Temples built between AD 600 and 1200 were richly endowed with land, revenue and other important assets such as ritual objects and precious metal images. Mahmūd of Ghazna, ruler of the Ghaznavid empire, targeted these temples during his raids of the 11th century, and under the Sultans of Delhi, temples quickly declined as centres of wealth, social exchange and artistic production. Pilgrimage centres were maintained because they produced lucrative revenues, but temple estates were appropriated and redistributed. Many buildings in north India fell into ruins, especially those connected with the royal houses conquered by the Sultans.

As the indigenous ruling elite were deprived of wealth and political power by the presence of the Delhi Sultanate, few resources were available for the patronage of new temples. Stone sculpture was particularly affected. The forms and conventions of the medieval period, often slavishly repeated without meaning, became highly stylised, degenerating at last into folk art. In courtly circles, Islamic forms from western Asia provided the main inspiration, but an intermingling of talent, people and styles soon produced a unique Indo-Islamic civilisation.