History is a very interesting subject, one can easily brainwash the generations if history is distorted and concocted. Nowadays we are hearing a lot of noise about the historical figures like Mughals. Their misdeeds have been widely accepted and discussed by masses.

And guess what, this has made the so called liberals seculars , Mughal sympathizers and anti-Hindu elements disturbed a lot. One such person is Rajdeep Sardesai, who is a Mughal aficionado in the garb of an alleged journalist. He always try to paint Hindus in bad light, in one such discussion recently hosted on India Today channel, the Anchor said “Mughals destroyed Hindu temples”. To which, the Rajdeep Sardesai retorted “What about Buddhist temples destroyed by Hindu kings?” (at 2.05)

To which, the famous historian True Indology has challenged him to name three Hindu kings who destroyed Buddhist temples. Au contraire, he dare to give him the names of hundreds of Hindu kings who built Buddhist establishments. From their own authentic inscriptions and records.

This myth of Hindu kings destroying Buddhist temples was planted by Marxist propagandists. One of the names they frequently cite is Mihirakula. They claim that the Hindu (Huna) king Mihirakula destroyed Buddhist temples.

This myth is based on very late sources and sectarian texts which were written centuries after the alleged events took place. It is repeated even today by propagandists. But this Mihirakula myth is busted by a contemporary source, an eye witness and an inscription.

A Chinese pilgrim visited Gandhara when Mihirakula was ruling over Gandhara. Mihirakula’s capital was in Gandhara. The Chinese pilgrim did not find any destroyed Buddhist temples. On the contrary, he found that Buddhist temples were flourishing under Mihirakula’s reign.

This is a contemporary source and the pilgrim saw these Buddhist institutions flourishing with his own eyes. This is more credible that Xuanzang reporting myths centuries later.

Remarkably, a copper scroll inscription was discovered from Talaqan, Afghanistan. This inscription was issued by Hephthalite Huns of Mihirakula’s line. It records the donation to a Buddhist stupa by these kings.

Yet, completely disregarding the primary evidence, one propagandist after another repeated the myth that Hephthalites destroyed Buddhism in Gandhara.

This is exactly how fake news is spread. In 1961, Marxist historian Romila Thapar claimed Pushyamitra Sunga destroyed 84,000 Buddhist monasteries. After she was debunked by many scholars, she revised her stand. In 1998, she herself admitted that these stories are “exaggerations”, But her stooges still repeat her words of 1961.

This Torana was donated to Bharhut Stupa by a Shunga vassal named Dhanabhuti. Far from persecuting Buddhists, Shungas patronized Buddhist temples. Disregarding this archaeological evidence, Shungas are accused of destroying Buddhist stupas. The source of these propagandist claims is based on a very late sectarian work called Ashokavadana which was written 300 years after the Shungas.

But, the passage in question actually talks about a grandson of Ashoka named Pushyamitra Maurya, not Shunga. There is no evidence that Shungas ever destroyed Buddhist stupas and this is the opinion of the modern historians like Étienne Lamotte and Eric Seldeslachts.

What they always tell you, that Pushyamitra destroyed Buddhist temples (which is proven fake). However, what they never tell you, that Nalanda university was built by the Hindu king Kumaragupta.

This is based on contemporary inscription and undeniable.

(This article has been compiled from the tweet thread posted by @TrueIndology on April 9, 2023, with minor edits to improve readability and conform to HinduPost style guide)