भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

profusely. Not before did Sultan Mahmud completely put down all
resistance, could he ever force his way right into the innermost chamber of
the temple and break the idol of Somnath with his own hands. In order to
celebrate this fanatical act, he took for himself the title, ‘Butshikan’ —
Iconoclast!
Martyrdom of fifty thousand brave Hindu Soldiers
372. Even Muslim historians write that at least fifty thousand Hindus fell
fighting in the defence of their temple. Had someone of these fifty thousand
Hindus said, “I am willing to be a Muslim”, he would have been spared by
the Muslims, because it was one of their tactics in the religious war. But
scorning such a base and defiled life, the Hindu volunteer force courted
martyrdom; not one, not even a thousand, but fifty thousand of them
sacrificed their precious lives on the altar of this holy battle!
373. While eulogizing an ancient Roman hero, Horatius, who fought with
the enemy on a similar occasion, an English poet writes:
Thus outspake brave Horatius
the Captain of the gate,
“To every man upon this earth
death cometh soon or late,
And how can a man die better than
by facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers and
the temple of his Gods?”
374. Which Hindu will be reluctant to shed his grateful tears for these fifty
thousand martyrs, who died defending their religion and temples with the
same fervour as is expressed in this verse?
375. But the most disgusting fact is that while narrating this invasion of
Mahmud on Somnath, not only the foreign historians but many Hindu
historians, ungrateful as they too are, have mocked at the simple faith of the
priesthood and other Hindu population of the place, and have not uttered a
single word in praise of those Hindu warriors who made such a huge
sacrifice, ‘facing fearful odds, for the temple of their Gods’! If the
wiseacres are not wise enough to appraise the jewels properly, can it be said
that the fault lies with those jewels?
376. Even if it be neccesary to condemn the blind faith of those Hindus, yet
those who do so, should also remember that, albeit blind, the Hindu belief in
the mysterious divine power of their Gods was not a diabolic, fanatic,