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Thursday, December 11, 2014

The Rai Dynasty & The First Muslim Invasion of India





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 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.



Expanse of Sindh dynasty Circa.630 AD



The Emperors of this dynasty were great patrons of Hinduism and Buddhism.


 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:

To gain a control over the silk rout, Caliph Umar (AD 634-644) launched three naval expeditions (circa 636).
  •            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 662

Hence 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:

Raja Dahir
Chach of Alor was succeeded by his brother Chandra in 671 AD and ruled around 680 AD. After his rule came Raja (Rai) Dahir. Dahir inherited his father’s persona and is celebrated even today for his bravery.





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. 

However,Hajjajwas desperate to attack Sind and was looking for a pretext to attack. Soon, luck favored him.  According to Chachnama,a Ship bound to Baghdad was raided by pirates off the coast of Debal(Karachi), resulting in the capturing of both gifts to the caliph from the King of Serendib (modern Sri Lanka), as well as the female pilgrims on board. Using this as a pretext, Hajjaj declared Jihad on Raja Dahir.

This story is declared highly unreliable by western scholars and Indian scholars because it was written by uncle of Muhammad bin Qasim.


Muhammad bin Qasim
Hajjaj launched a military expedition in AD 711 and gave the command to Muhammad bin Qasim, who entered Sind with an army of 20,000.
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.

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:
  1. Voice of Dharma
  2. Chachnama


 


Tuesday, December 2, 2014

The Hindu Shahi:Lords of Afghanistan



The fierce resistance given by Rai’s of Sindh compelled the invading Arabs to venture northwards towards the region Kabul and Zabul in AD643.Here they met an equally formidable enemy: The Hindu Shahi rulers of Kabul.

Origion of the Shahi rulers

The Shahi (Devanagari शाही), Sahi, also called Shahiya  dynasties ruled one of the Middle kingdoms of India which included portions of the Kabulistan and the old province of Gandhara (now in northern Pakistan). It ruled began with the decline of the Kushan Empire in the third century and continued till the early ninth century.
In AD 645, Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang visited the kingdom of Kabul Shahi. He mentioned  that it’s captal is Kapisa and this kingdom dominates over 10 neighboring states comprising of Lampaka, Nagara, Gandhara and Varna (Bannu) and probably also Jaguda.
Shahi dynasty on the eve of muslim invasion AD 625


The Shahis of Kabul/Gandhara are generally divided according to two eras into the so-called Buddhist-Shahis and Hindu shahis .The Buddhist kingdom was known as "Kabul Shahi" it reigned between 565 and 879 AD and  had Kapisa and Kabul as their capitals.
 With the change-over thought to have occurred sometime around AD 870 the kingdom adopted Hinduism and thus began to be known as Hindu-Shahis, In AD 880 they moved their capital to Udbhandapur.
Note: Shahis is the title adopted by the dude to the popular usage of the name in the region. The term Hindu Shahi was a royal title of this dynasty and not its actual clan or ethnological name. Al-Biruni used the title Shah for many other contemporary royal houses in his descriptions as well.
These fierce warriors were of Kshatriya origins with Turkish influences. The theory of them being of Turkish origin, penned by Alberuni has been disapproved by western and Indian Scholars alike. 
Islamic armies had started attacking Zabul (an area of Shahi Dominace) and Kabul soon after they annexed Khorasan in AD 643.. The Islamic army suffered heavy losses and were driven out.
It was only in AD 653 An Arab general, Abdul Rahman, was able to conquer Zabul and levy tribute from Kabul. The king of Kabul, however, proved desultory in paying regularly what the Arabs thought to be their due. Finally, another Arab general, Yazid ibn Ziyad who had been the governor of Seistan for some time, attempted retribution in AD 683. This time king of Kabul has managed to get aid from other kshatriya kings of India. Yazid ibn Ziyad was killed, and his army was put to flight with great slaughter. The Arabs lost Seistan also, and had to pay 5,00,000 dirhams to get one of their generals, Abu Ubaida, released.

But the Arabs, inspired as they were by an imperialist ideology, did not give up. They recovered Seistan some time before AD 692. Its new governor, Abdullah, invaded Kabul. The Shahis trapped the Arab army in the mountain passes after allowing it to advance unopposed for some distance. Abdullah agreed to cease hostilities, and the king of Kabul agreed to renew payment of an annual tribute. But the treaty was denounced by the Caliph who dismissed Abdullah. 
The war against Kabul was renewed in AD 695 when Hajjaj became the governor of Iraq. In AD 697 He sent an army under Ubaidullah, the new governor of Seistan. Ubaidullah was defeated by Ratanpal the king of Kabul  and was forced to retreat after leaving his three sons as hostages and promising that he shall not fight as long as he was governor”.Once again, the treaty was denounced by the Caliph, and another general, Shuraih, tried to advance upon Kabul. He was killed by the Shahis, and his army suffered huge losses as it retreated through the desert of Bust. Poor Ubaidullah died of grief. That was the third round won by the kingdom of Kabul.
After some more attempts,Hajjaj had to make peace according to which the Shahis were entitled to keep their kingdom in exchange for an annual tribute. However this payment was  stopped in AD 717owing to which  resulted in to a constant struggle . Due to these onslaughts the Shahis shifted their capital from Kapisa to Kabul in AD 794. Shahis continued to hold ground 70 more years i.e till AD 867.
The Caliphate had failed once again to conquer a small Hindu principality, in spite of their being the mightiest power on earth. The struggle had lasted for more than two hundred years now.

The second half of the 9th century was of great turmoil to the in the Arab world. The central authority of the caliphate was being challenged by many authorities. At the end of the eighth century the Caliphate found they could no longer keep a huge polity from Baghdad. Morocco and Egypt along with few others had already set up their own Emirates. In the East as well, governors decreased their ties to the center. The Saffarids of Herat and the Samanids of Bukhara had broken away from the Caliphate by the 870s.Hence two new Challenges started to emerge in the afghan region for the Shahis to face.
The kingdom of Kabul suffered a temporary eclipse in AD 870 when the Turkish adventurer, Yaqub bin Layth, who founded the Saffarid dynasty of Persia, treacherously killed the king of Kabul but was unsuccessful in conquering the kingdom.

Around this time there was a change of religious thought in the court of the Shahis. They denounced Buddhism and became an adherent of Hindu faith. Hence the first Hindu Shahi dynasty was founded in AD 870 by Kallar .Kallar is well documented to be a Brahmin. In AD 879 an army led by Yaqub bin Layth, invaded the Hindu kingdoms of both Kabul and Zabul. The king of Kabul was killed in the battle, and the population was converted to Islam by force. That was a permanent loss to India. The kingdom was bounded on the north by the Hindu kingdom of Kashmir, on the east by Rajput kingdoms, on the south by the Muslim Emirates of Multan and Mansura, and on the west by the Saffarid Empire.

In AD 890 The succeeding Hindu king of Shahi Kallar,a Brahmin had transferred his capital to Udbhandapur on the Indus. He was succeeded by his son by his son Kamaluka (895–921).
.
 
Extent of Hindu Shahi dynasty in AD 900
Meanwhile The Saffarids were gradually overthrown by samarids and in return samarids were replaced by ghazanvid dynasty founded by the slave Alptigin in AD 962. Alptigin was succeeded by his son-in-law Sabuktgin in AD 977.
In AD 964 after the death of Bhima, the rule of Hindu Shahi was assumed by the Maharajadiraja Jayapala Janjua, son of Rai Asatapala Janjua. He was the cheif of the Rajupt warrior clan called Janjua.



Maharajadhiraj Jayapal (964 to 1001 AD):

Jayapal was one of greatest rulers and most well known among the Shahi Rulers . He is celebrated as a hero for his struggles in defending his kingdom from the Turkic rulers of Ghazni.

Jayapala and Sabukgin:

The ownership of Kabul Ghaznavid dynasty was passed on to Sabuktgin. Jayapala long wanted to conquer Kabul and kapisa,their homeland. Hence Hindus made a bold bid to recapture Kabul. In AD 986-987, a confederate Hindu army to which the Rajas of Delhi, Ajmer, Kalinjar and Kanauj has contributed troops and money, advanced into the heartland of the Islamic kingdom of Ghazni. According to Utbi, the battle lasted several days and the warriors of Subuktigin, including prince Mahmood, were reduced to despair. But a snow-storm and rains upset the plans of Jayapala who opened negotiations for peace. But the peace thus concluded proved temporary. The Muslims resumed the offensive and the Hindus were defeated and driven out of Kabul.
Sabuktgin died in AD 994 and the lordship of Ghazanavid Empire fell in to the hands of the most notorious plunderer and a ferocious warrior of Islamic world: Mahmud of Ghazni.

Jayapala and Mahmud of Ghazni:

Mahmud led his first invasion against the Shahiyas of Udbhandapur in AD 1001 when he advanced upon Peshawar. Raja Jayapala was caught unawares, and could not mobilise all his forces in time. The lack of a standing army was to prove the undoing of many Hindu princes in days to come. In contrast, the Muslim militarists always maintained their armed hordes in a permanent state of mobilisation. Even so, the Hindus fought an obstinate battle in the face of overwhelming odds. They, however, depended upon slow moving elephants which proved a poor match for the highly mobile Muslim cavalry. They were defeated and Jayapala himself was made captive along with his family and chief men of his kingdom.

Honour assassinated:  

Hodivala gives details of the humiliation of Jaipal at the hands of Mahmud.
He writes that Jaipal was publicly exposed at one of the slave-auctions in some market in Khurasan, just like the thousands of other Hindu captives.He was paraded about so that his sons and chieftains might see him in that condition of shame, bonds and disgrace inflicting upon him the public indignity of commingling him in one common servitude. Such humiliation smashed his morale. He was released by Mahmud in exchange for fifty elephants.Jaypala’s territories were not annexed by Mahmud as great damage was inflicted on his army and he suffered great loss which made him incapable of ruling the Hindu lands. On the other hand, Jayapala thought himself unworthy of the throne he occupied, and burnt himself on a funeral pyre to which he set fire with his own hands. This was a demonstration of the Hindu sense of honour, which no defeated outside marauder could ever match.




" ( Jaypala) was perhaps the last Indian ruler to show such spirit of aggression, so sadly lacking in later Rajput kings."
R.G. Misra
Indian Resistance to Early Muslim Invaders Up to 1206 AD,

 Ghazanavid and Shahi dynasty _1000 AD



Jayapalas successor, Anandapala, proved equally valiant. He refused passage to Mahmuds armies on their way to Multan in AD 1005-06. This led to a battle which Anandapala lost. His son, Sukhapala, was taken prisoner and converted to Islam. Mahmud had to rush back to Ghazni to meet an attack from the west. He left his Indian possessions in the hands of Sukhapala who, however, soon returned to the Hindu fold.

Mahmud invaded India again in AD 1008. According to Firishta, quoted by Dr. Misra, Anandapala sent ambassadors on all sides inviting assistance of other princes of Hindustan, who now considered the expulsion of Mohammadans from India as a sacred duty. Accordingly the Rajas of Ujjain, Gwalior, Kalinjar, Kanauj, Delhi and Ajmer entered into a confederacy and collecting their forces advanced towards Punjab. The Indians and Mohammedans remained encamped [at Waihind] for forty days without coming into action.The Hindu women, on this occasion, sold their jewels and melted down their gold ornaments to furnish resources for the war. Mahmud ordered six thousand archers to the front to endeavour to provoke the enemy to attack his entrenchments. The Khokhars penetrated into Mohammadan lines where a dreadful carnage ensued and 5000 Mohammadans in a few minutes were slain. Utbi admits that the battle lasted from morning till evening and the infidels were near gaining victory.Firishta reports that Mahmud saw his plight and sent some of his elite warriors to attack the elephant on which Anandapala was sitting and directing the contest. The elephant took fright from the naptha balls and flights of arrows and turned and fled.That broke the morale of the Hindu army. It was neither the first nor the last occasion on which the Hindu army became an uncontrollable rabble and suffered defeat and slaughter simply because the elephant carrying its commander turned tail. The Muslim armies were more disciplined.


The Shahiya dynasty now established a new capital at Nandana in the Salt Range. They contested every inch against subsequent raids of Mahmud. The next battle took place in AD 1013. Trilochanapala who had meanwhile succeeded Anandapala, retired into the hills of Kashmir where the Prime Minister of that kingdom came to his help with a large army. KalhaNa has described this battle in glowing terms in his RãjatarañgiNî. Utbi writes that the action lasted for several days without intermission, and that the Hindus lost it only when they were drawn into the plain to fight, like oil sucked up into the wick of the candle. Kalhana concludes: Even after he had obtained his victory, the Hammira did not breathe freely, thinking of the superhuman prowess of the illustrious Trilochanapala.


The Shahiya king with his son, Bhimapala (known as Nidar Bhima), now established a new seat at Lohara (Lohkot) on the border of Kashmir. Mahmud tried to storm it in AD 1015. Firishta tells us that this was the first disaster that the Sultan suffered in his campaigns against India. After some days he extricated himself with great difficulty from his peril, and reached Ghazni without having achieved any success. For obvious reasons, comments Dr. Misra, the contemporary Muslim historians do not mention this particular expedition.

The Shahiyas were no longer in a position to arrest the forward march of Mahmud. Nor was Mahmud in a position to dislodge them from Lohara so long as a single scion of the dynasty remained alive. Trilochanapala was killed in A.D. 1021, and his son Bhimapala five years later (A.D. 1026), fighting Mahmud all along at different places and in league with different Hindu princes. He was the last Emperor of the famed dynasty.His sons Rudrapal, Diddapal, Kshempala, and Anangpala served as generals in Kashmir. They gained prominence in the Kashmiri royal court where they occupied influential positions and intermarried with the royal family.The succeeding generations continued to take part in campaign against Ghazni and later against Ghor dynasty until they faded in obscurity. 
Years later, Alberuni wrote:



"The Hindu Shahiya dynasty is now extinct, and of the whole house there is no longer the slightest remnant in existence. We must say that, in all their grandeur, they never slackened in the ardent desire of doing that which is good and right, that they were men of noble sentiment and noble bearing."   
                                                                                                                               -Alberuni