Muhammad ibn al-Qasim
His military exploits led to the establishment of the Islamic province of Sindh, and the takeover of the region from the Sindhi Brahman dynasty and its ruler, Raja Dahir, who was subsequently decapitated with his head sent to al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf in Basra.[1] The Futuh al-Buldan ('Conquests of the Lands') by al-Baladhuri (d. 892) contains a few pages on the conquest of Sind and Muhammad's person, while biographical information is limited to a passage in a work by al-Ya'qubi (d. 898), a few lines in the history of al-Tabari (d. 839) and scant mention in the Kitab al-Aghani (Book of songs) of Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani.[1] The information in the Chach Nama purportedly derives from accounts by the descendants of the Arab soldiers of the 8th-century conquest, namely qadis (judges) and imams from the Sindi cities of Alor and Bhakar who claimed descent from Muhammad's tribe, the Banu Thaqif.[4] Following their general embrace of Islam in c. 630, members of the Thaqif gradually attained high military and administrative ranks in the nascent Caliphate and played important command and economic roles during and after the early Muslim conquests, particularly in Iraq.[4] The modern historian Nabi Bakhsh Baloch holds that Muhammad most likely grew up partly in Ta'if and then Basra and Wasit, the provincial capital of Iraq founded by al-Hajjaj in 702.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.[27] During Hajjaj's governorship, the Meds of Debal in one of their raids had kidnapped Muslim women travelling from Sri Lanka to Arabia, thus providing grounds to the rising power of the Umayyad Caliphate that enabled them to gain a foothold in the Makran, Balochistan and Sindh regions.[citation needed] The mawali (new non-Arab converts) who were usually allied with Al-Hajjaj's political opponents and thus were frequently forced to participate in battles on the frontier of the Umayyad Caliphate, such as Kabul, Sindh and Transoxania.[11] Al-Hajjaj superintended this campaign from Kufa by maintaining close contact with Muhammad ibn al-Qasim in the form of regular reports for which purpose special messengers were deputed between Basra and Sindh.[30] At the borders of Sindh he was joined by an advance guard and six thousand camel cavalry and later, reinforcements from the governor of Makran were transferred directly to Debal (Daybul), at the mouth of the Indus, by sea along with five manjaniks (catapults).[30] When Muhammad ibn al-Qasim passed through the Makran desert while raising his forces, he had to subdue the restive towns of Fannazbur and Arman Belah (Lasbela), both of which had previously been conquered by the Arabs.[30] Upon securing the aid of Mokah Basayah, "the King of the island of Bet", Muhammad crossed over the river where he was joined by the forces of the Thakore of Bhatta and the western Jats."[32] The military strategy had been outlined by Al-Hajjaj in a letter sent to Muhammad ibn al-Qasim:[33] My ruling is given: Kill anyone belonging to the ahl-i-harb (combatants); arrest their sons and daughters for hostages and imprison them.Whoever does not fight against us...grant them aman (peace and safety) and settle their tribute [amwal] as dhimmah (protected person)...The Arabs' first concern was to facilitate the conquest of Sindh with the fewest casualties while also trying to preserve the economic infrastructure.[35] Among towns and fortresses that were captured through force of arms, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim performed executions of ahl-i-harb (fighting men) as part of his military strategy, whose surviving dependants were enslaved.[36] Meanwhile, the common folk were often pardoned and encouraged to continue working;[35] Al-Hajjaj ordered that this option not be granted to any inhabitant of Debal, yet Muhammad ibn al-Qasim still bestowed it upon certain groups and individuals.[36] Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's success has been partly ascribed to Dahir being an unpopular Hindu king ruling over a Buddhist majority who saw Chach of Alor and his kin as usurpers of the Rai dynasty.[38] Along with this were: After the conquest, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's task was to set up an administrative structure for a stable Muslim state that incorporated a newly conquered alien land, inhabited by non-Muslims.[41] A Muslim officer called an amil was stationed with a troop of cavalry to manage each town on a hereditary basis[41] Everywhere taxes (mal) and tribute (kharaj) were settled and hostages taken — occasionally this also meant the custodians of temples.He also appointed the son of the distinguished general al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra, Yazid, who was once imprisoned and tortured by al-Hajjaj, as the governor of Fars, Kirman, Makran, and Sind; he immediately placed Muhammad in chains.[71] Citations of towns taken either violently or bloodlessly, reading back into Arab Sindh information belonging to a later date and accounts such as those of the forcible circumcision of Brahmins at Debal or Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's consideration of Hindu sentiment in forbidding the slaughter of cows are used as examples for one particular view or the other.[71] Some historians strike a middle ground, saying that Muhammad ibn al-Qasim was torn between the political expediency of making peace with the Hindus and Buddhists; having to call upon non-Muslims to serve under him as part of his mandate to administer newly conquered land; and orthodoxy by refraining from seeking the co-operation of "infidels".[73] This 'seems to be the earliest statement justifying the inclusion of the Hindus in the category of ahl al-dhimma, leading Muhammad to be falsely viewed by many modern Muslims as a paragon of religious tolerance.[75] After the conquest of Sindh, he adopted the Hanafi school of Sharia law which regarded Hindus, Buddhists and Jains as "dhimmis" and "People of the Book", allowing them religious freedom as long as they continued to pay the tax known as "jizya".[76] From Debal, which remained an important port until the 12th century, commercial links with the Persian Gulf and the Middle East intensified as Sindh became the "hinge of the Indian Ocean Trade and overland passway.
Kingdom of Sindh (c. 632– 712 CE)
Maitraka Kingdom
(c.475–c.776 CE)
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim (disambiguation)UmayyadMultandirhamal-HindGovernor of al-SindhAl-Walid IHabib ibn al-MuhallabSaudi Arabiaal-Hajjaj ibn YusufUmayyad CaliphateMuslim conquest of SindSiege of DebalBattle of ArorArabicMuslim conquest of SindhIslamic province of SindhRaja DahirMuslimMuslim rule in South AsiaBanu ThaqifArab tribeArabiaPersiaMuhammad ibn Yusuf al-ThaqafiIslamic ruleMakranBalochistanMuslim conquest of TransoxianaFutuh al-Buldanal-Baladhurial-Ya'qubial-TabariKitab al-AghaniAbu al-Faraj al-IsfahaniChach NamaFrancesco GabrieliMedinanascent Caliphateearly Muslim conquestsBahraynUthman ibn Abi al-AsBharuchAbd al-MalikSecond Muslim Civil WarAbd Allah ibn al-ZubayrAlid revolt of 740Nabi Bakhsh BalochShirazJurjanCaspian SeaIbn al-Ash'athAtiyya ibn Sa'd al-AwfiKhurasanRashidun CaliphateAli ibn Abu TalibBattle of CamelHujr ibn AdipiracySassanidTigrisSri LankanbawarijKathiawarfrontierIndian OceanHajjajSri LankaArab advanceUmayyad consolidationmawaliTransoxaniaRashidunCaliphUmar bin KhattabRegistan DesertThar DesertZunbilsMaitraka KingdomSyrianLasbelaSehwanThakoreHindu religionPunjabArab campaignsBappa RawalGuhila dynastyNagabhataGurjara-PratiharaVikramaditya IIChalukya dynastyAbbasidal-MahdiBuddhistChach of AlorRai dynastysiege enginesMongol bowCaliphal province of SindPANDYASCHOLASTURKSHAHISMaitrakasGURJARAPRATIHARASPALAEMPIRECHALUKYASABBASIDCALIPHATETANG DYNASTYAbbasid CaliphateShariadihqanskharajprogressive taxBrahminsDhimmisManan Ahmed AsifYohanan FriedmannBrahmanabadproselytizationSun Temple of MultanSulaymanQutayba ibn MuslimTransoxianaal-Muhallab ibn Abi SufraHingol National Park