In AD 632, after the death of Muhammad, the Arab Empire was limited only till Arabian Peninsula. The next four Successors of Muhammad (Rashidun Caliphate) rapidly expanded the Arab Empire.
Astonishing as these victories of Islamic armies were, equally amazing was the ease and rapidity with which people of different creeds and races were assimilated within the Islamic fold. To some, Islam did a job of liberator but for others it was forcibly thrust upon. In the span of 35 years Syrians, Persians, Berbers, Turks and others - all were rapidly Islamized and their language and culture Arabicised.
The same Islamic armies, however, had to struggle
for 69 long years to make their first effective breach in the borders of India.
In the next three centuries, they pushed forward in several provinces of
Northern and Western India. But at the end of it all, India was far from being
conquered militarily or assimilated culturally. The Arab invasion of India ended
in a more or less total failure.
The credit for it goes to the dynasties like Rai’s of Sindh, Shahis of Kabul and brave kings like Lalitaditya. These sons of soil put up a stiff resistance for nearly 500 years and allowed the rest of India to blossom.
The credit for it goes to the dynasties like Rai’s of Sindh, Shahis of Kabul and brave kings like Lalitaditya. These sons of soil put up a stiff resistance for nearly 500 years and allowed the rest of India to blossom.
The
Rai Dynasty was a Hindu dynasty of Sindh-Baluchistan .The influence of the Rai empire
extended from Kashmir in the
east, Makran and Debal (Karachi) port in
the west, Surat port in
south, Kandahar, Sistan, Suleyman, Ferdan and Kikanan hills in the
north, ruling an area of over 600,000 square miles.
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| Expanse of Sindh dynasty Circa.630 AD |
Unfortunately the history of the Rai dynasty
is entirely based upon Muslim chronicles such as the Chachnama and the Shahnameh, thereby
dating them to about the 5th century. Much of the history in these chronicles
degrades these dynasties and Hindu religion. But many of the important fact are
also mentioned which give a great deal of insight of these times.
Rout of 1st Caliphate (Rashidun):(632AD-661AD):
After the Arabs defeated the Sassanid allies of Persia (641 AD), they prepared for the Islamic conquest of
the Indian Subcontinent, an area where Buddhism and Hinduism flourished.
Chach of Alor
Chach of Alor came to the throne of Rai dynasty
during this time (c. 622-AD) He was Brahmin Chamberlain and Secretary to
Rai Sahasi the Second, of the Rai Dynasty .After the death of Rai Sahasi, he married the queen and through her he
took power.
The first Encounter: Failed naval expedition:
- The first against Thana on the coast of Maharashtra ,
- The second against Broach on the coast of Gujarat and
- Third Debal (karachi)in Sindh
All the three were repulsed
.and the leader of the Arab army, Mughairah, was defeated and killed in the
venture.
Battle of Rasil
The Battle of Rasil was fought between the Rai Kingdom of Sindh and Rashidun Caliphate in early 644. It
was first encounter (according to Chachnama) of Rashidun Caliphate in the Indian subcontinent. The exact
location of Battle is not known but historians suggest it was fought at the
western bank of River Indus.
The Caliph is said to have defeated the Chach of
Alor in battle of Battle of Rasil. He annexed Makran and did not venture
further into Sindh. The reason for being not venturing in the Sindh was said to
be aggressiveness of Chach Rai and the land being described as barren and
waste, former being a more apt reason.
Other failed Attempts by Caliphate.
The fourth Caliph, Ali (AD 656-661), sent an expedition by land in AD 660. But the leader of this expedition and those who were with him, saving a few, were slain in the land of Kikan in the year AD 662Hence the 1st Caliphate movement ended in AD 661 without being able to conquer Sindh.
In 661 AD after a civil war, Umayyad caliphate succeeded the 1st Caliphate. Muawiyah, the succeeding Caliph (AD 661-680), sent as many as five expeditions by land. All of them were repulsed by Rai Chach of Alor with great slaughter
Chach of Alor breathed his last in AD 671. Even
today he is revered in the lands of Sindh as the greatest son of soil
Muawiyah sent the last expeditions in which
succeeded in occupying Makran in AD 680. Chandra, brother of Chach was ruling
Sindh at this time.
Raja Dahir and Muhammad bin Qasim:
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| Raja Dahir |
It was at the beginning of the 8th century and India was flourishing. Debal (Karachi) was the one nerve centre of the silk route on Arabian Sea. The interest of the Arabs grew in Sindh and Debal in particular.
An expedition was dispatched byHajjaj,
the governor of Iraq to take Debal in AD 708. This twin expedition met with
stronger than expected resistance.Its two successive commanders, Ubaidullah and
Budail, were killed and the Arab army was routed and slaughtered. Caliph,
seeing a huge loss, was reluctant to send any further expedition.
This story is declared highly unreliable by western scholars and Indian scholars because it was written by uncle of Muhammad bin Qasim.
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| Muhammad bin Qasim |
The
majority of populace of Sindh was Buddhist and resented Hindu rule.
This resentment continued in the reign of
Raja Dahir as well and many Buddhist locals and their leaders opposed him. When
Muhammad bin Qasim attacked Sindh they sided with him by enlisting in his
army.
Dabal was in the charge of a governor with a garrison of four to six thousand Rajput soldiers and a few thousand Brahmans, and therefore Raja Dahir did not march to its defence immediately.
All this while, the young invader was keeping in close contact with Hajjaj, soliciting the latter’s advice even on the smallest matters. So efficient was the communication system that letters were written every three days and replies were received in seven days, so that the campaign was virtually directed by the veteran Hajjaj ibn Yusuf himself.
When the siege of Debal had continued for some time a defector informed Muhammad bin Qasim about how the temple could be captured. Thereupon the Arabs, planting their ladders stormed the citadel-temple and swarmed over the walls. As per Islamic injunctions, the inhabitants were invited to accept Islam. The carnage lasted for three days. The temple was razed and a mosque built. Muhammad bin Qasim laid out a Muslim quarter, and placed a garrison of 4,000 in the town. As this was the pattern of all future sieges and victories of Muhammad bin Qasim as indeed of all future Muslim invaders of sub-continent - it may be repeated. Inhabitants of a captured fort or town were invited to accept Islam.
Qasim was able to conquer Debal(Karachi)then
crossed Indus .He advanced onwards to give Dahir a battle at Raor near
modern day Nawabshah (712 A.D.)
where Dahir died in battle and his wife burned herself to death along with
other women of the household in line with Hindu religious custom.Dabal was in the charge of a governor with a garrison of four to six thousand Rajput soldiers and a few thousand Brahmans, and therefore Raja Dahir did not march to its defence immediately.
All this while, the young invader was keeping in close contact with Hajjaj, soliciting the latter’s advice even on the smallest matters. So efficient was the communication system that letters were written every three days and replies were received in seven days, so that the campaign was virtually directed by the veteran Hajjaj ibn Yusuf himself.
When the siege of Debal had continued for some time a defector informed Muhammad bin Qasim about how the temple could be captured. Thereupon the Arabs, planting their ladders stormed the citadel-temple and swarmed over the walls. As per Islamic injunctions, the inhabitants were invited to accept Islam. The carnage lasted for three days. The temple was razed and a mosque built. Muhammad bin Qasim laid out a Muslim quarter, and placed a garrison of 4,000 in the town. As this was the pattern of all future sieges and victories of Muhammad bin Qasim as indeed of all future Muslim invaders of sub-continent - it may be repeated. Inhabitants of a captured fort or town were invited to accept Islam.
This marked the end of Hindu rule in Sindh for ever.
Suryadevi & Death of Qasim
An interesting story followed after the Qasim's victory over Dahir, which resulted in the death of Qasim. It is said that when the Caliph Walid sent for Suryadevi and Parmaldevi, he selected the elder for sharing his bed but the damsel protested that she was unworthy as Mohammed bin Qasim had dishonored both her and her sister before sending them to his master.Walid, thus enraged, wrote with his own hands and ordered directing that the offender, wherever he might be when the message reached him, should suffer himself to be sewn up in a raw hide and thus dispatched to the capital.When the order reached Qasim, he obeyed it at once. He caused himself to be sewn up in the hide, the contraction of which as it dried would crush him to death, enclosed in a box and sent to Damascus.The box was opened in the presence of the Caliph and Suryadevi, and Walid pointed to the corpse as evidence of the obedience which he was able to extract from his servants.
Suryadevi having achieved her ends confessed that her accusation was false and she was merely avenging her fathers death. Walid condemned both sisters to a horrible death. They were dragged through the streets of Damascus until they expired.
The Arabs proved to be a bad choice over Raja Dahir and faced opposition from populace. He later adopted secular policies and stopped desecrating Hindu temples and Buddhist monasteries. After hi death in AD 714, people of India rebelled, and threw off their yoke, and the country from Debalpur to the Salt Sea only remained under the dominions of the Khalif.This was only a narrow coastal strip.
Subsequently, the Islamic armies reconquered Sindh, and advanced further where the met a stiff opposition as well.
In
the next article we shall see the valor of the Shahis of Kabul
Reference
and books:
- Voice of Dharma
- Chachnama
