Chapter 4
Religious Persecution
Beyond temple destruction — the systematic, documented campaign of religious oppression that touched every aspect of Hindu life under Sikandar Lodi's rule.
Beyond temple destruction — the systematic, documented campaign of religious oppression that touched every aspect of Hindu life under Sikandar Lodi's rule.
Perhaps nothing illustrates the severity of Sikandar Lodi's religious intolerance more than a single incident documented in multiple historical sources: the execution of an innocent Brahmin for simply expressing his faith.
According to the Tarikh-i-Daudi and the Waqi'at-i-Mushtaqa, a Bengali Brahmin scholar was brought before the Sultan. When questioned about his religious beliefs, the Brahmin stated that both Hinduism and Islam were equally valid paths to God — a statement of pluralistic tolerance.
This declaration enraged the ulama (Islamic scholars) at Sikandar Lodi's court. They demanded that the Brahmin be punished for what they considered blasphemy — the suggestion that Islam was not the sole path to truth. Under their pressure, Sikandar Lodi agreed to have the Brahmin executed.
A man was killed by the state for saying that his religion was as true as the ruler's religion. Not for insulting Islam. Not for treason. Not for any crime. For the simple act of expressing religious equality. This is not an allegation by Hindu nationalists — this is recorded by Muslim chroniclers who considered the execution a virtuous act. The Brahmin's only "crime" was pluralism.
Sikandar Lodi reimposed two devastating financial instruments designed to punish non-Muslim existence and practice:
The Jizya was a poll-tax levied specifically on non-Muslims. It was historically framed as a tax for "protection" — but in reality, it was protection from the state itself. Hindus paid this tax simply for the right to exist as non-Muslims in their own land.
Under Sikandar Lodi, the Jizya was reimposed with vigor. There is no historical record of him exempting any Hindu community from this tax. The financial burden was substantial, particularly for the poor, and served as a constant reminder of their second-class status.
In addition to the Jizya, Sikandar Lodi imposed a pilgrim tax on Hindus visiting their own sacred sites. This meant Hindus were:
This was a comprehensive economic program designed to make Hindu religious practice financially unsustainable.
Sikandar Lodi's persecution extended into the most intimate aspects of Hindu religious and daily life. These are documented restrictions from primary sources.
At Mathura — one of the most sacred sites for ritual bathing — Hindus were banned from bathing in the Yamuna river. Sacred ghats that had served pilgrims for centuries were blocked off with mosques and bazaars.
Source: Tarikh-i-Daudi
The traditional Hindu practice of shaving heads and beards as part of religious observances was prohibited. Barbers were ordered not to perform these services for Hindus carrying out religious rites.
Source: Tarikh-i-Daudi
Non-Muslim religious processions were banned throughout the sultanate. Hindu festivals, public worship, and community religious gatherings were suppressed and prohibited by state decree.
Source: Tarikh-i-Ferishta
Hindus were forbidden from constructing new temples throughout Sikandar Lodi's domain. This meant that temples destroyed could never be rebuilt — ensuring permanent erasure of Hindu sacred architecture.
Source: Multiple chronicles
Sharia courts were established even in small villages, imposing Islamic law on a majority Hindu population. This was not limited to Muslim dispute resolution — it enforced Islamic legal standards on all subjects.
Source: Tarikh-i-Daudi; Tarikh-i-Ferishta
The sultanate was transformed into what historians describe as a theocratic state, where Islamic religious law governed all aspects of public life — effectively making Hindu existence within the state a merely tolerated condition.
Source: Multiple historical analyses
Sikandar Lodi's reign has been described by historians as a period where the state "officially imposed Islam on Hindus and other non-believers." While the exact mechanisms and scale of forced conversions are debated among historians, several accounts document conversion campaigns:
Even if direct forced conversion by sword was not the primary mechanism, the systematic creation of conditions that made Hindu existence intolerable — what modern scholars might call "structural coercion" — served the same purpose.
Forced conversion is not always at sword-point. When a state destroys your temples, bans your rituals, taxes your faith, executes your scholars for expressing their beliefs, and makes Islamic law the governing system for all — it creates conditions where conversion becomes the rational survival strategy. This is coercion through state power, and it is no less "forced" than direct physical compulsion.
One of the most frequently cited facts about Sikandar Lodi is that his mother was Hindu — the daughter of a goldsmith. Textbooks present this as a humanizing detail, suggesting he might have been sympathetic to Hindus.
But multiple historians have suggested the opposite interpretation: that his Hindu heritage may have actually driven his extreme zealotry. In a court where legitimacy depended on Islamic credentials, a ruler with a Hindu mother needed to prove his faith more aggressively than others. His persecution of Hindus may have been partly motivated by the need to overcompensate for his mixed heritage — a psychological dynamic documented in various historical contexts.
As one historical analysis notes: "Sikandar Lodi's aggressive religious policies might have been an effort to assert his Islamic credentials, partly due to his mother being Hindu." His was not the tolerance of someone who understood both worlds — it was the zealotry of someone who needed to prove he belonged to one.
Even among medieval Islamic rulers of India — who as a group are documented for various acts of temple destruction — Sikandar Lodi stands out for the comprehensiveness of his persecution.
While other rulers destroyed temples as part of specific military campaigns, Sikandar Lodi's approach was total and systematic:
His policies were, as one historian notes, "more extreme than those of many other 15th-century Delhi Sultans" — a striking statement given the general record of the Sultanate period.