wanted to "end the worship of idols". Afghanistan In 1842, during the First Anglo-Afghan war, the Governor-General of India Lord Ellenborough ordered his troops to bring the wooden gates from the tomb of Mahmud of Ghazni in Ghazni, Afghanistan back to India; it was believed Mahmud had taken them from Somnath Temple. However, there was nor there is any evidence that Somnath temple or its site ever had any wooden gates. Nor is there any evidence that Mahmud or later conquerors ever took any gates from Prabhas-Patan region as a part of the plunder. This order has been called the Proclamation of the Gates. The order, states Thapar, is best seen as an example of how "colonial intervention in India" was viewed in the 1840s. Gallery See also Bhalka Conversion of non-Islamic places of worship into mosques Kashi Vishwanath Temple Dwarka Notes References Bibliography . Further reading Somnath: The Shrine Eternal - by K M.Munshi Meenakshi Jain (2019), Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples, , ABI Prints & Publishing Kavita Singh (2010), "The Temple's Eternal Return: Swaminarayan Akshardham Complex in Delhi", pp. 73–75,Artibus Asiae, Vol 70, no. 1, academia.edu External links Somnath Temple Official Website Jyotirlingas Hindu temples in Gujarat Gir Somnath district Destroyed temples Shiva temples in Gujarat Māru-Gurjara architecture