Mahmad. Ghazni who plundered India 17 times (1107 to 1027)

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Ferocious Md. Ghazni who raided India17 times.khudi.pk

Killing among royal members of Muslim rulers was a common feature centuries ago and treason, conceit, betrayal, back stabbings, etc., plagued them.  Muslim rulers of India were no exception to this age-old tradition. Protesters were slaughtered and women, harshly treated and  taken as slaves, invariably, the punishment was severe. Under both  Muslim and Mughal rulers, in north and northern western regions, Indian temples and other places of worship were targeted and looted systematically for their vast treasures.

Md. Ghazni, the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire  invaded India  more than 17 times between 1101 and 1027 with an intention to plunder treasure-laden temples; he conquered  Sindh and Multan. In 1025 AD he looted and plundered  Somnath and other temples  - the worst onslaught ever undertaken by a ruler. With the plundered wealth, he expanded the kingdom and  built palatial palaces and led a luxurious life.

Mahmad, (born November 01 in 971 AD), son of Subuktin ascended the throne at the age of 27 and took a vow to invade India every year. The greatest of the Ghaznavids  ruled between 998 and 1030, expelled the people of other faiths from Gandhara, made no fewer than 17 raids into northwestern India. Starting from 1000 A.D, he raided the border areas then Jaipal in 1001,  Multan in 1006 later Ananadpal and defeated the Hindu king, plundered and looted Nagarcot in 1009. During his mindless rampage looting and destruction of temples  in Mathura 1018, Kanuj, Kalinjar in 1919 and  at treasures.  At last he looted Somnath temple in 1025 and it was something like Eldorado; he amassed mind-boggling treasures one can ever imagine.

 Looting was followed in places  like Maheshwar, Jwalamukhi, Narunkot and Dwarka. During the period of Mahmud's aggressive  invasion, people  belonging to other faiths fled from Sindh to escape  religious conversion and "sectarian violence.''

Somnath temple, famous for its valuable treasures and beautiful ornamented shrines, had about one  thousand priests to serve
 

Present day Somnath temple, Gujarat.simplyoffbeat.com

the temple and carry out pooja rituals and protocols. Hundreds of dancers and singers played before its gate. There was a famous Linga - (Sanskrit: lingam, meaning "mark", "sign", or "inference" is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples. In traditional Indian society, the linga is rather seen as a phallic symbol which represents the potent energy which is manifest in the cosmos) Shiva himself. - a crude pillar stone, adorned with  most valuable precious  stones. like stars, which decorated the shrine. Gazni in 1025 AD took away twenty million dirhams-worth of gold and silver. The Shiva Lingam yielded gold ornaments and precious stones and in the ensuing mayhem and raid, more than fifty thousand innocent people were killed, defending the country and temple. The biggest slaughters took place during the raids of Mahmud Ghaznavi (ca. 1000 CE); later during the actual conquest of North India by Mohammed Ghori and his lieutenants (1192 ff.); and under the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526).”

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This second battle at Tarain lasted all day,  with waves after waves of well-trained horsemen attacked the weary Rajputs.  Eventually, the mighty army of Prithviraj succumbed to the superior tactics of the Arabian horsemen.  Govinda-raja was slain and his body could be recognized only because of its missing teeth.  Prithviraj was taken prisoner and then executed.  Most of the Rajput women jumped into their own funeral pyres and the brave soldiers fought on till they were killed in the battlefield. 
Ref:
Elliot, Sir Henry Miers (1952). The history of India, as told by its own historians: the Muhammadan period, Volume 11. Elibron.com. p. 98.
Carl Brockelmann, Moshe Perlmann and Joel Carmichael, History of the Islamic Peoples: With a Review of Events, 1939-1947, (G.P. Putnam's sons, 1947), 169.  – via Questia (subscription required)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmud_of_Ghazni