Umayyad conquest of Sindh | |||||||||
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Part of Umayyad campaigns in India | |||||||||
The state of Sindh in 700 AD | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Umayyad Caliphate Supported by Jats | Kingdom of Sindh Supported by Hindu Jats [1] | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Muhammad ibn Qasim Bazil or Budail † [2] | Raja Dahir † Jaisiah [2] |
The Umayyad conquest of Sindh took place in 711 AD against the ruling Brahmin dynasty of Sindh and resulted in Sindh being incorporated as a province into the Umayyad Caliphate. The conquest resulted in the overthrow of the last Hindu dynasty of Sindh, the Brahman dynasty, after the death of Raja Dahir. [3]
Although there was no connection between Arabia and Sindh, the war being started was due to events of piracy that plagued the Arabian Sea, at the time the Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate offered Raja Dahir protection and sovereignty if he would help him in quelling the piracy.
Raja Dahir of Sindh had refused to return Arab rebels from Sindh [4] [5] and Meds and others. [6] Med pirates shipping from their bases at Kutch, Debal and Kathiawar [6] during one of their raids had kidnapped Muslim women traveling from Sri Lanka to Arabia, thus providing a casus belli [6] [7] against Sindhi King Dahir. [8] Raja Dahir expressed his inability to help retrieve the hostages and after two expeditions was defeated in Sindh. [9] [10] Al Hajjaj equipped an army built around 6,000 Syrian cavalry and detachments of mawali from Iraq, [11] six thousand camelry, and a baggage train of 3,000 camels under his nephew Muhammad bin Qasim to Sindh. His artillery of five catapults (manj'neeqs) were sent to Debal by sea. [11]
The first recorded invasion was When Uthman became the third Caliph. He sent a person to obtain intelligence on al-Hind. The Caliph then told him to describe them. He said:
“Water is scarce, the fruits are poor, and the robbers are bold; if few troops are sent there they will be slain, if many, they will starve.” ’Usman asked him whether he spoke accurately or hyperbolically [Lit. in rhyme]. He said that he spoke according to his knowledge. The Khalifa abstained from sending any expedition there.
— The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians, Henry Miers Elliot
In the year 659 CE, during the period reign of Ali ibn Abi Talib, another expedition under Haras, the son of Marra-l ’Abdí, was sent to conquer Sindh. Initially, the expedition was victorious; he plundered and killed 1,000 men in a day. However, in 662 CE, his men were slain in Kikan. In the year 664 CE, the Caliph sent another expedition under the leadership of Muhallab son of Abú Safra, which was unsuccessful. Finally al-Hajjaj, then governor of Iraq appointed Muhammad ibn al-Qasim to conquer Sindh with the approval of the Caliph (Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan) and finally succeeded in conquering Sindh. [12]
After conquering Brahmanabad in Sindh, Ibn Qasim co-opted the local Brahman elite, whom he held in esteem, re-appointing them to posts held under the Brahman dynasty and offering honours and awards to their religious leaders and scholars. [13] This arrangement with local Brahman elites resulted in the continued persecution of Buddhists, with Bin Qasim confirming the existing Brahman regulation forbidding them from wearing anything but coarse clothing and requiring them to always walk barefoot accompanied by dogs. [13]
The majority of Sindh's population at the time of the Umayyad invasions was Hindu, but a significant minority adhered to Buddhism as well. [14]
Burjor Avari writes that it's likely that Buddhists collaborated and sided [15] [16] with the Arabs before the invasion even began, [17] [18] something that the primary sources describe as well. [19] [20] [18]
Soviet historian, Yu V. Gankovsky, writes that the Arab invasions were only made successful, because leaders of the Buddhist community of Sindh, despised and opposed the Brahmin ruler, hence sympathizing with the Arab invaders and even helping them in times. [21]
On the other hand, Hindu Brahmin resistance against the Arabs continued for much longer, both in upper Sindh and Multan. [22]
The eastern Hindu Jats supported the Sindhi king, Dahir, against the Arab invaders, whereas the western Jats aligned with Muhammad bin Qasim against Dahir. [1] Having settled the question of the freedom of religion and the social status of the Brahmins, Muhammad bin al-Qasim turned his attention to the Jats and Lohanas. Chronicles such as the Chach Nama , Zainul-Akhbar and Tarikh-i Bayhaqi have recorded battles between Hindu Jats and forces of Muhammad ibn Qasim. [1]
Following his success in Sindh, Muhammad bin Qasim wrote to `the kings of al-Hind (India)' calling upon them to surrender and accept the faith of Islam. [23] He dispatched a force against al-Baylaman (Bhinmal), which is said to have offered submission. The Med people of Surast (Maitraka dynasty of Vallabhi) also made peace. [24] Bin Qasim then sent a cavalry of 10,000 to Kannauj, along with a decree from the Caliph. He went with an army to the prevailing frontier of Kashmir called Panj-Māhīyāt (in Western Punjab). [25] Nothing is known of the Kanauj expedition. The frontier of Kashmir might be what is referred to as al-Kiraj in later records (Kira Kingdom in present-day Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh), [26] which was subdued. [27]
Bin Qasim was recalled in 715 CE and died en route. Al-Baladhuri writes that, upon his departure, the kings of al-Hind had come back to their kingdoms. The period of Caliph Umar II (r. 717–720) was relatively peaceful. Umar invited the kings of "al-Hind" to convert to Islam and become his subjects, in return for which they would continue to remain kings. Hullishah of Sindh and other kings accepted the offer and adopted Arab names. [28]
The Umayyad conquest brought the region into the cosmopolitan network of Islam. Many Sindhi Muslims played an important part during the Islamic Golden Age; including Abu Mashar Sindhi and Abu Raja Sindhi. Famous jurist Abd al-Rahman al-Awza'i is also reported by Al-Dhahabi to be originally from Sindh. [29]
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hakam al-Thaqafi was an Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh in 711. His military exploits led to the establishment of the caliphal province of al-Sind, and the takeover of the region from the Sindhi Brahman dynasty and its ruler, Dahir, who was subsequently decapitated with his head sent to al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf in Basra.
Atiyah ibn Sa'd ibn Junādah al-'Awfi [died 729] was an early Muslim scholar of Islam. He is regarded as a reliable narrator of hadith. An aged supporter of rebels and a Shia notable of the time, a disciple of the companion of Muhammad Jabir ibn Abd Allah al-Ansari and a famous narrator of Hadith, Atiyya ibn Sa'd Awfi was arrested by Muhammad bin Qasim on the orders of Al-Hajjaj and demanded that he curse Ali on the threat of punishment. Atiyya refused to curse Ali and was punished. While Maclean doesn't give the details of the punishment, early historians like Ibn Hajar Al-asqalani and Tabari record that he was flogged by 400 lashes and his head and beard shaved for humiliation and that he fled to Khurasan and returned to Iraq after the ruler had been changed.
The Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place between the 13th and the 18th centuries, establishing the Indo-Muslim period. Earlier Muslim conquests in the subcontinent include the invasions which started in the northwestern subcontinent, especially the Umayyad campaigns during the 8th century. Mahmud of Ghazni, Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, preserved an ideological link to the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate and invaded vast parts of Punjab and Gujarat during the 11th century. After the capture of Lahore and the end of the Ghaznavids, the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor laid the foundation of Muslim rule in India in 1192. In 1202, Bakhtiyar Khalji led the Muslim conquest of Bengal, marking the easternmost expansion of Islam at the time.
Chach Nama, also known as the Fateh nama Sindh, and as Tareekh al-Hind wa a's-Sind, is one of the historical sources for the history of Sindh.
Raja Dahir was the last Hindu ruler of Sindh. A Brahmin ruler, his kingdom was invaded in 711 CE by the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, led by Muhammad bin Qasim, where Dahir died while defending his kingdom. According to the Chachnama, the Umayyad campaign against Dahir was due to a pirate raid off the coast of the Sindhi coast that resulted in gifts to the Umayyad caliph from the king of Serendib being stolen.
Samma is a tribe that has origins in Sindh. The Samma are spread across Pakistan and North-West India. The Sandhai Muslims are Samma who converted to Islam. Offshoots of the main branch of Samma include the Jadejas and Chudasamas of India.
The history of Sindh refers to the history of the modern-day Pakistani province of Sindh, as well as neighboring regions that periodically came under its sway.
Chach was a Hindu Brahmin king of Sindh region of the Indian subcontinent in the mid-7th century AD. Chach expanded the kingdom of Sindh, and his successful efforts to subjugate surrounding monarchies and ethnic groups into an empire covering the entire Indus valley and beyond were recorded in the Chach Nama.
Hyderābād City (Haidarābād), headquarters of the district of Sindh province of Pakistan traces its early history to Neroon, a Sindhi ruler of the area from whom the city derived its previous name, Neroon Kot. Its history dates back to medieval times, when Ganjo Takker, a nearby hilly tract, was used as a place of worship. Lying on the most northern hill of the Ganjo Takker ridge, just east of the river Indus, it is the third largest city in the province and the eighth largest in the country with an expanse over three hillocks part of the most northerly hills of the Ganjo Takker range, 32 miles east of the Indus with which it is connected by various routes leading to Gidu Bandar.
The Umayyad Dynasty came to rule the Caliphate in 661 CE, and during the first half of the 8th century CE, a series of battles took place in the Indian subcontinent between armies of the Umayyad Caliphate and Indian kingdoms situated to the east of the Indus river, subsequent to the Arab conquest of Sindh during 711 – 713 CE.
Aror or Alor or Arorkot is the medieval name of the city of Rohri. Aror once served as the capital of Sindh, originally ruled by the Ror dynasty.
The Battle of Rasil was fought between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Rai kingdom ruled by Raja Rasil in early 644. It was the first encounter of the Rashidun Caliphate in the Indian subcontinent. The exact location of the battle is not known, but historians suggest it was fought on the western bank of the River Indus.
The Habbari were an Arab dynasty that ruled much of Greater Sindh, as a semi-independent emirate from 854 to 1024. Beginning with the rule of 'Umar bin Abdul Aziz al-Habbari in 854 CE, the region became semi-independent from the Abbasid Caliphate in 861, while continuing to nominally pledge allegiance to the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad. The Habbari ascension marked the end of a period of direct rule of Sindh by the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, which had begun in 711 CE.
Mansura, referred to as Brahmanabad or Bahmanabad in later centuries, was the historic capital of the caliphal province of Sindh, during the eighth century under the Umayyad Caliphate and then Abbasid Caliphate from the year 750 AD to 1006 AD. The city was founded as a central garrison by the Umayyad Forces in Sindh, the city transformed into a very vibrant metropolis during the Abbasid Era surpassing the wealth of Multan in the north and Debal in the south. Mansura was the first capital established by the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent after Muhammad bin Qasim seized the Brahmanabad territory. Mansura was built on the shores of the Indus River, it was surrounded by fertile farmland, Ibn Hauqal mentioned the wealthy local merchants who wore Baghdad Costume and were of Sindhi-Arab origins, houses were made of clay, baked bricks and plaster.
Sind was an administrative division of the Umayyad Caliphate and later of the Abbasid Caliphate in post-classical India, from around 711 CE with the Umayyad conquest of Sindh by the Arab military commander Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, to around 854 CE with the emergence of the independent dynasties of the Habbarid Emirate in Sindh proper and the Emirate of Multan in Punjab. The "Governor of Sind" was an official who administered the caliphal province over what are now Sindh, southern Punjab and Makran (Balochistan) in Pakistan.
The Brahmin dynasty, also known as the Chacha dynasty or Silaij dynasty, was a Hindu dynasty that ruled the Sindh region, succeeding the Rai dynasty. Most of the information about its existence comes from the Chach Nama, a historical account of the Chach-Brahmin dynasty.
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Surya Devi, was an Indian Hindu Princess of Sind. She is known for having been the war booty of the Umayyad army commander Muhammad bin Qasim during the Umayyad conquest of Sindh and given along with her sister as slaves to Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik. According to the traditional story, she persuaded the Caliph to execute Muhammad bin Qasim, avenging her parents, and then managed to escape the captivity of the harem by having the Caliph execute her and her sister.
The Sindhi Jats are the Sindhi community, who are the indigenous population of Sindh.
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Sind's majority population followed Hindu traditions but a substantial minority was Buddhist.
The mercantile Sindhi Buddhists largely cooperated with the Muslims both during and after the conquest
There is overwhelming evidence suggesting Buddhist connivance in the Arab conquest of Sindh. They were not averse to the Arab conquest and they cooperated with the invaders.
It is quite likely therefore that some form of Buddhist collaboration with the Arabs may have begun even before the Arab invasion.
Buddhists tended to collaborate to a significantly greater extent and at an earlier date than did Hindus.... Where the primary sources refer to religious affiliation, Buddhist communities (as opposed to individuals) are always (there is no exception) mentioned in terms of collaboration.... Furthermore, Buddhists generally collaborated early in the campaign before the major conquest of Sind had been achieved and even before the conquest of towns in which they were resident and which were held by strong garrisons.
The primary sources indicate that the Buddhists tended to collaborate with the invading Arabs at an early date
At the time of the Arab invasion, the Buddhists repudiated their allegiance to Dahir and decided to cooperate with his enemy.
....the invasion of Sind was all the easier because the leaders of the Buddhist community were in opposition to the Hindu rulers and sympathized with the Arabic [sic] invaders and sometimes even helped them.
While the results of Buddhist collaboration in Sind were short-lived, the history of Hinduism there continued in multiple forms, first with Brahman-led resistance continuing in upper Sind around Multan...
The origin of al - Awza'i is traced from Sind , wherefrom he or his parents came to Syria...