D.N. Jha, Professor of History, at Delhi University wrote a book on the attitude of beef eating in early India and proved on the basis of religious and historical evidence that the early Indians slaughtered cow on religious occasion and consumed beef. Sacredness of cow evolved with the passage of time as a result of its utility in an agricultural society whereupon people started to venerate it and attached a religious sanctity to it. The book created such an uproar against the author that the government provided a guard to protect him.

The issue of cow slaughter appeared as a religious issue the Saltanat period when the Muslims, who were beefeaters, slaughtered cow for their consumption in their daily life as well as on festival occasions. As political power was in their hand, there was little protest against this practice. However during the rule of Muhammad Tughluq (1325-1351), Ibn Battuta, the North African traveler, who visited India reports about a communal clash on cow slaughter in which the enraged Hindu mob sewed those who were involved in slaughter and burnt them alive. When Babur(1526-1530) conquered India and, in spite of his short rule, realized the importance and sacredness of cow in the Indian society, instructed his son Humayun in his testament that: ”It is incumbent that religious bigotries should be wiped off the table of heart, and justice meted out to each religion according to its own tenets. Specially, abstain from sacrifice of cow as this would tend to win the hearts of the people of Hindustan.”

Akbar (1556-1605), following his liberal religious policy not only exempted the Hindus from Jizya but also prohibited slaughter of cow in order not to injure religious feelings of his subject. However, those elements that opposed Akbar’s religious policy of toleration made attempt to assert the Muslim domination by violating Hindu beliefs. Ahmad Sirhindi was one of them. Opposing Akbar and his reforms he declared that sacrifice of cow in India was an important pillar of Shariat and the Muslim were obliged to perform it. In this way he wanted to assert the Muslim domination over the Hindus by intervening religion into politics. Though the majority of Muslim remained aloof from his exhortation but his teachings influenced minority of extremists who continued their efforts to put it in practice.

Though Jahangir(1605-1627) followed his father’s liberal policy but in one case he tried to appease the feelings of orthodox elements at his court. After the conquest of Kangrah when he visited the place according to him: “On the 24^th of the month I went to pay a visit to the fortress, and I gave orders that the kazi, the Chief Justice, and other learned in the law of Islam, should accompany me and perform the ceremonies required by our religion. After passing over half a kos, we mounted to the fort, and then by the grace of God prayers were said, the khutba was read, a cow was killed, and other things were done…”

Shivaji who fought against the Mughals, after achieving independence, he is described as proclaiming: “ We are Hindus and the rightful lords of the realm. It is not proper for us to witness cow slaughter and the oppressions of Brahmans.” Thus,  cow no longer remained a religious but also became a political issue. During the eighteenth century when the power of the Mughals declined, slaughter of cow continued in dominated Muslim areas but where they were in minority they refrained to do it. During 1857,when the war was going on against the British, Bahadur Shah Zafar(1837-1858) to keep the unity of the Hindus and Muslim issued a proclamation banning slaughter of cow. However, during the British rule the practice of slaughter of cow assumed officially as they were beefeaters and the Muslim under the protection of government continued the practice of sacrificing it.

In the late nineteenth century when there were reform movements in the Hindu society as well as to search roots for an identity, cow emerged as a symbol and cow protection societies were organized on large scale. According D.N.Jha: cow became a tool of mass political mobilization when the organized Hindu cow protection movement beginning with the Sikh Kuka(or Namdhari)sect in the Punjab around 1870 and later strengthened by the foundation of the first Gorakhshini Sabha in in 1882 by Dayannada Saraswati made this animal the symbol to unite a wide ranging people and challenging the Muslim practice of its slaughter.

Since then, on the issue of slaughter of cow a number of communal riots erupted which resulted in large number of casualties on both sides. Jha points out that the major riots took place in 1880sand 1890s. In 1893, in Azamgarh district there was a communal riot on slaughter of cow and more than one hindered people were killed in different parts of country. In 1912-13,Ayudhya witness the bloody riots and in 1917, Shahabad was affected by communal clashes. So, by that time, cow had become the symbol of the Hindu identity and assumed the status of ‘gao mata’ (cow mother), protection of mother became a religious duty of the Hindus .On the other hand, the Muslim asserted their religious right to sacrifice cow. Especially on ‘Bqr d’, the second important festival after ‘Id al Fitr.