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Umayyad conquest of Sindh
Part of Umayyad campaigns in India
The state of Sindh in 700 AD
Date 711 AD Location Sindh and Multan Result Umayyad victory Territorial changes Sindh becomes a caliphal province
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate	Kingdom of Sindh Supported by Karkota dynasty Kiraj Or kurij kingdom Jats
Commanders and leaders
Muhammad ibn Qasim Bazil or Budail †	Raja Dahir † Jaisiah  Candrapida Drohar

The Umayyad conquest of Sindh took place in 711 AD 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 Brahmin dynasty, after the death of Raja Dahir.

Background

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 and Meds and others. Med pirates shipping from their bases at Kutch, Debal and Kathiawar during one of their raids had kidnapped Muslim women traveling from Sri Lanka to Arabia, thus providing a casus belli against Sindhi King Dahir. Raja Dahir expressed his inability to help retrieve the hostages and after two expeditions was defeated in Sindh. Al Hajjaj equipped an army built around 6,000 Syrian cavalry and detachments of mawali from Iraq, 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.

Invasion

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 . 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.

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. 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.

Hindu and Buddhist response

The majority of Sindh's population at the time of the Umayyad invasions was Hindu, but a significant minority adhered to Buddhism as well.

Burjor Avari writes that it's likely that Buddhists collaborated and sided with the Arabs before the invasion even began, something that the primary sources describe as well.

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.

On the other hand, Hindu Brahmin resistance against the Arabs continued for much longer, both in upper Sindh and Multan.

The eastern Hindu Jats supported the Sindhi king, Dahir, against the Arab invaders, whereas the western Jats aligned with Muhammad bin Qasim against Dahir. 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.

Aftermath

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. 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. 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). 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), which was subdued.

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.

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.

References

1. Wani, Muhammad Ashraf; Wani, Aman Ashraf (2023-02-22). The Making of Early Kashmir: Intercultural Networks and Identity Formation. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-83655-4.
2. Chachnamah An Ancient History Of Sindh || Australian Islamic Library.
3. ^ Vijaya Ramaswamy, ed. (2017). Migrations in Medieval and Early Colonial India. Routledge. ISBN 9781351558242. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
4. ^ Kalichbeg (1900). "The Chachnamah An Ancient History Of Sindh". p. 71.
5. Ahmed Asif, Manan (September 19, 2016). A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674660113.
6. Fredunbeg, Mirza Kalichbeg, "The Chachnama: An Ancient History of Sind", pp57
7. El Hareir & M'Baye 2011, pp. 604–605
8. ^ Wink (2002), pg.164
9. Gier, Nicholas F. (May 2006). From Mongols to Mughals: Religious Violence in India 9th-18th Centuries. Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting American Academy of Religion. Gonzaga University. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012.
10. Berzin, Alexander. "The Historical Interaction between the Buddhist and Islamic Cultures before the Mongol Empire: First Muslim Incursion into the Indian Subcontinent". Study Buddhism. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
11. al-Balādhurī 1924, p. 216
12. Fredunbeg, Mirza Kalichbeg, "The Chachnama: An Ancient History of Sind", pp69
13. ^ Wink (2004) pg 201–205
14. "Page:HMElliotHistVol1.djvu/152 - Wikisource, the free online library". en.wikisource.org. p. 118. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
15. ^ Moosvi, Shireen (2011). "The Medieval State and Caste". Social Scientist. 39 (7/8): 3–8. JSTOR 41289417.
16. Malik, Jamal (October 31, 2008). Islam in South Asia: A Short History. BRILL. p. 40. ISBN 9789047441816. Retrieved September 8, 2023. Sind's majority population followed Hindu traditions but a substantial minority was Buddhist.
17. Nizam, Muhammad Huzaifa (January 15, 2023). "HOW THE INDUS VALLEY FED ISLAM'S GOLDEN AGE". DAWN. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023. The mercantile Sindhi Buddhists largely cooperated with the Muslims both during and after the conquest
18. Jabewal, Jagjit Singh (November 1, 2004). "The Arab conquest of Sindh and Ismaili missionary work". The Milli Gazette. Archived from the original on September 8, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023. 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.
19. Avari, Burjor (2013). Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A History of Muslim Power and Presence in the Indian Subcontinent. Routledge. p. 22. ISBN 9780415580618. Retrieved September 8, 2023. It is quite likely therefore that some form of Buddhist collaboration with the Arabs may have begun even before the Arab invasion.
20. ^ Maclean, Derryl N. (December 1, 1989). Religion And Society In Arab Sind. E.J. Brill. pp. 121–122. ISBN 9789004085510. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2023. 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.
21. Sarao, K.T.S. (October 2017). "Buddhist-Muslim Encounter in Sind During the Eighth Century". Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute. 77. JSTOR: 77. JSTOR 26609161. Retrieved September 8, 2023. The primary sources indicate that the Buddhists tended to collaborate with the invading Arabs at an early date
22. Siddiqi, Iqtidar Husain (2010). Indo-Persian Historiography Up to the Thirteenth Century. Primus Books. p. 34. ISBN 9788190891806. Retrieved September 8, 2023. At the time of the Arab invasion, the Buddhists repudiated their allegiance to Dahir and decided to cooperate with his enemy.
23. Gankovsky, Yu. V.; Gavrilov, Igor (1973). "The Peoples of Pakistan: An Ethnic History". The Journal of Asian Studies. 32 (2). Nauka Publishing House: 116–117. doi:10.2307/2052387. JSTOR 2052387. Retrieved September 8, 2023. ....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 invaders and sometimes even helped them.
24. Hiltebeitel, Alf (May 1999). Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi Among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits. University of Chicago Press. p. 281. ISBN 9780226340500. Retrieved September 8, 2023. 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...
25. Wink 2002, p. 206: "And Al-Qasim wrote letters `to the kings of Hind (bi-mulūk-i-hind) calling upon them all to surrender and accept the faith of Islam (bi-muṭāwa`at-o-islām)'. Ten thousand-strong cavalries were sent to Kannauj from Multan, with a decree of the caliph, inviting the people `to share in the blessings of Islam, to submit and do homage and pay tribute'."
26. Al-Baladhuri 1924, p. 223.
27. Wink 2002, p. 206.
28. Tripathi 1989, p. 218.
29. Blankinship 1994, p. 132.
30. Wink 2002, p. 207.
31. The Voice of Islam. Jamiyat-ul-Falah. 1967. p. 96. The origin of al - Awza'i is traced from Sind, wherefrom he or his parents came to Syria...

Sources

• al-Balādhurī (1924). The Origins of the Islamic State. Vol. Part II. Translated by Murgotten, Francis Clark. New York: Columbia University. OCLC 6396175.
• Al-Baladhuri (1924). The Origins of the Islamic State. Vol. Part II. Translated by Murgotten, Francis Clark. New York: Columbia University. OCLC 6396175.
• Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1994). The End of the Jihad State: The Reign of Hisham Ibn 'Abd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. Albany, New York: SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-1827-7.
• El Hareir, Idris; M'Baye, Ravene, eds. (2011). The Spread of Islam Throughout the World (PDF). The Different Aspects of Islamic Culture. Vol. Three. UNESCO Publishing. ISBN 978-92-3-104153-2.
• Tripathi, Rama Shankar (1989), History of Kanauj: To the Moslem Conquest, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-0404-3
• Wink, André (2002) , Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World (Third ed.), Brill, ISBN 978-0391041738

• Sind (caliphal province)
• Invasions by the Umayyad Caliphate
• 8th-century conflicts
• 8th century in the Umayyad Caliphate