseled stone in 923 All
(Narain 1993: 16-17).
13esidcs medievnl works in Persian and Urdu, there was

lhc notable account of the Austrian Jesuit, Joseph TieffenU,aler
(1710-1785), who travelled through Aw.:idh between 1766 and
1771. He wrote,
...here was .i house where Beschan (Vishnu) was born in
the form of Ram. ... Subsequently Aurengzebe or Baber,
according to others, got this place razed in order to deny the
noble people, the opportunity of practicing their
superstitions ... (pages 3503-09 para 3514).
After the British takeover of Awadh, all official records
and district gazetteers of the colonial Slate were also
unanimous that Babri Masjid occupied the site of the temple.
s on l;md in
' !he \l.rn,i:tn · \I ,,, qu,''1 1 i-\,·0dh)'J which stand Every 13ritish report on Ayodhya noted the black stone pillars
r 176 5.
�,,-..·--i,,n ,,i' HJnum,in G.irhi sinc in the mosque, aU traces of images on their bases having been
cut off "to satisfy the conscience of the bigot" (Martin 111976:
333-36).
Anton Fuhrer (1853-1930), a German lndologist who
served as Curator of the Lucknow Provincial Museum and
was also Archaeological Surveyor of the North Western
Provinces, recorded,
The old temple of Ramachandra at Janmasthanam must
have been a very fine one, for many of its columns have been
used by the Musalmans in the construction of Babar's masjid.
These are of strong, close-grained, dark-coloured or black
stone, called by the natives knsnuti, 'touch-stone slate,' and
carved with different devices. They are from seven to eight
feet long, square at the base, centre and capital, and round
or octagonal intermediately (Fuhrer 1889: 68).
The Annual Report of tlte Office of tlte Archaeological S11roeyor,
Northern Circle, Agra, submitted by Maulvi Shuaib in 1906,
recorded three inscriptions at Babri Masjid. Appendix D of
3. Babri \lasjid, Ayodhya.
the Report listed the inscriptions copied at that time in serial
CNTRODUCTION I 3

was the stone slab on the
Inscription No. JO
numbers 10 to 1 2 of the M asjid. It was in Persian'
been one of the main pilgrimage
_ centres of Ayodhya,
· t ril I arch
· d t• of the cen
ou t�i .
o f construction as
espeaally on the occasion of Raman,w
ami .... The destruction
m ed the ru 1 er as Babur ' and the date . . of the '.empl e woul d not have implied the
na Remarks ti stated end of all forms of
. In the (a,t column UJ1der w ors�11p Ill and around U,e holy site. Just
AH 935. 1.e. t-D 1528 _
p il g ri ms may have assembl ed near the
as they do today,
lhJI the inscription, dars�an of the hrtha, and in o rder to perfo
mosque to have
the mosque whid, was built on the _ rm the puja special
Rc-rords l.I1e c=-t·"·n of
n prov1s1ons may have been made ...
th, c old temple of Janam Asthanam of Ram
same spct w here ....The ritual of Ramanavami described in OA 22
ra was (Kun JI 20 16: 171·73). (a recension
Chand of the Ayodl,yn Ma/1nl111ya), which is said to be carrie
ing questions - when was d out in
This entry raises sewr;il intrigu the Janmasthan (OA 22.22), does not require a temple
or the
remov�d? ls there any
the inscription put up ,md_ whe w�s it n like and could therefore have been performed somew
here
anng seen 11? Equa lly 1mpor�ant, why near t�e original holy spot in the 16th and following
record of anyone else h
ib's A1111un l Report of the Office of the centuries.
was Maulvi Shua
ArchJt,,l �>ical Surveyo r, Northe m Circle, Agra, not made public Such perseverance and flexibility of Hinduism under
for o,·er a century? Muslim repression, which was demonstrated throughout
That apart, more recently Hans Bakker, whose the history of North India, couJd have provided an objective
authoritative work on Ayodhya was published in 1986 well reason for the compiler of the OA recension not to delete or
minimize his description of the Janamsthan despite its
before the contrO\·ersy erupted, wrote,
occupation by a mosque... (Bakker Part a 1986: 14&47).
Th<' oldest pieces of archaeological evidence are the black
columns which remain from the old (Visnu) temple that In an astonishing act of daring, a handful of Left historians
was situated on the holy spot where Rama descended to attempted to counter a centuries old belief, and vociferously
eMl:h Oanma-bhumi). This temple was destroyed by the first assert that Babri Masjid was built on vacant land. They remain
Mogul prince Babur in AD 1528 and replaced by a mosque undeterred despite the mounting evidence stacked against
which still e>-ists. The following specimens of these pillars them. Some of these historians even appeared as experts of
are known to exist: fourteen pillars were utilized by the the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) during
builder �lir Bagi in the construction of the mosque and are negotiations between the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP),
still partly visible within it; two pillars were placed besides
BMAC, and the Government in 1990-1991. Yet throughout they
the gra,·e of the Muslim saint Fazl Abbas alias Musa
have mai ntained the charade of being "independent
Ashikhan. who, according to oral tradition, incited Babur
to demolish the Hindu temple. The grave and these two historians."
pillars (driven upside-down into the ground) are still shown In his recently published autobiography [Njan E1111a
in Ayodhya, a little south of the Kubertila... (Bakker 1986: Blraratiym1 (1 an Indian)], Dr. K.K. Muhammad, former Regional
44). Director (North) of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI),
has state d that a set of Left historians systematically derailed
He added, 3
attempts at a peaceful resolution of the issue. He writes,
...the original birthplace temple dated
from the 10th or
11th century. Before its destruction
the temple must have
INTRODUCTION I 5
4 I THE BA lTLE FOR RAM
A

Jawah arlal Nehru University
tc.,m !lf Ldt hi tori,1ns in
ChanJra, ,ind S. op a l argued K nal notes that Ra111ja11111abl1
su h .,$ R,,mila Thapar. Bipin . � 11mi-Babri M llSJ..I d : A
the dism a ntlin� of the temp l e .
that thcr,· was n!l m,'fltion of
H1s/or,a11s'Reporl lo 11,c Natio 11 fa I·sc I Y
claimed lhat .. ... 13 a b n·
Ay oJh y .1 w;, .1 Buddhist
l'<'fon: thc nmct,'<'nth century ,md M asp"d became a protected monument under
the Ancient
,'. I h�IMiJOS such as lrfan Habib, R.S. Sh arma, Mo nume n ts Act, 1940 (re-legislated ' 1958)" (N ooran.i
Jain ,cnt r
. I 2003:
too joined and it became a
AU1 .1 r Ali, D.N. Jha. uraj Bhan, 46). 13abri Mas'id
• J wa s, however, never dec l ared a protected
big 1,ruuping. monument un�cr the Ancient Monuments Act by the AS!.
_ In
, a commu n ication dated 2nd May 1991 , ti1e o·I rector G enera I
The "Leftist dr.-ima," he late
(DG) of ASI, M.C. Joshi unambiguou ly stated,
to th e DMAC. This
.... insullcd t"OUrJgt' .md g.l \"C fJI chop�
rcsulteJ in a rcv,•r.JI 0f the thoui; ht p rocess amongst As Lhe Babri M asjid is not a centrally protected monment,
_
Mfillim.s "'h h.1J till then, been p,,ndcring wholeheartedly the �rchaeolog1cal Survey of India ha not so far made any
at,,,ut b1vin� bMk the mosque and settling the matter detailed study of Ule monument (Kunal 2016: xxxv-xxxvi).
ami a1'ly. TI,cy cam.- to a renewed conclusion that the This was confirmed by Madhav Godbole, former Home
mos..iue ";11 n,,t be gin�n...
Secretary, in his book Unfinished Innings,
The 8\IA�, - ... hel d several �eetings under the leadership
The possibility of declaring the RJB-BM structure a protected
of IrfJn H.1b1b, the then Chairman of Indian Council of monument was considered but had to be given up as tJ-,e
Hi torical Re.earch (ICHR)." Though Member Secretary, Department of Culture and the Director General of
1.GS. arayamn oppo ed this, "it had little value in the Arc haeology advised that the monument did not satisfy tJ-,e
presence of Habib." "The Babri issue," K.K. Muhammad states criteria for declaring it as such (Godbole 1996: 375).
#would have been settled long ago if the Musl im intelligentsi�
h.ld not fallen prey to the brain washing of these historians" But what is truly astounding is Kishore Kuna l's exposure
<01."Cum O,ronicle 15 January 2016; Hai11dava Kera/am 16 January on the Treta Ka Thakur inscription housed in Lucknow
_0)6). Museum. For over hvo decades, Left historians, p rinci pall y
The latest insider account on the tactics of Left historians Professor Jrfan Habib, mounted a forceful campaig n claiming
and
comes fr m �h re Kuna!, Officer on Specia l Duty (Ayodhya) that this inscription was stolen from Lucknow Mu eum
? ? d at A odh a during lhe chaos of 6lh Decem ber 1992.
plante y y
��er Pnme 1.inisters V.P. Singh and Chandra Shek.har. Kuna1, Trela Ka Thakur
madentally a former student of both Professors R.S. Sharma Now for the first time a photograph of lhe
shed (Kuna I 2016: 306). It conc lusively
and D. 1• Jha has cited official correspondence to substantiate inscription has been publi
i tion and the Vishnu
his stat ments (see pages 95-99 in this vol ume). Dismissing establishes lhat t he Treta Ka Thakur inscr p
� two distin ct epigraphs and
Left d im to impartiality, he also points out that the authors Harl inscription found in 1992 are
� tit u
tion (see p a ges 103-12 in this
of Riim1anmab/111111i-Babri Masjid: A Historia11s'Report to the Nation that there had been no subs
May i99J), Professors R.S. Sharma, Athar Ali, D.N. Jha, vol ume).
� ter? Evidence may come;
_
d Surai Bhan, all BMAC experts, while ismissive of evidence But doe s evidence really mat
d hist orian s "go on forever."
tendered by lhe VHP m support of its cla.im on the temple, evidence may go; but Left
de
:A C�o evaluation of the documents submitted by the
INTRODUCTION I 7
6 I THE BATTLE FOR RAMA
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END NOTES
from eating meat. The reason why I do not altogether abandon
,·,vin• .,"rt'vcnue grant to a Hindu deity by Akbar
1 · The rarh_ I ur, It myself is Lhal many others might willingly forego ii likewise
. January _ !565 • to Lh" Gobind Roi (Gov1nd Dev) t"mple
was m and be thus cast Into despondency." Jahangir recorded Lhat
... "quen tly, a Jarman of 1598 r('corded land
al Mathur,,. u,,s Akbar ate meat for three month a year, and "for the remaining
;
-- na med tem pl!'s in l\fathura ond tis environs
grants "' 3 . I 9:;8.
" . 235-39). nine, contented himself with Sufi food" (Findly 1987:
(Mu.khctjre anJ H,1b1b 252-53).
maJc a first i;rant to lhe Jog1s of Jakhbar (o f
ln AD 1571 Akb,ir In 1589, Padmasagara wrote the first known account in
Kanp hata sect ,,f Nath . G urd asp ur d'1s t net
Joi:;1. ) , in . of
the Sanskrit of the rise of the Mughals to power. He embedded
.., To�, i;•rJnl wa confi m,cd in Novemb('r 1581, whe n
l'u n1a,,. this narrative within a poem titled Jagadgurukavya (Poem on
Udani Nath met tl w Empero r personally. In 1578, another
Jogi the Teacher of the World), which eulogized the life of
_ h.ah·a, handar •ath wa patronized by Akbar for the first Hi.rav ijaya Suri and his extensive ties with the Mughal court
time Go,"·.uny and Grewal 1967: 6-7, 21, 25-26). The Parsi, (Truschke 2012: 374). Padmasagara celebrated the effective
OJ.5tur l\lahtji Rana was also c,,,nferred ;i land grant by Akbar. enforcement of Akbar's orders. For example, after noting that
Aktiar's c,.,rdial relations wilh the great Jain Acharya, Hirvijaya Akbar had agreed to Hiravijaya's request to prohibit fishing
wi are a.L<o rec,,,rded. The Achary a was summoned to Akbar's in a particular lake near Fatehpur Sikri, he observed that
court lo e,plain tl1e tenets of his faith. He so impressed the "(glorious Padshah Akbar) ordered serv ants to so und drums
Emperor t.lut he was conferred the title of fagat Gum (World throughout the city in order to inforrn all the people and secretly
Teacher). ln response toa request by the Acharya, the Emperor appoi nted me n to arrest those who violated the r ule"
i sued J Jarman, dated 6th June 158-1, banning animal (Truschke 2012: 381-82).
slaughter during hvelve holy days of Paryus/iana. Another Abu! Faz! is reported to have questioned Hirvijaya Suri on the
farman was i ssued in AO 1592; and was addressed to the legitimacy of Islam. Jain accounts presented this exposition
Go\'emors, jagirdars, and officials of Malwa, Ahmada bad, as Hirv ijaya Suri's ability to "answer t he threat of Mughal
and the rest of the Empire. It stated that at the request of the supported Islam" (Truschke 2015: 1314-15). Akbar's farmans
Acharya, the "heaven-reaching" hills of Siddhachal, Gimar, prohibiting animal slaughter do not, however, seem to have
Taranga, Keshrinath, and Abu, all situated in Gujarat, and been obeyed by local officials. This was apparent from t he
the five hills of Rajgir, and the hill of Samat Shikhar in Bengal, repeated reiteration of the same order in numerous famwns
together with all the koll1is and temples below these hills, as (Krishn amurti 1961: 82-83).
also all other places of pilgrimage of the Jain S vetambar 2. This refers to the Allahabad High Court Judgement of 30th
community throughout Lhe Empire, should be handed over to September 2010, delivered by Justices Sudhir Agrawal,
the Jains so that no one may kill any animal on those D.V. Sharrna, and S.U. Khan. Unless otherwise stated all such
hills or
near those temples. Thefan11a11 stated that citations are from the ruling of Justice Agrawal.
the Emperor found
this request "just and reasonable and 3. For a review of K.K. M uhammad's book see Swarajya
n ot contrary to the
(lslamic) law, ordered that the hills 7th September 2016, "Anyone who d idn't agree with lrfan
and temples be bestowed
to Hirvi1·aya Sur·1 as th Habib was branded 'Hindutv awadi': Archaeologist in
e A c h arya was regard ed the
representative of the Autobiography".
Jain Svetambar c ommunity
(Co�ssariat 19�0: 8-10). 4. A recent incident concerning the AJamgiri Masjid at Ayodhya,
Akbar himself took vows of limited
abstinence from mea built in the 17th century by Emperor A uran gzeb, perhaps
t-eatmg,
• saying, "Were it not for the
thought of the diff1cu] indicates that the Ramjanmabhumi issue could also have been
ty of sustenance, I would prohibit men
settled cordially, but for the intervention of vested interests.
8 I TI1E BATTLE
FOR RAMA INTRODUCTION I 9

d the land on which Alamgiri Masjid wa
Thr t ru cturl' .an ssession of Hanuman Garh1 around 176
1n !)05 5
. tcJ came
s:,tua . dd au I J h donated the land . to Hanuman C.irhi
NdWd b S• • hUt dU
n amaaz '"ould continue at the Mils,·id
on Ct'� d,t,on I h a I
h an Taqu i described the incident,
Histonan R(l!,
Bu in 1764, Shu1· audd au 1 a l 1, U 1e Nawab
�ar
• Mt r thr t>Jttlr o f . b a d lo Lucknow.
, e d hi capital from Fa1za
of AwaJh.. mo, . ha d d onate d t h e 1 ilnd in
I F•iz u abad he
Dun· ni: h,s rr1gn ·n G,uh.i temple. After
u,e r',n rru ctio n of l· fanumon
A ),odhya 1or .1. . .
_, to L u c'"''-ow when a drkgahon of Mahants visited
he ,hifl
• •
. ,-u
him anu1 appc, Jlr<l for more land,
had on
the
·
11 a
Navvab
M
donated
"db
OSJI u1·1t b y
4
M
pucca 2
�.,.____.c
b,ghas o f I Jn d thJI ,ill'l' ad)' ughal
•
rmpcrw Aurangirb.
gradually ended
The pra ct ,cc Of Offcrin"" nomaaz, however,
11.11d tho? Ma...<Jid lay oband ned. The Ayodhya m�cipal b oard Babur in Ayodhya
r,•centlv declart>d the dilapidated Alamg1ri Masjid
'haz.ardous·, and pastrd a notice banning entry into the
I
builJing. This spum'1 �,me local Muslims to meet Hanuman
G.lrhi' chief pric-st, �!alMnt G)•an Das, and request rum £or n popular memory, the demolition of the Ramjanmabhu
mi
pcnnis.sion 10 get lhc Ma. jid repaired. tem ple at Ayo dhya has long been associated with the
The H.1num,rn Garhi temple trust not only allowed Mughal Emperor Babur, as the destruction of the
n-ronstruction of the Masjid, but also agreedto bear the costs Krishnajanmabhumi temple at Mathura and the Vishvanath
and welcomed !vluslims to offer namaaz in the prem.ises (TIie temple at Kashi have been linked to Emperor Aurangzeb.
Times o lmtw 1-9-2016). Apologists of Babur have derived relief from the fact that the
pages of h.is Memoirs pertaining to that period are missing.
In 1819, the Scottish Orientalist, John Leyden (1775-1811),
in his translation of the Memoirs of Zeliir-ed-din Muhammed Babur,
stated that Babur had encamped near Ayodhya on 28th March,
AH 934. The translation was published in collaboration with
William Erskine (1773-1852), Scottish sch olar and
administrator, and first secretary of the Literary Society of
Bombay. As per this work, Babur recorded,
We were still a march or two from Oudh... On Saturday, the
7th of Rajeb, I encamped two or three kos above Oudh...
An entry of 2 April, AH 934 confirmed Babur's stay in
Ayodhya for a fortnight,
10 I THE BATTLE FOR BABUR IN AYODHYA I 11

RAMA

> in this tation. for the purpo. of cttling
t halted ,some d O ' the
•
ne1g hbounng
• count
ry, and for
and
the nffo1rs O f OuJh · I ,t ko
· . g I h e n l'Cl' · ary arrani;eme · 5even or c1g
nt .
mnt..in of the nver aru, i s I h c wcll-
the t.,an t..s S
abcw e Ou dh • i,n hu nting ground. I enl Mir
kJ the
1r.m,wn trJ,•1 cJl • .
cdl l·hb.intoc anuncthd , rd o fth nn•rsC igra
Muhn mm hia , n J' d · 11 Thursday, the 12th, I mount d
and SJru "' c.l' h' i '
" arty (Leyd n and Er kine 11 1826:
to sd ,, ff. on J huntin•• p
'.\32-33).
Annrtt_c S. �evcridge (1842-
In t922, Ilriti h Orientalist,
of Ba bu r' s Memoir·, affmned that Babur
1929), in her traru lltion
miles n orth of Ayodhya on 28th March 1528, 4. 0.1bur's mosque .1l P.-inip,11.
had encampt.--d 72
We �ta,-ro a ft'w d,,). on tl,at ground (near Aud) in order to
�Ilk the af!Jin of ud. re0ple prai. ed the land lying along
the Sird (a; S.myu) 7 or �-urolrs (14-16 miles) above Aud,
sa · "lt i i w.1s hunting ground (Beveridge ll 1922: 602).
&bur's narrati\'e broke off on 2nd April lo resume on
18th September, during which period Babri Masjid was
apparently con tructed. Annelle Beveridge presented a
translation of a fragment that appeared to be a segment of the
lost record of AH 934. It could have been a Persian translation
of an authentic Turki piece and suggested that Babur may
ha,·e tayed a little longer at Ayodhya or returned later the
same year. It stated,
After. rending seYeral days pleasantly in that place, where
there a.re gardens, running-waters, well-designed buildings,
tm!s, particularl y mango trees, and various birds of coloured
p l umage, I ordered the march to be
towards Ghazipur
�·eridge a 1922: 680).
Professor B.R. Grover noted
that Babur again visited the
eas� m districts.Jaun
pur territory, in May-June 1529, for which
period there was n0
b rea k tn
. his Memoirs (Grover 2015:
2-1-\, 246)_
12 I lliE BATTLE S. Mir Hindu Beg's mosque .-it Silmbhal.

FOR RAMA

�ile evaluating the loss of the missing pages, it bears
recalling that Babur did not document every event in his life.
He maintaine� silence, for instance, about taking help from
_
the Safav1d King. Shah I mail, in his third attempt to capture
Samarqand. According to the term the Safavid monarch
imposed, Babur, a Sunni, had to accept the trappings of the
Shia creed. The creed was anathema for orthodox Sunni
Muslims of Samarqand. ll1ere was not a word on this in the
oo
I Bab11r-Nama (Asher 1992: 19).
MOSQUES ASSOCIATED WITH BABUR

Three mosques associated with Babur have sur v ived in India
(one of which was pulled down in 1992). Of these, one was
imperially patronized, the other two conslTucted on 13abur's
> orders by his nobles. All were built in the closing years of his
-::;
C reign. The sponsorship of these mosques was significant. For,
r:
prior to his conquest of India there was little evidence of
Babur's sanctioning religious structures (Asher 1992: 25).
Babur's own mosque in Parupat was built on U1e site of his
victory over Sultan Ibrahim Lodi which made him master of
Hindustan. According to inscriptions, the mosque was well
under way, if not finished, by U,e end of 1527; the gate, well,
and garden were completed by 1528.
ll1e mosque at Sambhal was constructed in 1526 by Babur's
General, Mir Hindu Beg. It was the largest built in the Delhi
region since Timur's sack of the city in 1398. Located atop a
hill, it dominates the landscape for a considerable distance.
The choice of Sambhal was noteworthy. According to Hindu
ITadition that was known to the Mughals, U1e last incarnation
of Vishnu would appear in Sambhal at the end of U1e era (Asher
1992: 28). Abut Fazl Allarru recorded Mughal knowledge of
this Hindu belief,
I.n the city of Samba) is a temple called Hari Manda! (the
temple of Vishnu) belonging to a Brahman, from among
BABUR IN AYODHYA I 13

ar will appcnr in this pnt
nts thc tenth avat
wh05C descenda holy war. Soon after defeating Ra.na Sanga
. , he a urned the
(Airr-i AAbari 11: 285) title of Gl,nzi, a soldier committed to the cau e of
Islam, and
' ition of the Kalki nt nlnr, Abut
th'1 trld wrote a v rsc declaring his intent to overpower Hind
Wh'I1 e record.mg
J
l lari tempi had been us and

11 o Jj\·ul<'e,., that the png n n .l He thereby con formed to the long-
Fazl wa' carefu 1 no cJ at the
.
site wtl, h ti
' d cb ns.
. e ta blished
. q • con truct practice of Musli m rulers conquering non-Mu lim land
tr ro d f n Somna l . The
d o . u.l the s,mc
m��tnc-�\bo tity o Palla h locntion of the mosques at Sambhal and Ayodhya, in generally
e ally
Equ y w "h�'l"
e wn
. ' t-J from any r'fcrenc to it d c !ruction
for Hindu • h e n· f r,11·n charged locales, wa in conformity with the spirit of Dabur's
by Mah mu G hazn Jvi. new legitimizing idiom• (Asher 1992: 30).
rial in the Sam�h�I mo que is
d
Thl' usl' of temple mJte

ilec turc of the building (e.g. two
e,·id ent in Lhc intL•nul .,rch
END NOTES
from the eastern gateway to
r sette nn �t11nc sl,1bs leading 1. Professor R. Nath has pointed out that Babur, in his M�moirs,
o for hanging the temple bell, and a mentioned only one mosque he had constructed, that at
the quJdrangk; thl' chain
h l' b,1ek for the performan ce of pnriknr11111 by Dholpur, which is not extant. He did not record the
pa Sil r at t
construction of any mo que at Delhi, Agra, Sikri, or Gwalior.
worshippers, arc till vi ible).
Nor did he refer to the mosques at Sambhal, Panipat, Rohtak,
BJbur rcmJinrJ quirt on this incident as well, though there Palam, Pilkhuwa, Maham and Sonipat, the inscriptions of
wJ.S no brrJk in hi Mrmoirs for this period.' In September which bear his name (Nath 1991: 19).
Octot>cr 1527, he vi ited Sambhal and stayed there for three 2. Hindus long associated with the Mughal court, too, retained
days. Tor inscription on lheSambhal mosque also clearly stated empathy with their ancient traditions. ln the 1740s, courtier
that it wa buil t by Mir Hindu Beg on the 'Farman of and noted litterateur, Anand Ram Mukhlis accompanying
Shahanshah of the World' Muhnmmad Babur in the year the Mughal Emperor, Muhammad Shah, on a journey-cum·
December 1526 (Grover 2015: 33-34, 45, 273).2 military expedition to the Gangetic valley, recorded his
The la t mo que of Babur's time was built at Ayodhya. sentiments on reaching the town of Sambhal. Commenting on
Like Sambhal, Ayodhya was a site of immense significance the transformation of the Hari Mandir into the Jami Masjid of
the town, Anand Ram reasoned, "Earlier too it was a place of
for Hindus a the sacred birthplace of Lord Rama. The
worship (ibadal knna/1), and even now it is a place of worship."
incorporation of Hindu architectural members prominently
He noted the existence of a tank, now in poor condition, but
displayed in the mosque was perhap intended by Mir Baqi
still deemed holy by people who gathered there to bathe.
as a statement of Muslim authority (Ashe 1992: 29-30). Bmhmins too came to recite s/,/okas. Anand Ram was moved
r
The construction of mosques on sites associated with non to compose a somewhat ambivalent, but regretful verse in
lsl.imic traditions was a new begin Persian,
ning for Oabur. Before his
conq u est of l_ndi�, he had claim
ed his right to sovereignty on "After this, in place of tears,
ground of hl5 T1murid he The heart comes out,
ritage and Turki hness, not religion.
B u t once he had estab When the pond's water dries'
lished himself in India, the establishment
of I lam became an objec Earth comes out" (Subrahmanyam 2004: 94-96).
tive of his rule. He referred to Hindus Rana
as kafirs, and term 3. Babur gave up drinking on the eve of the battle with
ed t h e war agai· nst Rana Sanga, as ;1/111
..
d Sangha; "What wine we had with us was poured on the
ground ... " (Beveridge II 1922: 551-52).
14 I TIIE BATTLE BABUR IN AYODHYA I 15
FOR RAMA

·,• R1 b ur ... • umc--1 the title of ,hazi,
tt�r hi•. nr • I' rv
nJrrecd ·m the wilds,
r 1,1nm • · l..c. I wJ
. th " s anJ 1 hndus,
I,a,ran
I ,nt'-' r\'\.1 for wdr "t , 1 tl i n' m,irlvr . s deal h .
eJ If to n,..,. ,
lh,,...,ln "'>· '-•' .. ' A h,Hi I b«amc (Beveridge II 1922: 575).
Th.in� t..- h.' xi · f;
m,,u rcJ of lndia. A much-died entry in his
"· l1,.,t,ur "J n,,t cna
,\I - ,,:r.- �U tt'lL
I rtn d u. 1an1 · �C\,un try
,J \('<1\.., . 0f � X7A. 1 •nterro
I
,,f few charm . Its people have no
, ·
urse. pa)•ing and receiving visits 3
� . • . ,,1 !i('n m ,md copadty none; of manners none;
thrl'C' 13 m,nc
"' h<lnJ,rra.... ft an"• "•· �r'" U,rre i no form or symmetry, method
.. 3 re n ..,,,oJ hor.;es, no good dogs, no grapes,
or qu11.Jt\'; m,:l'C' c,· •
Accounts of Foreign Travellers an
the bazaars,
i
m�k--meI.:msor fin.t-rate fruits, no ce or co wa ter, no good
no
Id
hot-baths , no colleges,
d
t,read M ' Meu
, .. , f:,od
, in
no canu"lt:'5 . torches or candlesticks....
British Administrators
rt a.<.ant thinp of Hindustan are th at 1t . a I arge coun and
. 1s �
has ma .. es of gold and silver ... Ano ther good thing in
S
HindU! IMI is that ii has unnumbered and endless workmen
everal foreign travellers and British admi
ol every kind ... (Beveridge a 1922: 518-20). nistrators
witnessed the Hindu commitment to Ayodhya
and their
belief that Babri Masjid was built at the site
of the
Ramjanmabhumi temple.
William Finch (d. 1613), agent to an expedition sent by the
East India Company under Captain Hawkins, visited lndia
between AD 1608 and 1611. Finch's "large journal" recording
his journey was found by Rev. Samuel Purchas (ISm-1626),
while searching the archives of the Company. Purchas, an
English cleric, published several volumes of accounts by
travellers to foreign countries under the title, Purchas His
Pilgrimage.
While in Ayodhya, William Finch observed Hindu
reverence for the city of Rama's birth. He mentioned,
the ruines of Ranichand(s) (Ram Kot, fort of Rama) castle
and houses, which the Indians acknowled(g)e for the great
God, saying that he tooke flesh upon him to see the tamasha
(show or spectacle) of the world.
16 I nu. BATTU FOR ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 17

RAMA

1 lis a count w;i liber,1lly used by tw other early
travellers, Juanneci de l�1et and Thoma'i H rb rt. Joannes de
Laci (l'iAl-1649), a Dutch geographer and Director or the
Dutch West India Company, de cribing 'Th, Route from Agra
to Jounporc,' wrote,
... from annovc (Kaoauj) lo Lacanouw (Lucknow) i,

JO cos. This is a great trading centre: thence to Oudee (an
ancient city, once lhe al of Pathan Kings, but nc,w almost
des rtcd), 50 cos. Not far from thi, city m,,y be '('TI the
ruin of the fort and palace of Ramchand, whom the tndlal\5
regard as C d Most I ligh: they say that he took on h.im
human flesh that he might · the g1eat tamaslia of th world.
Among these ruins live certain Bramenes who carefully note
down the name of all such pilgrims a duly J)'?rform th ir
ceremonial ablutions in the neighbouring river. Th ey say
that thi cu tom ha been kept up for m;iny centuries. About
two miles from these rivers is a cave with a narrow mouth
s's 8. Title page of de Laet' book.
i. Title r.t� 0f S.imuel Purcha but so spacious within and with so m;iny ramific.itions
kx run·Ju. His Pilgr imag e. that ii is difficult to fi.nd one's way out again. They belie-ve
that the ashes of the god are hidden here. Pilgnms come lo
this place from all parts of India and after worshipping the
He noted the presence of Brahmins,
idol take away with them some grains of charred rice as
in the;.c ruines ... who record the names of all such Indians proof of their visit. This rice they believe to have been kepi
J.S wash themselves in the river running thereby ... here for many centuries (de Lael 1928: �).
There was a cave some two miles on the further side of Virtually alike was the account of Thomas Herbert (1606-
the ri,·er 1682), who in 1627, travelled to Persia as member of King
Charles l's embassy to Shah Abbas I, and from there came lo
where it is thought his (Rama's) ashes were buried. Hither
India. The narration of his journeys was published in 1�
resort many from all parts of India, which carry from hence
(Butler 2012). Herbert recorded,
in remembrance certaine graines of rice as blacke as gun
powder, which they say have beene reserved ever since ... God gave them a King, propagate from the feed of the
(Foster 1921: 176). Brarnyas called Ducerat, who begat R.lm, a Kin so fa.mOU5
for piety and high attempts, that lo this d,1y his name is
Finch, who arrived eighty years after Babur, confirmed exceedingly honoured, so that when they say Ram Rame,
an active Hindu presence at the site. He made no mention of 'tis as if they should say, all good betide you. (Herbert
Muslims offering namaaz, raisin the question whether !he 1638: 47).
g
Masjid had been abandoned
soon after its construction.
ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 19

18 I TI-IE RATTL
E FOR RAMA

Further,
wrile. II is precisely what I have been busy in assembling in
Al this 0 11dce or Oujea (a city
lhls volu'."e - such thinp;s A S I have observed with my own
in tk n ga la & felicitated by
eyes du ring a span of thirt y yea rq, th ings I have read in
G.rngcs) a re mnny Anli ck
Persian books lrea ling of the geography and hi.5tory of India
t,1,,nunwnl s , esp ecia ll y
and what I have learned in the cou rse of conversations with
memorable is the prelly old persons informed in lhese mailers. In Europe, one greedil
castle Ranichand built by a a':ai ls the precious merchandise from Ind ia; in send i.n~
Sannyan rai;od of that name lh1s treatise I nat1er myself to believe that it will be received
a't--oul 994500 yeares ago after with the same eagerness by the curious who w ill appreciate
their acrompl, from which to my work (Sen 1962: 84).
this the Bannyans have
repaired to offer here a.nd to Tieffenthaler also prepared a la rge book of maps on the
wash away their sins in Ganges Basin titled Curs us Gangae fluvi lndiae maximi ... (1765),
Ganges, each of which is and several works on the flora and fauna of India. He wrote
recorded by name by the on Indian religion, arts, asceticism , Parsis , Islam, and political
laborious Bramyns who developments from 1757 to 1764. His vocation as a missionary
acquaints this Pagod with influenced his writing on some of these subjects.
9. Title page of Thomas
their good progressions and
His linguistic equipment h as been described a5
Herbert.s rook. charitable offerings (Herbert
"extraordinary" (Sen 1962: 76). Besides his native tongue, he
1638: 92).
had a good knowledge of Latin, Italian, Spanis h , FTench,
After Finch. the next significant report on Ayodhya was Hindustani, Arabic, and Persian . He was among the e.uly
by ]0$t'ph Tieffenthaler, the Austrian Jesuit (1710-1785), Europeans to learn Sanskrit. He composed a Sanskrit-Persian
d.ismissE-d by Left historians as "a little known traveller" dictionary and wrote two books in Persian (Sen 1962: 76; John
(Sahrnat ~10b: 1). Even a simple Google search would reveal 1997: 402).
that Tieffenthale r was a man of many parts. A trained Tieffenthaler forwarded some of his wor ks t o the
mathematician and astronomer, he was also one of the first renowned Danish professor of medicine, Dr. Kratzenstein,
Europe.an geographers to write on India. His magnum opus, and the French Orientalist, Anquetil-Duperron (1731-1805).
Dtscriptio lndiat was an account of 22 provinces of the country The latter commended his contribution at the French Academy
"ith their exact geographical positions calculated by means of Sciences. In 1776, Tieffenthaler sent Anquetil-Duperron
of a simple quadrant 0ohn 1997: 403). The work contained three large maps showing the entire course of the Ganges and
5e\"eral maps that Tieffenthaler had himself sketched. In his the upper and lower courses of the Ghaghara Rivers (Sen
introduction to Desrriptio lndiae, Tieffenthaler wrote, 1962: 78) .
Some of the manuscripts at Copenhagen were obta.i ned
Much has been written and many scholarly works have
by German scholar, Johann Bernoulli, who used them for his
i i ~ on India, her grandeur, her religion and on the
work published in 1787. Bernoulli, a member of the Royal
lllaMeTs and customs of her inhabitants. Nevertheless this
very vast~·~
w~,try offers yet an abundance of materials to Academy of Sciences in Berlin and the Imperial Academy in
20 I Tl{£ BATTU: f-oR RAMA ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVUURS I 21

St. Petersburg "found the works o f Tieffenthalcr so much up
to the m a rk tha t h e a ct u;i ll y undert ook to trans la te a nd
annotate them " (Sen 1962: 86-88; Jo hn 1997: 40 1-02).
Tieffenlha ler, who s tayed in India fro m 1743 tiD his d eath
som e fou r decades late r, to ured J\wad h betw een 1766 a nd
1771. He was Lhe first to refer to the d estruction o f a te mple
at Rama's birthplace by a Mu g hal rul e r. He sa w Hindus
worshippi.ng a religious s tructure in the form o f a vedi (cradle)
E in the premises, but said noth ing a bout Mus lims offering
·c:> namaaz. H e also no ted the large gatherings o f Hindus on the
~ occasion of Rama Navnmi (Rama's birthday). He wro te,
~
"'
Emperor Aurengzebe got the fo rtress call ed Ramco t
"'
..c:
d emo lished and got a Muslim temple, with triple domes,
l.?
"CJ
C:
con structed at the sa me place. Others say that it was
"' cons tructed by 'Babor.' Fourteen black stone pillars o f 5
~ span high, which had existed at the site of the fortress, are
bO
C:
seen there. Twelve of these pillars now support the interior
"'
l.? arcades of the mosque...
"'
-:i
On the left is seen a square box raised 5 inches above the
0
0.. ground, with borders made of lime, with a length of more
"'
E than 5 ells and a maximum width of about 4 ells. The Hindus
call it Bed.i i.e. 'the cradle.' The reason for this is that once
upon a time, here was a house where Beschan was born in
the form of Ram .... Subsequently Aurengzebe or Babor,
according to others, got this place razed in order to deny the
n o ble people, the o pportunity of practicing thei r
superstitions. However, there still exists some superstitious
cult in some place or other. For example, in the place where
the native house of Ram existed, they go around 3 times and
prostrate on the floor. The h¥O spots are surrounded by a
low wall constructed with battlements. One enters the front
hall through a low semi-circular door .... On the 24th of the
Tschet month, a big gathering of people is done here to
celebrate the birthday of Ram, so famous in the entire India
... (pages 3503-09 para 3514).
22 I THE BATnE FOR RAMA ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 23

E
• --
~
--~-
•
1!!11
1
I
I
1.....,4/-1,~ /,.1.1,,....,,..~ .. ,
1•r ,,,..._ -,,-
..Gn,,k'",_._ /;.Ai f .
,.4-J,,J,.,,..,
,
........ -,..-.. '-"
,;-~- --
L__ 12. Sketd, by Joseph Tieffenthaler.
11. Sketch by Joseph TieffenthaJer.
ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 25

24 I THE 81\TTl.E FOR RAMA

Fronluprcwm l'orlu PaNJ.J
/YJrtrS J
I
Palnt11
~ .:.-
. ,4,
13· Sketch by Joseph Tieffenlhaler.
ACCO UNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 27

26 I TH.·E BATILE FOR RAMA

Subsequently , Willte r H amilto n, in his Gnzcttecr o f 1828,
a lso recorded the ilrrival of pilg rims w h o " resort to this
.. !.!" v icini ty, w here the rcmilins of the ilncient c ity o f Oudc, .ind
.t.t:~- capital of the G reat Rama :-1re s till to be seen." He ildded th at
re ligious m e nd icants "walk round the temples a nd idols, ba U1e
t_!. in the ho ly pools, .ind p e rform the cus tomary cere monies"
.t . (H a milton I 1828: 350).
~ The Bri tish officia l, Robert Montgomery Milrti.n, e ntrusted
_._a in 1838, w ith the task of compiling historical a nd topog raphical
data o n Eas te rn India (collected earlier by Frilncis l3uchaniln),
~~!. ~ repo rted the legend of King Vikrilm.icl ity.i w h o a lleged ly
erected 360 temples a t p lilces sanctified by the d eeds of R.i mi'l,
Sit.i, Lakshma n a, and Ha.numiln. He re ferred to the d estruction
of the temple by Babur or Au ra.ngzeb. "TI1e bigot, by w hom
the temples were destroyed, is said to hil ve erected mosques
o n th e s ituations o f tl1e m ost re m a rkable te mples." Martin
m entio ned tl1e b lack stone p illars in the mosque, evide ntly
taken from a Hindu building from th e traces o f images
observable o n som e o f their bases, though these had been cut
off " to satisfy the conscie nce o f the bigot" (Martin II 1838:
333-36).
Edw;i rd Tho rnton (1799-1875), h e;id of the Statistical
Department of East India H o use a nd pioneer in the systemi'ltic
collectio n a nd publication o f Indian sta tistics, in his Gazetteer
of 1858 wrote that the mosque was e mbellished witl1 fo urteen
columns,
said to have been ta ken from the ruins of the Hindoo fones ... A
quadra ngula r coffer of stone, whi te washed, five ells long,
fou r broad, and protruding fi ve or six inches above ground,
is pointed out as the cradle in which Rama was born as the
seventh ;watar of Vishnu; a nd is accordingly abundantly
15. Sketch by Joseph Tieffenlhaler. honoured by the pilgrimages and devotions of U,e Hindoos
(Thornton 1858: 739-40).
28 I THE 0AlTLE FOR RAMA ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN mAVELLERS I 29

eneral Edward Balfour (1813- 1889), Scottish
Surgeon G . . E
. t list and environmenta 11s t, mt1,e 11cyclo11ncdin
surgeon, 0 nen a • .
. d ,r £a,tern mrd Soul/rem Asrn stated that Ayodhya
of Jnd1a11 an o1 • . 11 · d .
h d "thn.-e mosques on the sites of three - 111 u shnnes: the
a h n the site where Rama was bo rn ... " (Balfour
J.mmast an o
1858: 56). . . C . .
Patrick Carnegy, the firs t l3nt1sh omm1ss10ner and
$.?ttlement Officer of FJjzabad wrote,
11 is locally affirmed that at the Mahomedan conquest there

were' thn--e important Hindu shrines ... at Ayodhya. These
were the JanmJ thJn, the Sargadwar Mandir and the Treta-
ka-ThJl..ur. On the first of these Ba bar built the mosque which
still bears his name... On the second, Aurangzeb did the
same ... and on the third that sovereign, or his predecessor,
built a mosque, according to the well-known Mahomedan
principle of enforcing their religion on all whom they
conquered (Camegy 1870: 20-21).
Camegy stated that the Janmasthan marked the place

where Rama was born, the Sargadwar the gate through which
he passed into heaven and the Treta-ka-Thakur the site where
he performed a great sacrifice.
W.C. Benett, who prepared the Gazetteer of the Prauince of
Oudh (1877-78), noted,
II Ajodhya was then little other than a wilderness, it must at

least have possessed a fine temple in the Janamasthan; for
many of its columns are stilJ in existence and in good
preservation, having been used by the Musalmans in the
construction of the Babari Mosque. These are of strong, close-
gramed, dark,olored or black stone called by the natives
kasauti and carved w1·th different devices
' (Benett 1877-78:
6-7).'
ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 3 1

30 I THE BATTl.E FOR RAMA

. S) 1 O ~corded that .1t the lime of the Subsequent ly Au rangzeb also dl'secrated th e shrines of
H .R. Nevill (IC a n: three import.ml I lindu s hrines Ayod hya w hich led to prolonged bitterness between the
Mu~lim C\,nqUl•~I there were I linJus and Muslims. The latlC'r occupied the J;mmaslhan by
,lt AyoJhyJ, . force ,1nd also made an assault on Hanuman Garhi .... As a
•• odl.' the objl.'Cl of atlcntlon of different result, in 1858 an outer enclos ure wa put up in fron t of the
r,,ch was su~1, e1y m
mosque and the I lindus, who were forbidden access to the
tu!,.!lmon rukrs.
inne r ya rd , h ad to perform their puja o n a p la tform
I k cl,1borJtcJ , ou tside ... Outsidc the outer wall of thi conic ted shrine there
• · l'oml..ot and marked U1c birU1place is an old and broken image of the Varah (boar) Qoshi 1960:
TI1e Jonma~lI1an \\OS m ' 352-53).
' ~28 "·bir o me to Ajod hya and halted there
,,r RJm. ln ..n 1- ' IN • ' • •
, H , t ,,·t'.l the ancient temple and on its site
for J " ''"-' " · C' u l'l- " , .
. • <ti·111..nown as 13,, bar's mosque. TI1e materials
bu11t J mo,-.:iuc . .
,,r the olJ tnic-rurc were l.irgely employed, and many o~ Uie
n,Iumns a _.. ;" .,"'-.J preser,.ition;
u, i; -
they ,,re
.
of close-grained
.
blJ I.. stone. cJll,-.J br the na li\'es Jai5m1 /1, and carved with
,·ariC1us J evi~--s ... This desecration of Uie most sacred spot
in the citv caused i;reat bitlemess between Hindus and
MuS.1lma~ (Nevill 1905: 179-80).
AJe, andcr C unnini;ha m , the leading British archaeologist
of India in the nineteenth century, in his Report of 1862-1863,
wrote, in the very heart of the city s tands the Janam Asthan,
H ...
or 'Birth-place temple' of Rama" (Cunningham I 1871: 322).
END NOTES
I. Well after independence, lhe UP District Gazetteers - Faizabad
(1960), also recorded,
The Janma.slhan was in Ramkot and marked Uie birthplace of
Rama. 1t seems lhat in AD 1528 Babur visited Ayodhya and
under his orders Uiis ancient temple was destroyed and on
Uie site was built what came to be known as Babur's mosque.
The materia l of the old temple was largely e mployed in
building lhe mosque and a few of Uie original columns are
still in good preservation; lhey are of close grained black stone
(k.asaut,) bearing various Hindu bas-reliefs ...
32 I lllE BAffiE FOR RAMA ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 33

Atten1pts to Reclain1 Sacred Spaces
anY of the . .1crcd cen tre o f Hinduis m s uffe red
M ~en,usl~· under the Turkish ons la ught. Ban.:iras,

\ lathur.1, AyoJ hya ...1
In 8Jnar.1s, the Kri tt ivasa, O mka ra, Ma h ad e v .:i ,
~iJJh~amt. hnra, Vishvanath, Bind u l\ fadhava, and Kaa i
Bha1ra, a tc=rll--S were all razed . ln m.iny cases, m osques were
t,mlt "1th · .:akulatt>d insolence" in their place and the sites
lo-.... J to Hindus (Lannoy 1999: 569). Other ho ly cities met a
similar fate. The British District Commissioner, F.S. Growse
nNl'd that m \ 1athura as a consequence of "Muha mmad an
intolcrance· not .i ingle structure of antiquity had s urvived
(Grnw,-e 1 2: 126}.
There was no percep tible imp roveme n t dur in g the
_ul.-sequent centuries of the Delhj Sultans . In Braj, only two
pre-\fu ghal Hindu monuments are s till s ta nding, the Assi
Krumbha at \ lahaban and the Chaurasi Khambha at Kam an ;
_till standing because they were refashioned into m osques.
17. A drawing of the Kashi Vish,·anJth tempi•· after its demolition.
E, <"!') thing else, Buddhis t. Jain, Hindu was aba ndoned and
left to collapse, or destroyed (Enhvistle 1987: 134). by James PrinSl'P in 1826.
TiiE BATTI..E fOR RA~1A ATTEMPTS TO 1-ECu\l~l $ .-\ RED SPACES I ~

soun➔
INDI/\ (o Taitang Drahmin born In the fores t of Champa, Madhya
f 11 rat toss was depicted in several Prades h In 1479), Cha itanya (born in 1486 in the town o f
L South tndi:i, ;i ~cn~l' o cu u' . I
n- • Lhe A!aclhu n1l'ij,1y,1, n fourl('('nl, century Nobadwip, in Oenga l), and the ir many disciples . A saint,
~ i wife of Prince Kampano of
1
w ork!-, amC\ng LhcnG Madhovendr~ Puri was credited with estabUs hing ,:m image
Saru,kri I p,icm by angac cv •
of Kris hna nt Gova rdh;_i n in the fifteenth century (V;_iudeviJle
Vijay.1nag,1r, . 2005: 55-57; Entwistle 1987: 136-44).
1 which ,,,,c,., n'St,undcd wilh Lhc joyous mus ic ln 1552, Na rayan IJhatt compiled Lhc Vrajablinklivilnsa, the
In lhr trmr c,: . h mi al prc•C'n l nnly Lhc howl of the
,,f thr mriJ,'1lJ. ' 1"'"' 15 c. · . I · mos t comprehens ive list of the sJcrcd pl;_ices o f Oraj (Entwis tle
1ar ~',l s lh,1t ha\'<' m,, J e lhrm lhrir at, ode ... T 1e river d t 1987: 149). Akbar's Rajput man s ,1 bd a rs contribute d
h' .
T.111u,,rdm1 \\ u:: 1l U~("l l
I t·, i,.., rcnd,· n·d white by tl1e'dsan a
_, a,,1,-,,y
. fR' m thr bn•Jsts 0_f y0utl1ful ma, ens at significantly to the res to ratio n of Hindu pilg rimage sites. Many
('J!-lt', niblx"-1
. ,_,,at h , ,s
. n 0 , ..• Oowi,w" red w1lh the blood of the new temples were built, with the same red sa nds to ne used in
thr ,r
, laui-:htcn-.J rows (A!aJ/111 ra Vijayn 1924: 5-7) the impe rial buildings at Agra a nd Fatchpur Sikri. The Jesuit,
Father Monserrate, who s tayed at Akbar's court for two years
A fre5-h ~up of defenders came to the fore, pre-eminent beginning in 1580, on a vis it to Ma thura, noted that temples
among Lhe~ Prince Kamp.ma, Vishnu incarnate, anointe? by of Krishna "elegantly built in the pyramidal s tyle," were found
the Gc'-.ldess her'!'df as tl1e true successor of the Pandya kings. at several places associated with the Lord's exploits. He saw
Kampana w as the res to rer of dharma, the be_nefactor of the ruins of earlier buildings;
countless temples in tlie Tamil land, several of which had been
only one Hindu temple is left out of many; for the Musal.ma.ns
com·erted into mosques (Davis 2015: 119-22).
have completely destroyed aU except the pyramids. Huge
The flight of Sri Rangatl1ana from the Ranganatha temple crowds of pilgrims come from all over lndia to this temple,
due to the ~ni\'al of the army of the Delhi Sultan was recorded which is situated on the high bank of the Jomanis (Entwistle
in sewral medieval accounts. The Koyil O/uku detailed the 1987: 157-58).
fifty-nine yea r to ng endeavour to recover the image of the
Jahangir, like Akbar, visited the area around Malhura for
m.1in processional deity. The Tin111arayanapura, another variant
tiger hunting. His only recorded comment was that he found
of the e,·ent, highlighted the role of the saint Ramanuja in the
it difficult to breathe inside the temples in Vrindavan because
retrieYat of the Ramapriya statue and its installation in the
of the presence of numerous bats,
Tt.runarayanapura temple. Anantasuri's Prapannamrta, written
three centuries after the event, demonstrated a vivid popular After marching four stages from this halting-place, the army
memory of the incident (Davis 2015: 129-37). of prosperity encamped outside Mathu.ra . On Thursda y,
the 8th, I went to see Brindaban and the idol temples of that
THE CASE OF BRAJ place.
Gradually, Hindus attempted to reoccupy their sacred sites. Although in the time of the late king Ille Rajput nobles had
1n Braj, holy places associated with the life of Krishna were built temples after their fashion, and o rnamented them
steadily reel.limed by the saints Nimbarka (a Tailang Brahmin highly on the outside, inside tllem bats and owls had made
from Andhra who lived in the thirteenth century), Vallabha tlleir abode to such an extent, tllat on account of tlleir odours
one could not breathe (T11zuk-i-Ja/1angiri ll 1914: 103-05).
36 I TiiE BATTLE FOR RAMA ATTEMPTS TO RECLAIM SACRED SPACES I 37

l it ,\ r"''"'i:r,1rh ,,f the b.1cl-, sid l• of the Gyanwapi
111 ,,,qu'-'whid, n•s ts o n pJrt of the Ka shi
\'1,h1 ,111Jth lc'mpll'.
TI1ini;s Ji;.1in bc-cJme difficult thcre.J fte r . In 1632, Emperor

• hJh J.1h.in (o rb.1de the completio n of all temples begun in the
11 m.:- C1f f.1h.rnsir, ,ind o rdered the des tru c tio n of those a t
\'JrJ n.1si, Albh.1b.1d, Orchha, Kas hmir, ;ind Guj.Jra t. 20. The Gobind Dt'v tt'mple converted into a mosque. The mr/,rab is
The Kl' Sh,l\'J l'v temple , see n by the French trave lle rs visible on top.
Fr.rncois 13cmier in 1663 ,1nd Jean-Baptis te Tavernier in 1650,
t: was razed to the ground in 1669 following Aurangzeb's orders
, i;~ to de mo lish Hindu s hrines. An idgah was cons tructed at the
.·,·
si te .
Aurangzeb's policies prompted an exodus of deities from
13raj. TI1e de ities of the Gobind Dev, Gopinath, ~ladanmohan,
Radhavallabh te mples all left. TI1e custodian s of Sluinathji also
decided to re move the deity from the Go\'ardhan temple. TI1e
Sri Nntl,ji ki Pmkntyn Vnrtn recorded the Lord's journey after
leaving the te mple; firs t to Ag r,1, the n Kota, later to
Kis h angarh ; the n on the way to Udaipur, the Lord's c,1rt got
s tuck a t the village of Sinhad , -10 km from the city. The deity
was ins ta lled in a has tily constructed shrine, later replaced by
a larger temple . The journey from Govardhan to Sinhad had
l9. The Mad ,rnmohan te mpl e, Vrind;iv;in a s taken two yea rs, fo ur mo nths, and seven days (Peabody 1991:
publi~hed in F.S. Growse's Mn t/111 rn: I\ District
727; Entwis tle 1987: 157-58).
Memoir, 1882.
ATIEMl'TS TO RECLAIM SACRED SPACES I 39
J TIIE OATTLE !"OR RAMA

Unli~r the image of Srinathji, which is thn.• c-fifth life-
• ..•••~
. r,t .,er ,m ,.< ., of the VollobhJ S.lmpradoy.1 ,uc on ly a few Toke Benares, Aj_o dhya and Allahabad from him (Shuja-
<iTC 1 ud-daulah, the third Nawab o( Awadh, 1754-1775). He had
~ n~mch.•rs tJ II. n,c~r o fll' n cscnpcd ~,he iconocl,, tic Mughat
p romised lo Dada (Raghunath Rao in 1757) to Cl·d e 13cnares
hr,rtk" lw l>eing conCl'alro in the turbJns llf templt> serv.1nts.
and Ajodhya, but the case o ( Alla habaJ is still under
The ci"t'n~ " ·ere encapsu!Jtcd in J code phrJse of lhc Vallabha discussion. If a sctllc·ment on the last point ca n be easily
SJmp rJdJ yJ , " In whose turban docs the Lord res ide?" reached, make it (Sa rka r II 1966: 161).
(PCJlxl<.ly 1991: T.!8).
The image 1,f Gobind Dev (installed in the Gobind De v Writing to Dattaji and Ja nkoji Sindhia on 21 st March 1759,
the Peshwa further instructed,
tcmpk• J I Vrind,n-,111 by Raj,1 Man Singh of Amcr in 1590) was
also n.>mo,·cd in 1669.2 Aftcr a lo ng jo urney, the image was If he (Shuja-ud-daulah) is now made wazir (by us), he must
eventua.llv instJllcd in a tcmple within the precincts of Sawai cede both Benarcs and Allahabad and pay 50 /ak/1s. I( he
Jai Singh;s p.ilJcc in Jaipur, in 1739 (Okita 2014: 27-29). The refuses to make the above territorial surrenders and asks for
gesture has been interpreted as marking the "grow ing 2 o r 3 years to complete the payment (of 50 /akhs), do not
give him the wazirship. But give ii iJ he pays 50 /aJcJtS and at
.1.S..'<ertil'eness " of the Rajputs in the time of Mug hal decline
least Allahabad ... (Sarka r 1966 fl: 162-63).
(Horstmann 1999a: 8).
Meanwhile, in Braj, d evotional activity did not come to a In his will of AD 1772, Peshwa Madhav Rao (r. 1761-lm)
complete standstill. Pilgrimage declined , but ha d picked up also exhorted his successors to get hold of Prayag and Banaras.
by the time Sawai Jai Singh w as appointed Governor of Agra " This was the a rde nt des ire of my sires," rea d his fina l
in 1722. tes tament, "and now is the time to carry it out" (Sardesai
1958: 558).
MARATHA INITIATIVES In the eighteenth century, Banaras was aJso substantially
As the MughaJ Empire d eclined, the Marathas were foremos t rebuilt with generous Maratha contribution (Altekar 1947:
among the rulers to attempt to reclaim Hindu sacred s ites. On 247). Among the te mples they cons truc ted were those of
18th June 1751, a Maratha agent reported , Annapurna, Kaai Bhairava, Sakshivinayaka, Trilochanesvara,
and the Vishvanath Gha t (Eck 1983).
Malharrao (Holkar) has pitched his monsoon camp in the
~ - He intended to pull down the grand Masjid built by SAWAI JAI SINGH
~ gzeb at Benares and restore the original temple of
By the time of Aurangzeb's death, the Amer ruler, Sawai Jai
Ka.shi-Vishveshwar. The Brahmans of Kashi feel extremely
~ e d at such a move, for they realize the Muslim strength
Singh (r. 1700-1743) had e merged a m ong the leading princes
m these places (Sardesai 1958: 377). of N o rth India . Letters from the rulers of Manvar, Kota,
N arwa r, a nd Chhatra Sal of Mahoba, preserved at Jaipur
Balaji Baji Rao th p h
10 th . ' e es wa, gave considerable attention described him as "the head and crown of all Hindustan," and
e repossession of ff d h -
Anant th m u oly sites. In a lette r to Rarnaji " the protector of all Hindustan" (Sarka r 198-t: 223-24).
• e manager of s· dhi The jizya, a bolished by Emperor FJrrukh Siyar in January
directed, m a, on 23rd February 1759, he
1713, h ad been re-imposed in April 1717. Jai Singh used his
40 I THE BATfU FOR RAMA

ATTEMPTS TO RECLAIM SACRED SPACES I 41

l"'<'/-1·,•mn 1ll JP,"'"I
• .. J"Ji'
,. n,t
- thn~ ta:ic· with Emperor
, M11hn111111;id
w ho had enough rnnfitlencc and~ h O Id . . .
ShJh . In 1721', pn his ad ,•i"', th<' 1.1~ on p1IArhns ;it G;iyo wns . ., . v cou tum v1ctonou ll1
a II tli rect1ons. l ow ards the end 0 f h 1' 5 l' f ..
.,Lx,li~lll'J, and in 17:'(1, ,JAain .,1 his inll'l\.'<'SGlnn, till' tax 1111 . 1 e, Ja 1 S111gh also
per form ed the rn1s11yn yn;11 n, bu t dil·J b ( , . .
I linJus nt ,,•rt,1111 1,.,1hi11g ~ilrs was nlsl• withdr,1wn (Sarkar (Uh;ill 2005: 139, 136). e ore its complclton
1Q:-~: :24-:'fll. 1.,i Sin~h . twn• lo impnn'l' conditions for
. The mi_litan l lfoman;i nd is enjoyed a special re lations~
pil~nm~ 1r1 Hmdu h,,ly cilil~- In 17JJ, he Sl'Cun.•d _the fi111jdnri
w1lh the Jai p ur s tate. Lord Rama w •s d d h
" regar l' l e forerunn er
P
l,f ""'''• 111 .,dJ,tion t., th.11 he held ot l\lathur,1, w hich ennblcd
o f the dyn_as ty. To become ruler the k. h d b ...
him i',, ,,, 11 1nb11 t,• tl, 1hr uplift of h o ly s ites in the reg ion J ' mg a lo c 11111taled
w ith the Rama 111n11trn by a Ramanandi Mnl,n (H
(llhJln,1f:,H 1'174: J40-t l), 2011: 80). 111 orstmann
]Ji ~in~h \'isu,1li 1,•d the re v ivn l of Hindu g lory in
The Ra man a nd is were re presented in th e eightemth
,'l,ll,1lx1r,11ion w ith the 1'J jp uts ,md I\ l.1ralhJs; h e helped the
cent~ry by two lineages, those of Ga la ta and Ravasa (Ghurye
l,ll ll'r 11, l'. t.ibli~h tlwm l' h·es in la lwa . In a letter, dated
1964. 166-67). In the firs t quarter of lhe century, a conference
:'Mh 0,--t,,bcr 1731, to JndlJI l\tandloi of Indore, Ja i Sing h
of the Ramanandi . sn111prndnyn was held a t Galata , nea r Ja1pu
· r,
u nder the auspices of Sawa i Jai Singh. At this conference, the
Th,,u....inJ r rJi.....-S to you that, at my word alone you and h ead of the Ramanandis, Balan.:inda, was e ntrus ted the
th..• m,t ,,( th.- ~rJJrs protected our religion in Malwa by responsibility of organizing m ilitary wings (naga sections) of
Jrh ini; ,,u t tht' ~t uhamnu J a ns from lhNe. You have the va ri ou s Vaishnava sects. Govindadas (of the irmohi
fulfill,'\l my J,'5il\'. In return for this l have written to the nk/1nrn) established the fi rst nkhnra of the Ramanand is in
Pc,.h" J t,, .1rr.1ni;t' lh~ JffJirs of Jil the sardars of Malwa
A yodhya soon after his arrival from the Conference. Around
J, , rJms to your " ;~ht?s (Sinha 195-l: 150).
the sa m e time, Abhayramadas founded the irvani akhnrn on
In J bid to proj('(I himself as the perfect Hindu king, Ja i Hanuman Tila. Grad ually, in the course of the century, a ll
Sin~h inrn\..ed the g r e,1t sy mb o ls of Hindu tra dition othe r Ramanand i nkltnrns establis hed the mselves in Ayodhya.
(Horstm,mn 20 1l : 75; Oki ta 20 1-1: 30-35). H e revived a nd Some o ld structures ;i lready existing in the city were rep aired
performed se,·e ra l Vedic sac rifices a nd a lso attempted to and res tored by lhem (Ghurye 1964: 178-79; Veer 1989: 98-
JSs1milate the ,·arious Vaishnava bltnkti o rders (Horstmann 101; 137-45; Burghart 2005: 227-49).
200:!: 159). Ln 1708, he performed lhe vnjnpeyn ynj11n, a ceremony TI1e changing politica l equations following the d eath of
I.inked to ruims to uni,·ersJI kings hip. The ynj11n, p erform ed Aurangzeb wou ld have faci li ta ted these deve lopments. Ln
annually when he was engaged in a struggle with the Mughals, 1714, within seven years of Aurangzeb 's d eath. Emperor
was indicatfre of lhe role he wished to ca rve out for himself. Farrukhsiya r appointed Chhabile Ram GO\·em or of Awadh,
Jai Singh twice commi ioned lhe asvnmcdl,n ynjnn, firs t in 1734, w he re he served for almost a year. Ln 1720, lhe Sayyid Brothers
and lhen again in l 7-t I. The revival of the ynjnn, cu s tomarily assigned the sam e post to Girdhar Bahadur; who remained in
an announcement of unchallenged sovere ignty, after a hiatus office till 1722. Perhaps, circumambulation around the Pcdi
of m·er se\'en centuries, was regarded a his toric event. Scholars (noticed by T ieffenthaler), and worship ins ide the mosque
(later recorded by Patrick Camegy) began around this time
at Varanasi
. ' declared • "If the y n111n
· was n ot performed a fter
Janmeiay, lhe reason was that a fte r him, no king was born (Kuna! 2016: 360, 386-87). The shift of the Nawabi court from
42 1 TI-!E BAn u FOR RAMA

ATTEMPTS TO RECLAIM SACRED SPACES I 43

Ay(ldhya to FJizabad in the time o f the second N;nvab of indicative of the changing power equ 1. f II .
AwJdh, S,_ifdar Jung (1739- 175-1), would have hastened changes a ions o owing the
dealh of Aurangzeb.
(BJkl-.cr 1991: 91). Jn 1739, SJfdar Jang selected Newal Ray ,1s
. The impact. of the new political rea 1I. 1y was fell
Naib (Di.'puly) of Awadh. Ray continued in _1h~t po t till his mstantancouslym/\yodhya. Alctterwn·tt t S . . .
en o awa11a1 Singh
de,ith in )751. The cons truction Clf . en•r,11 buildings along lhc by a g11111as/1/a, TiJokchand dalcd v 1780 ( 1723)
Svarga Dwara in Apxlhya is creJill•d to him . In 1757, Nawab ' · AD recorded
that a me/a (fa ir) was lo be held at the Janmasthan,
Sh uja ud-D,1UIJ (1 75-1-1 775) Sl'lected Deni 13ahadur for that
office, where he scn·cd Iill I767 (Fis her 1987: 55-56, 250). Tilokchand has the honour of subm1·11 ·ins; th 1's d ocument
<.lated Karlik 7, Samvat 1780, before M," hara1a
. Sh n. awa '.
. . .. . 5 1
/A/SINGH PURAS Ja1srnghp lo inform thal the fair of Nanwar Tirth is to be
held on Ass.:iuj 10 at Jaisinghpura ... Earlier under the rule
Jai Singh founded several s mall, fortified towns hips or of Mlechhas, lhe people had to bathe secretly. Now, since
localities, cJllcd /11i,i11gl1p11ms, at places where he was posted, Jaisinghpura has been establis hed, all the people of
for instance .:il Kabul, Peshawar, Multan, Lahore, De lhi, Agra, Ayodhya will be coming for (lhe holy) bath on the auspicious
Patna, Burhanpur, Aurangabad, and Ellichpur. He also day (Nath 1993a).
purchased land and established /11isi11glrp11ras at important
Hindu religious centres in northern I.ndia, such as Mathura, MAPS
Vrinda\'an, Kashi-Banaras, Prayaga-Alla habad, Ujjain, and The I<apad Dwar collection at SMS-11 City Palace Museum also
Ayodhya, in a bid to restore Hindu Dllan11a (Bhntt 2005: 145). has at least eight maps of Ayodhya; five being parts of a large
The Kapad-Dwar collection of the SMS-11 City Palace map showing Ayodhya and its neighbourhood. They can be
Muse um at Jaipur contains several d ocuments linked to the assigned to the first quarter of the eighleenlh century (1710-
Ayodhya dis pute. Professor R. Nath examined a large number 1725). The sixth map, measuring 83.5 x 83.5 cm is a religious
of 11al/as, parn•a11as, cllak-11a111as, letters, a.nd o ther documents map of Ayodhya of the same period. Two o the r maps
and maps preserwd in this collection. These showed that the preserved in the collection are particularly important. One
Rama Ja.nmasthan was situated in Jaisi11ghp11ra, the land of which measUiing 101 x 62.2 c.m painted in red, green, and yellow on
had been acquired by Sawai Jai Singh in perpetuity in AD 1717. paper pasted on white cotton doth, provides a panoramic view
The ownership of the Rama Janmasthan la.nd was vested in of Ayodhya. It was prepared in accordance with lhe prevailing
the deity_. According to Professor Nath, the hereditary title of system of cartography. Place names are written in Nagari and
ownership of the I<achhwahas of Amer-Jaipur was recognized a mong the various kunds, temples and other religious places,
a.nd enforced by the Mughal State from AD 1717, when lhe the temple of Sri Rama is also discretely marked.
grant was originally made (Nath 1993a). A.nother map, measuring 213 x 178 cm and titled Ayodhya
It is pertinent to recall tha t in 1723, Mughal Emperor k:i/a aur /casba (Ayodhya Fort and Town), is painted on white
Muhammad_Shah renewed the grant of six big/111s of land to cotton cloth. It depicts along with palaces, k1111ds, and olher
H~numan Tila made by Akbar in 1600. He also abolished lhe religious places, the structure of Janmasthan at the comer of
1az,ya, and gifted land to a mat/111 at Bodh Gaya. This could be the Ram Kot, the enclosing ramparts of which are clearly
shown. The open court occupies more space lha.n lhe built
44 I THE BATTLE FOR RAMA ATTEMPTS TO RECLAIM SACRED SPACES I 45

., ,;idl' 0 t w hich is ,1 rJ,,1/111/1,1 (r;iisl•d 1, 1,, tfnn, )
,tn1d11n'. 1111 c111 ' • ' .
· 'll in " 'l'k,1I l'ig hll'<'ll lh Cl'nl11ry ~l vlt• ;irl' '-hm,, nnd m ore n1111rfq h1nc nt bo th fro m ' .
ft~\11''. l 1f\':-~l . . . . ·. 11
.· t, • ,, ,,nd w<1~ h1ppmg ti. The n1t1111 b11ildi ,w . , ~ou rccs (Snchnu IHl!ll: ). po hl1c.1I and re lig ious
• 11 r
rl l"\' 11111,1111 LI 1111 . . . ,-, IS 22
t•,i.:h n ml ,11n111g II d1tirl'k1 with 111,,~11 ,, 1 2 - 1 hi• 11 r1w r p,, rl o f lh<' te rn I
Jj\ i l Il'< I Ill I\ l tl' "' ''l' 1i,,•-:
• . ' • . • • I •
c• rd c r~ r rior tu hiq lnlcm.Jc~ : i:~,a: ~:,;~oycd on i\ urongz_cb's
>tll' 1, ,n.Hl-.L•d ,·/,/111//11 , w h1d1 .,ls,1 d l•nu te~
nw n•n I r.1 l • I . . • ,1 mo s qn e (n 111 ,.1,, 1111 0 n lop of the rum, a
l-lrl I1rI,h' l' ( '
nw
I , 11, 11.Nlb).
.
('llltrlY,lrll 111 lhl' 1111ddlt• nf ti,
, • . l' i\ ura np ,eh is h(•lil•vc1/t~" Ycr lf1f,1 II) w,is t'rl'c tctl , w he re
.. 1,111 • 1,11-,111 · wiillL'rl on ti. II ts unck•;ir whethe r ti," c ~n cl ' I I (J 1,1Vr O c rcd 1111111/IIIZ. n,e mosque
"'•'r ,.,, , ., . .
I . . . , • ca r y >e seen on lop of ti I
in i\,lr,//uirn ·,, n· .
I
,e cmp c in •1 picture publis l1l!d
,.,rt,,fr,,phL'r " .mll•..-1 ll' 111d1~,1ll' ;i butld1_11g o r ,, s pot in lh(' 1
· · . ' ,s r,c/ Cnu ll crr. Thl• IJriti,h Dis tr ic t
" the 111.,rkmg \\',JS lllltS td l' the lhn.'c-dnmnll
l"'"'ur I,, \l n j . ..\ )L)lllll\'" ... Co111m1ss1011cr, P. S. Growse ordered lhc rcmov,,I of the m uc
l•rnkltn~ ,kri.:tl'd in till' m,1p, :,,, 1 L°'rc the m;irk i ng::. of olhl'r nnd rcslo rcd the temple 10 lhn V , hn . osq
• ars avas 1n lfl7 1.
,tru,hi~-:: ,,11 ti (N,1th (Q9Jb; NJLh 200-k '.'9...,J6).
E1 D OTES
In ., nll'nwr.,bk pJ,~.,ge, ,\1-0i runi d escribed the Turkish
J,h ,.,,, .md th,· h.n-,i< it c,rnsed,
'.\,n, 111 th,• 1,,IIPwing times no Mus lim con(Jue rnr p.isscd
t-cn,n,l th,• lronlier l,f K.ibul ,rnd the river S indh unti l th e
J ,w, ,,1 tlw Turk,, when th ey so.'ized the power in G h.iz n.i
un,kr th,• :imani dp,,,~ty, .ind lhl' supre me p ,,wcr fe ll to the
i.,, ,,i \;.1,1r-JddJul.1 S.ibukt.igin. This prince ch os e the ho ly
\\Jr .i~ Im ,.,lling, ,rnd therefor,., ca lled himself i\ 1-gh a z i
(1 <' \\Jrrin); ,,n the w.,d of A ll.:ih). In the inte res t of hi s

,u.:-.:,. '"'-,rs he con~ tructed, in order to weaken the India n
fn,ntier. those roJds on w hic h u fterw n rd s h is s o n Y,1m in-
JddJul,1 ;>, tJhmud marched into India during a p e r iod o f thirty
\t'J~ and more. God be merciful lo b o th f,1the r und son!
\lahmud utte rly ruined the pros p erity o f the co untry, nnd
p,.'rtormed there wonderful e xp lo its, by w hic h th e Hindus
b..,,:Jme hke atoms of d us t scuttered in a ll directio ns, .ind li ke
J IJ!c,,f old m U1e mou th o f the people. The ir scJl lered rema ins
chcn h. of course, the most inveternle .ivers io n towards the
~lu, hms. This is the reason, too, w h y Hind u s cie nces ha ve
rehred for aw.:iy fro m U1ose parts of the cow1try conquered by
us. and ha,·e Oed to p laces w hich o ur hand c.:in no t ye t re.ich,
to Kashmir, Bena re s , a nd o th e r places. A nd th ere th e
antagonism between the m and a ll foreig n e rs rece ives m o re
-16 Tl-IE B,\ TILE FOR RAMA ATTEMPTS TO RECLAIM SACRED SPACES I -17

A_no ther work w~s the l-lndiqn/1-i S/111/1arln, (Luckno w 1856),
by Mrrza Jan, a pa rllcrpant in the ji/1nrl of Amir !\Ii a l Ha numan
Garhi in 18~5. Mirza J;r n refe rred to a Pe rsian text, Snl1ifnl1-i
Cl11/1nl Nnsn1/1-I _Bn/1nd11rs/1n/1i (l/1c /Ja/1nr/11rsl,n/,i Book of Forty
Scr111011s ), attribute d to a g rnnddau g hter o f Empe ror
Aurangzeb. He claimed to ha ve fo und a copy of the book,
5 made o n 11th Jul y 1816, in the library of the g randson of Prince
Dara Shukoh. Among its sermons, the book ad vised devout
Muslin, rule rs to keep ido la te rs in subjection to Is lam and,
keep in constant use fo r Friday and congregational prayer

Muslim Sources on the mosques built up to strengthen Islam after demolishing
the temples of the idolatrous Hindus situated at Mathura,
Ramjanmabhumi/Babri Masjid Banaras, and Awadh etc., which lhe wretched infidels have,
according to tl,eir fa it!,, adjudged lo be the birthplace of
Krishna in one case, Sita ki Rasoi in an other, and Hanuman 's
abode in a third ...
S
e\·eral works in Arabic, P~rsian, a nd ~rdu disc uss~d The a uthenticity and a uthorship of this work is d ebatable
the demolition of the Ram1anmabhurm temple and its
(Kuna! 2016: 253-57). Mirza Jan did not name the daugh te r of
replacement b y Babri Masjid (Narain 1993: 16-37) . Bahadur Shah, n or ci te the yea r in which sh e com posed t1,is
Amon<> them was the fm111n/1 nl-Mns/1riq wn Mntln 'n11-Nur nl- work. However, according to the Foreign Department Political
i\la:;/ir~. re-titled AI-Hi11d-11 Ji nl- 'A/1d nl-lslnmi, by M a u lana Consultations, December 28, 1855, No. 450, U,e Prime l'vlinister
Hakim Sayyid Abd a l-Hayy. It was translated into Urdu by of Nawab Waj id Ali Shah of Awadh " referred to a book which
Maulana Shams Tabriz Khan, under the title Hindustan lslnmi existed in the King's library w ritten in the rei g n of
Aird mein. ln an introduction, the author's s on, Maulana Abu Bahadurs hah ab o ut the yea r AD 1707 which contained an
1-Ha..c;an •Ali Nadawi alias Ali Mian, wrote, account of U1e Masjid at H anumangarhi." While quoting from
tl,e above text, Mirza Jan re ma r ked,
And among them is the great mosque that was built by the
Timurid king Babar in the sacred city of Ajodhya. It is In short, these four mosques (Babri mosque, Ram Darbar
believed tha t Rama Chandra considered to b e the mosque, Fort mosque, and Hanumanagadhi mosq~e) built
manifestation of God, was born here. 11,ere is a long story b y tl,e rulers of t!,e past were situated al Ayodhya like four
about his wife Sita. There was a big temple for them in this pillars of tl,e faith (Narain 1993: 23-26).
city. At a certain place Sita used to sit and cook food for her
In his Hadiqah-i S}mhnda, Mirza Jan wrote,
consort. Well, the said king Babar demolish ed it and built a
mosque at that very place with chiseled s tone in 923 AH M Lim rulers) cleared up Faizabad and Awadh also
...ti1ey ( us . . I f
(Narain 1993: 16-17). from ti,e filth of false belief, inasmuch as it IS a great p ace o
MUSLIM SOURCES ON RAMJANMABHUMI / BABRl MASJID I 49

-18 I Tl-IE BATTI.E FOR RAMA
Scanned w it h CamScanner
. d the capita l o f Ra m a 's fa th er. H e re they severa l events of the reign of N
wors h 1p an wa 5 , • . .
b roke the te m ples .m d le ft n o s to ne-hea rted i~ol intac t. completed in 1869 but bl " a_wab Wajid Ali Shah, was
pu is 1ied in 1986 11 . .
Where then: was ,1 big tem p ll', there they got ,1 big m os qu e preserved a t the Tagore Libra U . _- ,e manuscript 1s
constructed, .iml. where the re was J sm a ll p,wil ion, the re . . ry, ni versity of Lucknow TI,e
pa rts d ea Img with the cons truction of B~br·1 .·· .
they creeled a pl.iin camp mosqul'/enclos ure. J\ccordingl!, Hi nd u -M us li m conn· t f ' MasJJd and the
what ,1 mJjes tic mos qul' D,1b,1r Shah h,1s got constructed in ic o 1855 w e re d , J t d b I
Fak h r ud din Ahmad Memo ri al C . ~ e e Y t ,e
923 ,\II u nder the p,1tron.1ge of s., yyid M uSJ Ash iqan ! Its • U ' o mm ittee, under whose
d J te is "K/w~r IJaqi." It is ti ll known for an d w ide JS the auspices 1e book was p ublished Zak· K . . -
• · ir akaurw1 publis hed
Sita ki Rn:-oi ·m osque (N,1r,1in 1993: 35-36). these sectio ns separately u nde r U,e t"tl1 I\ . . .
'·/ • • e IIJJr I\/, S/111/11d l\11r
Marn,; 1m+Hn1111111m1 Gnr/Ji in 1937 (G
Several o ther works in Urd u written in the nine teenth 152). It s ta ted , rover a nd G up t.1 199 1:
and ea rly twentieth cen tu ry also re ferred to lhe rep lacement
of the temp le by the mosque. The Tn rik/r-i Awnd/r 0919), for Accord . ing lo o ld reco rds • it has been ,a re 11.g 1.ous ru 1e with.
Mu sli.m ru lers, afte r the triumph of S J Y) 1
··d S M
a I.ir , ,1s ud
instance, sta ted, .
Ghazi,
I to b uil d m o sq ues ' monas teries , '-in d .inns, sprc-Jc1
Babur go t th e m osq u e b ui lt a ft e r d emolis hin g th e ls am, and put a s top to blasphemo us p ractices (bid a t),
Janmas thJn and used in h is m os q ue the s tone o f lhe same w here:•er the y fou nd man ifes t,1t io n (o f infidl'lity).
Janm as th,m . w h ich was r ichly e ng raved , p recio us knsa11ti /\ ccord m g ly, even as they cll'ared u p Mathu ra, Ointl raban,
sto ne, and w hich s u rvives even today. e tc . f_rom the r~bbis h of no n -Is lamic prac t ices, the
m agnificent Bab.in m osque (mas;;rl-1 sarbal,111rl-i IJabar,) caml'
The Qnysnr-11'1Tnwnrik/r located lhe mosque in Sita ki Rasoi
up in 923 Ml under the pa tronage of Sayyid Musa i\sh iqan
as well as the Ja nmas lhan. It acknowledged , " ... a ll lhe temples in _the Janmasthan templ e (b11tk/rn11r Ja11111astlia11 mcin) in
of Ayod hya were turned into mosq ues by lhe Sulta ns of lhe Fa1z,1bad-Awatl h w hich was a great place (of id o l-wo rsh ip)
past" (N.irain 1993: 27-35). and the capital of Ram,,·s fa th er. .. i\mong the Hi nd us it
11,e Fnsm1n/1-/ //Jrnl , w ritten by Rajab A li Beg Surur in 1860, was J..nown as Sita ki Ras o i (Na ra in 1993: 29-JO).
but first published in 1884, stated ,
A translatio n of Lhe same work provided by Kisho re Kun;il
...a g lo rio us mosque w as b u ilt up du ring King Babar's reg ime Jffirmed !hat Hindus had begun worship at Babri Masjid ;ind
on the s pot where Sita ki Rasoi to mb(?) is ~itu ated in ;\wadh. officia ls kept quiet after .iccepling bribes,
Durin g this Oabari (d ispens a tio n) the I lind us h.1d no g u l~
to be a match fo r the Mus lims. (The mo~q ue) wa~ built in Thl'n in Lhe Oaburi mosq ue, w here there was Si ta Rasoi,
923 All u nder the p,1ITOn,1gc o f Sa yy id :-.lir Ashiq,m ... There s tartL'CI the worship openl y. Officers.after t,1king bribes (si lver
(on Hanu ma ngad h i) Au rangzib cons tructed a m osque ... ~hoc-s), bcc,1me thei r loy,11 serv,ints. o one took notice. Firs t
l11e Oa iragis effaced the mosque a nd erected a te mple in its the ~.1y m g of Sh,1ikh Ali Ha ji was true lo the s ituation -
place. TI1en they intrud ed into the 'l\lasjid-1 Babari' where 'The b11tkha11a o n the way thi1t w,1s considered a bad place
the Sita ki Rasoi was s itua ted (Narain 1993: 30). became lhl' abode o f God! '
M urnqqn/J-i Khusrnwi, or the Tnwnrikh -i Awnd/r, by Shay kh l11ereafter, a dras tic change occurred - mosq ues were pu lled
down and temples were cons tructed there. Out I.here was a
Azamat Ali Kakorawi NJmi (1811-1 893), an eye witness lo
50 I TH E OATTLE FOR RAMA MUSW,1 SOURCES ON RAMJANMA0HUMI/ 0A0RI MASJtD I 5 1
Scanned with CamSca nner

vc1,1 o f neg Icc t on ou r eyes- and we rcmoincd in slumber
(Kun,,I 2016: 259-60).
The Ttiriklr .;. AtPnd/r (1-lissn Doynm) by A ll;rn1a Muhammad

Nnzamul ,;mi Khan Rampuri ( 1859-1932) s l;itcd,
.... /\t ln~t, the tussle went to s uch :rn c~te nt th~t c,cept Lhc
mosque ,,cI1ncen. t to Hnnumon-~Mhi
, , , the. Hindus moJc
IJutkhon., even in the• n ,rridcir of the Bobn mosque w he re
6
exis ted Sit;i R.,~ol. The Hindus d.11ll'1!_.\Cd R.1111 ,hnt mosque
,,lso ond in its currid<>r cons tructed " temple. They s_t~rtcd
n---~c
pl,,cing gorb.,gc in the mus,1uc .rnd Cl>ns truc_ted mnb'l11f1cent
tcmple from tlw bricks nnd stones ofter digging hundreds of
gr.ivcs of the l\1u~lims (Kunal 20 16: 260-61). The Conflict at Ayodhya
Perh aps this descri bed the s it u a tio n _a~te r _th e Galato Documented
confcrenCt.' when U,c Ramanandis beg.in .irnvmg m Ayod h yo
in consider,,ble numbers.
Professor lrfan Habib dismissed these works .is the
produc t nf the communal conscious n ess of U1e lost IS~ yeors
(M 11s/i111 /11,iin IOI , May 199 1). It would ho ve contri buted
imme nsely tu the debate h ad Professor Habib listed A robic,
Pers ian, Urd u , Hindavi , Hindu s toni, o r Hindi works th.it
T h e earliest reference to the d is pute at Ayocl hy.i found
a
so for in U1e jud'.cial records is no te s ubmillecl to the
Fo1zabaJ Co urt m 1822 by Hilf1zulbh, a Court o(fici.il.
It Stilled th;it "the mosqu e cons tructed by IJabur was s itu.itecl
asserted tha t Babri Masjid WilS built on v irg in land. at the birl'h-pl.1ce of Ram, son o f Rnj.i 0<1s hrnth, nnd w.is
In ad dition to th e wo rks li sted b y Hars h Nara in, adjacent lo th e kitche n of Sita, wife of R.1111 (i.e. Si t.i Ki Rnsoi)"
B.R. Grover and S. P. G upta m e ntio ned the G11111glinstn J-/nlnt-i- (Grover 20 15: 236).
Ajod/1nyn Aw11d/1 (Th e forgo tte n events o f Ajodhaya Awaclh),
THE CONFLICT OF 1855 AT H/\NUMAN G/\RJ-11 /\ND
by Ma ul vi Abdul Karim, Ima m of Babri Masjid . H e c ite d
JANAM.ASTHAN
severa l contemporary sources in his book. It was translated
from Persian to Urdu in 1979 by his grandson, Mau lv i Abdul On 8 th f-eb 1855, lhe British Resident, J.imes Oulrilm, sent il
G u far; w ho rehlined the sectio n pertaining to the destruction lett e r to Wajid Ali Sh<1h, Naw;ib of Aw.idh (1847-1856), '
of U,e )anmas than temple and the construction of a m osque in cautioning him that a Sunni troublem;iker Sho1h G hulom
its place. 17,e revised second Urdu ed itio n publis hed in 1981, Husa in, hod ilSsembled a " large force" of Mus lims ne;i r
h owever, o mitted U,is portion (Grove r and G up hl 1991: 152). Faizab:id, .incl was,
determined to des troy o1nd ruin the Hunuman Ghu rric which
is inhabited by Hindoos and is peculiarly so1crcd i_n their
es timation, his lieutenant called Moulavee Sahcb ts even
still more dinbolicolly inclined and rN dy for strifo...
52 I THt DAlTLt FOR RAMA Ht E CONPLICT AT AYODHYA DOCUMENTRD I 53

-t·nd us h ,d ai-sembled lo defend the ir
A l,1rgl' num b er o r 1 1 · ' .
' .
ll'mpk-. TI ,e I,es tl erI, 11 flire~nw
-•
b lmid~hcd .1nd . urged the kmg .
lo sen,I ., .. , •cry s•w1· r1 C:i• mc l Messe n ger . with ,111 possib le
.. I
specJ , to ,.,vt . . '-, s t, iii G •hu l,1111 l lu s.1 111 ,irre
. ~lccl, .1 n d th e
· · I · 1 (r.
s1lu.1ll1>11 < c 1use, ,.11 ~ ,,r , ,
·,•n rolilical cmsul l,1l1ons , 28 Dec 1855,
Nos. '.\'.'Q-J(,). m e kint; r.,i led 111 ne t :incl ., cl.1sh look p ince
(Llewellvn-]0 ,ws 2015 : 110-12). .
Thb. w.,s followed by .i mo re ser ious encoun ter rn Jul y
1855. Sh.i h Ghul.1111 H us i.1n .1nd Ma ul vi Muh .1 mmnd Sh nh
insisted on the righ t lo 0ffer praye rs nt n mns jid s upposed ly
ins ide H:inum;m G.irhi . The 111.ttler w.1s reported lo Wajid A li
Sh.,h. who directed the Nazim of Su lt.tnp ur .ind the Kolwal of
AyodhyJ to inve tig.1 le. However, il regu la r conflict_broke
o ut when the 1'-luslims lried lo en ter H a numa n Ga rh1; they
were bc,1len back by the B.tiragis and s u ffered a loss of over
se,·enty lives (Bhatnagar 1968: 117-18).
On I Ith August 1855, Lhe Britis h Resident forward ed to
the Nawab two bonds he had secured from Bairagis, Mahants
Balran Dass, Kishe n Dass, Bans i Dass, an d Debi Ra m , the
previous day. In the first bo nd, the Maha nts d e d a red,
Whereas Gholam Husein and others have laid a claim to a

musjid in Hunooman Gurhee, and have caused a collision
with us on tha t account and whereas Jafir Alec and Kurum
Khan and others of Oude, have become aggrieved and angry
with us, as the y joined with Gholam Huse in; therefore,
having in view our former friend ship and acquaintance,
we declare we have no enmjty towards them and agreeing
to Agha Alee Kha n, Raja Mnun Singh and Captain O rr, as
our arbitrators, we solemnly swear by Mahabecr and hereby
write, that we will not o n any acco un t crea te a ny
dis turbance, or tumult, on condition that no one molests us,
or abuses us. AU the Byragces who are of our tribe will not 21. Report of the //11111t'dnr o( i\wadh dated 28th November 1858 on
do anything contrary to wha t we have writte n, a nd as hnun11 and l'"i"inside Babri Masjid .
formerly we lrcatcd Jafir Alec and others, so we will now be
friendly with them. If we act contrary to wha t we have

w rlll c n , we confe~q we ,1rc desn rv ·i n
22. i\ I 11 h,1111111,,d ~ g o f w ha tever
punishment the Government m,1y decree.
,\ ,gh.11 ·, "'"'l'l.,inl 11(
lill h I 11, ,•ml>L•r 11-l'iK In lhc second bond they ilffirmed,
,,11 /1111.·,11, ,llld 1111,,,
111• id,• ll,1hri 1\ l.1 , jid. W hcrc,1s G ho l,1m I lusein a nd other~ have ·
,. , • given out that a
Mu s pd ex is ted 111 Hun oom an G urh ec d .
' an o n t1u s a
di~turbancc
. arose
. . between us. ,,nd lhe Mu•sul .., m.,n~ and' .15
fo r the 111 vesllga t1on of the m,1t1er three pcrsoM h,wc been
d e puled - therefore, in the p resence of those ofhccr~. ,ind
w ith o ur free_ w ilL we wdte, that 1f these three gentlemen
w_ill by_ cx:1minaho n and 111vest ig,,1ion prove lh,,1 a musJid
did e xis t in l-lunoom,1n Gu rhec and wi ll lhcn issue their
orders to us, we w ill re,1dily agree thereto - on no account
will we m.ikc any objections to wha t they may say- therefore
we h .ivc written this as a proof of wha t we have agreed t~
(Ohatnagar 1968: 123-24).
TI,e 13airagis thereby committed lo vacate Hanuman Garhi

should any evidence be found that a masjid had existed inside
the structure. They also produced sn11nds to p rove that Nawabs
Safdar Jang and Shuja-ud-daulah of Awadh had assisted them
in the construction of certain buildings at Hanuman Garhi.
.- --
~...
,
The snnnds made no reference to a masjid at Hanuman Garhi
(Bhatnagar 1968: 125-27).
On 12th August 1855, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah sent a purc/za
. ) ~ ... to the British Resident, to which were attached five documents
G1-1-·,,...,_.~..._,.,.:.. which established the long drawn out contest between Hindus
. •~ t;..,.;.,:, "'~
a n d Mus lim s (N.A.I. Fore ig n Department Politica l, 28
-~ ~ , r : f.¥
December 1855, No. 351-358 & KW). The d ocuments were:-
1. A docu m ent from Muhammad Nihalal -ud-din, the
Darogah of Awadh, deputed by the King to ascertain
whether any Masjid exists in Hanuman Garhi
2. A document from Hafeezullah, Darogah of Fyzabad
3. A document from the lmam of Fyzabad
4. A cop y of a paper sealed with the seal of the Qazi of
23. Report of the Fyzabad, da ted AD 1735
lhmmfnr on c\'iction of
Sikhs from Babri
Mas jid . THE CONFLICT AT AYODHYA DOCUME1'ITED I 55

5 . A sealed statem ent by forty of the principa l inha bitan ts In Se ptember 1855, a new an d moredangerous ea d er
of Fyzabad on the dis turbances be h veen Hind us and I
ass u_m e d _ch a rge_of the struggle for Hanuman Ga rhi . A
Mus lims cha.nsmabc Surmi, 1' la ul vi Ami r •'\Ii c, ,,ave Jca II for /'.., rmI Jn d
The purclra stated a simila r q ua rrel O\'er the Masjid, b uilt ga thered J number . of . wo rking mt?,n •~d m a II s Ill'Pk l'epers,
~•
"by on e of the former sovereigns of Delhi that this fact is who ba\·e up their busmesses to follow him. The conflict took
no toriou.~... had a risen in the time of Burhan-ul-Mulk Saadat on. wide r proportions,
.. .
Sunni a<>Jinst
o
ShiJ , lu•- t·1m agams · t
Khan, the fi rst Nawab of J\wJdh (1722- 1739). But the Hin d us Hindu. Wa pd Ah Shah (a ShiJ) summoned Amir Ali to the
had a fterwards declared th at th ey h ad n o inte nti o n o f pal.ice for talks and proposed tha t J small mosque be Jttached
"meddling w ith the mosque." to _the .te mple. The su gge lion WJs instantly rejl'Cll'd by the
The Naw.:ib asserted tha t " Lhe tenor o f a ll th ese pape rs Ba.iragis (Co le 198 : 2.\5-16; Llewellyn-Jones 2015: 110- 12).
cas t (s ic) J II th e b la m e on th e H ind oos and de ta ils th e ir After all effo rts :it a settlemen t failed, British troops moved
atrocities." He fu rthe r sta ted "A fen ce w hich was erected in aga ins t Amir Ali and his followers before they could reach
the p resent king's re ign to sepa rate the Masjid from the Hind u Ayodhya . Amir Ali WJS killed in an e ncounte r lastin g two
p lace of wor hip has been tom down. " In his reply of 14 th hours (Bhatnagar 1968: 128-38).
Aug us t 1855, the Residen t, com mented that th e e nclosed Patrick Carncgy, th e firs t Britis h Co m m issio n e r and
represent ations were "obvious ly untrue in o n c particular," in Settlement Officer in F.1izabad, writing J d ec.ide a.n d half la ter,
,1s much as they laid the entire blame on Lhe Hindus ( .A.I. described lhe conflict,
Foreign Departme n t Political, 28 Dec 1855: 351-58 & K\Y).
The j,mma•than 1< wi thin a few hundred p.,ces of the
Mcanwhile an Enquiry commi ttee constitutl.>d to e'l(amine H.inum.in C',.1rh1 In I :;5, when .i gre,11 rupture took place
the case of a masjid al Hanuman Garhi unanimously dl'Cidcd bcl\,, :n thl' Hindu< .ind :\lohamedans, the fo rmer occupil·d
in favour of the Bairagis. (Western d escriptions of the temple ~ I I.mum.in G.uhr bv forre, while the l\lus.1lm,,ns look
U1ree decades ea rlier had also not mentioned a mosque at the f'(' ,ton nf th,· J,,nma<lh.m The Mahomcd,,ns on tha t
site; Cole 1988: 245). OCC.l'I O n .i.tu.1llv char~eJ up the step< of the I l~numan
The news of the d ecision of the Enqui ry committee crc.i!t.'Cl G.uhr l-ul ",·r,• dnH·n h,1d. " 1th consiJcrablc loss. The
il sensillion a mong M us li ms. Exp ressing the ~cnhmC'llt.s of hi'I I ltnJu. then follt"' cJ up th i, success. and ,1 1 lhc third
..itlt·mpt 1,-..,1., the:- J,,nm,1,1han at the gale of which 75
com m un ity, the C hief Minister to ld the Bntis h Resident th.it
fohnm,•J ,rn, .ire 1'ur1t•J in the ' Mar ty rs' g r,, vc:-'
the H indus had :ilw ilys been subjects of the Mu~lim-,;
((,.,n1 h.1h1J) <;,,,Hr,1I ,,f lhc King's Regimen! (the 1\ w,1Jh
Whnt m.1 1ters if ,1 do7en of their •hnnc<, wcrl' dc-trun-d al'\d , ' 11,o, ,t, \', .111J ,\I, Sh.,h) "''rt' to..,l..ing on ,111 lhc 11ml', hut
lhdr pullu11011- ,1J omed with mo<,que-.' Uut ti"' Jl"liructt<>n tht•tr ,,rJ,·r, "'-'"' n,,t h• inh·rfc:-rc It rs s.1id th,11 up lo 1h.1t
•~f J mnsqu._. w.is ., n offence nf 1hc:- deep,: t hut•. fn,m .111 hm,• 1h · l lanJ11, .mJ M.ihnm,•J ,,ns ,1hkc u~-d 10 w1>r<hip
lrml.'s rl h., J bc:-,•n pun"l1<.·d by mulllatron, n.w b,· c.lr.11h m th,· m, ....,u,~1rmpl,• San ·e 0nh,h rule .1 r.1ihng h,15 bl-en
(N.i\ .l fon•lgn De pJrlment Political, 211 Dt-cnnr. r Jli:-; ru• up Ill r«--- ,·n t J,,pute.. Within which In the:- mosque the•
No. ·150 & K\V; 0hatnagar 1968: 137) ' \ homnl.m pr.i,·. 1vh1lc outside the fence thl' HrnJ us h,wc
r I J .i pl.1tfurm on which they make their offerings
(C.SrTiqlY IH70 20-2 1).
56 I Tit E MTTI C rOR RA.\IA

TI i i! CONFI 1c r AT AYODIIYA OOCUMEl'fl'ED I 57

/\.F. l\le ttcll, in the Rcl'orl t!f t/11• Sc1t /c111cn f of /he u mrl Revc1111l' through the centuries , p.:irticularly on occas ions li ke Ramn
Fy:11/•ad District. a im s t,1tccl lhnt till the connlcl of 1855, Nnvn111i, ;ind th;it s pecia l a rrnngeme nts had to be made for
... the Hindus .,nd tlt.1ho111,·dn11 ~ , like- used lo worship in pilgrims during these times .
the nw~.:iuc-1,•mplC'. Sinn' Orilish rule . ., r:,iling h,1s been A Report, d ated ~8 th November 1858, by Sheetal Dubey,
put ur tl, rl"(',·cnl disrutrs. within which in the mosqur the the 1/1n11cr/11r of O uclh, 1s the firs t ava ilable record on the contes t
tl lnh,,111'-..l,rns pr,,)·· while r,utsicll- th,• rcnc-c the Hindus have al th e si te. It refe rre~ to wo_rs hi p in the middle of Masjid
r.1iSl-d ,1 rl,,llc,rm ,, n which they 111:,kc their offerings (Mettcll Janam As lhan by a N1h;i ng Singh Fakir Kh alsa, ;i resident of
18S0: 236). Punjab. The Ni hang had o rganized "Hnun11 .ind p 11jn of Guru
H.R. Nevil~ too, recorded the open clash o f 1855, Govind Sing h and erected a symbol of Sri Oh;igw an, w ithin
the premises of the Masjid." The Report sta ted that twenty-
....the lllus-1l111,ms occupying the Jnnamasthan in force and five Sikhs had also been present for raising the relig ious flag
thence m.1king :, desperate nss,rnlt on the Hanuman Garhi.
at the Masjid Janam Asthan (pages 2298-99 para 2315).
TI1cy d1Mgcd up the steps or the temple, but were driven
b.1,k \\'ith ,·r,nsidcrablc loss. The Hindus the n made a PETITION OF MUHAMMAD AscHAR (30.11.1858)
counter-atln,k .ind stormed lhe JanamasU1an, at lhe gate of
\\'hich se,·enty-ii,·c Musalm,m s were buried, the spot being Two days late r, Muhammad Asghar, the Khattib and Muezzin
knO\rn .1s Uw G.mj Shah.idan or the martyrs' resting place. of Babri Masjid, m a d e a rep resentation to the British
Sc,·cr,1I of the King 's regiments were present, but thei.r orders Government, on the matte r. His complaint is the oldest
were not lo interfere. ShorUy afterwards Maulvi Ami.r Ali of indiv idual and private d ocume nt to throw lig ht on the then
Amcth.i in Lucknow organized a regular expedition with prevailing situation. It stated tha t a Niha ng Sikh, a resident of
the object of destroying the Hanuman Garhi; but he and his Punjab and a government employee, had constructed "an ea.rth
forces were stopped in the Oara Bank.i district. It is sa.id that Chabutara" near the Mihmb and Mimber, and placed the picture
up to this time both Hindus and Musalmans used to worsh.ip of an idol,
in lhe s..1me build.ing. but since the mutiny an outer enclosure
has been put up in front of the mosque and the Hindus, Fire has been lit there for light and P11jn and Home is
who are forbidd en access lo the inner yard, make their continuing there. In whole of this Masjid 'Ram Ram' has
offerings on a platform wh.ich they have raised in the outer been written wiU1 coal.
one (Nevill 1905: 179-80).
Muhammad Asghar also declared that in the outer space
ll1ese reports expressly stated that till the clash of 1855, of Ba bri Masjid (the courtyard within the walled boundaries
Hindus had free access to the inner precincts of the Masjid of the mosque), Jan amsthan had been lying desolate, where
and openly offered prayers there. the Hindus had been worshipping for hundreds of years. He
asserted tha t due to the conspiracy of thn11ednr, "the Bairagis
LmGATION AFrER 1857 constructed overnight a Chabutara up to height of one ' Balisht'
The extensive evidence of court cases and proceedings after until o rders of injunc tion were issued." The Deputy
1857 further highlighted the continuing Hindu claim to the Commissioner had suspended the tlwncdnr and imposed a fine
site. It also reaffirmed that large crowds visited Ayodhya on the Bairagis. But "n ow the Chabootra has been raised to
58 I 11-!E BATTLE FOR RAMA THE CONFLICT AT AYODHYA DOCUMENTED I 59
Scanned wit h CamScanner

, ~rd-; " t-luh,1mmad 1\ sghar, the re fore, reques ted ...when the Moazzin recites i\1.aa n, the opposite p.:trty begins
ab out I Vu ·•
that th e Kotw,11 of the C it y visit the spo t, ge t th e n ew to blow conc h ... (He w anted the) newl y cons tructed
. · , ·' em,~lishrd
Cl.In~ lrlll. 11 , ,11 u • •
;ind the Hindus ousted; "the symbol Chabool ra w h ich had neve r e>d sted , may kindly be
and- the idol m,1y be removed from there and writing o n the demolished and a bond be got executed from the opposite
w.1lls be w., shcd ... " (p.1ges 2..100-03 p.1ra 2317). party lo the effect that he will not unlawfully and illegally
As the ,1uthenticily of the document and the identity of interfere in the Milsjid property ilnd will not blow conch al
the time of Azaan (pages 2313-17 para 2329).
the person who wrote it were unquestionable, the Allahabad
High Court ~garded ii as irrefutable proof that Hindus prayed On 12tl1 March 1861, Mir Rajab Ali, Muhammad Asghar,
in tlw M.,~jid ond the inner courtyard, as well as at U1e Ram and Muhammad Afza l reiterated their complain t of
Ch.1butar.1 ,rnd Sita Rasoi in tJ1e outer courtyard (page 2304 5U1 November 1860. They sta ted that a Cha butara that had
par.1 2318). lrus would have been in1possible had the entire been built near Babri Masjid at Janam Asthan, had not been
premises been in Muslim possession (pages 2304-05 para 2319). removed despite orders (page 2318 para 2331).
Justice S.U. Khan noted tl1at tl1e Muslims had admitted that
since the mid-nine teenth century the outer portion that COMPLAINT or MUHAMMAD AFZAL (25.9.1866)
contained the Ram Chabutara had been use d by Hindus. Five years later, Muhammad Afzal, Mutawalli Babri Masjid,
Justice Khan also took cognizance of the fact that the dispute filed another complaint stating tl1at about a monili back the
o\·er tl1e premises had been judicially noted in 1885, and in "Bairagiyan Janam Astl1an Ram" had constructed a kothri "in
tl1e records of various government officers since 1855 Qustice an illegal manner within a few ho urs inside the compound of
S.U. Khan page 5-6). the mosque," witl1 tl1e intention of placing idols in it. Due to
Despite several orders, it was only on 10th December 1858, this construction, there had been "much rioting in tl1e local
that tl1e tlra11edar reported that tl1e "Jhanda (flag) was uprooted populace." Muhammad Afzal wanted the kotlrri to be
from tl1e Masjid Janam Asthan and the Faqir residing therein dismantled and the Masjid "protected from the fury of
was ousted" (pages 2309-10 para 2325). There was no mention Bairagis." He affirmed,
of tl1e performance of namaaz in Babri Masjid, or its revival,
... There had a.lways been a tussle with Hindus who have
by Muslims (page 2310 para 2326). ever been expressing their interests in the affairs of the
Masjid ... A good number of files of frequent such complaints
APPLICATION OF MIR RAJTB ALI (5.11.1860)
in past are kept in the CoUeclorate. It was only due to the
The next record available is an application filed in the Court 'wisdom and justice of the Court,' that the Masjid could
of the Deputy Commissioner, by Mir Ra jib Ali, Khattib of Babri remain (page 2064 para 1978; pages 2341-46 para 23-t7).
Masjid, requesting that the Chabutara which had been
constructed inside Babri Masjid be removed. Mir Rajib Ali APPEAL OF MUHAMMAD AsGHAR (1877)
stated tl1at a month ago, the Nihang respondent made a small
1n fue case of Mohammad Asghar Appellant vs. Mahant Baldeo
Chabu~~a in ilie graveyard adjacent to Babri Masjid, which Dass, an order was passed on 7th November 1873 for removal
hhe was extending day by day." Mir Rajib Ali also protested of the idol, i.e. Charan Padukn, said to have been created in the
t at,
disputed building (page 2065 para 1979). Four years later, in
60 I THE BATTLE FOR RAMA THE CONFLICT AT AYODHYA DOCUMENTED I 61

ltlTt', l\luhZlmm:u.l /\s~h:ir requested im p lemcnlnlio n o f the Mohamm.id /\sgha r. The Commissioner had as ked for a report
-th lwembcr Hl7J . H e s tZlteJ lhnt ns the Clinrn 11
ClrtIer Cl f ,
o n a doorway In the wall di viding the mosque by a raili ng,
p,zdul.ir hJcl m1t lx-cn rc1110vcd, M:ih anl 13nldeo Dnss, which h ad been opened to provide a separate passage to
visi tors lo th e Janam /\s tha n on festival days. The Deputy
h,,s m,llk ., C/1111/1.1 within the s.1id compound which has
Commissioner's re po rt s ta ted,
never \-...-en ,fone beh1re TI,cre w., s a small C/111/nlr for pujn
whKh he h,, < ~Cit c,tcndcd ...each and every place within A doorway has recentl y been opened in the wall of the
the t,,.,undarY \\',,II of the I\ IC1sque is that of the Mosque and Janam-As lhan not .it all in Daber's mosque, but in the wa ll
it5 w.,ll l,cin~ the constniction of Masjid itself ... s hould be which in front is divided from lhe mosque by a rJiling. This
cntrn•tc-d to the l\lutJ\\',,lli of the l\losque and not lo Hindu opening was necessary lo give a separate rou te on fa ir days
dcfendant5. (TI1c subordina te officer, however, had given to vis itors to the Janam Asthan. There wJs one opening
pcmu_._s,on 1<, the defendants for) ... erecti ng a new door i.n only, so the cruch (sic: rush) was very grcJI and li fe was
the wall of the I\ lasj,d northwards. (This was a breach or the endangered. I marked out the spot for Lhe opening myself so
i;cneral principle because lhe defendan ts never had) ... any there is no need to depute any European officer. This petition
concern wi th the wa ll of the Masjid ... The de fendant is merely an attempt to annoy the Hindu by maki ng it
belongmg to other religion could not have been accorded dependent on the pleasure of the mosque people to open or
pcrmi!;sion to cons truct the door against religious canons ... dose the 2nd door in which the Mohammedans can have
Toe re5ponden t has cleverly done so for creating trouble in no interest (pages 2065-66 para 1981; pages 2361-63 parn
future. He wanted to spend more money to place idols along 2353).
";th the door (sic). It is a matter of justice that how idols
The Commissioner dismissed the appeal, as the door in
could be placed on lhe waU or lhe Masjid which would be
against JU canons of Islam ... question had been opened by the Deputy Commjssioner in
the inte rest of public safety (page 2066 para 1982).
l\luhammad Asghar affirmed that there had b een an "old Jus tice S.U. Khan noted that initially there was just o ne
controversy between the resp ond ent and the appellant" and d oor in the boundary wall towards the east. However, in
the Court had ordered that th e res pondent s hould not do 1877 anothe r door was opened towards the nortl1 by the British
anythin g new in U1at place. But, as Mahant Baldeo Dass Bairagi autho rities, which was "given under th e co n tro l and
had gone underground, the order of 7th November 1873 could manage m e nt of Hindu s in s pite of severe objection by
not be served o n him. So the idol had no t been rem oved as Mus lims." The need for the second door arose because of the
per Court orders ... " (page 2065, para 1979; pages 2355-61 para la rge number of H ind u devotees that gathered to wo rship at
2352). The Allahabad High Court noted that the complaint the Chabutara on two occasions a year, and in order to control
was proof that in 1877, a C/11111,n also existed in the premises of the crowds. At what point in the northern wall the door should
Babri Masjid (page 2065 para 1980). be opened was itself a subject o f "raging dispute" beh~een
Hind us and Muslims. Ultimately a fragile truce w.is a rrived
MOHA.,.!MAD AsGHAR VS. KHTh! DASS (1877) a t and it was agreed that the exact place should be marked ~y
The Depu ty Commissioner of Faizabad s ubmitted a report some European officer and that was accordingly done (Jushce
(not dated) pursuant to the order of the Faizabad S.U. Khan pages 7-8).
Commissioner (dated 14tl1 May 1877), passed in the appeal of
THE CONFLICT AT AYODH YA DOCUMENTED I 63
62 I TI-IE BATTI.E FOR RAMA

• 'l01-lAMMAD i\SGl-l,\I< (22. 10.1882)
CO~H'LJ\INT u, .. I
APPLICATION 01' MOHAMMAD AscHi\lt (2.11.1 883)
_, \ . 1,nr filed ,1 compl,1i11t ;ignins t Rng hubnr Das. Mohammnd i\sghnr filed nn o the r appl ic;ition as Mu tawa ll i and
r,.. tr,h.1mm,1u f ~g , .
~lllm in O clobcr 1882, cln1mmg rent ror u se I<h allib o f 13abri Mnsjid, comp laining that h e was en titled to
t--.1,,lhtnl ),mam 1\ • • ,
,. nc ,r the ,, ;itc o r lhe Mnsjid for lhc period ge t th e wnl l o f the m osque w hite washed, bul w as being
or lhc Cll3L1U 1:ir,1 ' O
12~8-1289 rn~li (AD 1881- 1882). H e s tnted, obstruc ted by Mahant Raghubar Das, w ho h ad the righl o nly
--rd •rnd the Ch abu t.na before lhe Mas jid to the C h abu la ra and Sita ki Rasoi. He said the w all and lhe
t h e ,l,11 r I l"
Jan.,m•th.i~ is th~ propNly of lhe plainliH whereupon, fron_i ga te we re part o f the Mosque and he was at liber ty to get
.indent times. is ,,r~,min•d Mcl,1 K,1rhk1 ,ind Ram Nnvam,. th e m c len n ed (pages 2067-69 para 1987) . The Ass is tant
In ,,thcr d,ws shops of nowcrs and l3alasha were being Commissioner, Faizabad passed an o rd e r, on 22nd Janua ry
sl~lk J . the rontract whcrdorc was of Rs. 35/ - per year. The 1884, whe reby,
IJinttff and the Jcfendant had agreed lo dis tribute lhis
... Raghubar Das Wils reslr;iined from carrying out repairs
~mount 1:,etwcen themselves in Lhe ratio of 50-50.
e tc., in the internal and o uter p.irt o ( the compou nd and
In t 288 Fnsli, before Knrtik As11a11 and Ram Navami, the Mohammad Asgh.1r was advised not lo lock the ou ter door
defendant. with ma/a fide inte ntions, m ade two s h a res of of the mosque ... The o uter door will be left open. No lock
Rs. 30/ - against the contract of Rs. 35/-, withou t the consent wi ll be allowed upon it. It is nbsolutcly essential to observe
the slri clest neutrality and maintain the status quo (pages
of the plaintiff, for bo U1 Lhe festivals/ fa irs. Mohammad Asghar
2376-78 p ara 2365).
requested that a decree with costs be p assed (pages 2371-75
para 2362). The Allahabad High Court obse r ved thal thi s o rder
The trial court dis missed U1e suit o n l8U1 June 1883. Ha ri revealed intentio n of the a uthorities to thwart all hindrances
Kishan, Sub-Judge Faizabad, stated that Moh ammad Asghar to people v isi ting the dispu ted premises (pages 2066-67 para
while claiming rent for the use of the Chabutara and Takht, 1983; page 2376 para 2364).
had admitted U1at these were in p ossession of Rag huba r Das, Raghubar Das appea led to the Assista n t Commissione r,
and had failed to uphold his claim for rent (page 2067, para o n 27th June 1884, that despite U1e restraint, the Muslfrns " are
1985). doing whi tewash at p laces where U1ey never ha ve done so.
The Allahabad High Court noted that this application did This fact w ill become clear from the ins pection ... " (pages 2378-
no t prove Uiat continuous namaaz was be ing offered by the 80 para 2366).
Muslim public. At Rama Navami and o th e r fairs, som e la nd
was allowed to be used by ou tsiders for setting up s hops. The PLAINT UY NlAHANT RJ\GHUBAR DAS (29.1.1885)
Mutawalli shared the renta l income with the priests of the Som eti m e the reafter, Raghubar Das filed a suit, seeking
Nirmohi Akha ra, w ho m a naged the C h abuta ra and other pe rm iss ion to construc t a te mp le over Chabutara Janam
religious structures in the oute r courtyard (page 2423 para Asthan, m easu r in g 2 1 feet by 17 feel , which wa s in hi s
2393). p ossessio n . H e said that as there was no building over the
Chabutara, he and others experienced greal ha rdship "on
account of excessive heat in summer and excessive cold a nd
64 I THE Bi\TTLE FOR RAMA THE CONFLICT AT J\YODHYA DOCUMENTED I 65

min in r;1inv se;1son." l11ere could be no hilrm Ill ;1nyo11e if ,1 to. hove been
tc mpll' was.constructed to nwer Lhc Ch.1l~utar.1; '' i~ Lh~ tl'm p le . deserted soon ;ifler its canst rue t'10n. Tl1c 1oc,1 1
Hmdus ovmled or the opportunity to rn·i"e ~ . mb 1·
. . ' ~ "sy o 1c structure
is constructL~I the pl.1intiff and other foqmi ;1nd pilgrims wi ll Lo continue wors hip at the Rill' they be lieved to be the
gel r,mlitics or l' \"el,' sort." . . birthplace o r Ra ma. That was. how th ..~ ur·li · 1ed ·In ( Ile
'' l'XIS
R.1~hub.ir o.,s s tilted tlh1t the Deputy Comm1ss1oner, courtyard or the M;is jid , ;incl w;is noticed by Ticffenthaler
Fai,JbJd, h,id in 188:l prohibited construction of U1e temple (page 1767 para 1642; p;ii:;e 1768 para 1644).
duL' to L,bjL..:LillllS r,1bcd by s0me Muslims. Thereupon h e had
p,:,tilioncd the 1t,c.1I sctr-Gon!r_n mcnl, but on receiving no STATEMENT OF MOHAMMAD J\SCII AI<
rl'ply , ~,we n,,tice to the office o f the Secret.iry, Local In response lo Mah;int Rilghubar Das's suit seeking permission
Go,·ernmL'lll. He got no response from there as well, which to construct a temple over the Rilma Chabu tara, Mohammad
\\'JS wlw he h,1d filed the present s uit. The sole defendant Asgh ar filed a w ritten sta tement on 22nd December 1885
\\'."IS the S.XretJrv of Sta te for lnd i.i in Council (page 11 42 para (pages 1143-44 para 827; page 1 146 para 832). Therein he stated
S2-l; p,1gt?S 2380~% pi1 r,1 2367; Noo ra ni I 2003: 175-76). tha t 13abur had cons tructed the mosque and got the word
A mJp w.1s ,1tt.1c.hed wilh the compla int. The Sub-Judge, "Allah" engrnved o n its doo r and granted Mnnfi for its
fai zabad , directed the Court's Commission er, Gopal Sahai expensl's. No one e lse could claim the right or construction
Amin, to prepare a map of lhe entire Babri Masjid premises. there. Until the king, or any or his successors, gave permission
The map was a lmos t identica l to the one submitted by or gave any part of U1e land, U,e plaintiff, Mahant Raghuba r
Raghubar Das. It showed that the inner courtyard and the Das, could no t become owner of Lhe land. Raghubar Das had
constructed portion were with the Mohammedans and the not submitted any documentary evidence rega rding the
outer courtya rd including Sita ki Rasoi and Ram Chabutara in ownership or the Chabutara; therefore he had no right to build
possession or the Hindus. a 111a11dir over it. Moh;immad Asghar asserted,
The Allahabad High Court observed that though it was ... for 368 years generally and from 1857, in particular, the
uncertain whe n the Sita ki Rasoi was constructed, it was plaintiff could not produce any document to show his
certainly before 1885. It staled, ownership. He can never have any righl to construct any
temple on the Ooor of the Masjid. The claim of the plaintiff
It is beyond comprehension that Mir Baqi or anyone else,
that the Ch,1butara is !heirs and thereby ac<]uircd right to
whil<! constructing J mosque at the disputed p lace could construe! any temple, is a mere misunderstanding because
ha\"e spared some Hindu structure (s) to continue, ... in lhe the pl;iintiff has no ownership right or liberty to use the
precincts of the mosque so as to be wors hipped by Hindus Chabut:ir,1 or offer gift (clinrlinwn ) over the chabutara ... (pages
inside the premises of mosque. We put lhis question to Sri 2387-95 para 2370).
Jilani also and he frankly stated that no Muslim would a llow
idol worship in the precinct of a mosque (page 2069 para Justice S.U. Khan noted that Mohammad Asghilr did not
1989). deny the co rrectness or the map presented by Raghubar Das
Qustice S.U. Khan pilge 17).
The Court was, therefore, of the view that when the Masjid
The report of the Amin Commission on this case, dated
was first constructed no Hindu structure cou ld have been
6th December 1885 was of considerable importance. It showed
permitted to exist in the premises. But, the Masjid appeared
THE CONFLICT AT AYODHYA DOCUMENTED I 67
66 I 11-lE llATTLE FOR RAMA

th.,t Si ta Raso!, Chnbutrn, Janmnsthon, .111d C lrnppnr TI1e Sub Judge, however, poinled Uiat U,at this place was
(enclosurcmenl) of the d L~ciple (Chcln) of the Mnhon t were nll not like oth e r ploces where the owner had the right to cons truct
situ,,ll'll within the bound.in' wJII of the si te w h ere the Mnsjid a ny buildi ng he liked. For,
~tood Ol•vtmd till' b11und,1ry w.111 ,inJ jus t ,,d j,1cent lo il wns n
TI,e prayer fo r permission to construct the temple is at such
dccp J epre~~ion r-.1thw,1y on .111 the fo u r sides (1mriknr111n) of
a place where there is only one passage for the temple as
the pili.;nms (Afo,i ,,,m/..,1r11111 /r,,r c/111/,,,r 1_11rnj). In other words, well ,1 s fo r the mosque. TI1e place where the 1-!induq worshi
u,c cntin' .,rc.1 site c ncl1,scd by the p11r1/(Jlm1n wns the sacred is in their possession from of old and their ownership cann!
Janm.isth,111 (Gn:l\'cr 20 15: 288). be ques tioned and around ii there is the wall of the mosque
The c.isc w.,s he.mi by Pandit Hari Kishilll, Sub Judge and the word Allah is insc ribed on it. If a temp le is
Faizabad . After visiting th e s ite, in his judgem e nt on constructed on lhe Chabutara at such a place then there
24 U1 0\.-cembcr 18 5, he observed, will be sound of bells of the temple and s/1n11kh when both
Hindus and Musli ms pass from the same way, and if
...on S<'l.'ing the spol ii is evid ent that chnrn11 (i.e. feet) is permission is given lo Hindus for constructing temple then
emhc>s.<.-J ,,n the Ch,1lrnl.1ra which is being worshipped . one day o r the ot her a crim inal case will be st.1rted and
On ,1 ChJbut,,ra 0,w lh,11 Chabu tara an idol of Th,1ku.rji is th ousa nd s of people w ill be ki lled (Noorani I 2003:
in<tJIIN The Ch.1t•utarJ is in possession of the pli1intiff 178-81).
,,nJ whJtc,-cr 0ffcring mJde, is taken away by the plaintiff
and this fJct JOO admitted to Mohammad Asghar defendant. The pro-temple group pointed ou t in the Allahabad High
Th~ w,tnes.~ of the plaintiff also prove lhc possession of Court that it was significant that Mohammad Asghar did not
the plJintiff for tJ1is reason that there is a pucca wall like a then state that the Ja nmasthan Temple at Ram's b irt hplace
fence rnnstruc tl.'d to fix the bound aries of la nd held by already existed separate ly at a distance of 60-70 steps fro m
~lus lims and Hindus ... The witnesses fo r the defendant the Disputed Structure, as was n ow being claimed by Left
plead Uleir ignorance of 1hr possession of the plaintiff over historians (page 4449-50 p ara 4092).
the Chabulara. In between the mosque and the Chabutara Mahant Raghubar Das's case was also heard by the District
is a wall which can be fully evident from Ule perusal o f the Judge, Paizabad, Col. P.E.A. Chamier. After a visit to the site,
corrected plan prepared by the Amin a nd it is clear that
he s tated in his judgement of 18/26 March 1886,
t11erc arc separate boundaries between the mosque and the
Chabutara and this foci is also supported by the fac t that It is most unfortunate that a masjid should have been built
Ulere is a boundary wall built by the Government before the on land specially held sacred by the Hindus, but as that
recent dispute. Before this Hindus and Mus lims both used event occu rred 356 years ago it is too late now to remedy Ule
to offer prayer and worship at that place. In 1855, after the grievance. AU that can be done is to maintain the parties in
fight amongst Hindus and Muslims, a boundary wall was status quo. In sud, a case as the present one any umonation
constructed to avoid future disputes, so that the Muslims could cause more harm and derangement of order than
shou ld worship inside that wa ll and the Hindus should benefit. TI1e entrance to the enclosure is under a gateway
worship outside that wa ll, hence the Chabutara and the which bears the superscription 'Allah' - immediately on
land which is situated outside the boundary wall belong to the left is tJ,e platform or chabutara of masonry occupi~d by
Hindus and Ule plaintiff. the Hindus. On this is a small superstructure of wood m Ule
form of a tent ...
THE CONFLICT AT AYODH YA DOCUMENTED I 69


Chomicr dis mi,;,;cd the suit as !he re wns " n o ' i11j11ri11 ,' Mu lin y, h owever, !he re h ad bee n no majo r trouble til l the
no thini: which w,,uld ~•ve a right of action to the pl.iintiH recen t events. Thie; was clue tn the fac t thal lhe Muhammadan
(NoorJn i I .001: 1R2-~ ). . . , . res idents of Ajocl h ya we re now "of compar.it ive ly little
Thc O lfidJhnl! lud,ci;il Comm1ss1one r, W. Young, d elivered im port:m ce nnd h.i ve not been in a posit ion lo assert lhemsd ves
his juJi:enwnt 111 tlw c,1H' on Is l cweml e r 1886. H e noted agai ns l lhc powerful associa tio ns occu pying lhc nume rous
Lha t the I linJu,; 1,i ,\ wxi hy,1 w,111k•d 10 crea te n new te mple Hindu temp les ,rnd religious cs t;i blis hmenls ." In l<Jl l , of a
o,·e r the Ch.,butar.,. Till!- spot w.,s s ituated within lhe p recinc t total population of 12,575, Hindus numbe red 10,927 and
of lhe J:"-•unds surrounding,, mosque e re.:ted som e 350 years Muhammndnns 1,623 (N.A.I. Home Political Branch 13 Ap ril
,1go. · owini: h• the bii:,,tr\' ;ind lyrnnny of _the Em~eror Ba bur, 1913, Nos. 109- 11 4: 39-43).
who purro~ lv cho c Lhis holy spot nccord mg to Hmd u legend The Lieulenanl-Governo r visited Fyzabad on 18th July
as the si te ,,f h is m,,sque." He J lso observed tha t lhe Hindus 1915 to find a solutio n accep tnble lo Hindus and Muslims on
s,--cm t,, h,l\'c s,11 ,·cry limiled righ ts of access to cert.iin s pots U,e issue of cow-sla ug h ter in Ayodhya. He observed ,
wi tJ,in Lhe P"---.:inct:s ,1djuining lhe m osque nnd " they hnve for
It is very difficult ... fo r anyone who is not a Hindu to
a series ,,t ,·e,ir_ been persis te ntly try ing lo increase those
appreciate the reverence which they feel for the holy ground
righ ts and t~, erect buildings o n two spots in U1e e nclosure." of Ayodhya ... (N.A.l. Home Political Branch A, October 1915,
Thl!S<:' wt>re LIil' Sita ki R.:1soi and Ram C handar ki Janam Bhumi. Nos. 258-259: 5-6).
He t\."lo wJs ag.1inst any d1ange in U,e status quo (Nooran i I
:!003: IS6-SS). T HE RIOTS OF 1934
Rion: tN AYODHYA - 1912 Riots broke o ut again in Ayod hya, on 27th March 1934, at lhe
time of Bakr-Id . The Commissione r o f Fyzabad provided
On 20lh and 21st November 1912, riots broke out in Ayodhya
details of the outbrea k lo the Chief Secretary of the United
and Fyzabad on lhe issue of cow sacrifice on U,e occasion of
Prov inces, U,e following da y. He stated that the immediate
Bakr-Id . A letter fro m R. Burn, Chi ef Secretary in the
provocatio n was U1e perform.ince of cow_ sacrifice in nearby
Go\"emment of lhe Uni ted Provinces, to the Secre ta ry to lhe
Shahjaha npur, where the re was n o official reco rd o f cow
Gon:•mment of lndfo, Home De partment, dated 25U, Ja nuary
sacrifice ea rlie r, tho ug h lhere had been hints of unrest at Bakr-
1913, s ta ted,
Id in 1932. Meanwhile, in Ayod hya, a large crowd of Bairagis
One perpetual ca use of friction was the exis te nce o f a attacked Babri Mas jid, whic h was loca ted " in .:t more or less
mosq ue on lhe trad itional site of Ram 's birthplace. This isolated position well awny from the m ain road." It was som e
was co nstructed in 1528 by th e Emperor Babar who time before the Deputy Collector hea rd of it. He went wi U1
destro) ed the ancient temple and used its malerials for Lhe five po licem en, all the force he had with him. He fou nd a t
new building.
least 200 Bai ragis "at work dem olishing the m osq u e ... "
The letter said that before U,e annexation of Oudh in 1856 (N.A .I. Home Department - Political F. No. 5/2/1934 Poll: 4-
lhere had been many occasions o n w hich bitterness b e tween 6). The Deputy Collector reported,
Hind us and Muhammadans res ulted in bloodshed. After the
THE CONFLICT AT AYODHYA OOCU~tENTED I 7 1

70 TTiE BATTLE FOR RAMA

n IC 8,ll·r,1(;1·5, ,have done very considcrobk•
. dnm.111c to. lhc
,,, ,,J )' hJ• bl'Cn d{'mohshctl ,1lmos1 cnhrcly
o ften riol5 look place a nd eve ry yea r there is apprehens ion of
nll'5<l U\' n 1' );•11 ' . , ' breach of peace" (pages 2940-47 pa ra 3 103).
Fitments inside hJVl' be,m burnt. 111c metal pmnaclcs 0 11
The /\ lla h nb ad H igh Co urt observed that th is was an
the tops (sK ) of 1h,· llm., • m,1in d0mL>s h,wc bL>cll removed,
and on al lcasl one of the Jome~ subst.1nti.1I J am ngc has admi ss ion tha t o nly Fridi1 y p ro1 ycrs were offe red i1l Babri
bC'-'n done 10 the m.,~onry, nlso to subsidiary mnsonry work Masjid .ind Lhe o ute r courtya rd was o ut of Mus lim control
elsewhere (NJ\ .l. Home Department - Political r-. No . 5/ 2/ (page 2947).
1934 Poll: 6).
REPORT OF MUHAMMAD IDRAHIM, INSPECTOR OF WAQf
On 16th April 193-t, H . Oomfo rd, Chie f Secre ta ry to the (10.12.1948)
Government of the United Provinces, info rmed M .G . H a llett, The Inspecto r of W aqf, Muha mmad fbra him, Hied a re port in
Ch ief 5<.'Cretarr to the Gove rnment, Home D ep a rtme nt, that regard to Bahri Masjid which confirmed continuing te ns ions
orders had b~n issued that a punitive p o lice fo rce would be at the s ite. It s tated ,
impo. eJ ,11 the exp ense of the Hindu inhabitants of Ayodhya
a nJ ord ers o1lso g iven to assess the damage " in order to On investi gation in Faiza bad city it was revealed tha t
because of lfle fear of Hindus and Sikhs no one goes into the
facilito1te d is posal of claims ." The info rmatio n th.it the damage
Masjid lo pra y Namaz lsha. If by chance any passenger
would be paid fo r had "g iven general satisfac tio n to Mus lim
stays in the Masjid he is being put in trouble by the Hindus.
,·isitors there" (N.A.l. Home De p a rtment - Political F. No. 5 / Out of the Sahan of Masjid there is a temple where many
2/ 193-t Poll: 19-20). The fine o f Rs. 85,000 as com pensation to Pandas reside and they harass the Muslims whosoever visit
Muslims aroused considera ble resentment amo n g Hindus and inside the mosque. I went at the spot and from inquiries it
man y re prese nt a ti o ns w e re made to the Go ve rnment was revealed that the s,1id allegations are correct. Locals
(N.i\.l. Home Department - Political F. No. 5/2/ 1934 Poll: went on saying to the extent that there is great dangl'r to
41-15, 56-58). mosque from Hindus that l11ey may harm its walls etc (pages
2950-52; Noorani I 2003: 203-Q.l).
LITTER OF KALAB H USAIN, MUTAWALU OF BABRI M ASJlD
(20. I 1.19-t3) SECOND REPORT Of M UHAMMAD IBRAHIM (23.12.1948)
Thereafter information on the s tate of affairs at Bahri Masjid A fo rtni g ht la te r, Muhammad fbra him pres ented a no~her
came from a letter to the Secretary, Sunni Waqf Board, repo rt, whe rein he described his visit to Ayodhya the previous
Lucknow, by Kalab Husain, Mutawalli of Bahri Masjid. It day. H e me ntioned tha t Baba Sukhdas had visited_/\y?dhya
s tated that the floor mats used for s itting a t the time of namaaz three m o nths earlier a nd while addressing the Ba1rag1s a nd
were " available o nly to the e x te nt o f routin e u se." The p11jnris s aid tha t Rn111nyn11n pntlrn sh o uld be reci t~d a t the
remaining floor ma ts we re ke pt sep arately w ith Ma ulv i Abdul birthp lace. T h e ne ws had spread to the s urro und m ~ a reas
G~ffar, Pesh Ima m. They we re brought b y the Muezzin on ilnd within a month hund red s of p11jnris a nd pn 11 dr ls had
Fndays and returned to the same place a fte r n a maaz , as mos t assembled there. The recitation of the Rm11nyn11n pntlrn had been
o f the mattresses had been s tolen from the mosque. The letter going o n for weeks, during which time the a rea in ~ ont o f the
added that "this mosque has been built on such a place where Milsjid WilS dug up by the Bair.1gis and a flag hois ted there.
72 I 11-IE BATTLE FOR RA MA THE CONFLICT AT AYODHYA DOCUMENTED I 73

~ ('\'ern I ~Iru
~ \" ' <: ,v••rc Jls• o ex humed . Mu h n 111 m.1d l brnhi, 11
S ~- ~ to ha vr n nice tem ple ol the place wh", rn~ UI1agwa. n ,,am
1
rc pc>rtcd , C hnncl ra JI w,1s Im m . n,c l,mcl whc ru' tnmp
'
l", ·iq 1o bc crecled
Is o r N aw l (Noorani I 2003: 205-07).
Tillm' is .ih,·,, ,'"!' .1 l0ek un the l\t.1~jid . TI1erc is no 11.1111,17. or
a;,
111
J I ,11w lime-. TI1e· k c\"!- ,,f the• l11Ck .,r the l\lnsjicl nn.- wi th
the l\luslim.«. 1'11 hct' J,, n,,1 .111,,w lhl' l1><:k lu be- c1pc11ed . On IN'iT1\I.I.A'flON 0 1' Tl IE IMAGE
Fml.ii·~ t,,r ,1t,., ul tw,, 1,, lhn.'l' hn u rs ... th,• clc,111ing a nd
O n 23rd D e ce m ber 1949, a Fir~t Info rma tion Re po rt (FIR) was
swc.:p in~ ,~ J,,nt' ,r nd S/111/>r 11,1111.12 is .ils,1 J o ne. Then ii is
k,.:k,.J. Al lhl' 11111e of th,• S/111/11' namnz, .i lo l o r no ise is fil ed by the Se nio r Sub-Ins p ector in cha rge n,nnn /\yod hya,
crc.itt.J. ,111 J wh<?n the n.1111,1:i, le.w e, from the su rrou n di ng Lh a l a grnup o f 50 to 60 pe rsons had ente red the B.ibri M;i ~jid
hou'-l-s , h,'C5 .111J stones Jrc hurled lowill'cls the 11n111nzis. ... th e p re v ious ni g ht a n d placed a n id o l of Sri Rama in th e
Mr. Lolu,1 ,1ls.1 rn-it,, I A~·od hya ... The b.i ir,1gecs sa id the m osqu e . S ig nifica n tly, no Mus li m ca me fo rward to lodge an
llfa~,id L< J,111111.ibhumi. ,rnd sn give ii lo u s . ... I spen t the FIR, o r com pla in of d is possessio n, o r obs tructio n, in h is a lleged
nii;ht in ,\ y,,dll\',l, ,i nd the b.ii r.igees .ire fo rcib ly taking u se o f the Masjid .
p<'S,<:e:!<j1,n 1,f the l\lasjid . Todny ii is Ju mm .i, I vis ited the In a lette r lo th e C hi e f Sec re tary, Bhagwan Sahai, d a ted
site. ,1I1d wh,11 d,, 1 s,-e there: ten or fi fteen ba iragees armed 26 th Decembe r 1949, th e Depu t y C o mmissio n e r /
" , th /Jllus dnd f.irs.1, and many others wi th s ticks in the ir D .M . Faiz abad, K.K.K. N a y a r p ointed to " th e immense p ub lic
hand.< are sl,mJing ne.1r lh e ga te o f lhe Masjid. Many a re
sy m pa thy in s u ppo rt o f this ca use." I.n a nothe r le tter to the
.il'-0 collech.ng there from nearby... (pages 2952-57; Noorani
C hief Se creta ry , o n 27th Decem ber 1949, NayM said tha t the
I 200.3: ~04-05).
Commissio n e r had gi ve n h im a nd the Su pe rin tend ent o f Police
The ..\ll.1 h a bad Hi g h Cou r t o b served th a t th e repo rt a s che m e for s u rre p ti t ious ly re m o v in g th e id ol from the
established th a t Hind us con tinue d to e nter the inner c o urtyard m o sq ue. H e d esc ribe d the id ea o f the remova l of the idol as
and w orship th e re . N o res tric tio n s were imposed o n the ir " fra u g ht w ith the g r.:i ves t d a nger to pu b lic p eace O\'e r the
enl:r)·. Furthe r, a t leas t three non-Muslim s tru ctures existed in e nti re distric t a n d mus t lead to a con fl ag ra tio n, of h orror
o uter courtyard, w h e re a ls o worship went o n unhind e red unpre ced e n ted in the annals o f this con troversy." The Hindus,
(page 1979 p a ra 1903). w ith n o except io n , were for keeping U1e idol in s itu, and " are
rea d y to kill a n d clie in th is cause. 1l1e d epU1 o f fee ling behind
11\"ITTAL A TIDIPrS TO CONSTRUCT A RAMA TEl\!IPLE th e m ovemen t a nd the d es p e rate natu re o f U1e resoh ·es a nd
After inde pende n ce, U1e Hind u p ublic presented an applica tio n vows in s uppo rt o f it s hou ld no t be u nd eres timated ..." H e
to the UP Government on the constru c tion of a Rama te mple a d d e d , " I s h a ll a lso be u nable to find in th e d istrict a Hindu,
near the mosqu e. 2 ln his rep o rt of 10th O c tob er 1949, the C ity le t a lo n e a q u a lifie d p ries t, who wi ll b e p re p a red on a ny
Magistra le s ta ted , induce m e nt to un derta ke the re m oval o f U, e id ol."
Na y a r o ffere d a solu t io n for th e Go,·e rnm e n t' s
Hindu public has put in this applica tion w ith a vie w to
consideration . H e s uggested tha t th e m osque be attached a nd
erect a d ecent a nd vishnl temple ins tead o f the s ma ll one
b oth Hin dus a n d Muslims be excluded from ii, wi th th e
whic~ ~ isls a t present. The re is nothing i.n the way and
exce ptio n of a few p11jnris w ho w o uld offe r bltog a nd pujn be fo re
pemusSJon ca.n be given as Hind u population is very keen
the ido l, w hich could contin ue. 1l1e parties would be re fe rred
7-t I THE BATTT.E FOR RAMA TH E CONFLICT AT AYODHYA DOC lJMEl'ITED I 75

. . C urt fo r nJi'11Jic,1 tio n o f ri,-;h ts. Nn n tl cm pt woulJ TI, e nc~t da y, lhc N,Hvab ,wain sen t 1 • k
to 1hc C 1v 11 o ' . . . " • 115 wor men and U1r
I wer r os~t•.;s1un tn lhc M u ~h m G t ill the Civil more temp le• were J cstroycd Ta k,· <l • l'C
t,e m ,1tIc tn I,,m e l · ng a vantage o( th,
·r II ll'Cl'\'t'J 1hc c l,1 im. in thL'ir .f,w1111 r (N11nr,1 n i I
Cou rt, 1 ,, I •1 , L
dl:1t urh,,11cc, one o f lhc kin,. ·s comprni
. " ' on-servan ts. /1.lir M., hJi
c
'.WOJ: 2 10 - l ti). N,iy.ir·s ~ll ~Acs t 10 11 w,1s s 11p p 1•~ tc d by I h e ~c n l ,1 h ired ruffian lo Haider",lnJ' w hcr I Sh' ·
"' ' e sever., 1v,11cmplcs
. . . ,- n,m i,-.ipnc r w lw prop11s c d h•c p111g th e s ite WL'n: d cslroycd .
D 1,·1s 1n n il 1 '- 1' •• • . .
T hc • upl•rinl c ndcnl o f police Ali l<lz Kl1 I
. _, .L, n t n,1 nnJ n lh>1v ing i'I pric~ t In p e rform the . • ' ., t1n, I , en SL'nl a
Ull l Il'r pt1 Ill ~ l conun 11 nlcal lon sla ting lhat no killhw of 11 I •
. . -1, · , li ll L•, ci tc m c nt h ,1d lessen e d ,111J ,1 p l,1n could " a r., 1m1n boy had
n.•,1u1s 1IC \\'llr.> 11 . . la ken p lace, ,ind that lhe jeweller caste o f JI d (
, I uu t w ith le ,1J e r ' o f lh c HmJu nnd Mu s lim ., •· in u, mosl likely
be wor .. c < Jal ns ) w o u Iu not kil l an lnsecl• much less s I,ed Iium,in blood
,ummumliL'S. Out by lhe n the damage had been d o ne (Llewell -J :
Tiierc.:iftcr, 0 11 29th Dcccm bL'r 19-19, M .irknn dny Sing h , lh e 9.70). yn ones 20 15.
6
J\J d itiL•n.:i l City l\ lngislr,1 tc . F.,in 1bad-c um-_Ayod h yn, o rde red 2. It is in te resting lo note that in MMch 1783, a Sikh chieftain
a llnc h mL•nt l,f the p rnpt•r ty und e r Scc l 1o n 145 C rimina l ~aghe l Singh set ~1p his camp in Delhi and began lo reclaim
P n Kt•dun• CL•d e 1898 .rn d n ppointe J Pri y n D utt Ram , s ites con nected w 1lh lhe G urus in the city. At the s ite of lhe
C h.:iirm.in . l\ lun ki p ,11 Oo nrd . ns rL•ccivc r to tn kc care of the execu tio n o f G u ru Teg~, BahaJ'.ir was rnnslructcd lhe Sis Ganj
property . n,c l"l'('dvcr took c h n rge o ~ 5 th Ja nua ry 1950 and G urudwa ra, a t the s i te o f h is c re mat ion the R,,kab Ga nj
G urudwara, at the site of the resid ence o f Guru Har Krishen,
imm,"<.li,1tcly took s teps to e ns ure contmua.nce of /J/,og a nd pujn
Ba ngla Sn h ib G urudwara, and a t the site where the infant
(AlrL<lim /11.li,1 53, l\ lily 1987). A nd 1111ja at lhc s ite h as continue d
Guru nnd U1e wife of Guru Gobi nd Singh were cremaled, !Jala
unintcrrupted since then . Sa hib G u rudwara (Khush wan t Singh I 2015: 170).
EN D N O TES
1. \V.1 jiJ A li Sh.i h w as kn ow n for h is fo scin otion for Lord
Krn.hna , a nd di rccled ,1 p lay o n the Lo rd 's d eed s . In 1853,
JS.'-1, .m<l 1855. he a lso he ld Srrwa11 Melns, when the courtya rd
of Q .11sMb ,,g h r ., lace w a s thro wn open to the p ub lic
(Lle\\'ellyn-Joncs 20 15: S-l-55)
Ho\\'C\'N, th ere had bee n t rouble w i th in a m o nth of h is
roronation. O ne o f the city's news-write rs sent a report o n an
JppJ ren tly .1ppJl1 ing event. A jewelle r, named C hho te La l,
\\'JS J llcged lo have s lit Lhe th roa t o f a you n g Brahmin boy
anJ sacrificed him to " Lhe Idol Purasna th " (Pars una th ) in a
new ly cons tru c te d t e m ple (NA I: Fo re i g n Po litica l
Consulta tions, 24 Ma rch 18-t7, N o. 94).
Witho ut pausi ng to re fl ect o n the n ews, W a jid A li Shah
d ispatched men to dem o lish the temple. Aro und fifty je w e llers
nurchcd to the pa lace to pro test th e false rep o rt a nd d e m o lition,
but were turned away by palace guard s.
76 I THE 0ATnE FOR RAMA TH E CONFLICT AT A YODHYA DOCUMENTED I 77

referred to it. The JNU his torians a lso ques tioned th
assumption that "Muslim rule rs were invariably and naturall;
opposed to the sacred places of Hindus." 17,ey recommended
that Lhe Ra~j□nmabhumi / Babri Masjid be declared "a national
monument.
Som e months Inter, on 10th February 1990, Professor
R.S. Sh a rma delivered the Mamidipudi Vcnkatarangaiyya
7 Memorial Lecture on "Communalism and India's Past," at ti1e
XIV session of the And hra Pradesh History Congress. This
:e-----1C
was publish ed as n s mall monograph titled , Co111m1111a/ History
n11d Rama's l\yodJ1ya . Professor Sharma rejected the view that
Islam almos t extingu ished Hindu culture or that Hindus in
Left Historians Intervene medieval times perceived the invaders from Central Asin in
" purely re ligious or Islamic terms." He blamed colonial
historians and archaeologists for setting "ti1e communal trap,"
in which "some important Indian his torians" got caught
eft historians joined the Ayodhya debate in November
L 1989, when Lhe Centre for~. is tori~~l Studi~s'. Jawaha rlal

ehru University (JNU), issued Tl,e Pol1l1cn/ Abuse of
/-fi,,t orv: Bnliri Mnsjid-Rn111jm1111nbJ1u111i Dispute - 1\11 A11nlysis by
T,t•t'llly-jir,· Historin11s." Professors S. Gopal, Romi la Thapar,
(Sharma 1990: 8-11).
Professor Sharma reiterated the arguments of the JNU
his torians on Ayodhya. He said that Ayodhya "has not been
a tirtJ,n of a very long standing." It emerged as a place of
religious pilgrimage only in medieval times. Kanaka Bhava.n,
and Bipin Chandra headed the list of signato ries. the ea rlies t Rama te mple in Uttar Pradesh , dated to the
Toe historians nrgued thnt Ayodhya's rise as a major centre seventeenth century (Sharma 1990: 24-27). Professor Sharma
of Rama worship wns, "relatively recent." Well before that, was categorical that there was "not a shred of historical
the city was sacred to the Buddhis ts and Jains . The cult of evidence" to support the view ti1at a Rama temple was built
Rama, U,ey stated, acquired popularity only from the thirteenth in Ayodhya in the eleventh-twelfth centuries. There was
century, and gained ground with the s te ad y ri se of the "nothing to show that a Rama temple was demolished and a
Ramana.ndi sect and the composition of Rama's story in Hindi. mosque raised in its place." Professor Sharma lamented tl1at
But even in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Sh aivis m "a love r of Hindu a rt and architecture (Bahar) should be
was more important than U1e cult of Rama. Ramanandi sndJ111s credited with the destruction of a Rama temple, which, in any
began to settle in large numbers in Ayodhya only from the case, did not exist." He, too, wanted Babri Masjid to be treated
eighteenti1 century. Later, they built most of the ir temples in "as a national monument" (Sharma 1990: 26-30).
ti1e city. According to U1e JNU historians the re was no mention Professor Romila Thapar, in her tum, was critical of tl1e
of the demolition of a Ramjanmabhumi te mple at Ayodhya alleged elevation of Valrniki's Rnmaya11a in the ongoing dispute.
before the nineteenth century. Neither Abu) Fazl nor Tulsidas In April 1990, speaking on " Differe nt Versions of the
LEFT HISTORIANS INTERVENE I 79

78 I THE MffiE FOR RAMA

. D - <he censured the projection of Yalmik'•
11 " in e 1111, - IS
Ra11111yn 11 ' 'd s's Ramnclmritnmnnn~ as the sole authnn•· At that
.
lime the king Suddhodana [Buddl , f I
1a s at 1e r[ was
Jnd Tu 1s1 a ~ ,1c the king Dasarnlha, Mahamayi [Buddh•' . LI I
Rt1r110yr111n ·s s tory (T/Jr Telegraph 19 April 19 90 ) , " s mo ,er ,vas U1c
. • n of RamJ . m o th e r, Rahula s mothe r was Sita A d
ren d itlO repeated this argument o n num e ro u and I myself was Roma-pandita.
' nan a was Bha rat,
< r Thapar s
Pro fes. <
1
. Lhat what was of U1e "greatest interest" about
occa.<ions· staling s .. 115 . .. Th e purpose of
R mn kn/1,a wn
- multiple versions.
-
Most scholars. . have not regarded the Dasiinrn 111n Intnkn older
the a •. n was signific;:int, and they could not ".ill be labe lled than the Valm1k1 Rn111nyn11n, and view it ~s "mn I d ' .
.. ' ~re ya 1storhon
10 of the sa me (~an~ Vol. I Pilrt I 1990: 392; Combrich 1985:
each vei:5 . of a single religious expression " (Thapar
:is m:sni festahons 427-37). Left h1s tonan Suvira Jaiswa l, however, den ied the
1989, )991, 2005: 333-59). centra lity of Va lmiki's Ra111nyn11n· and described thn D
,, . · " nsnra ti m
Jnlnkn as the earliest documentation of the Ramil Iegen d ... ..
VALMIKJ R ~• ·"MYANA -THE FUNDAMENTAL TEXT
ft assertions, Valmiki's narrative is widely
Gaiswal 2013: 123).
Contr.irv to Le ' . . Amon? tl~e oldest Jain versions of Rama's legend was the
. d _.., as the earliest s urv1vmg account of Rama's life
aclcnow Ie gL·u ' . . Vns11devn/1111d1 of Sanghadasa (third o r fourth century AD), in
. . si'gnificance of Rama evolved on the basis of his
n,e reI1g1ous Prakrit. Another ea rl y Jain work, a lso in Prakrit, was the
. . • Valmiki's work . It was around the core of
depiction ,n Pn11111nclmriyn of Vimala Suri, dated between the third and sixth
Val.miki's story that subsequently developed the view of Rama
century AD (Shah 1983: 58; 62-63). The third major Jain text,
as God incarnate. n,e numerous :etellLngs of the Rn111nya1111 the Uttnrnp11rn11n by Gunabhadra, was composed in Sanskrit
(three hundred according to Camille Bulke) were retellings (Brockington 1984: 266). The Jain versions were all much later
f Valmiki's story that everyone was familiar with. No otller than Valmiki's, and were " unmistakably" indebted to h im
~ersion ever matched the repute of Val.miki's Rnmnynnn (Pollock (Kulkarni 1980: 241).
1993: 263).
RJma's story occurred Ln three early Buddhist texts - the WAS AYODHYA A BUDDHIST AND JAIN CITY?
Daslmralha Knt/1111111111, the Annmaknm Jatnknm, and the Dnslmrathn Ayodhya was sacred to the Buddhists and Jains. Buddha
Jalakn. n,e first of these, Dnshnrnthn Knthannm, belonged to the himself was believed to have preached in the city. The Chinese
first-second century AD. The origLnal text is no longer available. travellers, Fa-Hien and Huien Tsang, attested to the existence
A Chinese translation of AD 472 survives. The Annmnkam Jntnkam of over a hundred Buddhist monasteries in Ayodhya (Law
gave an altered version of the Rnmnynnn, but mentioned no 1976: 67-69). The first and fourtll Jain Tirt/1n11karas were born
character by name. The Onshnrathn Jntnkn (Cowell IV 1901: in the city. Like Rama, Buddha and the Jain Tirthn11knras were
No. -161) presented a tale narrated by Gautama Buddha in scions of the fkshvakus. Over time Buddhist and Jain influence
Jetavana, on observLng the sorrow of a land-owner whose declined, while Rama worship remains a living tradition.
father had died. Buddha said to the man, "Lay Brother, wise
men of old who exactly knew the eight conditions of the world, IDENTIFICATION OF AYODHYA
felt at a father's death no grief ... " and began to relate the Left historians have questioned the identification of present
story of Rama. Concluding the story Buddha said, day Ayodhya with the Ayodhya of ancient times, which they
LEFT' HISTORIANS INTERVENE I 81

BO I rnE BAmE FOR RAMA

ha\'C locnlt'l.i in M1-;h i1n is li1n ,:ind eve n Egypt. Ind inn lro1 dilinn,
Plocl nii my hen<l on the fee l nf Sri I l•n· " I cnmmence thJ,•
howr\'cr. nrn:r dcmnn~lr,1tcJ nny unccrlninl y (11\ this Cl'lllll . s tory In the Sa m vnl yea r 161 1 ( All 157·' ) o r ., the
, . . ., " IIL'Su.iy,
/\nid h\',l figurro ~ignirk;mlly in c.irly lnin lilc r,1lure . 111 nmlh nf the l11nnr month of Cn,trn ' '· 11,1·• •' tnry ~ I1 ecI ·11• Iu, trc
thr \'n, 1111,:-,•Jlrrrid, (tlmJ ,,r i.,urlh l·c nl11ry ,,11), S,111g h,,d ;i-,,i nl _A_yod hyn. On this dny 11f Sri R,, mJ '• birth 1hr presid ing
stJtL-d, " ln thL• n,,rth llf Sr.i\',l~li j,111.ip.iJ.1 . ,wt r.ir. is lnr o1 tcd i:pm ts o f nll ho ly pl.ice• flock 1h,,re _ sc, u., l"'c I,1 re th l' v ecl ,J q
the 1-,,,~:,lJ 1an,,rJJa . wh1d1 i~ prc11ni11enl .im nng nil ;,111111 ,,,lt,~. - nncl <lemons, Nng,1•, birds. hum.i n bc·ing•. •~g"• ,i nd
Tocrc i~ ~ilu,,tL' ll Si1 kel,1, lhc bc~t nf lhc dtie~. 111 lh ,1 t city ~c,Js come nnd p.iy lht> ir hom.i gc to the Lnrcl r,f R,,ghus
Wl•L' men celebr,1le the gtl'n l birlhcl,, y (Psli val ,ind sing the
lhcl"l' is an l'\l rcnwl~ l,c,rnlil u l villilgc kn ow n ns R1111,1niy., ... "
s weet _g l~ry o f Sn Rnma. Numerous groups of piou• men
&nihJdJs.l :-.1id tha t ,\s the resid ents o f the c it , were m odes l,
tn ke d ip on the ho ly Willer of the Silrnyu ,incl. vosu,,li/ing in
lnJr;i commanded his Jlh:nd,mt In nam L' it Vinita Ua in 1994: lheir heart lhe beauti ful s warthy fo rm of Sri Rama mu-tier
ill1.lll). ln l;iin ,n,rks /\n~dhy,1 wJ~ d csig nnlc d as Aujjha, I-lis name.
i-_ 05.a lJ , lkk.h a~abhumi. a n d R.1111.ipuri (Jain 1994: 90·9 1;
)!_i;:an,·J l .md O ,owdhry !')91: -l-5). Ra m a w hile s howing his city lo th e ua11arns, Sugriva,
Angada, a nd Vibhis hana said,
Buddha ' s s lay in Ayudh y a was assoc i a ted .ind
r◊mmemorated with this very city. Also, in popula r m e mory, ... Although all h,wc extolled Va ikunlha (my d ivine Abode),
non~ 'but the present city was occcpted as Rama's Ayodhya. which is frimiliar lo Lhe VedJs and lhe Puranas and know n
K.ilida.<.a., m hL~ Ragh11;wm.s/111, mention ed Saketa several times. th roughout tJ,e world, it is not so d ear to Me as the city of
The cC1mmcntator, M a UinalhJ, exp lained these verses - 'Of Ayoclhya : o nl y some rare soul knows this sec ret. This
Sa..~' i.e. Clf Ayodhy.i (Agrawa l 1994: 61). beau ti ful city is My birthplace; to the north of it nows the
holy Saryu, by balhing in which men secure a home near
Interestin gly. Professo r R.S. S ha rma's former s tude nt,
Mc w ithout any difficulty. The d wellers here are very d ear
·1.JYira J.usw.11. deposed in the Allahabad High Court, lo me; tJ,c city is not only fu ll of bliss itself but bestows a
II is :1L--0 true that tJ1e present Ayodhya is the same old residence in My divine Abode.
A~-odhya_ 1t is al<o true th;it it is found fro m Lhe sources of The vnnaras were all d elig hted to hear these words of the
Jain religion that Sake! and Ayodhya are the same .... It is Lord and said, "Blessed indeed is Ayod h ya, tha t has evoked
.lL"O true to s.1y that at many places, Lord Rama has been
praise from Sri Rama Himself!" (pages 4758-9 pa ra 430-t; Sri
refern.d to as Koshal Naresh (King of Koshal) (pages 4935-
36 p.1ra 4378). Ra111ach11riln111a11nsn, Balnkmrdn - Cha11pai 1·4, do/ra 34, page 33
and Uttarnknndn cl1a11pni 1-4 page 679; G ita Press, 1s t edition
1968, 11th edition 1999}.
AYODHYA: A TIRTHA
rd
:\cco ing to Left histo rians Tulsidas attached no importance EVOLUTION OF RAMA CULT
to Ayocihya as Lhe birthp lace of Rama. Tulsi, however, came The lite ra ry, sculptura l, and epigrap hic ev idence clearly
from Banaras to commence his work in the birthplace and o n indicates that by the fou rth.fi fth century AD, the R.ima cul t
the bitihdav• o f Rama · In h'ts operung
. verses he wrote, h ad been establis hed and had a ll·lndia p reva lence . By then
the evolutio n of Rama fro m epic hero to inca rnation of Vishnu
6l I THE BATTU FOR RAMA LEFf H ISTORIANS INTERVENE I 83

to Supreme Reality had been more or less co~ pleted Oacobi
: S0-51; Brockington 1984: 324-26; Desai 1973: l lS- l(l;
1960
Bhandarkar 1913: 47, 65-66). .
In the fourU,-fifth century i\D, Kahdasa, court-poet of lhc
impcri.il GuplJS and r.,nked next only lo Valmiki as a great
Rnmaya ,in poet, s tressed the di v inity o_f Rama . In his
Rn~/rurvrm~/rn, he described R.ima as Rn111nb/11dh11110 l-ln ri, Hnri
kn:iwn ,,s Rama (Rayd1Judhuri 1920: 174). Pr.1bh,w.11i~upt.1,
the Vnk.1t,ikn queen Jnd dJug hter of the G upt.1 e mperor,
Chandrngupt.1 JI, wn s also ,, RJmJ devotee. The two
inscriptions she issued in U1e I.1st qu.1rtcr of the fourth centu ry
AD suggest Uint J s.1nctua.ry dedic.1ted lo R.1ma was situated
on lop L1i lfam,1giri hill (modem Rnmtek), probably enshrining
his (padn) footprints 1C111-,,11s /11saiptio1111111 l11dicnrw11 Vol. V 1963:
5.9, JJ-3i; t<,Jimhi Vol. IV 1966: 48).
KalidJs.i, who visited U1e Vnkataka kingdom at the behest
of his GuptJ mon,irch, mentioned Ramagiri in his Meghad 11 tn.
Prabh.w,1ti 's son , Pr.1vJrasena 11, is credited with the
JuUiorship of Sct11lxmd/,a, in which Rama was regarded identical
wiUi Vishnu ,ind not simply his incarnation. Pravarasena JI
built a temple d edicated to Rama in hi s n e w capital,
PrJ\'ilrapur.i (probJbly modem Paunar, Wardha), where he
shifted sometime between i\O 431 and 439 (Corpus I11scriptio1111111
/ndicnrum Vol. V 1963: xii).
Sculph?d panels found at Paunar, dating to the mid-fifth
century, are nrnong U1e oldest pieces of archaeological evidence
teslif)'ing to U,e iconographic representation of Rama (Corp11s
l11.-criptio1111111 lndicnrum Vol. V 1963: lx-lxii). Slightly later are
Uie Rnmnyn11n panels at Uie temple at Deogarh, Jhansi (Memoirs
70 ASI 1999). The depiction of the story in stone occurred
alongside its popularity in contemporary literature.
Apart from the Rn111opnkl1ya11a (the Mal111bharnla version of
the Rama story) and presentations in older Pura11as, like the
Vislrnu and Bralrmnnda Puranas, and Bhasa's Prntimn and 24. A 2nd- Is l cenlur~· 11n te rr.1 cot t,1 frClm K~us hambi sh o wing
AblrisJre.kJJ Natakas; Ra.ma's story was the subject of several works Rava n~ c.,rrying .iw.iy Sil,1.
84 I THE BATTlE FOR RAMA

26. Tl'r r.i co ll,l frnm Bhil,1rg,1n11 27. ,\h,1ly.1 o fferi ng fruits Ill
showin g a SCL'llL' frnm llw l<11111n!1111111, i{,1111 ,1, 'i lh Cell t ll r)' ti,
51h centu ry Lr, p rl'scnll y in llnio kl)'ll DL·n g .irh , prL•sc•nll y in
Mus eum, U .S.A. N,1 lin11,1I \ fu,l'u m , Dl'lhi.
25. .-\ lcrr,1.:-o tt,1 figure from N ,1eh.u,1 Kh c ra, wi lh lhc n,lllll' Rama .
28. Ramayana sce nes lrom l I1c D urg .., 1,c ,,,pl·•
,, Aiho le• K.irn.ilaka.
inscribed in 13rJhmi charJclc rs of lhe 3rd century e r .

30. \l,111ar11;:. Hoys,1lcsv,1r.i te mple, Ha lebid.
29. Ramil, \l,1 li, .ind S ugri,·,1 fro m 32. ,\ do:piclion l>f R,1ma frc,m
the Pil p.111;,lh,1 tem ple, K.1 rn.11;ik.1. t he Pall,1b h ir,1 ma lo:mp lc,
Hum p i.
31. S ri R,1m.1 giving nbliig11n111 (ring) lo f-1,1 nu m a n, H alebid. 33. T he 1-lu/..iro: Rnma lc mplc, Hampi.

in Sanskrit and Prakrit. In addition to Kalidasa' R
, s ng111wn111s/1n
and Pravarasen a s Set11bn11d/,a, may be ment,·o d lh p .
' . . ne e raknt
text Vns11devalt111rl1, of Sanghadasa· Pnw11ncl,n · ( .
' . . ' riyn o t 11e Jam
teacher, Vtmala S un (fourth century AD) · d Bh .,
, an attt s
Rnvn11nuad/10 (prob;ibly s ix th century ,,o).
Prof':sso~ Jo hn Brocki~g ton expressed U,e view Uiilt " too
Litt le weigh
.
t .h.id been . g. iven
.
to the Jiterilry
.. ,
scu lpt·ura, an d
1
epigrnph1c ev_1dcncc. While 1t mil)' not suffice to suggest that
Ramil w.is uni ve rs.i lly seen as an nuntnrn of Vishnu in the fiftl
century 110, it did imply "a s pecial status for him" (13rockingto~
1998: 472).
;i.1. R,1111.1 .rnd I ,11-.s hm .rn ,15 d ep icted a t the
C.rndh,1 :-. 1.1Jh.rn.1 hill , H,,mpi. EARLY EVIDENCE OF RAMAYANA
Kautily;i (fourth century nc) w.is famili ar with the central
themes of U1e Ra111ayn11a and Mn/1nbhnrntn. In the l\rthns/,ns/rn
he advised that no o ne should e mulate Rava nil or Duryodhan~
for U,at was the paU, of ruin;
"mn 11arl mun 110/, pn rnrln rn 11nprnyncl,c/1/,n11; D11 ryod/1n11o
rnjyadn111sa111 cha" - Ravana perished because he was un willing
to res tore a stranger's wife, and Duryodhana, because he was
averse to part with a portio n of h is kingdom Arl/1ns/1nstrn
(1.6. 8).
35. /\kb,,r's Rilmil Siy.i coins. The Ma/,auibltnshn composed possibly during the reign of
U,e Kush a n ruler, Kanishka (second century 110), contilined
U,e earHest mentio n of U,e wo rd Rn111nyn11n and its size. It stated
tha t U,e book called Rn111nyn11n had 12,000 s/1/okns and focu sed
on two U,em es, Sita's abduction by Ravana and her rescue by
Rama.
In the second century AD, U,e Buddhist writer, Kumilralata,
in his Knlpn11n111n11dilikn mentioned public rec itation of the
Rnmayn11n. In the sixth century AD, Varahamihira, in his
Brhnlsam/1iln, formulated rules for making images of Rama.
In U1e thirteenth century, Hemadri Pandit, U,e renow~e?
mi n iste r of Ramachand ra, the Yadava king of Devagin,
prepared a rlltnr111n11ibn11d/10, o r "law code," wi th liturgica l
36. Rilmil and L1ksh111,1n.1 6~1110,mini:; till' loss
of Sit;i, P.1h.1ri School, K.ingr.i , 1780- 1785. LEFf HISTORIANS INTERVENE I 85

.
in,;tructions o
f r wors hipping Ramo ns a n incnrnn tio n , nn 1
t RA NlA'S STORY RETOLD IN THE REGIONAL Li\NGU AGES
- . d LI mn/rm•nilr•nd11si1•rnln, n ceremony connected with "v nicwh c re . between the ninth .ind twelfth cc n t u n.es AD, ri
dcscnbc ,e ,, S • ,
. ,. ·rth l·km,,dri Jlso re produced n pnrt o f the l\gn~ti;a Tilmil rend1t1on .~ f Ram a s story, the /ramnvntarnm . "The
I11s LH •
. , tfth centur)' work. w I11c
· I1 " ·a~ poss,·61 y the fi rst·
c;11 n,/,rl11, n twc . • D ' cent o f Romn, . w;is com
. posed by Kampan ' , ti, c .. emperor
• . h ti n important fes livnl of Rnmn Nnvmrr,. of poels," Thrs was the first ad;iptation in a 1.inguaf;C other
to deal wit k .
In the fourteenth century, the nscellc, R_nmannndn. lnid tJ,a.n Sanskrit o r Prakri t, nnd was followed by vcrGions in other
,t - ._ for the devotional worship of Rn m;i . n,c
,;tn.1n~ rounJ u 1011• l,rn g u ages o f th e north _;ind s ou th . The Kannada p 11 ,,,/J11
•Rama n .:i nL:1 1· .._ c•c t h e founded p e rformed a p;i r ti c ulnrl y w;is p rep;i reJ 111 the eleventh-twelfth ccntu ry,. ti1C
. . . l~flllllll/fllf/1
.
. .fi rol • in the J cvdopmcnt of Hmdu re hg 1o n ;ind I lindi Telugu R.1111~111111//,n lfo111nyn1111 111 in the thirteenth, a nd a hundred
~~1 ~11 I l _ .
. n-fl•rc Tul--idns's Rnrrrnr/111rr /11m11rr11~. Ramana nd a's year s before Tuls i_, Krillivas;i, t_h e grea test poet of medieval
htcr,1turc. l.1\.. • • • •
/wmnn1blmstn1tr.1 " -., ~ the majo r w o rk m H111d1 o n Rnmn. Bengal, wro te the firs t Rm11ny1111n 111 Bengali. The saint, Ekanalha
11,c first reference tL, the staging o f Ramn p lnys occurred is remembered for the B/1nv11rllra f<nmnynrrn in M;ira thi.
in the Harinmrslrn. Jin;ip,,ll,p.idh ya ya, n Jnin write r of the early In /\D 1574, come Tuls id as's R1111rnclrnriln11111n11s, hailed as
thirteen th century, ;ilso referred to Rama p lays. Tuls iclas's th e greates t e pic poe m in Hindi . r:.s. G rowse observed its
Ramadr,mtam,mas (writte n in AD 1574) was enacted d u ring popularity in 1883, " ... the b~ok is in everyone's hands, from
Rnmlila cclebr,1tions in evern.l par ts of the country, particularly the court to the cottage, and 1s rend, o r heard, and appreciated
B.mJras. alike by every class of the Hindu community, whether high
or low, rich o r poor, young o r old ." He said a Hindu who
THE RAMAYANA OUTSIDE INDIA knew only Hindi accepted the Rnm11clrnrilnm1111as "as if ii were
As eJrlv as AD 251. K'ang-seng-hui rendered the /ntnkn form an immemorial s/rnstrn" (Growse 1914: i-iv). G.i\. Grierson
of the R.,1mn11arrn into C hinese. In AD 472, another Chinese wrote, in 1889, "the fact of its universal acceptance by a ll classes
translation ,~·.15 prepared of the Nidnna of Dns/111rnl/1a /ntnkn from Bhagalpur to the Punjab and from the Himalaya to the
from a lost Sanskrit text, by Kekaya. In the sixth century, the Narmada, is surely worthy of note ... to the vast majority of
Siml1ala poet-king, Kumaradasa, composed the /nnnkihnrnnn, the people of Hindusta n, learned and unlearned alike, their
the earlies t San skrit wor k o f Ceylon. In seventh cen tu r y sole n o rm of condu ct is th e so-called Tulsi-kril Rn11111ya1111"
Cambodia, Khmer citations a ttested to the popularity of the (Mehrotra 2006: 50-51). J.N. Farquhar stated, in 1920, lhat lhe
Ramayana. An inscription declared tha t a certain Som asharman Rnmnc/111rit11111111rns h ad p robably influenced a far greater number
presented " the Ramayana, the Purnna, and the com plete B/rnrata" of Hind u s these last three centuries than any other work. He
tu a temple. Towards the close of the ninth century, a n East d escribed Tulsi's work as "the vernacular Gila" (Fa rquhar
Iranian version of the Rnmnyana ap peared in Khotanese, an 1967: 329-30).
Iranian dialect. The story of Rama spread in the northern-
most lands of Asia from Tibet, w h ere it was found in two
versions in manuscripts of the seven th-ninth centuries. The
oldest manuscript of the Rnmnyana of Valmiki, dated AD 1075,
is preserved in Nepal.
LEFT HJSTORJANS INTERVENE I 87

86 t THE BATILE FOR RAMA

...
2
8
Hindu Sources on Rama Worship

and the Ja1m1abhumi Temple
,_
!,,
eft historians describe Rama worship as an eighteenth-
L nineteenth century phenomena (Jawaharlal Nehru

Uni\·ersity 19S9; Sharma 1990: 24-27). However, from
the pre•Christian era onwa rds sculptural depictions of
',
RamOl(ana themes that were popular among the people had -::;
co~enced. From the twelfth century AD, temples dedicated 2
I/',
e.xclusi\·ely to Rama began to be built. 1
The oldest of such temples was the one at Ayodhya. :;;:
Another is at Rajim in Raipur district, which is recorded in the
Rajim stone inscription da ted AD 1145. It states that king
Jagapala (of the Kalachuris of Ratnapur) has "caused this
beautiful temple to be constructed for manifesting the
splendour of Rama" (Corpus lnscriplionum Indicarum Vol. TV
Part Il: -1.50-57).
A third documented Rama temple was constructed by
Malayasimha, a feudatory of the Kalachuris of Tripuri in
AD 1193. An inscription on the temple stated,
He (i.e. Malayasimha) erected a marvellous row of mansions c..

touching the sky for gods and brahmanas, through fear of

obs truct ion from w hich , as it were the . .
. . ' sun s c1,,,not <>oc
obliquely with ~peed . 1-1,wing performed f, . ? s
. 1crcc and p,,in (ul
P cnnncc, the S1ddhas go lo hig h hea ven (i I - )
, v 11 1e I1iosc who
worsh ip (7) at the tem ple or Ram,1 (built) b 11 1• · ·
, Y m. generally
go to the a b n d e o r Vis hnu (Corp11s /11script/o1111111 1 .
Vol. IV P;irt I: 346-58). Ill1,cnrum
Severn l Ramaite c ult tex ts were compo d f

se ram th e
e leventh-twelft~ centuri ~s. The three o ld es t we re the
Rn 11inp11rvnl~pn111yn Upn111 s/rnd, th e Rnmnrnksl,nstotrn of
Bud_h aka u s_h1ka, and ~he Agnstyn Sn111!,itn, which probably
originated m Banaras m the twelfth century ilnd d ealt with
Shiva_'s conversion to Rai:na b/1nkli. ~ccording to its theological
doctrine, Rama was not Just as a n incarnation of Vis hnu, but
the Supreme Reality itself (Bakker I 1986: 67-71). 17,e Agnslyn
Snmltiln is o ne of the o ldest texts to provide detai ls of the
ritual worship of Rama (Bakker 11986: 79-1 18).
According to Hans Bakker, the growing pop ula rity of
Rama worship occurred a longside the s pread of an emotional
type of bltnkti in north India in the medieval period in which
the cult of the name acqu ired prominence. The fi rst literary
reference to this practice in Vaishnavism was in the 81,ngnvnln
P11m11n. By just repea ting the four syllables NA-RA-YA-NA,
the greatest s inne r could a tta in the path of good fortune.
The firs t theoretical s tatement in the Rn111np11rvnlnpm1iyn
Upn11is/,nd was that the bijn RAMA was the infinite absolute. A
second, in the Agnstyn Sn111/1itn, added that the mere jnpn or
sn111kirla11n of the name could atone for all s ins. In U1e thirteenth-
fourteenth centuries, this cult developed, especially in the
m ove m e nt of a group of blrnklns ca ll ed Sn11ts . The Sn11/
movement acquired importance in the bilckdrop of Mus lim
rule and the activities of Sufi missionari es like Moinuddin
Chis hti (Bakker I 1986: 119-20). In fifteenth-sixteenth centuries,
Vaishnavis m and Sn11/ism tended to merge, a tendency that
found expression in Tulsi's Rn111nc/1nritnmmws. By Ulen, Rama
HINDU SOURCES ON RAMA WORSHIP I 89

w,1q sa id ... lo lie •011th-west or the Janmas lh,1n ins tl.'ad or
h;i(It'CC'()n1C 111,,~ mos- l commo n word lo dcnotl' ,N I (llnkkc r I wes t... Nownd,,y!I n 111at/1 naml.'s R,, mgulda iq bclicvi:d to
1as,,: 1:.N). . . represen t Lomnsn, bul lhi• place lie• ,,bout J'i() m cast or lhc
ll,c 1,tdt•sl min-Hindu 1e,1 10 rrcwidc n d e~ ·np l1011 nf the J,,nm,1slh;111 ... fhc Y, ivcn distance nr lhe Kaikcybh,w,m,1 and
ft'
~cn"l-I l"'<'ll' ri .. '
,1 i\ n,dhvn wn~ lin,,prnbh;i~uri'!< Ti1tlink,1lim
- · - . ' 5 11 milrnbh ,1van,1 (rt•• pcc ti ve ly lli m ,ind ,s m ), when
1112 II rdcrrcd ICl th e ~/,r1/s 1111 the ri ve r S.irny u reckoned frnrn lhc mosque nf n,, hur, du not corr,.,.,pond w1Lh
J ,l ll'\.I \1' .. .. . I '
- , . ,r, ~nd c,,1,r,1 lnr,1, nnd the N.,g., ~n111.:tunry . Siln the nwd crn s iluation.. More d1H1n1l1 lo c,c plain is the location
S\",Hµ,1" I, • • . .
. • ,, ,11 , wd .,mono
l"lllll1it \\,1:- 01 '- 1 1 1
t•
t"
the mmw -
H111du t1rt/1ns, n11c~n
'
11 i o r Lhe Janm.isthnna wilh respect lo V1ghne<,a ...
1,,iat,t1,wi (B.,\..kt•r I 1gsc,: 12!>). T he proh ibition on new te m p les
Nutwilh~lnnding all lhc diffi culties discussed above, the
dunnµ the l\hislim pcriCld m:i y _li."11'. e left th e nltc rna tive o f origin;,( locn ti on o r the J;i nm,1-s thana 1s compara l1vcly
rcl'(lrtin~ ti• r,,,ty b:ithin g p lnccs 111 nvcrs and ponds (Bakker cerln in s ince it seems lo be attested by lhc locatinn or the
p,1rt 11 1<)St,: ,·vii, 125). mosq ue buil l by B.ibur, in the building or which materials
Sridh;irn , ;i wri ter fro m so uth e rn India, in his of n previous Hi ndu lemple were used ,md arc still visible.
Smrt11,1rt/r,1."-lr,1, written in the secnnd h nlf o f the twelfth century, The mosque is believed by general conscn.s us to occupy the
mcni,on<.'l.l A,1.,dhv;i ,mmng the k/Jsl'lrns th a t conferred release sile of the Janmas thana. After the destTuction of the original
(muJ,:t1l"<Ctrn111) (K,1~e Vol. I Part II 1997: 725-27). temple a new J.inmasthana temple was built on the north
H;ins s._,t...l,cr has critically examined three m a in recens ions sid e of the mosque separated from it by a street (Bakker Pa rt
of the Av,"i/rvn Mahntmya, the chief wo rk extolling the sacred 11 1986: 144-46).
sites nf the holy city and relating them to incidents fro m the A m o n g oth er medieval works on Ayodhya was the Avadlw
life of Ra ma.i vilasa of Lal Das, composed in the city in th e seventeenth
He has traced the tran smission of the tex t from the twelfth century. It a lso provided a detai led account of the birthplace
century AD. According to h im, a local loose a nd rud imentary of Ra m a (Bakker 1986: 146).
version of the Ayodl,ya Mahntmya as a floating collection of The sacredness of Ayodhya figured in Sikh lite rature as
te,t-fragmen ts bea r i n g o n a clus ter of h o l y p laces was well. G uru Nanak's v isit to the city was mentio ned in several
produced in Ayod h ya. This was firs t red acted b y th e com piler Punjabi wor ks. Bhai M ,rn i Sing h's Pothi Jn11n111 Sak/Ji (com posed
of the Vais11ar,a/d11111da o f the Ska11da Purnna, a nd was called in /\O 1730) s ta ted tha t Na nak said to his comparuon Mard=a,
Ayodl1ya Mahatmya. This text was worke d u pon by a no ther "Mnrda11in! Ell Aj11d/1in nngari Sri Rnmchmulra Ji ki /,ai. So, clwl,
author. Still later, a learned p andit o f A yodhya composed a iska da rsn11 karie."(Marda n a ! This Ayodhya city belongs '.0
new recension . Th ro u g h o ut, it re tain e d the ti tle Ayod/rya Sri Ram ach andr a Ji. Therefore, let us have its darsa11a (Naram
MaJwtmya (Bakker Part Il 1986: x..xxii). 1993:14-15).
The location of various te mples and sacred s ites was given
in the Ayodhya Malintmya. Bakker a ttempte d to match them END NOTES
with existing structures, 1. H=s Bakker noted evidence of the existence of five ~ishn~
te m p les in Ayodhya m. the twe lfth cen tury - Hans
. mrh
... It is uncertain w hich p laces a re m ea nt in s ituatio n ... (G u pta Ha ri) al the Gopratara gltal; Vishnu Hart a t th e
Unmatta and Lomasa do n o t occu r e lsewhe re in the Ch akra tirtha ghat; Chandra Hari on the weSI side of th e
~lahabnya, while Vighnesvara (if identified w ith Vighnesa)
90 I THE BATT1.E FOR RAMA
Scanned w it h CamScanner
Svorg.1dvaro shnt; ~ harma Hari on th e eas t s id e of lhc
1 '-,lint; a Vis hnu lt!mplc Jt the Ja nmabhrnni • TI lret' The his tori_;111s did_no t s peci'.ically mention the MS of Ayodlr yn
S\,,rgJdvJr,
b · •
wcrl' repl.:iced by mosqu~s, ,~•h1le o ne w.1s swept .iway by lhl• Mnl111t111yn in the librnry o f J1 va Goswa mi in AD 1597. Could a
S..ir.iyu. TI1e fate o f Lhl' fifth IS unknown but _the s ite i5 lnd.iy four hundred year old manuscript be righ tly dubbed " recent"?
~ •pil·J bl'. a nc\\' Gupta• H,m /• C hakra Han le mfJk• • D, 1n11g
. Kis h n rc Kuno1 I has pointed ou t that th e Le ft his torians
, ... ~u •
field \\'orJ.. he founJ fn·e Vis hnu idols belong mg to the eleventh .1ppeared to ha ve mis l.i ken ViJ yapa ti o f the Skn11Ja Prmmn, a
or twelfth century (Dakkcr I l 'JS6: 54).
legenda ry fi g ure, with the fa mous Mai th.i ii pile! who had died
by the mid-fifteenth cent ury (Kuna! 2016: xi, 343).
2_ Hans Bakker rderred to ,111 impo rtant manuscript of lhe
Ayt1dliy,1 Af11/1111111y<1 wi th Jh·a Goswami , the well-known
di~ciple l,f Ch,1it,m y,1 1\l.1h.1prabhu,
"Ji,·a G1,sv,1111i ( AD 152.1-1608) possessed a M.S. of the A.M. in
his librJry as ii is ,ltll'Stl-d by a supposed ly autographed h.ind-
li~I of the till~ of tc,ts .11 his dis posal. The list dates from VS
165-l ( o 1597) ,111d comes from the Radha Damodara temple
in VrindJb.rn founded by Jiva Gosvami. It is presently kept in
VRI (Vrind,l\lan Research Institute) (Acc. No. 5425)" (Bakker
Par1 II JO&,: xvi).
In "Ramj,111111al1/111mi-Bnbri Mnsjid: A Historin11s' Report to the
Nalr,111," the four his torians, Professors R.S. Sharm.:i, M. Ath.:ir
Ali, D.1 . Jha, Jnd Suraj Bhan had stated,
#\Ve hJve used the printed version of the Skanda Purana
(Khemraj edn., Bombay, 1910) and two other versions found
in manuscript in the Vrindavan Research lnstitute, Vrindavan,
Jnd Lhe Bodleian Library, Oxford. These texts are of recent
origin and the insertion of interpolations in the Ayodhya-
mahatmya section of the printed Skanda Purana seems lo
have continued at least till the 18th century. The inte rnal
contents of the Skanda Purana including the m en ti on of
Vidy,1pati, who passed away in th e firs t half of the 16th
century, show that the core of this Purana was not compiled
earlier than the 16th century" (Noorani I 2003: 34).
Further, U1ey said,
"The various \'ersions of the Ayodhya-maha tmya seem to have
been prepared towards the end of the 18th centu ry or the
beginning of the 19th; even as late as that the birthplace was
not considered to be important. It is significant that the
J~_asthan is not mentioned even once in any itinerary of
pilgnmage given in the mahatmya" (Noorani I 2003: 35).

92 I THE llAmE FOR RAMA

1980: 52-53). The excavations had revea led that the fi rst
occupation o f Ayodhya co~d be assigned to the early seventh
century ec. The Gupta period was not significantlv indicated·
there was a break in occupation and the site was ~e-occupied
Mound the eleventh century AD. As the object ive of the
9 e'(cavations was to establish the antiquity of the settlement,
the brief report was limited to that aspect.
E ----1C
Soon after, in October 1988, a seminar was organized b
the India n Council of His torical Research ([CHR) on "Ne,:
Archaeology and India ." At the semina r, Professor Lal
Pillar Bases - the First presented a pape r, " Histo ricity of the lvln/rnbltnrntn and the
Archaeological Evidence Ri1111nyn11n: What has Archaeology to Say in the Matter?"
Therein he s tated,
In the Janmabhurni area. the uppermost levels of a trench

that lay immediately to the south of the Babri Masjid brought
T
he first hint of archaeological evidence of a temple below to light a series of brick-built bases which evidently carried
Babri Masjid was provided in 1988 by Professor B.B. pillars thereon. In the construction of lhe Babri Masjid a few
Lal (former Director-Gen eral of the Archaeological stone pillars had been used, which may have come from lhe
preceding structure.
Sun·ey of India - 1968-1972). Between 1975 and 1980,
Professor Lal had undertaken a project, Arc/raeology of lite Kishore Kunal, who in 1990 was appoi nted Officer on
Rnmnyana Sites (Earlier, in 1969-70, the Department o f Ancient Special Duty (Ayod.hya) by Prime Minister, V.P. Singh, met
Indian History, Culture and Archaeology of the Banaras Hindu B.B. Lal to enquire about the excavations. B.B. Lal confirmed
University, had conducted excavations at Ayod.hya under that the remnants of a temple lay beneath the Masjid. When
Professor A.K . Narain). He had selected fi ve s ites fo r V.P. Singh was s u cceeded as Prime Minister by Chandra
investigation - Ayodhya, the capita l of the Kosala kingd om Shekhar, KunaJ informed the latter of his discussion with B.B.
;nd the place of Rama's origin; Sringaverapura, w he re R.-ima, La l. On Chandra Sekha r's request, Lal sent a letter to the
ita, and Lakshmana crossed the Ganga at the commencement Government on 3rd December 1990;
of their exile; Bharadvaja Ashram where they s tayed ovemioht 0 A note on the brick-bases of pillars found in the
and pai"d l hetr· respects to the sage· Chitrakut w he re the\"
excavations in the Janma-Bhumi area al Ayodhya.
lived before proceeding south ward ~; and N andigram , fro~
Under a project called ' Archaeology of the Ramayana Sites'
where Bharata supervised the affairs of government in Rama'
absence. excav.:itions were carried out between 1975 and 1986 at five
s ites, viz. Ayodhya, Sringaverapura, Bharadvaja Asrama,
· · ·a1 fin dmgs
Professor Lal's LIUt:i · ·
were published in llld1n11 Chitrakuta and Na.ndigrama, all associated with that epic.
Archaeology 1976- 77 - Av-· .
ru:u1ew (Archaeological Survey of India
9-1 I TI-IE BAmE FOR RAMA PILLAR BASES - THE FIRST ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE I 95

,\I Ay,xlhy,1. ,,s m,my as fourteen lrcnche• were lniJ oul at
diffl'n.'llt spot•. one ,,f w hkh w,15 the .1rca kn,nvn as tlw archllcclure; d o m es tic construction cou ld just as we ll have h.id
JJnm,,bhum1. Over here i~ ,, trench h,irJl y thrC'l' m ct<'rs tn the s,, me decornlive mo tifs. Load -bearing pill.i rs, to o, did no l
the 5,mth of thl' c0mr,1und w.,11 ,,r till' sln11:t11 rt' know 11 as m ea n thal they were in ex,, cll y the ~amc r o~ilion as w hen
Dnhri l\t.J~j,J . ., s,• rt,·s nf •q11.1rc• bricl..-h,iscs, runnini; in firs t useJ . It was possible lo b ring pillarg fro m cb c whcrc ,,nd
par.1l1cl e.1sl-\n-st .m,l 1wrth-s,,111h niws. WC're di~nwcrcd use them ns load-bearing pill,irs in a new cons truction (l,i tlin 11
within .,t-.,ut :!~-,:\0 cm bcl,,w tlw ~urface. Since one row of ExJlrcss 5. 12. 1990). Professo r S.P. G upta re fulcd these all lhc";e
th= r,11.ir li.1«"-s 1.iy unJ cr the i.'<:t1sr uf the lrcnch towards
asse rti o ns in a series of ,,rti clcs (/11r/ i1111 ExJlrrss 6. 12.1990;
the romr,•und \\',111 ,,r lhc tllll$ '1UC, iii~ li kely thnl !here may
20.12. 1990).
c"sl n,J 1w mor,· sud, rill,H b;1ses in the tmcxcav.:itcd area
in lhJt Jin--.:11011. Str,1tir,r,1phic evidence indicates tl1al U1csc On 12th February 199, Professor Habib (then C ha irma n of
pillJr-bascs ,in: Jscrib.,hlc lo a period .iround AO 1100. From ICHR) jo ined the deb;:ite. Delive ring a talk ;i t Aligarh Muslim
the l<~,·cl Js..s..,..,; .11cd with the destruction of U,ese pillar-bases University o n" Ayodhya: The Na lional Sta ke," he vehe mentl y
has be,:n fo unJ glnzeJ pollery ascribable lo fourteenth- attacked 8.B. La l, the first lo point to architec tura l remnan ts
fiftc..'T'lth ,~nil.Ir)' AO. be low Babri Masjid. Professo r H.ibib .irg ued thal lhe cxislence
of pill.irs in 8.ibri Mas jid did no t impl y lha t ii stood on lhe
In the mosque lherc are fourteen slone pillars some of which
JppcJr t,, be in position and oriented east-west and norlh- sile o f a temple. It was a common pr;icticc to use old pilla rs
soulh. On the b.isis of the decorative motifs, sculptures, clc., not o nly in m o sques, but even in lemples. The pill.irs in lhe
these pill.us .ire also , scribed to the eleventh century AO. Jn Masjid could w e ll have belonged to a Jain or Shaivite o r any
.,11 probability, lhe brick-bases fo und in the excavations and other t e mple, and could no t be identified wi th Ra m a
the stone pillars standini; in Lhc mosque belong \o one and iconog raphy (Peoph•'s Democmcy, 7 th a nd 14 th April 1991;
u,._, same structur,,J complex w hich s tood at the s ite Muslim /11r/in, M.iy 1991).
immedi.ilcly before the llabri Masjid (Kuna( 2016: xxxvii). Meanwhile, the Director Gene ra l (DG) of ASI, M.C. Joshi
The me ntion of pilfar bases a nd their re lationship wilh in a le tte r (D.0. le tter No. 20/37 / 90-EE (Pa rt)] dated 2nd May
the pillars in Bahri Masjid drew a swift rejoinde r from Left 1991, endorsed lhe findin gs of Professors A. K. Nara i.n and
historians. ln a joint statement, Professors Romila TI1apar, S. B.8. Lal. He wrote,
Gopal, and K.N. Panikkar argued that the fact that pillar bases De.ir Shri Kun.ii,
were running behind the w all s urrounding the mosque did
not necessarily mean that they ran under the mosque as well. Kindly refer to your D.O. letter No. 5602/ MOS/ 91 dated
16th Apri l 199 1, regarding the views of Arcl1,1eological
There was s pace between the w a ll and mosque, and the pillar
Survey of Ind ia on annexure 28 rel.ited to Ramjanambhoomi
bases may well have terminated jus t behind the wall.
Babri Masjid dispute.
Furthe r, they stated that brick pillar bases did n o t in
the rnsc Ives ·in ct·!Cate the presence of a temple . The s tructure l.n this connection I may say that there should nol be any
supported by such a base could have been a brick structure doubt to anyone regarding archaeological facts (remains
and antiquities) unearthed by Prof. A.K. Narain and Prof.
wi~ arches, "the kind of structure common in medieval times,
B.ll. Lal or about ll,e nature of Lhe structure of llabri Masjid,
which ~ay have been a hall adjoining a mosque." Also, Lhe
which though a mosque built in 1528-29 as per the inscribed
decorations on Lhe stone p1·11ars were not excluswe . to te mple
96 I TiiE BATTLE FOR RAMA PILLAR OASES - THE FlR5f A RCH AEOLOGI CAL EVIOEJ\:CE I 97

record , shows lnlc rnnll y lhc reu se of c nrli c r cnrvecl I\ . If lhis is agreed upo n,11 meeting wou ld be .-irrnn r,cu
slruclur.illy members including the p illars of pre- 13 th
between Lhc excava tor .and sc.holors on .a mutua lly .igrced
century AD (J ,1tini:; .,round circ;i 11th century AD or so). da te.
Thl' oulhcntica h:-d prclimi n.1ry report of Prof. Lnl, w h ich S. lncidcntnlly I may men lion for your informa tion th.at Prof.
h,1s .ilrc:idy been sent 10 ~·ou \'iJc D.O . letter of the even D.D. Lal is in USA at present.
number J atcJ 11-1 -<>t , c-,;plnim, lhc purpose o f Inking up
lhe pro1.xt .:.illcJ /\rch,1eology of Ri1m,1y,1 na Siles by him With regards
under which he e, .:.w.,ted bes ides Ayod hya lhree o r four Yours sincere ly
related s1I\.-:;. As llll' Llabri I\ 1,is jiJ is nol a centrally pro tected (MC Joshi)
monument, the /\rch.irologic,11 Survey of India has not so Encl: two pho tographs
for made ,my dcl,1ilcd stuJy of the m onwnent (Kunal 2016: (Kun.ii 2016: xl-xli).
x,w-, ..., ,·i). This was con veyed to lhe Left his to rians, w ho remained
Prof D.N . )ha then wrote to the Ministry o f H o m e Affairs d issatisfied. However, soon afte r C ha n d ra Shekhar resig ned
for access to the a rch.:ieological exca vations in connectio n with as Prime Minister a n d there was a brea k in communications
Ayodhy.1. O n receiv ing his le tter Kishore Kunal asked the DG (Kuna! 2016: xll).
of ,\SI to m.:ike a ll re levant material available . The DG replied Ku.nal regarded it a tragedy tha t the fou r his torians w ho
(D.O. letter no. 20/ 37 / 90-EE dated 3 rd May 1991), cla imed to be " an inde p e nde nt forum o f his torians" took upon
the m selves the task of pass ing judgem e nt o n a ll three branc.hes
Kindly refer to your D.O. letter No. 504/MOS (S)/91 dated
of the evidence-archaeologica l, archival, a nd his to rica l (Kuna I
5th February , 1991 forwa rding a copy of letter a ddressed to
2016: xli).
Shri Subodh Kant Sahay, Ministe r of State for Home Affairs
by Prof. D.N. Jh.1 requesting to supply relevant documents
BMAC HISTORIANS REPORT TO THE NATIONS
mentioned in the letter.
On 13th May 1991, fo ur Left his toria ns - Professors R.S.
2. The matter has been examined at the highest level and it Sharma, M. Athar Ali, D.N. Jha , a nd S uraj Bhan r eleased
has been decided th a t the expe rts may b e s hown "Rn111jn11111nb/111111i-Bnbri Mnsjid: A Historians' Report lo tire Nntio11."
pho tographs (enclosed) of the controve rsial trench
They reg retted tha t the Government had begun consuJta tions
:e
AVTD4 pertaining to the Ayodhya excavations to clarify
_locus of the excavator's findings. Any scholar on the
as is of photographs ca n assess nature of the exposed
w ith the VHP and the BMAC in order to examine the historicaJ
and legal merits of the case. This indicated that the Government
stru cture and understand himself tJ,e relatio n between w ould serve as umpire in disputes over facts of history. The
the structures and stratigraphy. BMAC his torians had, therefore, requested the Go ve rnment
lo include " impartia l historia n s" when forming a judgem ent
3. If necessary , th erea fter a m eeting
. would be a rranged on histo rica l fa c ts . The Government's response had been
b~tween Prof. 13.B. Lai and other scholars holding diverse
views on the sub'Ject and he would be requested to show " large ly one of silence." None theless in " national interes t"
the relevant documents •m h1"s possession.
. they had scrutinized the e vidence submitted to the Government
by the V1-W and BMAC and a lso collected "histo rical material"
98 I TI-IE BATnE FOR RAMA PILLAR OAS ES - THE FIRST A RCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE I 99

on their own. Two of them had even visited Ayodhya to The fourteen black s tone pillars inside the mosque were "not
examine the structure and site. load-supportin g pillars but on ly decorative pieces as the
The 0MAC hi.~torians chnllenged U,e VHP claims that the mosque pillars in which U1ey were embedded were about seven
Hindus had long believed that lhere was a sac red spot in feet wide" ([11dim1 Exprl'ss 24 October 1992; Tlie Slntes111n11 24
Ayodhya where Lord Rama was born, that a temple dedicated October 1992; Noorani I 2003: 379-82).
to Rama was buill o n that site, U1at it was pulled down o n Subsequently, inn press statement on 8th November 1992,
orders o f 0abur, and thnt 0,1bri Masjid buiJt in its place. They the BM AC histo rians reiterated that the pillar bases had no
said U1c VJ-IP hnd been unab le to cite nny ancient Sa ns krit text connectio n with the pillars s tanding in the a rches of the
to supporl its assertions. TI,e only text U1ey had quoted was mosque. The pillar base building was an ordinary structure,
the Sk,111da P1m111a, wherein the Ayodliyn Maltatmyn mentioned "neither religious nor monumental." TI1ey added,
U1e meri ts of visiting Ayodhya. The BlvlAC histo rians regarded Though we do not deny the possibility of the presence of
the t\y"d/1yn Mn/111t111yn a late w o rk, full o f interpo latio ns. temples in an ancient city like Ayodhya, despite our frantic
Ve rsions were being prepare d even a t the close of the and continuous sea rch for the presence of a temple at the
eighleenth and beginning of lhe nineteenth century; "even as Bahri site for the last twenty-two months, so fa r we h;ive not
late as U1at the birU1place was no t considered to be important." been favoured with any luck (People's Democraci;B November
Further, they claimed, the information in the Ayodl1yn Mnltntmyn 1992; 15 November 1992).
on the location o f the birthplace did not lea d to the Babri In his book, Ayodliyn: Archaeology nftcr De111olitio11, D.
Masjid site.
Manda(, a pro-Babri archaeologist, also attempted to d isprove
As for the black stone pillars with deco rated motifs, the
B.B. Lal's findings. He dismissed U1e argument that a "pillared
BMAC his toria.ns claimed U1cse were not in si/11 and it was building" was raised in the eleventh century (Manda( 1993:
entirely possible that they were broug ht from outside " to 39-10). Subsequently, during examination by the Allahabad
decorate" U1e Masjid (Noorani I 2003: 33-46).
Hi g h Court , Mand.ii confessed that his boo k was based
"chiefly" on the photograph taken by Prof. B.B. Lal near Babri
PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE OP PILLAR BASES
Masjid. The Court felt cons trained to observe,
In_1992, ~ booklet, Rn111 fn11111nb/111111i Ayodhyn: New Archneologicnl
D1scovmcs, (Sharma, Y.D., et al.) publis hed for the first time Only on that b;isis, he (l'vlandal) wrote a book. and analyzed
pictures of pillar bases taken a t the time o f excava tions by the belief of the people whether the disputed structure w.is
B.B. Lal, and preserved in the photo-archives of the Excavntion constructed after demolishing a temple or that there existed
Brand, of ASL any temple of 11 tl1 or 12tl1 century whicl, w.is demolished
before its cons t·ruclion.
Professor B.O. Lal's findings were examined by U1e BMAC
h. t .
is onans and VHP experts at Purana Qila on 23rd October TI1e Court said,
1992- At a press conference thereafter, the BMAC historians
the entire opinion of this witness is short of the requirement
stated
. that no fra gme n t o f a s tone temple had been reported
under Section -15 of tJ1e Evidence Act 1872 lo qu.ilify as an
'.n th e relevant trench. They claimed that " the s tructure found Expert ... (page 3655 para 3629).
m the trench was und0 ubtedly an ordinary pillared structure."
100 I THE BATTLE FOR RAMA PILLAR OASES - THE FIRST ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE I 101

o. Manda!, a~ per Court R'Cords, "is not a Ph. D but m;iny
have bL-cn awarded Ph. D under his guidance" (page 696 p;ir,,
48 5). He is also., card holding member o( the Communist
PJ rty (page 36'18 par., :1628). The Court noted thnt though
Mand.ii tried to counter 13.0. Lal, he,
could not dLputc the e-.:i~tcnce of some stnicture beneath
10
the Jisputl-.J slructun· but refuted the claim that it was a
»~----.c
mJssl\·c t~mrlr of 11th or 12th century and instead suggested
th.it it could have br1!n structure of 13th lo 15th century
(pagL'S )708-09 f.',lr.l 3650). A Gahadavala Inscription
TI1e Court .1lso observed that Shereen Ratnagar, who wrote Recovered and Treta Ka Thakur
Lhc introduction to Mandal's book, tried to give "justification
to a report or comments of a person, who himself hnd not Re-discovered
gone into field .,rchaeology" (page 3705 para 3647). Shereen
R.itnagar was constrained to admit in Court,
A
It is subsLmli.1lly correct that I wrote my critique on the n added definitive proof that a temple lay beneath
basis of the s.1id sole photograph (by B.B. Lal) (page 4033 Babri Masjid came with th e discov ery of an
pJr.1 J..'15-l).... some sketches ... given in my Introduction ... inscription, on a stone slab approximately 5 feet by
are purely ... hypothetical (page -1033 para 3853) . ... in India 2.25 feet, during the demolition of 6th December 1992.
I have not done any digging and excavation on my own Dr. K.V. Ramesh, renowned epigraphist and former Director
(page ~033 pi!ra 3852).
of Epigraphy, ASI, was directed by the High Court to decipher
the inscription and provide a comprehensive translation (pages
3688-97 para 3636).
In a report submitted alongside, K.V. Ramesh noted that
the subjoined stone inscription was engraved on a rectangular
slab, the written area roughly covering a space 115 cm x
55 cm. The inscription was of twenty lines. The slab, as extant,
was diagonally broken in two, resulting in U1e loss of a few
lette rs in almost every line. It was written in "fairly chaste
Sanskrit." Ramesh dated it to the mid-twelfth century AD on
paleographical grounds, as well as the internal evidence
provided by the inscription. The most important historical
information he found was the mention of King
102 I TUr
A GAHADAVALA INSCRIPTION RECOVERED I 103
'n,: DATILE FOR RAMA

Govmda. ch an d ra, . obviously of the Gahadava la dynasty, who
ruled over a fair ly vast empi.re from ,,o 1114 to ,, o 1155.
·
Verse I was entirely Jost. TI,e badly damaged second . verse
.mvo ked Lord Trivikrama ' so appet1red composed m praise o f
.
Vishnu . vers e 3, 'also mutilated, seemed to refer to the
• o f u,e wa rrior clans by 13hargava-Parashurama
destruction . . ·
Verse .. men ,·oned
, 1
the rise of a Ks ha tn y.i family, h eroes born
in which resurrl'CtC'd U1e warrior clans. Verse 5 st.i ted that in
that noble family w,,s born lhe beloved of the people, Mame.
Verse 7 spoke of his detachment from mundane things. Verse
8 s.iid u,at he beque.ithed his kingdom and wealth to his son,
Sallaksana. Verses 9 to 14 contained praises of Sallaksana. Verse
15 mentioned the birlh of his son, who b o re a s tri king
resemblance to the folher. Verse 16 referred to this son as
A~ana and stated that he revived the past power and glory
of his family. Verses 17 and 18 conta ined praises of him. Verse
19 stated that his nephew, Meghasuta, s uperseded a certain
Anayacandra and obtained the Lords hip of Saketa-mandala
through lhe grace of the senior lo rd of the ea rth,
Govindachandra. Verse 20 lauded the military might of this
hero. Verse 21 noted that in orde r to ensure his easy passage
into the heavens, Meghasuta built a lofty stone temple fo r the
God, Vishnu Hari. Verse 22 stated that he, who was responsible
for U1e stability of Govindachandra's empire, was succeeded
by the younger Ayusyacandra as the lord of Saketa-mandala
(subsequently K.V. Ramesh modified this to read
"Ayusyacandra, son of Alha na occupied the p osition of
Meghasuta as chief of Saketa mandala"). Verse 23 contained
conventional praise of Ayusyacandra. According to Verse 24,
he set up residence in the city of Ayodhya, which was adorned
with lofty abodes, intellectua ls and temples, and added to
lhe entire Saketa mandala thousands of small and b ig
reservoi rs. Verses 25 and 26 were devoted to more
conventional praises of Ayusyaca ndra. Verse 27, partly
damaged, alluded to the well-known episodes o f Vishnu 's
38. The Trela ka Thakur inscripli on.
lO-l I THE BATTLE FOR RAMA

inca mation as Narns im ha, Krishna' , Varna • ~ na nnd Rama. Verse
28, bad ly def.i ced , a lluded to the fi c r cc a rms o f a ruler
probably, Ayu syac.ind . r.i, Lhat "annihilates cven ti1c fea r c.iused'
by th e wes. te rn (1.c., th e ls l.imic in v'" dndS f rom t I1c w est)"
forces. T he 111complc tc Ve rse 29 mentioned Ki ng J\ yusyacandra
(P11raln// 11n Number 33, 2002-2003: 98- 103).
The refe. rence to Sakcta 111a11dn/ 11 was intcrcstin g . R.imes 11
n otccI tI, a t 1t w.1s well know n that Nort h lnd i.i, like the South
was di v id ed into adm inis trative d iv is· · 1o ns c'II
" ccI 11rn111 /a/ns'
(p.igcs 369_7-3700 p;ira 3637). He s tated that the temple referred
to was bu il t by Megh.is uta, but the insc ri ption was inscribed
late r b y his s u ccessor (pages 3702-03 parn 3639). Ramesh 's
... reading o f the inscripti on was accepted by the Allahabad High
"'
.n Court. But that d id not settl e the matte r .
E
:;
._,
CJ SHIFflNG STANCE OF LEFT HISTORIANS
0
Left his torians a nd a rd,acologists questioned the genuineness
of the inscriptio n. In a pape r presented at a semina r of the
Association for the Study o f His to ry and Archa eology, in
Calcutta , in Fe bruary 1999, D. Manda ! pro nounced, the
inscriptio n " m ay o r may not be fake. However, its proven ance
is definitely not Lhe wa lls of the Babri Masjid as claimed." He
said, " If it is a genuine inscription, and if the information as
containe d the re in is correc tly interpreted, in that case, the
v
2 temple as referred to sho uld be looked for somewhe re else,
CJ
6._, as the re was no temple .it the s ite of the Babri Masjid in
2 Ayodhya ... " (New Age, 11-17 April 1999). Manda! offered
absolutely n o explanation for this analysis.
No less bafOing was the opinjon of Sita Ram Roy, who
dated the inscription to the e ighteenth century (Roy 1996: 118-
19) . H e sa id that the occurrence of the name Ayodhya in the
inscription led one to " unhesitatingly ascribe the epigraph to
a date posterior to the e pic o f Tulsidas." For, th ough the
Ra111ac/iarita111a11as mentioned Avadha or Kosala, it did not refer
to Ayodhya. The reference to Vishnu Hari also ma d e the

. h "quite fa te" as the n am e Vishnu H a ri did n o t f'1
ep1g rap ' . g u rc
in the Vis/I/Ill Sa/rnsrn11nm11 found m the M11h11blt11ratn, lhe Pnrlnrn T h e m os t s us tained campaign against the inscription was
Pum1111, o r Shan kara's commentary o n tl1e th o~sa nd n arnl's nf mounte d by Pro fessor l rfiln Hab ib. In an a rticle in f'coplc's
Vishnu. Sita Ram Roy s tate d Lha t t!,e te rm Vis h nu Hari diJ De111ocmcy, o n 8th Decembe r 2002, Professo r Hab ib declared
tha t the inscriptio n w as "certainly a plant as fa r as the mosq ue
not connOte Lord Vis hnu, " ra the r it s ign ifies a n indivi'd ua 1
nam ed Vis hnu f-!Jri." Roy s p eculated tha t the tcr is con ce rned." H e rejected the s ta te ments of w itnesses tha t
persOn , . . . ,, . . n,
mnndirn found i_n Lhe 111scn p llo n o ri g ina ll y a nd us ua lly m eans the s to ne s lab cam e from the th ick ou ter wall, which comp rised
a dwelling h o u se, partic ularl y a p a lace. It wou ld be the two walls enclosed w ith a la rge amo unt of rubble mixed w ith
lime m ortar a nd e xp lained why it was covered w ith mo rtar
mansion of king (sic), named Vis hnuha ri" (Roy 1996: 11 9).
w h en it fe ll. He a lleged lha t the inscription m us t have come
In his depositio n before the A llahaba d Hig h Cou r t, K.V.
"fro m som e priva te collectio n," and definitely no t from the
Rnmesh decla red it incorrec t tha t till the thirteenth century
Babri Mas jid.
the word deval11y11, no t 111111,dir, w as use d fo r a te mple . It was
H e co nced e d tha t the inscription d id not appear a forgery
also wrong to say U,at till the twe lfth century, mn11dir d e noted
and could paleographically be placed "within a long period,
human dwellings, no t temples (p a ges 3702-03 para 3639).
e leventh to fourteen th centuries." Further, "The word mnndirn
It is noteworthy tha t the Ayod/1y11 Malmtmyn m e n tio ned u sed fo r a tem p le (and not, as in ea rlier inscrip tions, fo r a
seven "Hnrs" o r representations of Vis hnu o n the banks of co urt) s u gges ted a la te ra ther tha n an earlier date." But even
river Saryu - G upt Har, Chandra Har, Cha kra H a r, Vis hnu if it w as ascribed to the twelflh century at Ayodhya (for which
Har, Dharm a Ha r, Be lma Har, and Pun H a r (page 4676). it u sed the n a m e Saketa), it did not valid ate the VJ-IP claim
Shockingly, Sita Ram Roy s ubseque ntly admitted in Cou rt tha t a Janma bhum i temple s tood at the site. Describing K.V.
tha t at the time o f writing his a rticle h e h a d " n o t seen full Ra m esh a s "a VHP w itness" but an epigraphis t of rep ute,
photograph, estampage of the inscription or its deciphe rment" P rofesso r H abib asserted tha t, as per the inscription, the temple
(page 4036 para 3858). Yet he had no qualms in pontificating "w as n o t important en o ugh " to involve lhe Gahadavala king,
on a matter o f such impo rtance in the A y odhy a dispute. Gov indachandra, himself.
His viewpoint had its share of supporte r s . Dr. K. M . Professor Habib also fa ulted Ram esh 's tran slation of the
Shrimilli of Delhi University, while dismissing as "some-what w ord " pns /1clinynts" that occurred in Lines 19-20 of_the
childish" the suggestion tha t stone inscriptions could be forged , inscriptio n. Ra m esh had transla ted this as, " And now, lhe fierce
added a warning note, arms of th e rul er ... annihila tes even the fear caused by the
w esterne rs (pnsl,c/rntyns)." He v iewed this as a reference _to
The capabilities of modem-day stone cutters and carvers Mus li m s espe ciall y th e G h azna v ids . Profess o r Habib ,
should neither be underestimated nor denied. It is well h owever.' argued that the word 'pasl,c/1n_tyns'_ h~d never be~
known th at th e r en owne d fa mil y of the Sompura s, used for M u slims and Ghaznavids in any mscnptiOn orSanskr
specializing in stone engravings and sculptural art for over text. It could ins tead , be a reference to the Rashtrakutas of
a millennium, has been entrus ted the task of building the ' ·ghbours of the
I<ana uj an d Badaun, w h o were the w estern ne1
'grand temple of Lord Ram a' at Ayodhya ...
G ahada vala s in the first h alf o f the twelfth centur~; Alhlso,
• in the future, so at
He also agreed w i th Sita Ram Roy ' s datin g o f th e 'pasllc/1nhJ11' n o rmally m eant one corrung
inscription (Noorani I 2003: 81).
A GAHADAVALA JNSCRfPTJON RECOVERED I 107
l06 I IBE BATTLE FOR RAMA

the ruler praised was really warding off future dang
' t , . " (N . er nnd
not any curre nt w es e m enem1es o o rani I 2003: 127_ Williin ha ir a centu ry o r the d e th Of M
Irres pec ti ve of the merits of Pro fesso r H b ·
28
11
!· . . a
lhc Ga I1ad a va las had ini tia ted a m, · b . .
u1or UI 1d mg
ah mud Ch •
aznav1,
·
inte rpretation of the word 'pnsltcl,nlyns. · the G a h adava J a r s Ayodhya. Amo n g the te m p les they b . progra mme at
. . . " '" ils ron1 . • . ui 1t were the Cl d
the outset certainly s tood forth as champions '
. of Hind ti //,,,,.,,,(/ Han, Vis hnu Han, nnd Dha rma H u i 1 .
' emp 1es. Govindacl d
had also sp o ns o red a massive fo urteen-v
ian ra
ian ra
Chandrade vn. the found e r or the d y nas ty, 1s described . ·
111 one · I/ 1· · 0I
ume compendi um
of the records as "Svny ambhu hims elf born upo n thee t·I o r soc1.1 re 1g 1o us codes o f conduct th K
.ir 1 to · · r Ll
recogrntro n o 1c n eed "for special reaff"1
• e rt ynknlpntam in
· '
res tore dhnrmn nnd the Ve d a , whose s ounds had n lmos t b • . . ' rma tron of dlra,11111 ••
sile nced " (Pollock 199-t: 106). The coppe r plate g rant or~~/~ atatimc when1tfoced inthe Turks"a reso lut I • . .'
. . . e Y unass1milating
son and g randson, M.idan npala n nd Govi n dachand social and reli~1ous fo rmation" (Pollock 1994: 105-06 ).
' ra , of Be tha
Vikr.:im venr 115-t (AD 1097), n ls o recorde d that C h andr~d
· u evu . t as
. 1t. may, Professor H abib summed up h"1s views •
on the mscnption,
had protected Kashi, Kus ika o r Kanya kubja, Uttara Kosala or
Ayodhya, and the city of lndra (The flldin11 A 11liqunry 18: 11 We are Urns left with an inscri ption brought from somewhere
13). TI1e Mac.hchlis hahr copper plate inscription ( AD 1197)' else, which
. merely . says that. a local lord of Saketa. among
issued by the I.is l ruler of the Ga h adavala dynasty, noted tha; other thmgs, built a beautiful temple for Vishnu-Hari. This
Ch,mdradeva had been the protector of the holy places, Kas hi, was not built at the birth-site of Lord Ra ma, nor at the site of
any earl ier temple... There is no certainty at all ... tha t lhe
Kusik,1, Uttara Kos ala, a.nd lndrasthaniyaka (Prasad 1990: 58-
inscribed slab was intended to be placed in the lemple, the
56). refe rence to which occupies only one out of its h\'enty legible
King Govindachandra, was des cribed by Lakshmidhara, verses. n , e inscription, finally, has no reference al all to any
author of the Krlynkafpnlnnt, as one "who killed in ba ttle, the Muslim danger or any earlier temple having been destroyed
heroic Hammira ...," a reference to a Muslim chie f, possibly by Muslims ... As for the l3abri Masjid having been built at
Hajib Tugha- tigin (Niyogi 1959: 57-58, 60). The copper-p late the site of n11y temple, let us now remember that all the
archaeological evidence adduced by VHP is heavily tainted.
gran t of Madanapala and Govindachandra, of Vikra m yea r
1166, also extolled his " matchless fighting (which) makes the In the above a rticle written in 2002, Professor Habib had
Hammira lay aside (his) enmity" (Tiu! lndia11 A11liq11nry 18: 16, claimed tha t the ins cription mus t have come "from some private
18). At Samath, nea r Varanasi, an inscription of Kumara Devi, collection ." At the Indian Histo ry Cong ress in 2006, he
the queen of Govindachandra, compared him to Vis hnu, modified h is h y p o thes is and p ro cla ime d it had been
reborn to defend his realm. It s tated, "surre ptitious ly re m oved from the Lucknow Museum and
p a raded o ff as a find from the Babri Masjid."
~ari (Vishnu), who had been commissioned by Hara (Siva), Professor Habib now modified his position to claim that
m order lo protect Vara nasi from the wicked Turus hka the colonial a rchaeo logis t, A. Fuhrer, had fo und an inscrip_ti~n
warrior, as the only one who was able to protect the ea rth, at the Trela Ka Tha kur te mple in Ayodhya and p laced it m
was _again born from him, his name being renowned as the Faizabad Museum . The inscri p tion was late r shifted to
Gov mdachandra - Vnrn11nsi111 bh11vn11n-rnksn11n-dnksn/1 L u cknow Museum from whe re it " has mys terious ly
dustnt Tumsk11-s11b/rnf11-dnvitrm1 ... (Epigrnp/rin /11dicn IX: 337). . . . • · h. n •ccord·1ng to Professor
d 1Sappeared." The m1ssmg mscnp o , u
A GAHADAVALA INSCRI PTION RECOVERED I 109


Habib precisely matched the one planted ilt Ayodhy " (Hilbib
2007: 359-60). Jayachru,dro (Roy 1994: 114- 16). Professo I-I b'b d ..
Fuhrer had mentioned an inscription he found at the T • d r a I a d 1honally
mcnllo ne n pa per by Dr. Pushpa Pras d I •
kn Tha kur, in his The Slinrq,. A reIII·1ect11re oif/ ai111p11r, re t;i . , .
the mscnpl1o n nl Lucknow Museum was t 11
, . a , w 10 c1aimed that
• - .ic ua y two largely
Inscription No. XUV is written in tw_c nly incomplete lines Ulcgible texts o n two unrelnted s tone bloc'-- .
, ""• one w11, 1 n text
on a white ~,ndslone, broken off al l'llher end, and s plit in of Gahadavnln link, the other p.ileogrnph· II f Cl
' ica Y o 1andella
two pMts in the middle. II is d,1tcd sam~al 1241 , or AD 118", origin (Prnsncl 2001k 348-50). '
in the time of J,iyJchondra of Kana u1, whose praises ii Acco rding lo Professo r Habib that these fi ndi ngs n d -
. . I 1a e 11
l\.'COrds for creeling a Vaishnava temple, from whence this clcnr tI1at tI, c on gma twenty-line Tret•.,. k,u · Th•kl ·
" , 1r mscnpl1
· •on
stone w,1s originall y ~roug~1l and appropriated by was removed fro~ L~cknow Museum and replaced by two
Aur,mg1ib in build111g his mas11d known as Treta ki (sic) t~tally unre lated 1lleg1ble bl_ocks "so as to make up twenty
n,akur. TI1c original slab was discovered in the ruins of Imes, the same numbe r of Imes on the inscription that was
this MJsjid, Jnd is now in the Faizabad local Museum recorded by Fuhre r." The slilb, purported ly found at the 13abri
(Fuhrer 1889: 68). Masjid s ite, broke n ve rtically in the mi dd le, " precisely
matches" Fuhrer's inscription. The bottom part "where the
Fuhrer described the inscription again in Tire Mo1111 111e11 1n/
date s hould have come seems to have been deliberately broken
A11tiquities And lnscriptio11s 111 The North-Western Provi11 ces Alltf
off," perhaps " to ward off suspicions about its being the same
Audi,.
as the Fuhre r-discovered inscription" (Habib 2007: 359-60).
A fragmentary inscription of Jayachandra of Kanauj, dated ln an article in the People's Democracy, on 17th October 2010,
samvat 12-11 , and recording Lhe erection of temple of Vishnu soon after the Allahabad High Co urt had d elivered its
was rescued from the ruins of Aurangzeb's Masjid, known judgement, Professor Habib again called the inscription "a
as Trela-ka-Thakur, and is now in the Faizabad Museum plant" (Sahmat 2010a: 48). ln a pamphlet issued around U1c
(Fuhrer Il 1891: 297). same time by the Aligarh Historians Society and edited by
him, Professor Habib noted that the "strong evidence in
Professor Habib maintained that it was possible Fuhrer
relation to the Vishnu-Hari temple inscription, of theft,
"merely assumed from the date Sam. 1241/1184 AD that the
manipulation and misrepresentation on the part of Lhe VHP"
inscription referred to Jayachandra, the Gahadavala ruler, who had been "passed over in silence"' (Sahmat 2010b: 36).
ruled from AD 1170 to 1194, without actually finding the name
recorded in the inscription" (Habib 2007: 359). THE DENOUEMENT
Irfan Habib cited the work of Hans Bakker, who had A counter to the many conjectures of Dr. Jahnawi Roy,
stated that Fuhrer's inscription was preserved at Lucknow Dr. Pushpa Prasild, and above aU, Professor lrfan Habib has
Museum (where it was listed as Arch. Dep. 53.4) and had been provided by K.ishorc Kunal. He has published, perhaps
never been published (Bakker I 1986: 52). for the firs t time, a photograph of the Trela Ka Tha kur
He also referred to Dr. Jahnawi Roy, who had examined inscription lodged in Lucknow Museum (inscription _No. 53.4).
an inscription bearing number 53.4 at Lucknow Museum. It Dr. Roy's s tatement that the inscription is in ten Imes (Roy
was 2'8" in length and 10" in width and made no mention of 1994: 114-16) is shown to be wholly wrong. Even a visual
A GAHADAVALA INSCRll"TION RECOVERED I 111

llO I THE BATTLE FOR RAMA

. t·on reveals that the inscription is of twenty Ii
mspec 1 . . . . nes. END NOTES
the inscript10n 1s broken m the middle, the hvo p
Th ough . . ,, Mis
are in vertical contmuabon; the angles of the broken lower 1. Equally intriguing seems to be the story of th . . .
c mscnpllons on
the wa lls of Babri Mas jid. Muhammad A I ·
portion and the upper portion of the two parts a re almost the . . . '" sg 1.ir, in a counter
off1d av1t filed o n 22 .nd Decembe . r 1885,.. gains
· t · by
a suit
same and even the broken letters of both the portions ffiillch
Rag h ubar Das, m entio ned one msc ripti on. He sta ted that
each other" (Kunal 2016: 304-05). w hen Badshah Babur h,1d Lhe mosque buil t, he had the word
Kishore Kuna I also checked the Annual Report of Lucknow "Alla h " e ng ra ved on its door .1nd hence no one else could
Museum (April 1950-March 1954). On page 63, inscription SJ.4 claim owners hip o f the building (pages 1143-44 para 827;
was clearly described as having 20 lines (not 10 as claimed by page l 146 para 832).
Dr. Roy). It was broken in the middle and the top, was on District Judge Col. FEA Chamier in his judgemen t on 18/26
March 1886 a lso refe rred to this one inscription. He no ted,
white sandstone, and measured 2'4" in length and 10.5" in
" T11e entrance to Lhe enclos ure is under a gateway which bears
breadth (Kuna! 2016: 307). This entry in the Annual Report of the s upe rscription 'Allah' ... " (Noor.1ni I 2003: 183).
Lucknow Museum (April 1950-March 1954) precisely matches Frands Buchanan (1762-1829), Scottish physici,m , surveyor,
the Treta ka Thakur inscription (no. 53.4) in the Museum. The and botanist, who surveyed Gorakhpur Division for the Eas t
entry also clearly states that the inscription came from Faizabad J.nd ia Compan y in 18 13-14, mentioned one inscription in his
Repo rt.
Museum.
A rchaeologist A. Fuhrer during hi s visit to the site in 1889
Pushpa Prasad's assertion that " the purported single
found two inscriptions (besides one bearing the Kn /ma). The
inscription is actually an assemblage of two different date of Lhe construction of the mosque in the inscription he
inscriptions, each incomplete" was also found to be inaccurate. saw above the entrance door was All 930 (AD 1523), which was
The two parts, when put together "show that the broken letters well before Babu r's conquest of India. The name of Lhe builder
are continuous on both parts." This establishes that both parts was Mir Khan, not lvti r 13aqi.
Maul v i Shu aib in the A111111nl Report of tlie Office of the
are complementary to each other; "they are parts of lhe same
i\rchneological Surveyor, Nort/iem Circle, Agra, s ubmitted in 1906
inscription without any doubt." There was nothing lo support recorded three inscri ptions. He saw the inscription mentioned
Pushpa Prasad's statement that one part be longed to the by Fuhrer bearing the date ,, 1-1 930 (i.e. 1523), but ils location
GahadawaJa dynasty and the other to the Chandella dynasty. appeared to have changed. Appendix D of this Report referred
Further, her claim that the inscription related to a land grant to Lhe inscriptions that were copied at that time. These were
was not substantiated. The inscription being badly damaged listed from serial numbers 10 to 12.
No. 10 - the s tone slab o n the o utside of Lhe central arch of the
does not convey any "concrete meaning" (Kuna! 2016: 307-10,
Masjid. It was in Persian, named Babur as the ruler, and gave
312-33).
All 935 i.e. ,,o 1528 as Lhe date of construction. In the last column
Thus far neither Dr. Roy, nor Professor Prasad, nor under Remarks ,vas written - . h
Professor Lrfan Habib have responded to the publication of " Records the erectio n of the mosque w hich was built on t e
f J am Aslhana m of Ram
the photograph of the Treta Ka Thakur inscription, which sam e s po t w here the old temp Ie O an
falsifies the arguments they have been persistently advocating Chandra was."
for over two decades.
A GAHADAVALA INSCRWTION RECOVERED I 113


No. 11 • lhc- ~wne slab on the inside of the central arch of the
mo sque. The rulrr named was Dabur and the d a te o f II has _bc-en suggest~d tha t the _inscriptions on Bahri Masjid
ron.•tructfon AH 935 i.e. AD 1528. In the Remarks column was ~ ere fuced well after its construction and tamperl'CI with several
writl\'n . "n,ntains s.icrcd words (Ka/111a/1) ." times (Ku~al 2_0 16: 143-92). It is a matter of regret that Professor
No. 12 _ the stonr sl,1b below the pulpit of the mosque. The lrfan Habib did not th row any light on this veX.1 tious ma tter
rulrr mcntfoncJ wns Dabur and the date of constructio n All whe n he expe nded so much energy on the Vishnu Hari
inscriptio n.
9.30 i.e. AD 152.J. In the Remarks column it was stated -"The
date of its erection is given in a chronogram" (Kuna) 201 6:
171-73).
The texts of two inscriptions supplied to A.S. Beveridge in
1921 (almost 32 years after Fuhrer) by the De puty
Commissioner of Faizabad appeared to be different from those
5ernby Fuhrer.
The two inscriptions near the pulpit of the mosque were taken
away by rioters in the 1934 riots. One inscription restored by
the Muslim c-ommunity mentioned the date of the construction
as IJl 923, i.e. AD 1516-17.
Dr. ZA Desai, Superintendent, Persian and Arabic
Inscriptions, Nagpur, published an article in Epigraphia lndica.
Arabic and Persian Supplement, 1965. The original was written
by the late Maulvi M Ashraf Husain. ln his brief introduction
Desai stated that the article was found in the pape rs of his
predecessor with a note that it could be published, after
revision, by his successor. Desai stated that he was publishing
the article after incorporating new material, but did not specify
the material he had added.
He seemed to have arbitrarily changed the text and translation
in the name of his predecessor, in a bid to rectify the blunders
committed earlier to strengthen the claims of the Sunni Waqf
Board to the mosque. Among other alterations, he cha nged
the date from AM 930 (1523) to AM 935 (1528).
The two inscriptions restored by the Muslim community after
~e riots of 1934 were examined by the Civil Judge, Faiza~ad
in th e Regular Suit no. 29 of 1945. The date of the construction
of the Masjid was given as AH 923, i.e. AD 1516-17. In one
inscription, Mir Baqi was named and shown as a native of
ls~hahan in Iran. Could this be an attempt to prove he was a
Shia, for the Babur Nama mentioned him as a Tashkindi? (Kuna I
2016: lli-liv; 143-92).
114 I TI-IE BAffiE FOR RAMA

The /\ S I !l11bmit1ed Its Repnrl lo the Court cm 22nd
Septe mber 200:I. In his lnlruduclory remark_q, Dr. O.H. Mani,
Superi nt e nding i\rc h ncnlogi ql, /\ S I, and Tenm Lr,ide r,
cxp lnlned lhe methodology adnpled in view of lhe " limited
but d efined ubjeclive" sci by lhe Court and the time frame
within w hich the wnrk wns required lo be completed . The
11 lntest techniques o r lnyou t or trenches were i1dopled . The

entire process o r excnvation nnd recording of structures and
~----c an tiquities wns documented b y s till a nd video ca me ras
(Ayodl,yn : 2002-0J, Vol. I: /\SI 2003: 8-9). The main findings of
Uie ASI were:
Left Historians and the ASI Report TI1e site wns first occupied by Northern Dlack Polis hed
Wa re (NBPW)-using people in the first millennium oc (Period
I). The level yie lded pottery, broken we ights, fragments or
votive tanks, glass beads, discs, broken a nimal figurine, an
T
he SpeciJI (Lucknow) Be nch of the Allahabad High iron knife, and a rou nd bezel in greenish glass with the legend
Court (comprising Jus tices Sudhir Narain, S.R. i\J,1111 "sidhe" in high relief in Ashokan Brahmi on the obverse, the
and BhJnwar Singh), directed the Archaeological reverse being plain (Ayodlryn: 2002-03, Vol. I: ASI 2003: 38).
Survey of lndia on 5th r-.tarch 2003 to undertake excavi1lions The next cultural occupation dated to Uie Shunga period
.it Ramjanmabhumi / Babri Mas jid to determine "whether there
(second-first century nc; Period II), when the site w itnessed
was any temple / structure which was demolished and mosque U1e first structural activity in stone and brick. The level was
represented by terracotta objects comprising human and anima l
constructed on the disputed site" (Noora ni I 2003: 135-39).
figurines, a saddle quern, a part or a lid in stone, bangle
The Court was of U1e view Uiat archaeological evidence would
fragments, and a broken sealing with the "sn" lette r in Brahmi
facilitat-e in resolution of Uie issue.
(Ayod/1ya: 2002-03, Vol. I: AS! 2003: 38-39).
The Kushan period (first to third century ,,o; Period Ill)
ASI CONDUCTS EXCAVATIONS
was rich in pottery typical of the era. A huge kiln was noticed,
As per Uie High Court order, the AS! carried out excavations besides animal and human figurines, bangle fragments, a
at Uie site between l2Ui March and 7th August 2003 on the portion of a votive tank, a ll in terracotta, a hairpin in bone,
basis of a preliminary Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey and an antimony rod in copper. A massive brick construction
of Uie area by Tojo-Vikas International Pvt. Ltd. The GPR was noticed, a ttesting to a spurt in Uie construction or large
survey had revealed numerous anomalies possibly associated structures. From this period, stone and brick cons tructions
wiUi ancient s tructures, Uie precise nature of which could be were manifest at the site (Ayodl1ya: 2002-03, Vol. I: AS! 2003:
established by archaeological trenching (Ayod/rya: 2002-03, Vol. 39).
l: AS! 2003: 3-5).
116 I THE BATT1.E FOR RAMA LEFT HISTORIANS AND THE ASI REPORT I 117

The advent of the Gupt.is (fourth to sixth century Al>;
Period JV) did not bring a ny qualHativc ch.ingc in build in ,
activity . TypicJI tcrrJCOIIJ fi gurines of the period and., coppe~
coin beJ ring the imoge of .i king on the observe .ind .i gnr11 .i11
wilh the ll');cnd Sri C/,n11dm (G111'ln) on Lhc reverse, ;is well il S
iUustr.itive pCltshcrds were represented a t lhe site (l\yor/1,yn:
2002-03. VCll. I: ASI 2003: 39-10).
From the post-Gupta - Rajput period (seventh to tenth
century; Period V), knife-edge bowls nnd a circul.ir brick
shrine, wi th nn entra nce from the cast, were found . The
structure wns dama~l'd , but its northern wall s till retained
provi ion for a primnln, i.e., a water d1ute, a distinct feature of 40. G l,1zed w.ire shcrd,.
contemporary temples in the Gang-a-Yamuno plain (Ayorll1yn:
2002-03, Vol. I: ASI 2003: -tO, 269).
During the early mediev.11 period (11th-12th century AD;
Period VI), the remains of a huge s tructure, nearly 50 m in
north-south orientation, were unearthed. A thick floor mode
of brick crush appeared, on circumstantial evidence, to have
been attached to J wide and massive looking brick wall
oriented north-south and markedly inclined to the east (Wall
No. 17). The structure appeared to have been short-lived, as
only four of the fifty pillar bases exposed during the
excavations belonged to this level. A fragmentary inscription
with a few letters engraved on a red s tone s lab, dated
paleographically to the eleventh century, was also discovered
(Ayodlrya: 2002-03, Vol. !: AS! 2003: 40-41, 204-05, 269).
On the remains of the above structure, a massive structure
was constructed (Period VII, twelfth to sixteenth centuries),
with at least three structural phases (A, B, and C) and three
successive floors attached with it. In phase A, a massive wall
(Wall No. 16), nearly 50 m long, in north-south orientation
was constructed, the foundation trench of which cut the red
brick crush floor of the previous p eriod. A new style of
construction was noted in this period in a limited area. A floor
of lime mixed with fine day and brick crush was laid, over
118 I 11fE BATTLE FOR RAMA

48. Tor, o o f hu111 ,111 fi ~llrL'
wcarin~ utt ariy.1. te rr.1rn llJ .
44. Srrn uted pot. 46. Leg p o rtion

res ting o n pedes ta l.
47. A human leg, te rrncolla .
49. Male ho ld ing J perforated

45. Pots from Kus han p e riod . disc, terracolla .

53. Genera l I IC\\'
uf lhc c , c-.n -.11l'd
trenches in the
s,,uthl'rn .1r~ .1 .
50. .\ d,•.,,r,1h'd h um.111 lw.1d , 5 1. H um ,111 he.id \\'ith 1,,rgc

54. North-sou th
oricnh!d brick wJII
with p l,1s tcn:d
inn~r foce.
55. Wall of the

temple \\'ilh
dccor,11ed
.irchitcctur.,I
members.
52. Anim.11 hcJd .

56. Pillar b.ises
a tta ched to the
cont<.,mpo rMy
n oor 2 in n orth<.,rn
,, re,,.
57. Ci rc u l,1r
. hrinc•.
58. T,ink lil-e

~truc tu re bdow
Ram,, Ch,1bul r,1.

which a column-based s tructure w as built .
bases were available in som e tren h ) n,·(evidence of pilla r
. . • c es · 1s fl oor
within a thm walled enclosed area ln h was traced
· p aseBth I
area w.:is filled with earth a nd over! .d 'th ·. e enc osed
ai w , a bnckba t ·
on top of which a thick floor o f lime . d . . paving
"ck du! . mLXe w ith gnt and fine
bn no c s w as laid, w hich ra n ove th b
r e rokcn / levelled
wal I. I n p h ase C, foundatio ns to supp or t p 1.11 a rs or colu mns
were s unk. They w e re ove rlaid with a 4- 5 thi k fl .
'd f cm c oor, which
ha d a gn o square sandstone bases fo r P 1·11 ars proiectmg . .
out,
•
a few o f which s urvive • The fl oor u• ro un d most of the
pillar ba~es was found broken, w ith pilla r base foundations in
a very disturbed condition.
This massive structure had a minimum dimension of so x
30 ~ in north-south and east-west d irections respectively. The
architectural members of the earlie r sho rt-lived structure, with
stencil-cut foliage pattern a nd othe r d ecora tive motifs, were
reused in the construction of the monumental structure, which
had a huge pillared hall (or hvo halls).
Nea rly fifty pillar bases with brickbat foundations, below
concrete blocks topped by sandstone blocks were found. From
the excavations, it could be inferred that there were seventeen
rows of pilla r bases from north to south, each row having five
pillar bases. Of fifty exca vated pilla r bases only twelve were
completely e xposed, thirty-five partially exposed, and three
could be traced in s ections only. Pilla r bases in the central
part could not be located due to the presence of Rama Lalla at
the spot in the m a ke-shift temple.
This ma ssive s tructure was different from residential
structures and provided sufficient evidence of a construction
for public u sage. It re mained in existence for a long time during
Period VII (Ayod/1ya: 2002-03, Vol. I: ASI 2003: 41 -43, 54-70,
269-70).
It was over this massive structure that Bahri Masjid was
constructed in the sixteenth century (Period VITI) (Ayodhya:
2002-03, Vol. I: ASI 2003: 51-54). The centre of the central
60. Someofthe d ecor,,ted 1-1 s tone blac k pilla rs u cd in 13,ibri· 1'1,i>J"
.. I·
LEFT HISTORIANS AND TH E ASI RErQRT I 119

, .. d fcll i"u<t over the central point of Wall
f IJ;lbri rv,asJI - . ' lotus motif, circulnr shrine having pra11a/a (w.itcr chute) in the
cl1nmt-cro . massive structure. Towards the cas1 of
f thl' prNX'(iing · - · ·th · · north, fifty pillar bases in associatio n of the huge s tructure,
I6 o · . ircular depression w1 pro1ccllon on lhc
arc indicat ive rl'm.,ins w hich are distinctive fea tures found
th 1.s cc ntnil point, a c I . "f .
_' sized brick pavcmcn , s1gm ymg ., pl.i ce
t cut into thl' 1,,rgc- eel ( l"k I associated wi th the te mples of north India" (/\yod/1ya: 2002-
wcs . t t object was pine mos t I c y .in image
when' some imp,,r nn 03, Vol. I: J\S I 2003: 272).
Plainly s tateJ, the J\51 Report conclus ively establis hed tha t
of Garocla). . of Period Vil, glazed w.irc s hnrds n1.1dc
ln the last P1111st' , d Babri Masjid was not built o n virg in land and tha t the remains
d continued m the s ucccc Ing levels of found a t the s ite we re o f reli gio us structures. Wa ll 5 of the
their anpcarJnce an . d
'r . _., when:' they were accompanu.' by gl.i 7 ed
the n,, ,t p,•nvus, . , northern chambe r o f IJabri Mas jid was r.iised direct ly over
robnbl)' used in the cons truction uf Uabri the wes tern wa ll (W 16) of the temple w itho ut any layer of
tiles. To,•sc wen.· P ' .
.. Th' , also true of cl'ladon and porcl'lam s hards earth o r olher strala be tween the two wa lls . Wa ll 5 had no
Maspd. is "n5 , . . .
. , . niuch le~
n.•(Q\' l' l'l.'U In
,,uantity. Arum.ii bones were found at
• -, foundation tre nch. There was not a centime tre of win d or
. . 1('' ·c•I<~ nf different periods, but skeletal re mnins
,·nru,u:i- water borne deposit between Wa ll 5 and Wa ll 16. In the core
noti,ced 111 · 11,n '
trenches in n o rthern and so uthern area s of Wall 5, the bricks used for filling were those collected fro m
bclon~ to r,·ric>d IX (late and_ po_st-Mughal lev~I). the demolis hed temple.
n,c site h.1d ,,lso pro,·ed s1gmf1cant for takmg back its The southern foundation wall (Wa ll 6) of the Masj id rested
,111tiqu.1rian ren1.1ins to the middle of the 13th century oc, on directly over two pilJar bases of the ea rlier period be low its
the an.11,,~y of thl' CJ.I d ates (Ayodlrya: 2002-03, Vol. I: ASI middle and south-eastern comer. Wal.I 6 directly abutted with
2().13: 2i0-72). (K.N. Dikshit, who was part of B.B. Lal's team Wall 16. It was clearly visible that the niche of Wall 16 ha d
that had e.1rlicr excJvated at Ayodhya, stressed that the C14 been blocked by the same size bricks of Wall 16. ln the non-
datrs suppli,>d by the Birbal Sahani lnstitute of Palaeobotany, blocked area, that is, in the original wa ll there was a 2 cm
Luck.now, had gi,·en a new interpretation to the chronology thick plas ter of lime, which showed that the series of niches in
of the lowest len' ls. The pre-NBPW deposit had strengthened WalJ 16 were blocked after demolishing the temple and before
the Hindu belief that the story of Rama and Ayodhya was raising the mosque. The niches were fo r the insta lla tion of
earlier than that of Lord Krishna and Hastinapur; Puratattva minor deities (Ayodhya: 2002-03, Vol. I: ASl 2003: 51-54; Sharma
Number 33, 2002-2003: 117). 2011 : 31). Wall 7 of Babri Masjid in front of its sou thern
The ASI Report concluded that, "viewing in totality and chamber rested over three pillar bases o f the earlier period,
taking into account the archaeological evidence of a massive which were attached through Floor 2 to Wall 16. ln other
structure just below the disputed structure and evidence of words, the excavations revealed that Babri Masjid was erected
continuity in structural phases from the tenth century onwards over, and with full knowledge of a pre-existing structure.
up to_the construction of the disputed structure along with The continuous nature of the 10.80 m thick deposit, due to
the yield of stone and decorated bricks as well as mutilated the nine cultural periods, indicated that the site was nev er
sculpture of divine couple and carved architectural members abandoned and never used for habitational purposes. Four
including_foliage pa tiems, ama /aka, dooriamb
circuJ . . sem1-
with . working floors were exposed at the site. The carbon dating
ar pilaster, broken octagonal shaft of black schist pillar, for Floor 3, which was below Floor 2, rev ealed a calibrated

LEFT HISTORIANS AND IBE ASl REPORT I 121

age range from AD 900 to 1030. Floor 2, with whi h
. d . c the ff
illar bases were associate , was evidently the fl I ty
P. oor of h pillar bases, he said, "they could just be low seats or, in some
temple. Over Floor 2 was Floor 1, the floor of the M .. t e
. f as11d cases, markers for shops or stalls, as in the Lal Darwaz.1 Masjid
The evidence o f t h e existence o a temple at the . ·
at Jaunpur"!! Further, he charged, the pillar bases were "easy
the construction of Babri Masjid was also clear from t~rne or
to assemble" and brickbats !hat lay scattered had "been re-
of the structural remains. These showed the garblra grilra (e plan arranged by the ASI excavators to provide evidence for 'pillar
Ram LAila was presently situated), the ardlra mandapa a Where bases'"III
. h th I L- . nd the
wide mandapa, along wit e pus J,wranr on the no th After the Report had been submitted, Professor Habib
r ·east
comer, the wide walls and damaged structural parts of ear '.icr condemned it as "an unprofessional document, full of gross
1
temples and religious members of the last temple were used omi ss io ns , one-sid ed presentations o f evidence, clea r
in the walls of the mosque (Sharma 2011: 38). fal sifications and motivated inferences." Its only aim, he
alleged, seemed to be to ignore and twist evidence to support
SUNNI CENTRAL WAQF BOARD- LEFT HlSfORIANS the fiction of the Sa ngh Parivar about the earlier existence of a
AITACKASl temple (Noorani I 2003: 163).
Similar insinuations were made by Su raj Bhan. When asked
Both during and after the excavations, pro-Babri group carried
what, in his view, lay benea th Bahri Masjid, he proclaimed,
out a well coordinated campaign to discredit the AS!, within
" .. .it was not a temple." It could be a mosque of the Sultanate
and outside the Court. The dramatis personae included the period (Frontline 26 September 2003; page 3928 para 3823; pages
eight archaeologists presented as experts in excavations by 3955-56 para 3829; page 3821 para 3799).
the Sunni Central Waqf Board in Court, and Left historians Jt is pertinent to recall that with the exception of Suraj
Jed by Professor Irfan Habib outside. The eight archeologists Bhan, none of !he pro-Bahri archaeologists had any experience
were Suraj Bhan, D. Manda), Jaya Menon, Supriya Verma, of field archaeology. R.C. Thakran professed in Court that he
Ashok Dutta, Shereen Ratnagar, Sita Ram Roy, and R.C. was "just a table archaeologist ..." (pages 3853-56 para 3800).
Thakran. The objections raised by pro-Babri archeologists, o. Manda! admitted that he had "acquired knowle~ge of
during the course of excavations and on cross-examination in archaeology." He had never obtained "any degree or diploma
Court, were remarkably similar to the protestations of in archaeology" (page 3654 para 3628). Shereen ~ma_gar also
Professor lrfan Habib. The same points were raised, often in accepted that "in India I have not done any d1ggin? and
the same language. The views of both must be regarded as a excavation on my own" (page 4033 para 3852). Even Sura1 Bh_an
acknowledged !hat he had conducted excavations only _pnor
joint attack on the Report.
Professor Habib's critique came even before the final town·1·mg h"rs Ph • D thesis • which had not been published
(pages 3624-27 para 3613). .
Report had been submitted to the Court. In an article in the Despite !heir obvious limitations, pro-Babri archaeologists
Hindustan Times, on 6th July 2003, he asked whether the ASI were quick to disparage the work of the ASL Of th2~34
would "simply set its sights at finding what those in power b"ections filed between 14th April 2003 and 26th July •
wish it to find: the remains of a temple?" He accused the ASI :slmany as 32 were on behalf of !he Babri parties (page 3740
of deliberately overlooking material evidence that pointed to
para 3676).
the existence of an earlier mosque below Bahri Masjid! On the
LEFT HISTORIANS AND THE ASI REPORT I 123

The Court felt constrained to comment on their deliberate
. infonnation (page 3774 para 3712; pa ge 3767 pro-Bahri g roups to take cogn izance o f these fa cts, led the
attempts at mis h
The Court observed that w en s tructures Co urt lo observe the 'ostrich attitude' o f the plain tiff (page
para 3702 ) · I · ·
th began to appear, the comp amants, m cons ultation 4241 pa ra 3943).
undemea ,, d ,, . . The ci rcu la r shrine recovered by the ASI was a subsidiary
with "their alleged experts, starte prepar'.ng a kind of
. . tory ground to assail the ASI people, their proceedings shrine, w he re th e d evo tees offered ablrisl1ek fro m ou ts id e.
anlic1pa Several exa m p les have been cited fo r com paring the style of
,, (pages 3775-76 para 3717).
an report
d . .. the shrine (Mani, P11ratattvn Number 33, 2002-2003: 104-13).
Professor Habib, on his part, cnhctzed the ASI for never
. thought of comparing the circular shrine "with circular
havmg LIM E, MORTAR, SUR KH/
. ,, (N
walls and buildings of Muslim construction oorani I 2003:
Professor Hab ib alleged tha t li me, mor ta r, and s11rkhi, " the
167 -t,8). Suraj Bhan, however, admitted,
recognized m a rks of Muslim construction," were present in
... it was the in situ photograph of the circular shrine ... It is p ractically a ll the excava ted wa lls at Ayodhya. According to
correct to say that a drain is visible in north orienta tion of him, the find of lime mo rta r and surkhi down to the lowest
plate no. 60. This construction is prior to the Islamic period layers o f brickw o rk at the Ra m a Chabu ta ra "set s at res t
(page 3823). speculation ab out any pre-Muslim construction under i t." The
RC. Thakran also conceded, AS! h ad provid e d n o exa m p les of t he u se o f s 11rkh i in
Gahadavala tim es, w hen the temple was alleged ly constructed
A slender drain is visible to me on the north side in the (Noorani I 2003: 144, 166).
picture below figure 17 on page 70A of the ASI report Volume H owever, lime mo rtar, lime plaster, and surkhi had been
I. It is correct to say that as per this figure 70, this drain is in u se in India well before the ad vent of Muslims. Lime and
going northwards. It is also correct to say that the Buddhist gyps um h a d b een di scove red fro m the Ind u s Va ll ey
stupas do not have such north-bound drains (page 3857)... Civilization (page 4315). Jaya Menon ad mitted in Court,
The circular structure and the wall are possibly of the G upta
period (page 3861). I agree ... that gypsum morta r/ plaster was used in the
Harappan period ... gypsum was used as mortar in the
The Court described as "unthinkable" attempts to identify Kalibangan period also... Lime mortar was definitely used
the shrine as a Muslim tomb. The circular structure displayed from Neolithic period (page 3853).
all the features of an independent miniature Shiva shrine of
Surklri w as in u se from early Kushan times. Suraj Bhan
the ninth-tenth century (pages 4239-41 paras 3935-38; p ages
also conced ed ,
4240-41 para 3939). The structure was too sm all to be a tomb,
being only 4.4 ft . square from ins ide. It could n either It is correct to say that lime mortar was found to have been
accommodate a grave, nor a qiblah-mihrab on its western wall, used in the 3rd century AD during the Kushan period in
th Takshshila and Pakistan, but its use was very limited (pages
e qrblah being an essential part of tomb-structures during
th 3834-35).
e Sultanate p eriod (page 4241 p a ra 3940-41 ). Most important,
a prana/a was never found in tombs but w as an essential Exa mples of the u se o f s11 rk/1i w e re ava ilable fro m
feature of Shiva temples (page 4241 p :ra 3942). The refusal of VikramshlJa (district Bhagalpur), where patches of thick plaster
124 I THE BATn.E FOR RAMA LEFT H ISTORIANS AND THE ASI REPORT I 125

of stron" sur/r:Jri an d lime we.re n o ticed o n th e Wall
mad r c- . sand
"JJar base5 (Indian Arcltaeology 1971 -72 - A Rn,rnv: 4 ) L· are normally used o n the com e rs of s uch a mihr ab. These
~ • 1me
pIL•tered floors were found a t the G o lla thagud i te rn Pe~ 1 were n ot fo und o n the co rners o f th e n iche a t Ayodhya .
District Mahbubnai;ar, Andhra P rad esh , b uilt in the twelfth Structurally the re ,,.,.as no arch o r va ult. As the Report s tated,
century, and excavated b y M ~ad W aheed Kha.n in 1970 there was ju t a sing le rectangular niche.
(Indian Archaeology 197~-72 - A Review-. 3). The use o f surkJ11 in Fur the r, the floor-leve l o f the n iche was three cou rses
t he G a h a d ava la p e rio d could al s o b e ve rifie d a t th high e r th.lil the floor le,·el of the room in w hich it opened, a
Dharmachak.rajin Vihara in Sa math, construc ted by the wif: clear indication that it was mad e as an 'alaya· for placeme.nt o f
of Govindach<111dra. an image o r som e similar purpose. The mi/rrab and the prayer
Ear lier, Professor R.5. Shanna had him.sell sla ted that su,k) h all o f a m osque are alwa ys on the S.'lme le\'e\. A mihrab is
11
was w,ro a.s m ortar and b inding mate ria l in the e a rl y Christian n eve r b uilt o n a h ighe r le\'el, as a n iche, for placing things. An
idgah h a no n iche; it is .1 plain, s traii;ht wa ll.
era, when urbanism reached a hig h point in N o rt he m and
1o reover, as onl y t he l o w e r part of the niche had
Western Ind ia . A t Ma thura and G anwa ria in Basti d istrict in
s u r.; vcd, it cou ld no t be said w ith certainty th.11 it had a.n
north~ a.stem U.P., the fl ooring w as made o f bric k concrete
arched 5h a p e a t the top . Also, n iches n ,uld be insidl· ,1ml
mixed with lime. This in d icated Uthe use o f su rkhi" (Sharma
ou tside .1 te m ple; in K.l5hmir from the eighth century l>nwards,
1983: 181-82).
they w ere insid e (l\l itra 1993). R., .1th, retirl-d l'roksst>r and
H l'.ld of the D.:partment of H i IClry a nd lnd i,m Culturl', ,11
MJHRAB, N ICH E, QANATI MOSQUE, fDGAH
the Um,·er.;i tv of R.lj.,s than, corroborated tha t no taq h.1d bt'\.'n
0
The d iscovery of three recessed niches in W a ll 16 (Avruhv.1 found in the r>.ca,·.1 tion, lp.ige 432 1-22).
2002-0J, Vol. I: AS! 2003: 6R), another e lemen t o f a te m ple, ,, a, Sinct.' this wa_ the fir..t time it w .i bcin~ p k•,1lkd th.:i t .,
also rejected by the pro-Ba bri group. Accordi ng to Prof<."'._. r q.1,uti mO'<que or 1d~ah l.1 y bdc,w £1.:il.:,ri M.1~jiJ , thl· C0urt
Habib the nich es we re a dditional p roof o f a n ea r lil'r mn«jut• e pn<"<'>.I •urpn"'-' .11 Ulls po•.-11.:,ility. On ,rn:,s .:, .1min,1til1 n,
below IJabri Masjid. H r sa id the ASI had m a d e the ba'-(' of Jn ur.i j Oh.in d1 lll"('O that he h.JJ fo rmed this ,1 r in il•n bd nrc
arched n .'Cl.'5S (milt rab) and a n a rched n iche (laq l intn fNt un-.. the ~ I h;i,J •ubrruttcJ 1~ RL'JXlrl, 1-fo s.1iJ this had bC'l.·n done
of the alleged temple (Noorani I 2!XJJ: 14-4 ). Th<> po-,r II n , to count,-r tl,e · p-rop.i~and.i· th.it thl.' rcm.iins uf a tem ple h,1d
the nichl"> and recesses s ho wed th.-it they bclong1.--d to., -1-l r.;f: bt_'CTl f"1.mJ I le <lt'J'("'(--d,
mosque/ ldga h or so me o thl!r M uslim s t ructu rl'. Tlmplc md-.-. c,...~, tuni l In ,ut,mL"'''~ ,, f ,\.,I'• "-'l"''I ln lh,· m.,u,,, ., mt
woulJ have to be on the o uter, no t u,ner w.,11, ru.• m.1mt.11 I 11... ti.J im th.ii rrTTUin• 1,r trmpl.· ,-,·rt· f,,11nJ J I 1hr J,~puh•d
Uut •' qnnati mosqu e (11 'curtain ' m o<,qu c•, ..o-<.illt"l.! ., f er ., • ••('. I •n.J t'n,f It t,,t, tuJ 1:1..-n 1h1 , 1,,u•m,•nl 1h .1I r£•m,1in•
qamit, curtain) is a w,111 m osqul', a nd d oc~ no t h;i, <' r1IL,,-.. nr .i , f .. n .,JJ ""_10., ,., I ,d~.•h hJJ t-.,•n 11•11nd t,,.•n,•,1lh lhl'
J1•pu•nJ .,,.. •n..l ,..., ,,1 J(l\ h·m rl,· If lhl' rn•p.>>,:Jnd,, 1h ,1t
prayer ha ll. It is a mere wall wi th 5, 7, o r 11 a rc~ A ,m,_i.-
rrnu.n, 1,f rnnpk- ,-....- h•un.1 ,II lh<- ""ruh-J , 11<•, h,1.I 111•1
~rch r,rnnot make a qana /1 m o,;qut•. A q1b/al1-m1hr11/,, 1 c- .m .1nh ..,,,.,kl f.,,
1 lm pl.kr. thc-n• tuH t,,, •n nn ,, rJ•11•n m,· ,1~d
rn th e n •ntre of lht• weste rn wa ll indicatm., thl· d in t1nn ' I l'nil lrf.n 11.at>ih 1., i:" r 1ht- .,t,,,- ,. ,1J1t•m,·nl (p.1~,.., 42'15-1f•
M<'CC 1.5 ,.,
a, an Mch rooled by a h alf-<'.l.lp f>llilpc-d v.rnlr. l'< h ' I r r• H~"2. P•lol•"' N -17-411 p.irJ J,q2t,)
w hich h.ivl' grr.it l.i tr r.il thrus t. Tha t i why s toll(' n L h .11t,
11 rT 111-.rmu .... ., " ' n TIIF A~I Rfl 'ORT I 127
126 I ntr. RATTI FOR RAMA

The Court was "s urprised" tha t in th.e i r zeal to help the
. .lJl ~, ·ho'-e
partJCS •
favou r they were appea nng, these ivitn~ ~sses g lazed ware in the form of votive stupas. A. Ghosh, in t\11
t
"wrote o · , tallv. a new ston,· , ·· (pages
, -1298-99 pa ra 3986) • Tl1e· Encycloperlin of l11din11 Archnm lugy. Vol. I. had reported the
co~•ed tha t in. D.
Court o b.,,.... .
Manda! S bo ok, A yodlryn: Arclineo/
. , , . . ogy discovery o f "a heavy turquoisl.! blue glaze" al Chaub.ua and
afl.-r Drmolitio11. A Cnt1q1'.l' of th<' Ncw n'.ul F~esl, D1scovcrics. Mah o li m o unds, near Ma U1ura, and several o ther sites in the
published in 1993, " the re 1s n o t even a w his p e r that a struct1ire vicinity, which dated to the Kushan period (Sharma 20 1I: 111-
like an idgJh or qa11ati mosque could possibly be unde rneJth 13).
Babri Masjid (page 3709 para 3651). Professo r lrfan Habib was, h ow e ve r, ca tegorical tha t
The Cou rt took cogniza nce o f the s hiftin g s ta nce o f the glazed wa re w as d efiniti ve proof that negated the exis te nce
pro-BJbri a rchJeologists. Initia lly they S<l.id that the d is puted of a temple. Such ware, o ften called " Mus lim" g lazed ware,
structure (DS) was constructed on a spot that was neither a was never used in temples (Noorani I 2003: 164). D. Manda)
mad e U,e sa me point in Court," ... (Period 4) here we begin lo
place of worship, nor the s ite o f any previous Hindu relig ious
find g la zed wa re associa ted w ith the Muslim cul ture from the
structure, nor was there any evide nce to associate it with the
Sultanate period ... " (page 3973 para 3830).
birthplace of Lo rd Ra m a. H oweve r, a s th e excava ti ons
Contrary to these asse rtions, gl.ized tiles had been found
progressed, "a marked change in the approach of the plaintiffs
in the Buddhis t s tTucture a t Shahj i Dheri. Huicn Tsang had
beG1me evident." Some a rchaeologists appearing o n behalf of
n oted the use of coloured tiles in seve ra l places in north Ind ia
the plaintiffs tried to "set up a new case," that th e re appea red (page -1287 p.1ra 3976).
to be an Is lamic s tructure b eneath the DS (pages 3869-70 para The Court observed that the excavations had made it "very
3809). clea r" that the disputed structure was not raised on vacant
lrmd. TI1e la nd in question had been in freq uent use for sever.ii
GLAZED TILES AND GLAZED WARE centuri es co ntinuo us ly, a nd was " a p l.ice connec ted wit h
The AS[ reported the recovery o f g lazed til es mainly from the religious purposes." The o nly thin g to be d eter":'i ned "'."s
debris and dump of the disputed s tructure (DS) a nd also from "whethe r it cou ld be a te mple or not." The Muslim p.irhes
Period VIII and IX levels. It s ta ted, had never before said that an Is lamic religious stTucture existed
at the p lace before the construction of 13.ibri Masj id; or tha t J
Although use of glazed tiles in Ind ia can be traced back lo
relig io us s tructure other than Hindu had exis ted (poges 4287-
the ea rly centuries of Chris tia n e ra w he n the Ku sh.1n"
introd uced them. the tiles under stu dy al present, most
88 pn.ra 3977).
probably belong lo the original construction of the dispulcd RAJ\.! CHADUTARA
structure (A yodlrya: 2002-0J, Vol.I AS) 2003: 163).
The ASI excavatio ns re,·caled tha t the Ram Ch abu ta ra had
The technique of g laz ing was known in China , and in 19-12, no t less th,1n five different struc tural phases of construction.
H. Wadd ington had expressed the v iew tha t gla;dng came to Its origina l us e was unclea r; it could we ll have been a w,1ter
India fro m C hina during U1e Kushan p e r iod. He s.:iid there lank. Jn its fi nal form al the time of its last usage, 1t looked
were references to Chinese travellers visiting MaU1ura ,1 1 th~t li ke a s m all p la tfo rm. However, it w,1s found to be " r~ir!y
time and it was quite likely U1a l C hinese p ilg rims brough t la rge s truc ture w hen its core was ex posed, ne.irly 22 m m
LEFT HISTORIANS AND TII E ASI REPORT I 129

128 I n!E BAffiE FOR RAMA

·t nd ~bou t 14 m in nnrl h -sou th nricnt;itinn .11
c,1s1-wes a • • • 1c
. 1 r rn, of the Ram C h.11.Ju t.ira appe;irecl In m,,tcl, 11 brick-batq, bnndecl w ith mud or just he.1pcd u p. Nol a • inf; IC
l'Jr Ill'S (l 1('
JL•,nipllon of th<' Jeslll l pr~t•q t, Josep h Ti t• ffc nth,,l cr (whn pilla r ba<c, he <,1id , had been fo und in assoc1alll>n wi th any
\'i<itl'J lhl' •il-c betw een All I , c,<, ;ind In I ). I le d c~c ribed it .,~ p ill,ir o r evl'n , lr;igmen t of ii The re werl' no mark:, o n a ny
~ ,, , C1r ;,nli (dcvn tcJ .'i inch es ;ib0ve the g rou nd le concre le qtc,neq tn qhnw th;i t any pi llar h.1d rl'<lcd un them .
,l ~qU.1" L 0 • • \'(' 1
;mJ c,n"l'rl-d w ith li m es ln1w\ , w h ich w.1s c1rcum;i m bu lntcd Nor had th e /\SI a tt e mpted In ,, nw,er w hy bnckbaL•. nnd not
thrice ;inJ !'.ilull-d b y pl'<lplc, w ho pros lr.ited the mselves nn brick.-., were uqed at the bnse The i\51 had no t provided any
the ~n•unJ (Ayndhy,1: 2002-0J, Vol. I: ASI 2003: 49-5 1). exa m ple of., m ed ieval temple where p1ll,1r-. <lood un wch
b rickb;it~. r:urthe r, Profe<o:or H.1b1b .:irgucd, the p illar• were
I'- IASSIVE SfRUCTURE no t in a li g nme nt. According lo him, the pillar b,1<e< were
deposits lo fill up holes in the noors. Since <uch repai r-. were
The ASI di sco,·ery of J " m.1ssive s truct u r e" below Babri
needed ill v a rious times a ll over th e fl oo rs, th e brickbat
1'-fasjid, the remnan ts o f w hich included ., SO m lo n g wa ll (Wall
depos its were w idely dispersed (Noorani I 2003: 166-67).
!hi in the west and seventeen rows of p illa r ba ses to its east.
Bo th Jay.:i Menon and Supri ya Verma accused the ASI of
w., s ,,l;;o challenged by Left h istori,ms and arch aeologisls. ll,ey
hilv ing c reated U,e pilla r bases (pages 41 38--16 para 3886, pages
allC}-W th,:,t "a purely Muslim s tructure is being appropriated 4146-55 para 3887; pages 41 55-62 pa ra 3888) .
.,s .i Hindu one" (pages 4202- 13 pa ra 3919; page 3868 para The accus atio n stunned the Cou rt, which noted tha t the
:\~: pages -1260-61 para 3959). Professor Habib called this "a e xca vations h ad b een condu c ted in the presence o f the
regu la r part of the VHP kin d of propagan d ist arch aeology plaintiffs, the ir ex pe r ts, nominees and advocates. and also
r.,ther th,m a report fro m a b od y called the A rch aeological s upe rvised b y Cou r t a ppointe d ob se r vers. Under these
Su m.'y of Ind ia" (Noorani I 2003: 165-66). circu m s tan ces, it could not ilccepl that " lhe excavation has not
11,e Court no ted U1a t lhe OS was sh own resting over p illar been done fa ithfu ll y and correctly" (pages 3793-9.\ para 3T-i5;
ba..c:e No. 29. \Vall 6 (founda tio n wall of the southern chamber page 3792 pa ra 375-1). The Court stated that two members of
of lhe ~lasjid) was directly resting over hvo pillar bases, No. the Hig h e r Judicial Service appointed by the Court were
34 and 35. \Vall 7 (foundation wall of the southern chambers p resent a t the site as Observe rs. Also, bolh Suraj Bhan and D.
of lhe Masjid towards the east) was resting over th ree pillar Mandal had admi tted tha t "in June 2003 they had no idea or
bases (Nos. 29, 32, a nd 35). Wall 12 (n o rth e rn wa ll of the in fo rm a ti on th a t ,my s tru c ture wa s mani pulated by th e
no rthe rn cha mbe r of th e M asjid) res te d ove r p illa r base m e mbers o f the Ard, aeological Team of ASl" (pages -1129-30
No. 22. The C o urt found the o pinio n o f th e pro-Bahri pa ra 3880),
archaeologis ts in respect of walls a n d floors "shaky a nd The Court regarded it " really unfortunate" lhat neither
uncertain" (page 4229 paras 3927-28). Jaya Men on no r Su p riya Verma could corrobo rate their
complaints during cross examinatio n. It stated,
Pfl.LAR BASES As admitted by these two witnesses, they were parti.<an
Perhaps the m ost conte n t io u s sect ion of the ASI Report and interested, yet it was expected from the renowned
perta ined to the p illar bases. Professor H a bib a sserted that Experts that they shall lender opinion objecti,·d y but hen,
lhe pilla r bases we re o n e o r m o re concre te ston es resting on we found it lacking.
LEFT HISTORIANS Al O TliE A51 REl'OIIT I 131

l30 I THE BATil.E FOR RAMA

The Court, for ins tance, pointed out tJ1at in Trench F9, lhe
FIGURINES, STONE ARC HITTCTURt\L f-RAGMENTS
GPR Survey had indicatt?d an anomaly nl the depth of 0.S 111
a~d the /\SI had found a pillnr base nt that depth. Supriy,i In the course uf excavations, the AS I found many fig urines
VcrmJ had not gone through the G PR report but dis missed and s tone archilectura l fragmen ts li kenmnlnkn, pillar with s l,ntn-
the ,\SI find . "I ct1ukl s.1y that Ihey w e re crea ted p illar bases" l'n/lnvn base w ith dwarf beings as weii,:ht-beJrer~. kirli111 11 kl,ns,
(page 3787 p,ira 37.\6; pagl'S 3777-87 paras 3722-45). and d iv ine couple as well as miscellaneous objects which
c
n,e 0 urt noted that in the two major complaints, dated further confirmed the non-Muslim nature of the s truct ure
beneath the Masjid (i\ yorlliyn: 2002-UJ, Vol. I /\S I 2003: 121 -
2151 1'1,w 2l103 and 7th Jw1e 2003, when excavations w ere 011
the alkgo1tions on pillar bases were mainly made in U1ose vcr; 203). The pro-13abri archaeologis ts procrastinated here as well
trench e~ where the GPR Survey ha d already d e tected (page 3868; pages 4257-58 pilra 3957; pages 4260-61 para 3959;
anomalil'S. It observed that the complainants " w ere nlready page 4256 para 3956; page 4259 para 3959).
to ~0 mr extent aware of likelihood of fmding pillar bases in The Court noted that none of the eight archaeologis ts of
those trenches." Trenches N. Fl, F6, FS, F9, Gl, G2, GS, GS, the Muslim pa rties claimed to be exp erts in the branch of
G9, HI . ZG\ and ZH1 were in that category. It s tated, arcllaeology that involved identification of excavated material
like human or animal figurines etc. It stated,
... the mind of tw o experts ins tead of working fo r the
Jssistancc of the Court in finding a truth, tried to create a We have seen photographs of many of such artifacts and
bacl-.i;rnund alibi so that later on the same ma y be utilized find and in generali ty there is no such inherent lacuna or
lo JtlJc.k the very findings (page 4177 para 3900). perversity in the observations of AS! ... II is not in dispute
that no Islamic religious artifacts have been found during
The Court noted tJiat the basic finding of the ASI report excavation while artifacts relating to Hindu religious nature
was, "There existed a structure and using part thereof either were in abundance... (pages 4258-59 para 3958).
in the form of foundation or material thereo f OS was created"
(pages -1298-99 para 3986). The AS! had given "sufficient Subsequently in the Eco110111ic & Polilicnl Weekly article cited
indication" tJiat the DS did not have its foundations but was above, Supriya Varma and Jaya Menon stated tha t of lhe -1-15
raised on existing walls. The floor of the OS was jus t over the arcllitectural fragments listed in the ASl Report, only 40 came
floor of the earlier building. The existence of several pillar from stratified contexts and none was specific to a temple.
bases showed the existence of an earlier "sufficiently bigger The twelve specifically mentioned in the Report all came from
structure, if not bigger than the disputed s tructure then not the debris ly ing on the surface of lhe mound , not from
lesser than that also" (pages 4306-07 para 3990). excavations under the Babri Masjid and "could ha\·e been
Hmvever, in an article, "Was There a Te mple under U1e introduced from anywhe re." The twelve pieces included a
Babn Masjid? Read ing the Archaeological 'Evid ence"' stone slab w ith a srivatsa motif which, lhey said, was associated
~cono,mc & Po/iticnl Weekly 11 December 2010: 61-72), Supriya with Jainis m; a stone slab with a lotus design that could be a
arma and Jaya Menon reitera ted that the AS! had "cre.itcd Buddhis t or Jain symbol; and a stone slab wi th a lozenge
SO 'pillar bases' as furt her evidence for the temple." They drawing that probably belonged lo the Masjid itself (Eco11omic
asserted that the creation of "pillar bases" was "observed first- & Politicn/ Weekly 11 December 2010: 6-l).
han~ on several occasions in different trenches" (Eco110111ic &
Po/it,cn/ Weekly 11 December 2010: 65-66).
LEFT HISTORIANS AND THE ASI REPORT I 133
132 t THE BATTLE FOR RAMA

ANIMAL BONES
The five letter inscription in Nagari was dated by ASI to
Babri archaeologists ch arged the AS! of ignoring
The pr0- . d . the e le venth cen tury AD. The dating, too, w,1s questioned bv
anirruJ) bones that had been foWl at practica11y aU levels. They
the pro-Babri archaeologists, who held it could be in lhl' r;ing~
also charged the AS! of not having kept records of the bones
fro m seventh to twelfth centuries. They arg ued th,,t it could
found a t s ite (pages 4261-65 para 3960). Jaya Menon (pages be a Pala record of Buddhis t p rovc.>nance, "a piece of evidence
4267-69 para 3963). nega ti ving the p resence of a Hindu lc.> mplc" (page -l289).
The Court noted that d u ring excavations animal bo nes Inte r es tin g ly, Justice S.U . Khnn ill s o expressed
were recovered from the fills of differen t periods. These fills disa g reem e nt with the ASI Re port. In his v ie w . it was
were evidently brought fro m n eighbouring areas to level lhe ilb undant ly c lea r that no te mple was demolis h ed fo r
ground fro m time to time. It was natu ral lh a t fills bro ug ht constnacting the m osque. Further, unlil the m osque w as r.iised,
from habi ta tiona l deposits contained a nim a l bones. Their the disputed p remises "was n e ithe r trca tc.>d nor bel it•n•u to
examination, tJ1erefo re, wou ld throw light only o n the a rea of be the birth-place nothing but the birth-place and thc.> who le
their origin. It had no bearing on the natu re o f the layers of birth-pl.:ice of Lord Rama." Justice Khiln found it
the excavated site (page 4275 para 3968). inconcciv,1ble that Dabar (or Aurangzeb) should have first
Furthe r, the Court no ted that it was not the case that bone-. made or got m.1de thorough re5earch to ascertain th,• exact
in such abundance could have been found in a n Is lamic religiou~ birth-pl.ice of Lo rd f{.1ma. which w,,s not know n to ,rnyone
p lace like J mosque o r id g ah . Is lamic scriptures Wt!re for ccntunL--. and then got constructc,d the mosque on the
~11d s11t.e (Justic..• S.U. Klw n pagL-; 240-!6).
unambiguous that p laces o f wors hip could n o t be u~d fo r
residential purposes or for ea ting, s leeping e tc. That bt!anx -.o. Jus tice S.U Kh,m held that till lhe mos que w.is built,
the existence of bones could have been o f some import.:inct! 1( I lindu'l believed that
some other ma te ria l had been fo und to s u ggest a re<;1d en11.1J ml'whcn· tn .i verv large area of whic h prcm,<es in dispute
p lace or if the re had been a dis putt! about the n ,ltUrt! of , .i Hr.' •m.,11 p.,rt. borthpl,Kc of L,,rd R,,m,1 is ,i tu.:i ted.
haliit.i lion. I lowcver, fro m the e v ide nce and s ubma~Gio n of I ltn, ,·vc r, ah,• het,l'f dod nol rcl,,te In ,rnv spi,ci fi,·d sm,, 11
Experl~ ii w,1s clear tha t they were aware th.:it the ,;tru cturc .ir,•., w1tl11n lh.11 h'l-h''r Jr,•.1 sp,·.:it1c,1llv the p re mise< In
below the Masjid was no t a non-re lig io us one (page 4276 r.ira do p u h· (II " ., , ,.,m., lime ,,fkr alw conslru.: tio n 11f thi,
3970). m, "'l'"' th.,t lhe I ltn d u.,, , 1.irtcJ identif)•in>-: the premls,-s In
d , pu1,•) .,, .-, ,,.:t h,rth plJn, nf Lord R.1m,1or a plan, wherein
INSCRIPTIO, S
,.,.,,a h,rth pt.ice• w ,1< ~,tu,11<-d ...
:01c ~S~ Report cont.iined J brie f n o te o n lhn.-c fr.1gm nl, of Ju, tac · Khan endor-t.>d the view that
inscnphons found uuring l''(CJ v,1 tion5, o ne in Nag.:iri .:ind tw11 th,·n· w,•rc ,11-.o nun., of Vim<' Duddhist religious pl.ice on
in i\ r,,h,c. One of th e- Arabic inscri p ti ons in N,1-.kh , tvlc of .1111J .:iruund the lo1nd on which the mosque was constructed
the ~ixtecnth c,mt . d • • • ,md <-omt' material thcn.'tlf wa.s used in 1he con~tnoction nf
u ry, comprise a verse from the Quran. fhe
second Ar,1bic i · • . m JU (• UU!,Uc,• S.U. Khan p,1gcs 2-I0--16)
n.c;cn ptaon, .ilso m the eJrly !.i" tccnth c(•ntu ry
ty lc.>, contained the woru All,1h (Ayod/,11a: 2001-03 Vo l. I; A · 1
s()()
2 3: 204-06). .• '
IJ.1 I TI ID OATTJ.ll POR RAMA LEFT II ISTORIANS AND fll E ASI REPO RT I 135

pattidars of various mn/ral units, the local revenue officials and
wi tn esses etc. The Repo rt was a lso based o n the p revio us
s ummary settlements o f 1858-60, and d epicted the exa c t
positio n of Ja nmas than / Babri Masjid and the ne ighbouring
plots as inherited fro m the Nawabi period. In the revenue
docume nts, the s upe ri o r owners h ip of th e land had been
12 declared in the name of Sarkar Bahadur Nazul (Government)
.,.:e-----cC and the Mahants had been declared the unde r-proprie to rs
(mnlika11-i-111nta/1il) of the entire Ja.nmasthan com plex.
The Settl em ent Report of 1893 clearly mentio ned the s ub-
No Mention of Babri Masjid in the plot on which the Masjid was situated as Sila Ki Rasoi. 1l1e
s ubsequent Seltlement Reports of 1936-37 and 1989-90
Revenue Records maintaine d the same pos ition. The re was no record of the
Babri Masjid in the documents preserved by the Revenue
Department o f the Government a t the Collectorate and Tehsil
at Faizabad (G rover 1994: 343-49).
LAND REVENUE RECORDS In its judge m e nt, the Alla habad High Court held that this
Professor B.R. Grover examined the revenue records relating document was an acknowledgement thilt the entire Mauja had
lo village Ram Kol, Have li Awadh, a\'ailable at the Districl been e nle red as Nazul. The Muslim parties .irgued in Court
Record Office (Mahafaz Khana / Tehsil Office/ N azul Office) that the entry as Nazul in Britis h records WilS wrongly m.ide.
al Faizabad, lo delermine the ownership o f the Janmasthan / However, it was indisputable that even in lhe first settlement
Babri Masjid. The records comprised various calegories of of 1861, the land was sh own as N.izul and Lhat s tatus had
revenue documents li ke s urvey, ba11dobasl (sei-tlement), kislttwar never been questi oned (page 2313 para 2328; p.iges 5001-07
khnsra, nbndi, khewn/s, kltnsrn khnlmmis and maps etc., from ,,o paras .J..127-33).
1861 lo 1990-91. They revealed that from the time of the firsl
UNAUTHORIZED CNTERPOLATIONS
Regular Settlement in 1861, the land was s h own as Nazul
IN THE REVENUE RECORDS
(Government) and this had not been dispuled or cha llen ged
by anyone. Professor Grover detected several interpolations/additions
in tJ,c klinsra kishhuar folios in the o rig inal Settlement Report of
The first Regular Settlement Report of Kot Ra m Chandra,
AD 1861, ava ila ble at the Dis tric t Record O ffice, l'aizabad. ,
appended by two maps , was the mos t comprehen ive
In column No. 2, to the origina l reco rd o f 'nbndi /a11111n,t/1n11,
documenl relating to the Janmasthan complex comprising R.ima
the words ·a 111J Jwnn Mnsjid' had been added, so as to read
Janmabhumi. II was prepared afler an o n the spot s urvey and
'abndi Ja11111as//,a,1 n11d /11111a /vlasjid. · ,, ,
'.11easuremenl of the khnsrns relating 10 kis/,/u,ar and abadi, and,
In column No. 3 to the words 'tarn/ 110211/, and munfi had
in ,iccordance wilh lhe erstwhile Nawabi and Mughal practice,
been inse rted.
was duly attested in every respect by the loca l znmi11dars/
NO MENTION or 0A0RI M/\SJID I 137
136 I Tl-IE DATTLE FOR RAMA

In column No. 4 to the word~ ' Snrkar flal1r1d,1r ·
nddr.J •wa I\·:Jrnr 11ll$!'11111 . k, tI1e th icknei.!l n( 1l,ld
. '. TI 1l' 111 l,l'l' 11
. . I ,. di . J ' 11 lt• lt'll(•r NO WJ\QP FOR U/\Ul<I MJ\SJID
the h.inlI wntmg. unl OUL le y m 1c,1ted ,1 dJitinns ,
1 \ llqun lly conclus ive, lhe revenue d ocume nts from 185R-fi l to
WIS: 119-21). . (Cri 11•t•r
199 1 revea led that no Waqf I.inti had ever been associated
Cc,pil-s c,( the s,1mc documents prcpJrt•d the with U.1bri Masjid (Grover 20 15: I 7 1-R4). J\q r er the Ur Muslim
s,111w }'l' l
.w.1ilat>le JI the Tchs il Offic-c de;irly proved lhe ch 1 , . 'r W.iq fs Act of 1936, a s urvey o f Waqf propert y in lhc state was
. . • np•s, done
ix•rhops Junng lhl' prl'('{'(Jmg few dee.ides of the cl 1 conducted b y th e Co mmi ssio n e r o f Waqfs . The UI'
. l n ro1·r rs}'
TI11s w,1s ,ilso confim1t-d b y lhe fact U1al the khrr , • · Government forwarded his Re port, along wi th the list o f Shia
1
~ra ,1slrt111nr
recc,rJs of the SC'CCllh.l "evenue Settle ment o( th Waqfs to the Shia Centra l Boa rd of Waqfs, and o f the Sunni
. . e Yl'.ir 1301
f as/, (AD 1893) did not carry the alterations or add 1·r· . Waqfs to the Sunni Cen tral Board of Waq fs. Each Waqf Boa rd
. ' ions. 111esr
records shll showed the a!'l'J on which B.1bri Ma " d I • was required to publish the Repo rt with its list in the Officia l
. ,. . ~ • mdb~n
constructed .is Sita Ki Raso,, forming a part o f thn J Gazette, unde r subsection (I) o f Section 5. The Repo rt and the
. ' ann,aslhan
comple'I: (v1de Kh.isra No. 163/5). There was no n - lis ts were accordingly published in the UP Gaze lle, dated 26th
. . 1en 1ion of Febru,1 ry I 944. There was n o mention any Waqf fo r Babri
any mosque, nc,r I.ind assigned to it in m11nfi (Grover 2015· 87
~. 120-21, 234-35). · - Masjid. The absence of any mention o( Waqf was regarded a
Most si£llificantly, the map of the Hadbast of village Kot "fatal flaw " in th e case of the pro-Babri parti es b y the
R~ma~~dra, Pargana Haveli, Tehsil and Zilla Faizabad Allahabad High CoUit.
~ f><l_ m 1861 showed only the temple at the J I •
m a signific . a nmast 1an
e,· • ant manner; Babn Masjid was not even indicated
en th(ough the physical structure of the mosque existed on;
part o the plot where on! th J
In th Y e anmasthan temple w as shown
ins" ifiano er related map, the Masjid had been put in a mos;
,gn cant symbol The . d kl
(1937-J8) . • · revise · msra records of 1344-45 Fnsli
reiterated the same "ti
settlements exce . posi on as recorded in the earlier
th
Chabutara ' Ill. d. pt _ at in one of the plots, both Masjid and
recorded Th · ,eating the ternP Ie at Janmasthan, had been
column 'N e mosque had been shown in wnqf under the
ame of the p p
Mahan1 Ragh N th resent ossessor' (Nam Hal Qabiz).
u a Das had b d
of the entire plot Such .. een eclared under-proprietor
the ldli/Sra reco ds a position occurred for the first time in
)Qeo r • Which had b
0..,0-59 and 186] A een regularly prepared since
British Govern~ p~arenUy the change was made by the
H ent 1 n the ft
owever this w a ermath of the 1934 riots .
rev , as not furth fl
enue doeuments . er re ected in other related
available since 1937-38 (Grover 2015: 235).
138 I THE
BA111..E FOR RAMA
NO MENTION OF BABRI MASJID I IJ9

all the th ree parties may utilize the a re t . h
. • a O IV 1l lC1l l ey are
entitled to, by having separate enm, for eg d ·
. . ·· , ress an ingress o f
the peo ple w1lhou_t d is turbing each others rights" (pages 5079_
81 para 4566; Jus llce S.U. Khan pages 284-85).
13 The C?urt clarified that il was the be lief of the Hindus
that the b 1rthpl;ice of Lord Rama was confi·n e d to ti1e are.i
under the ce ntral dome. In Jams hcd1·i Curset - 1·ec r,uracI1and vs,
Soonabai, th e 13om bay High Court had said, " If this is the
The Allahabad High Court be lief o f the _c~mmunity ·:· a secular judge is bound to accept
that belie f - 1t 1s no t for him lo sit in judgement of that belief"
Judgement on the Ramjanmabhurni/ (pages 4996-97 para 4412, 4414). The Allahabad High Court
observed,
Babri Masjid Case
once such belief gets concentrated to a particular point ...it
pa rt.i kcs the nat ure of an essential part of religion
po1rticularly when it relates to a matter which is of pecul iar
On 30th September 2010, the Allahabad High Court delivered significance to., religion. It, therefore, stands on a different
its verdict on the five suits pending before it. TI1e Court decreed footing. Such an essential part of religion is constitutionally
protected under Article 25 (pages 4997-98 para -1-11 5).
th,11 the area covere d by the central dome of the dis puted
structure "being the deity of 13hagwa n Ra m Janmas lhan and The Allahabad High Court was satisfied that the place of
the birthplace o f Lo rd Rama as pe r faith a nd belief of the birth " as believed and worshipped by Hindus" was the area
Hindus," belonged to the plaintiffs (Bhagwan Sri Ram Lalla unde r the cen tral dome (page 4999 para 4418).
Virajman and o the rs; Suit 5). The area w ithin the inner Further, in the outer p remises exis ted the Ram Chnbuta ra,
courtyard belonged to Hindus and Muslim s a s th e two Sita ki R.:isoi, and IJhandar, w hjcl1 had been confirmed by two
communities had used it fo r centuries. The area covered bv maps of the yenrs 1885 and 1950. These s tructures we re
the structures Rama Chabuta ra, Sita ki Rasoi, and 13handar i~ demolis hed o n 6th December 1992. They hnd been possessed
the outer courtyard belonged to the Nirmohi Akh a ra. The a nd man;iged by U1e N irmohi Akha ra, and thjs had not been
open area within lhe outer cour tyard, except tha t mentioned re futed by anyone (pnge 5000 para 442 1; pages 5045--16 paras
above, would be s h ared between the Nirmoh i Akhara and .W92-9J).
plaintiffs (Suit 5) as it had been used by the Hindus to worship The Court a lso he ld that the disputed s tru ctu re was
at bo th p laces. The share of the Muslims wou ld no t be less constructed as a mosque and treated as a mosqu e by Hindus
than one-third o f th e t o t a I a rea of the premis e s , and 1·f a nd Mus lims. But des pite that, Hindus continuo usly entered
n ecessary ' the Y cou Id b e g .iv e n some a rea of th e ou ter and wors h ipped the p lace "since, according to their belief, it
courtyard Th I d I was the place of birth of Lord Rama and Lherefore, could not
· e an t 1e Governme nt had acquired in 1993
s I1ould be provid d t 1 . ,,. ha ve been desecrated so as lo extinguis h in ,1ny ma nne r ... "
e o t 1e parties m s uch a manne r s o th;it
The property in di s pute had a dual cha rac te r; it was the
140 I TIIE DATTLE FOR RAMA THE ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT JUDGEMENT I 1-11

birthplace of Lord Rama and a Swyambhu deity ivh ·ch
I . , I IVOuJd
C(.lntinue so lo ng as Ih e pace cont inu e d. SimuJia
Rama is not extinguished o r otherwise interfered w ith" (pages
Muslims also offered their worship at the sa me s· t neou\ ly
- IC' (~g 5073-74 para 4559). So the continuity of title and po ession of
5000-0 1 paras +423-24; pages 5035-36 para +188; page S0-1 ~ the deities remains unhinde red .
6
~~ i ~~ The day after the judgement was delivered, a s tatement
However, it had not been proved tha t namaaz had w as released by S.ihmat, s igned , among others, by Professors
offe red at the building since 1528. The Court expr= dbeen Romila Thapar, D.N . Jha , Shireen Moos vi , lrfan Habib,
. . . , .,se lhe
view thal namaaz was o ffe red mte rm1tte ntly behv D. M.-ind.-il, Supriya Ve rma, Ja ya Menon, .ind Sita Ram Roy. It
C'l'n I 6(J
and 16th December 1949. }ilwed Husil in, w ho was ., d criticized the Court for accepting thL· claim lh,1t Hindus had
10
the Mu1<1walli of Babri Masjid, and Abdul Ga ffo r \\:hoJ J b<: s ince times immemorial believed that the- B,1bri Mas jid ma rked
. • c1o11rned
10 bl' Imam, .ii no pomt took s te p s to pro lect lhc> b ·id the s ite of R;im.i 's birthp lace and conve rting that inlo an
• UJ 1n1;
"not even a compla int was fil ed by a n yone of lhcm .. ,; arg ument fo r d eciding property e ntit leml'nl. Oy its judgement
appeared lo the Co urt thilt Ja w ed H usain wac; not r the Co urt h;id provided legitim ilcy " to violence ;ind muse.le
. . . rnp1.•r1'· powe r," a nd .:ickno wled ged the demolition o r tht• Oabri M.-isjid
appo mled Mutawa lh ; he s imply e n joyed the grant ,, 1 the
villagesof Shol.ipur and Bhurai pur a nd was calll'<l ··,\ im il..-r./.ir in 1992 "as a n act w hose con..,;equences are to be .iccepted, by
thereof. 1lowever, in the absen ce o f a n y other cl,,,1m,m1 nL lr.insfernng the m.:i in parts o f the mosque to those cl.imouring
for ,I temple to be built " (Sahmat 2010,1: 5-6).
could be lreated J S rle fnc/o Muta wa lli. The m.in.igem,•nt r-•,n.
Continuing lhe camp.iign , in ;111 .irticle in Tire Hi11d11 o n
the rl-sponc;_ibility of a ~luta w a Ui, the pos-~ion of 1, ,iqf wu'~
2nd Octobe r 20 10. Professo r Romi l.i Th.ipa r Jescribed the
als,~ be cla imed by him . s ince as ,1 wor h 1pr1.·r h,· w.1s . •
verdict a "a political 1uJgement" and a " response 10 ,m .ippea l
cnlllled lo po session of wa qf property ~o rl'!rd , nuld h•
by I lindu fa1 lh .inJ belief." By endorsing one point of view,
,1llowed In plni nliffs (Suit 4), who had comt• ~fnn• ti ,.. l, u"
the Courl h;id cre.ited .i pre..-cd cnt th.t i la nd co u ld bL· cJ;iimed
•:in_the c,1p.ici~y of worshippers and not the f"l'N n wh, , r by dccl,1ring 11 the birthplace "of ,1 divine or SL• mi-divinc being
daim po,se~c;1o n of waqf, i.l'., a ~ l utaw.1111 .. (p,1 •t• ~11~.;1 w0r<h1ppc<l by., grou r thilt d efine!- itse lf ilS n com munily ."
para •l'i00-05). i.;
Th• I li~h Co urt <lL'Cl~IC1 n had ",1nnu llcd rL-spect for his tory
. The Court noted thal a pl.ice of " n1,n- l.,J.1m11 .- h u ,. 1 • .1nd "Cd,-. to rerl,,cL' l11story w ith re ligious foi th." Professor
cx1·stcJ ·11 111e s•·11e be fore the con, tructwn of thl· d1 r111, l
1h.Jp.1r rq~rl'lkd th.i i in the s umm;i ry of the ve rdict the re
~lructure The ac. ( . .
. · • coun 1., o W t! li .:irn I-inch ,111d ' "" pl· w,1, no me nhon nt the ".ict o f w,, nlo n d estructio n" o f Babri
! 1
('ffenlli,iler ,llll"ill'ci lo continuo11'1 I lmdu wor-.h1r th•, 1hr
cum ul,1livc <'ffect" f II h f
i\lil j1d. wh1Ch w.,~ "part of o ur culturnl hcril11ge."
J b L1 a t e Jets p enll'U 111 ( n11r1 I, 11 r , l'n,fc -...,r lrf.in I l,1bib in tum, at1,1cked the ".is tonlshing ly
O il I lh.11 C'\'l'n be( J
sl ore I H' co n,;t r uc t wn of tlw d 1·I 111,d onc--.1d,•d " n.1 ture o f the d ecis io n, w hic h w,1s "an abso lule
, rueI urc, Hindus u<l'd I h l ' >;lhm,\ll(ln .. of the de mllliliun of 13.:ibri M,1s jid. The judges
lo be II ~. . . O IVOrs Ip J I !ht• rl,1u· th,\ I Ii, \ 1 f
,1rc1 I I~ ' irlthpl,1cc of R,1m11 (p.-igl.., 'iO:i1V;t,1 f'.lr,t 1:;~ J I II• had lrL•,1tL'U lh1.• 1 ,uc o f I lrmJu foith in the c-x.icl birth-p lace of
• m t er I ie cc-ntral d L-Ord llnma ,is uthe m.im d ecisive po int." They h.id " l.imcnlilbly
for th . Ir • nme w,1c; a plan• o f ,pt'l,.:tl , 1~:111!1, 1n.,
c m t1us ,1nJ hid I0 I failed to m,1kc wha t , ho uld be an elementa ry dis tinctio n
very ri,•hl f. .' ,e lreilll'U m ,1 m ,11111,·r ·· " It, n- tlw
0
,.. worsh11,
· t
1f 1-1 · J
m us of pl.11:e 11( b 1r1 h of I "'' I betw,-en fo ith .-ind p rop,1ganda." The confc rmcnl o f jurldicnl
1-12 I n IR IL\fTI ll n: I{ RA IA TIIE A LI..AIIAIJAD HIC II CO U RT JU DCVM E/\IT I 143

entity on "a supernatural power," Professor Habib org ucd, no t file o suit for possession; ins tead it soug ht a d eclaration
was inconsistc-nt with the country's secular Constitutio n. It o n the stnt·us o f the property.
was vital for the Su pre-me Court to ensure that nU courts below The excavalions uf the AS( ha ve revealC'd uninterrupted
it did thl·ir duty to the l'('ople of India (Prop/e's Drnrocmcy occupa tio n o f the s ile s ince lhc 13th cent ury JJCE. They have
17th Qctc,t>,· r WIO). a lso exposed remnants of the temple on wh ich 13abri Mas jid
O n what grounds can the Ape, Ccll1rt legitima te ly be was e rected .
expc-ctc-d to o\'c-rtum this judgcmc-nt l R;ima has been linked So w h y h as the matte r dragg ed on fo r so lo ng? Can a
with thi~ J.md fmm early 0 11 . TI1e antiquity of the Ra mo Kntlin hand fu I of historians be held accountable for s talling resolulion
has b,--en traCT-d .i~ far back as sixth-fifth century Bet, when o f what is essentially a settled ma tter? Their voluble assertions
.mcient t,,1ll.1ds (nJ.h111111n; ) trans mitted R.1ma's s to ry orally. on 0abri Masjid have all been found to be erroneous; yet the re
Valmild's Ramavan11 ·itself has been d;ited to the fourth-third h as been no public retraction. Are they li,1ble for vitiating social
cc-nturv l'CE. Dy. the fo urth-fifth century CE, the evolution of harmony over this issue? If the nation has to move on, ho nest
Rama ·from epic hc-ro to incarnation of Vishnu to Supreme answers must be found to these questions.
Re;ilit,· had t>een mo re or less completed. By the twelfth For the moment, it's over to the Supreme Court.
crntu~- a temples dedica ted exclusively to Rama had begun
to be built, and texts for the proper worship of the Lord
comr<---d. Q\·er the centuries, Rama's story has been retold
in many ,·emaculars of the country; there have been over three
hundre d retellings according to o ne count. Rama is the
exemplar of moral values for Hindu society and epitomises
its aspirations of artlrn. knma, and above all, d/111rma.
No e,·idence whatsoever has been proffered of continued
Muslim occupation of 13abri Masjid, while the uninterrupted
presence of Hindu devotees has been attested by several
sources. Babri Masjid finds no mention in the revenue records
of the Nawabi and British periods, nor was any Waqf ever
created for its upkeep . No Muslim filed an FIR or complained
of dispossession or obstruction in his alleged use of the Masjid
when the image of Sri Rama was placed under the central
d_ome on 23rd December 1949. From that day worship at the
site has continued unhindered.
The Sunni Central Waqf Board entered litigation on 18th
December 1961, just five days before the twelfth anniversary
of the ~lacement of the image in the Masjid, on which date
any claim would have become time-barred. The Board did
)44 I 11-iE BATTLE FOR RAMA

THE ALLAHABAD HIG H COURT JUDGEMENT I 145

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148 I THE BATTLE FOR RAMA SELECT UIUUOGR/\l'IIY I J.19

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154 I TiiE BATTLE FOR RAMA

5 u braturumyam, Si111jay. 2004. £xplorntio11s i11 Co1111cctcd History r
· • ro111
tlrr Tagus to tire Gn11ges, O xford Unive rsity Press.
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23rd December 1949 75, 144 88, 90-98, 100-01, 104-10, 116-
21 , 125-28, 130, 133-34
Abul Faz! Allarni 1, 13 Ayodlrya Mnlratmya 5, 90, 92-93,
Agastya Samlrita 86, 89 100, 106
Akbar 1, 8-9, 37, 44
Al-Biruni 46 Babri Masjid 2-3, 5, 7, 12, 17, 48,
Ali, Athar 6, 92, 99 51-52, 59-62, 65-66, 71-73, 75,
Ali, Maulvi Amir 57-58 78-79 , 94-9 8, 100- 101, 103,
105, 107, 109, 111 , 11 3, 115-
AH, Mir Rajib 60
16, 119 -23, 126-30, 132-33,
Allahabad High Court 2, 9, 60,
136-39, 142--45
62, 64-66, 69, 73-74, 82, 101,
Babri Masjid Action Committee
105-06, 111, 137, 139--41
(BMAC) 5
Archaeological Survey of India
Babur 4, 11-16, 18, 29, 32, 50,
5, 7, 94, 97-98, 116, 130
53, 67, 70, 91, 100, 11H4
Asgha r, Muhammad 59-62, 113
Bahadur, Beni 44
ASI Report 116, 120-21, 124,
Bahadur, Girdhar 43
128, 130, 132· 35 Bakker, Hans 4, 89-92, 110
Avad/rn vilasa 9 1 Balfour, Surgeon General
Ayodhya 1, J.7, 9-12, 14-15, 17, Edward 30
20, 30, 32-34, 43-45, 49-50, 52- Banaras 34, 41, 44, -t9, 82, 86,
54, 57-58, 70-76, 78-79, 81-83, 89, 94
INDEX I 157
156 I THE BA111.E FOR RAMA

. ,'
Hamilton, Walter 29
Benett w.c. 30 u,et, Joannes d e 19 qanati mosque 126-28
Hanuman G a riti 9 , 10, 33, 49, Lakshmidha ra 108
.d
' e Annette S. 12 Qay:-a,-11 ·1 Tawan'kh 50
Beven g , .25, 53-58
Bhan, Suraj 6, 92, 99, 122 Lal, B.B. 94-95, 97-102, 120
Hanuman Tila 1-2, 43-44
127, 131 Leyd en , Jo hn 11 Ram Chabutara 60, 66, 129-30,
Hemadri Pandit 85
Bhavarllu1 Ram11yana 87 Lime, m o rt.ir, surkhl 125 14 1
Herbert, Thom as 19
Braj 34, 36-37, 39-40 Ram, Chhabile 43
Husain. Kalab 72 M.a danmo han (Temple) 39
H usian, Shah Ghulam 54 Rama Narnm i 23, 59, 64, 86
Camegy, Patrick 30, 43, 57 Maduravijaya 36 Ramacliaritamnnas BO, 83, 86, 87,
(hamier, Col. F.E.A. 69 Malwvibhaslia 85 89, 105
O,..nd ra. Bipin 6, 78 Ibrahim, M uhammad, Inspector M,md a.l D. 10 1-02, 105, 122-23,
o f Waqf 73 Ra m ana nda 86
circular shrine 121, 124-25 12S-29, 131, 143
interpolations/add.ition s in the Ramana nd is (st'Ct) 43, 52
Cunningham, Alexander 32 Ma ra thas 40, 42
ld1asra kishtwar fo lios in the Ramap11rvntapa 11 iya Upa 11isliad
Ma rtin, Robert Montg ome ry 29
o riginal Settlemen t Report of 89
Das, Mahan! Raghubar 65, 67, Ma th u ra 8, 11, 34, 37, 42, 44, 47,
AD 1861 137 Ramaraks lrastot ra o f Bu d h a-
69 49, 5 1, 126, 12S-29
Desai, ZA 114 ka ushika 89
Mau l a n a A b u I- H a sa n ' A li
Jha, D.N. 6, 92, 9S-99, 143 N ad a wi 2, 48 Ramesh, K.V. 103-04, 106-07
Erskine, William 11 Ja isinghp uras 44 n,au/ud 1 Ra111ja11111abl111 111i-/Jnbri Masjid: A
Ja isw a l, Su vira 8 1-fil Men o n , Ja ya 122, 125, 13 1-34, HL,torin11s'R'7'ort lo I/tr Nation
Fasanah-1 /brat SO fannah al-Masltriq wa Mat/a 'an - 143 6-7
Finch, William 17, 142 N ur al-Mashriq 2, 48 Mette lJ, A.F. 58 Ra11ga11atlia Ramayn11nm 87
Fuhrer, Anton 3 jizya 41 mosque a t 5.lm bha l 13 Ra tnagar, Shereen 102, 122-23
Joshi, MC 7, 97 mosque in Pa.n.ipa t 13 Ray, Ne wal 44
Gla:z:ed tiles/ware 120, 128-29 Jud g e m e n t on the M uhammad , K.K. ~ re\'en ue records 136-37, 144
Gobind Dev I Go bind Rai R amja n mabhu mi / Bab r l Mukhl is, Anand R.im 15 Rio ts in Ayodhya • 1912 70
(temple) 8, 39-40 l\.tasjid Case 140 M uro,qa/1-i Kh11srawi 50 Riots of 1934 7 1, 114
Godbole, Madhav 7 Roy, Sita Ram 122
Gopal, 5. 6, 78, 96 Kal.id .:isa 82, 84-85 Nay.u, K. K.K. 75
Goswami, Jiva 92-93 Kampa ru 36 Nevill, 11 R. 32, 58 Sha h, M uha mma d 15, 42, 44,
Govindachandra 104, 107-()9, Kapad - Dwa r collection 44 irmoh.i AUla ra 43, 64, 140, 54
126 14 1
Kautilya 85 Sh a h, Wajid A li 49, 5 1, 53-55,
Gu mghasta Ha/at -i-Ajodhaya Ke ha vd l.'V temple 38
Awadh 52 57, 76
Kha n , Ju st ice S .U . 60, 63, 67, Out:ram , Jame5 SJ, 55 Sharm a, R.S. 6, 79, 82, 92, 99,
135, 14 1 126
Habib, lrfo n 6-7, 52, 107, l lO Pi1mpa Ram.Jyana 87
Krittivasa 34, 87 Shrina thji 39
111, I 15, 122, 127, 129, 143 , Pandit tl.:iri Kisha.n 68
Kumara li>Ll 85 Shua ib, Mau lvi 3-4, I 13
Had,qalr-i Shuhada 49
Kunal, Kisho re 6-7, 5 1, 93, 95, Pill.u llases 94, 96, 100-0 1, 11 8-
Hafizullah 53 Singh, Baghel 77
98, 111 - 12 19, 12 1-23, 126, 130-32
Singh, Sawai Ja i 4()-4 1, 43-45
prana/a 118, 12 1, 124
158 I THE BA,..., ~ FO
'' '-" R RM1A INDEX I 159

,..
Treta Ka lhalcur 7, 109-U

Sita lei fwOi 49-51, 53, 65-66,
inscription 7, 111-12
70, 137-38, 14o-41 Tu lsid as 78, 80, 82, 86-B7
Sridhar• 90 105 '
Tarikh-i-Awadh (Hissa Doyam)

UP District GauttttrS - Faiz.abad
50. 52 (1960) 32
ta~ on pilgrims 42
Tha]<ran, R.C. 122-24
Thapar, Romila 6. 7&-79, 96, 143 Venna, Supriya 122, IJ1-32, 143
Tht Polll icol Abust of His tory: Vishnu-Harl inscription 7
Babri Masjid-RPmjonmabhumi Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHPJ
Dispult - An Analysis by 5
Twtnty-five Historillns 78
Thornton, Edward '29 Waqf n-73, 114, 122, 13a- 39,
Tielfenthaler, Joseph 3, 20, 130, 142, 144
142
Tirtllllkalpa 90 Young, W. 70
I{,() I TI
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\'iii I TI-IE BATTL LIST or- fl..LUST RATIONS I

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T he holiness of Ayodhya and its identity as Rama's

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13esidcs medievnl works in Persian and Urdu, there was

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10 I THE BATTLE FOR BABUR IN AYODHYA I 11

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12 I lliE BATTLE S. Mir Hindu Beg's mosque .-it Silmbhal.

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MOSQUES ASSOCIATED WITH BABUR

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l lari tempi had been us and

Thl' usl' of temple mJte

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16 I nu. BATTU FOR ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 17

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... from annovc (Kaoauj) lo Lacanouw (Lucknow) i,

ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 19

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20 I Tl{£ BATTU: f-oR RAMA ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVUURS I 21

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22 I THE BATnE FOR RAMA ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 23

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L__ 12. Sketd, by Joseph Tieffenthaler.

11. Sketch by Joseph TieffenthaJer.

ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 25

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13· Sketch by Joseph Tieffenlhaler.

14. Sketch by Joseph Tieffenthaler.

ACCO UNTS OF FOREIGN TRAVELLERS I 27

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28 I THE 0AlTLE FOR RAMA ACCOUNTS OF FOREIGN mAVELLERS I 29

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11 is locally affirmed that at the Mahomedan conquest there

Camegy stated that the Janmasthan marked the place

II Ajodhya was then little other than a wilderness, it must at