clash of civilisations

the battles between different kings and dynasties were a part of life in the older days.the tamil dynasties were warring among each other though they had a common religion,saivism and a common language.the sri lankan buddhist kings took sides in these wars.there were a lot of wars between the other dynasties of the south where there were differences in religion,between saivism and vaishnavism.
the kingdoms of the north were more closely connected by trade with the regions to the north west in afghanistan and uzbekistan.the distance between delhi and tashkent is smaller than the distance between delhi and chennai.skirmishes and disputes would have often erupted into battles and wars.mahmud of ghazni had grouses against the rulers in the north on account of their having supported his rivals.he attacked and destroyed the lingam in somnath as the religion that he professed prohibited representations of god.after his death,his sons army had hindu soldiers and allies.this was the actual clash of the civilisations in that an invader has a justification to indulge in gruesome bloodshed.if and when the invader settled down to administering the country that he had conquered,he would not have felt it necessary to demolish temples as a matter of policy.if someone of hitlers thinking had existed in these areas,he would have probably tried doing it.when the ruler is faced with a rebellion,this would have been a way to prevent other rebellions by punishing the rebel and destroying a temple.he would have found justification in his religion.in the south there were instances where buddhist monasteries were destroyed.
when the causes for the rebellion were strong,the battle would have developed into a fuller and a longer war.
ghazni was not like alexander,an invader from another continent.he was a person from the immediate neighbourhood.lahore is almost equidistant from delhi and ghazni.his actions were brutal but so were the times.the people overcoming all the gore have understood each other and coexisted over the centuries.attributing all of these complex interactions of a people who have been neighbours from time immemorial to only that of religion is an oversimplification.