Long Thread:
Debunking the myth of Rajputs saving Hinduism(from islamic iconoclasts) in Odisha.
In last few days there are some people who are trying to selectively quote few things and create an impression that Rajputs saved Odisha from iconoclastic muslims 1/n

To discuss this specific issue I will analyse various available information from beginning of islamic rule in India till d period of start of Maratha rule in Odisha(from 1193 to 1751). In dis I will cover the question of Rajputs safeguarding hindu cause in Odisha as well. 2/n

Muslims started ruling in India after the fall of Prithviraj Chauhan. It is to the credit of Rajputs and other Indian kingdoms who stopped the islamic armies for centuries. But, finally they lost and by around 1200 they reached near the border of Odisha. 3/n

after d fall of Sena Dynasty they took Bengal into their control. Their next target ws Odisha, d next door neighbour. So, frm around 1200 till around 1570 for almost 370 years muslims from Bengal either as independent rulers or under sultanate of Delhi did multiple invasion s 4/n

of Odisha from northern side. Along with that another muslim kingdom of Jaunpur (eastern UP) also had multiple invasion of Odisha. In the eastern side obviously due to bay of Bengal, there weren't any land invasion. But, there are theories that invaders from 5/n

Bengal sultanate had attacked Odisha through naval routes.
In the west of Odisha, there was sultanate of Malwa and multiple invasions had happened from that side as well. Now, coming to the south there were invasions from multiple muslim dynasties over 6/n

Many centuries. Those kingdoms were Bahamanis, Golkonda , Tughlaq (after capturing Telengana) etc.

In those wars between Odia Hindus and different muslim dynasties most of the times Odias prevailed. From 1200 till 1568, there is only one proven instance of any muslims ruler 7/n

Subjugating Odisha. That was the sudden raid of Firoz saha Tuglaq in 1361 were he is believed to take revenge of earlier defeat of his army by combined armies of Odisha and Bengal. He is said to have captured Odisha looted and destroyed temples and took away 8/n

Huge amount of wealth. However, this had no impact on Odisha as Bhanudeva III threw off the yoke of Feroz almost immediately after he left.
Other than this instance there are many other claims regarding muslims capturing Odisha or part of Odisha but almost 9/n

All have been proven wrong by historians by one way or the other siting various corroborative evidences to prove it otherwise. Anyway, due to continuous rule of successive Odia dynasties it is beyond doubt that islamic dynasties could never get hold of Odisha 10/n

Yes, some successful raids were made inside Odisha with quick retreats.
On the other hand, Odia kings had tremendous achievements in both defensive and offensive terms. Listing down some of them in brief.
1. Rajaraja III stopping Sheran brothers to march into Odisha.
11/n

2. Minister of Anangabhima III, Bishnu defeating muslims and stopping muslims of Bengal.
3. Narasimha I going into offensive to defeat Bengal governer under Delhi sultanate by capturing their provincial capital of Lakhnauti. Southern Bengal coming under Odia rule 12/n

4. Bhanudeva II defeating Giyasuddin Tuglaq and also his son Ulugh Khan( Mohammad bin Tuglak) when he tried to enter Odisha through southern route after capturing Kaketiyas kingdom in south.
5. Bhanudeva III with alliance of Bengal king defeated Firoz Tuglaq (later lost) 13/n

6. Bhanudeva IV even though one of the weakest rulers, still is said to have captured part of Bengal sultanate.
7. Kapilendra defeated muslim kingdoms of Bengal, Jaunpur ,capital of Bahamani kingdom.
8. Purusottam Deva defeated Bahamanis
9. Prataprudra defeated Bengal sultan 14/n

10. Mukundadeva defeating and capturing southern Bengal upto Ganga from Afghans of Bengal.(later he lost)

So, for most of these 370 year period Odias not only defeated Islamic invaders but also at times captured their territory. That is the reason prominent 15/n

Historians like RC Majumdar said below things for Odia kings of eastern ganga dynasty. Other than that the likes of Kulke declares Kapilendra Deva Gajapati to be the most powerful hindu king of his time. Now coming to the question of Hindu cause

When in rest of India iconoclasts were desecrating temples, in Odisha great temples like Konark, Ananta Basudev etc were being built. Other than that kings like Narasimha I was aware of hindu suffering from neighbouring kingdoms and made arrangements for settling refugees coming

From there. For example he built a math named Sadasiva Math to give refugee to fleeing hindus of Bengal. Other than that there are theories that many Rajput rulers fleeing muslim persecution came to Odisha and were given shelter in tribal areas where they worked as feudatories

So, it is beyond doubt that Odia Hindus successfully defended themselves from iconoclasts for almost 4 centuries.

Now, let's dig deep into the topic of Rajputs, saving Hinduism in Odisha. Any unbiased analyst will reject the entire pretext of this claim on the

very first instance on the ground that, this claim is based on the questionable foundation that some Rajput warlords who came to Odisha through the Mughal invasion are being credited to have saved Odia Hindus. We need to know this a fact that it was Mughals who captured Odisha.

Not the Rajputs. Rajputs like Mansingh were just their generals who were working under their order. Mansingh was trustworthy to Akbar and did everything according to the wish of the emperor and betterment of Mughal Empire. The emperor could censure him or any other rajput anytime

No one said Odisha came under Rajput occupation, it was always said Odisha came under Mughal rule. Akbar was relatively liberal because of which there were almost no interference in internal affairs of indeginious kings and Jagannatha temple. But, what this Mughal occupation

later brought in terms of attacks on temple in form of Kesodas, Hashim Khan, Ekram Khan and later Aurangazeb is well known. The Rajputs had literally no say in it. Neither anyone is known to have confronted the emperor for attacks on the Jagannatha temple.

Some people tend to confuse things where Rajputs actually facilitated Mughal rule over Odisha through diplomatic means with them saving temple and Odia Hindus. I will write about Mansingh and his supposedly saving of Odias with some primary sources to contradict some notions

To summarise
1.Odias fought successfully with iconoclasts for almost 370 years and kept them at bay.
2. Only Odias deserve this credit. Absolutely no one else.
3. When it finally fell. It came under Mughal rule and the emperor did what he wised 2 and some Rajputs facilitated it