Arab Conquest of Sind

The Chachnama
As far as the historical sources on the Arab conquest on Sindh are concerned,
there is a miserable dearth. Even the Arab sources only give brief, scant details
or passing reference to this episode while discussing the rise and expansion of
early Islam. The conquest is compressed into a few pages of the Futuh al
Buldan of Al-Baladhuri. Al-Madaini gives plentiful information on the Arab
conquest of Transoxiana, but Sindh finds little mention in his account.
However, this dearth of the Arab sources on the theme is largely compensated
for by the ChachNama, a Persian text written by Ali Kufi in 1226 CE. It is a
reliable historical work that claims to be the translation of a lost Arab account
dealing with the history of this conquest; it is only to the ChachNama that one
can give the credit of providing detailed information on the Arab invasion of
Sindh.

The ChachNama details on the history of Sindh from 680-718 CE.

Etymologically, the term ChachNama means the story of Chach. He was the
Hindu Brahmin ruler of Sindh. This book was a Persian prose work written in
the city of Uchch, which was the political capital of Sindh in those times.
Presently, it can be located around 70 kilometres north of the port city of
Karachi in Pakistan.

As an important historical source of Muslim India, the ChachNama has not

received its due share of attention. Its partial translation in English was done by
Elliot and Dowson, and a full translation from Persian to English was done in
1900 by Mirza Kalich Beg, the first Sindhi novelist. The first and only edition
of the Persian text appeared in 1939.

The ChachNama has not been given adequate importance since most historians,
like the colonial and the nationalist historians, have seen it only as a narrative
on the advent of early Islam to the Indian subcontinent. However, Ali Kufi’s
claim of the ChachNama being a translation of an 8th century work in Arabic
shows that it can be a repository of other types of information apart from that on
the advent of Islam. In fact, the text indeed gives more information. Scholars
like Yohanan Friedmann, Manan Ahmed Asif etc., who have read and analyzed
it, contend that it has a wide variety of information, and no systematic attempt
has been made to classify and analyse all the available data. After its detailed
examination, they certified the fact that it has relevant information on the
history of Sindh, its government, and politics. Therefore, the scholars who have
read this text realize the dire need to read and understand this medieval source
in entirety, and refrain from seeing it only as a text on the advent of early Islam
and its capture of Sindh.

Narrative of ChachNama

As mentioned before, historians like Friedmann and Ahmed Asif have rejected
the view of seeing it only as a history of conquest of Sindh. Their detailed study
throws light on other aspects as well. Friedmann opines that the text may be
divided into four parts starting from the varied details on the praise of Prophet
Muhammad, the Arab warriors, and the Arab manuscript describing
Muhammad Bin Qasim’s military exploits in Sindh. Further, it describes the
Arab invasion of Sindh.

Starting from king Chach, it gives the intricate details on his successors. It
enumerates the journey of a Brahmin named Chach bin Silaij from being the
chief minister of the king of Sindh to his own rise to power with the queen’s
help after the king’s death. As a king, Chach established a successful state of
Sindh by capturing forts, signing agreements, and winning over both the Buddhist
and Hindu subjects. It was a mixture of his offensive, defensive and tolerant
policies that enabled him to rule over Sindh for a long time. However, his success
as a good ruler was undone by the war of succession between his two sons Dahar
and Daharsia. As the text shows, Dahar came to power, and it was he who
welcomed the Arab rebels, pirates, and warlords to Sindh. This had
raised the ire of the Muslim state of Iraq in the 8th century.

According to Ahmed Asif, this text is divided into three portions. The first one
discusses three intertwined themes of the need of legitimacy for the king, the
good counsel of the advisor and the requirement for creating a justly governed
polity. The second describes the history from the Caliphs to Walid. It talks
about the time of Caliph Umar (c. 634-644 CE) when the Muslim campaigns
were led to Sindh and Hind. It gives intricate details on the governors
dispatched to regions such as Makran, Zabulistan and Qandahar, as also the
rebellious Muslim groups running away to the frontiers. The revolting troops
conspiring against the state in Damascus have also been discussed. It is
mentioned here that in order to fight such groups and assert political control
over the region, the governor of Iraq had sent the young commander named
Muhammad Bin Qasim to Sindh in 711 CE. This is when the regions of
Makran, Dabol or Daybul, Nerun were attacked and taken over. The forces of
Raja Dahar were defeated in a battle fought at the banks of river Indus. After
defeating the king of Sindh, Qasim also occupied the regions of Aror,
Brahmanabad and Multan. This is how Dahar was avenged for supporting the
Arab rebels and pirates against Iraq.
The end narrative discusses the downfall of Qasim at length. As it shows,
Qasim was killed at the orders of the caliph at Baghdad after being accused of
sexual violence by the daughters of Dahar. The last portion of the text revolves
around the themes of good governance, good advisory and the political theory
needed for the creation of a successful polity. This part is a discussion of the
military campaigns of both Chach and Qasim. According to Ahmed Asif, the
text contains speeches on policy and taxation, private conversations between
commanders and their prophecies and dreams. It also discusses the statements
of significant men on political theory and governance.

Source: Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_bin_Qasim).

The penetration of the Arabs in the coastal towns of Sindh in Indian

subcontinent had started as early as 636 CE during the reign of caliph Umar, the
second successor of the Prophet. The pillaging expeditions such as the one in
Thane (near Bombay) in 637 CE continued for a long time. However, such
expeditions were only plundering raids and not conquests. A systematic Arab
conquest happened only in 712 CE during the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-
Walid. It was then that Sindh was incorporated to the Muslim empire.
As mentioned before, along with the aspiration to own Indian riches, the reason
for the conquest of Sindh was the desire of the Arabs to spread Islam. But, the
immediate cause was the Sindhi pirates who had plundered some Arab ships
near the coast of Dabol/Daybul or Karachi. Historical evidences show that these
ships carried gifts sent by the king of Ceylon for the Caliph of Baghdad, and
also, al-Hajjaj, the governor of Iraq. This was sent to establish cordial relations
with Hajjaj. However, the ship was plundered by the pirates near the mouth of
the river Indus, and the Arabs were detained at the port of Dabol. A demand for
restitution was made to Dahar, the king of Sindh, to compensate for the outrage
and punish the offenders. But he refused to do so. He showed his inability to
control the pirates as a reason behind his refusal. Nevertheless, he was not
trusted, and was rather accused by Baghdad of protecting the pirates. So, Hajjaj
took the permission of caliph Walid for attacking Sindh. Thereafter, three
military expeditions, one after the other, were led against the king. It was in the
third expedition by Muhammad Bin Qasim in Debal that Dahar was defeated
and killed. Subsequently, all the neighbouring towns of Nirun, Rewar,
Brahmanabad, Alor and Multan were also captured. This is how the state of
Sindh was finally conquered by the Arabs in 712 CE.

Muhammad Bin Qasim, the Conqueror, and his Expeditions

He was the 17 years old Umayyad general who had led the conquest of Sindh.
This adolescent conqueror followed in the footsteps of Alexander in carrying a
new faith and a new culture into the Indus basin. He has been mentioned in the
ChachNama between the years 709-711 CE when Hajjaj, the governor of Iraq,
had made him the head of an expedition against Sindh. Qasim was the nephew
of Hajjaj, and being an able commander, he was appointed by his uncle as the
head of the frontier district of Makran. He was given a mission of conquest in
the direction of Sindh. Qasim’s expedition against Sindh was prepared with
utmost care. The backbone of his force consisted of 6,000 men of the gund of
Syria, and also various other contingents. Shiraz was the base for planning the
eastward campaign. Under Hajjaj’s orders, Qasim had stayed there for months
concentrating on his troops. From here, he moved eastward with Muhammad
ibn Harun (who died during this march), his predecessor in the command of the
frontier district. As the Arab sources show, the Indus basin was ruled by a king
named Dahar in the 8th century. He was the son and successor of king Chach.
The Arab forces wanted to conquer this basin. According to the ChachNama,
Chach had a vast empire that extended from Makran, Kashmir, etc. But that
ruled by his son was not as expansive, and it only comprised of the lower Indus
region consisting of cities like Brahmanabad, Aror, Debal, etc. Therefore, the
huge empire established by Chach could sustain only till his lifetime. After him,
it was reduced to a small state under king Dahar, especially after the Arab
invasion.
As a general, Qasim reached the delta of the Indus besieging the city of Debal
by land, the additional war materials reached him by sea. Debal was a great city
on the mouth of river Indus that was ruled by a lieutenant of king Dahar. After
this, the forces proceeded upwards in the Indus valley. They reached Nirun
(Near to present-day Hyderabad in Pakistan), and it surrendered peacefully.
After this, many other regions like Sadusan, Sawandri, Basmad, etc. were
captured. Finally, Qasim aimed to tackle Dahar himself by crossing the river
Indus. On his part, Dahar along with his strong army valiantly fought the
invaders for many days. However, he was badly defeated and killed by the Arab
forces. Subsequently, the capital of Brahmanabad, and also Alor were captured.
Moving further northwards towards the eastern bank of the Indus, Qasim aimed
to conquer Multan. The ChachNama mentions that Hajjaj had directed Qasim to
capture Multan as the final goal.

As a matter of principle and policy, even after getting a series of victories in

Sindh, this conquest by Qasim did not blindly lead to en masse conversion to
Islam. Though the Arab conquests in Debal and Multan were followed by
massacre, there were examples like Alor, Nirun, Surast, Sawandri, etc. that saw
negotiations and settlement between the victor and the vanquished. The
principle of tolerance and religious freedom practiced by Qasim in Alor paved
the way for the co-existence of conquering Islam with the religion and culture
of India. As the ChachNama says, Qasim followed a policy of tolerance towards
the defeated population. He allowed religious freedom to both the Brahmanic
and Buddhist people. He preserved the privileges of the priests from both
religions. It shows Qasim to be upholding the Indian social tradition of
privileging the Brahmins. In fact, ChachNama mentions that he used to call the
Brahmins as “good and faithful people”, and after the siege of Brahmanabad
they were reappointed to the same positions as they had held under the Hindu
dynasty. Furthermore, these positions were also made hereditary by him. The
common people were also left free to worship as per their wish, provided they
paid the Arabs the same taxes as they had paid to Raja Dahar. In short, he did
not meddle with the social systems of Sindh, and agreed to maintain peace in
many regions. Such a policy was followed by Qasim under the instructions of
Hajjaj who believed in granting religious freedom to people. Therefore, as the
ChachNama states, Qasim had left Brahmanabad in an orderly and peaceful
condition to proceed northward towards Alor. Such a policy of elasticity and
tolerance was peculiar to Islam during its initial period of conquest, and its
followers practiced it.
Death of Muhammad Bin Qasim

The end of this valiant general was tragic. There are different narratives
regarding his end journey. The ChachNama attributes his demise to the two
virgin daughters of king Dahar named Suryadevi and Palmaldevi who were sent
to the caliph Walid as prisoners of war after the death of their father. As a
revenge of their father’s death, they had accused Qasim of having violated
them. This incurred the wrath of the Caliph who had ordered to kill him
instantaneously. He ordered that wherever he might be, Qasim was to get
himself sown in cow’s skin, and be sent to the Caliph. After his death, when his
body was shown to the two daughters, they revealed the truth of avenging
Qasim for killing their father and destroying their family. Subsequently, even
they were punished with death by the Caliph.

On the other hand, another text titled Futuh ul Buldan of Baladhuri gives an
altogether different reason for the downfall and death of Muhammad Qasim. It
says that Qasim was captured and tortured to death by caliph Sulaiman who had
bitter enmity with Hajjaj, the uncle of Muhammad Bin Qasim.