International Journal of History

Mahmud of Ghazni, an Afgan King, is primarily remembered in history owing to his numerous raids on India. Most prominent of these being the raid on Somnath temple in 1025-1026 A.D. His historians vividly describe the levitating Shiva-lingam of the Somnath Temple which was suspended in air by magnets in roof and walls of the temple.We argue on basis of historical evidence that the Shiva-lingam was made of iron-nickel meteorite fragment. Further as regarding its levitation, a law of modern magnetism known as Earnshaw’s theorem prohibits the stable levitation of one magnet by other magnets. However it can be circumvented by use of diamagnetic materials like bismuth. We hypothesise on basis of historical accounts that at the ancient Somnath temple, diamagnetism using bismuth was used to levitate the iron-nickel meteorite Shiva-lingam. Metallurgy in ancient India was well advanced for such advanced experimentation.