The establishment of Arab rule in Sind in 712 A.D. was preceded by a
number of efforts to penetrate India. The first military expedition was
sent to Tahan near Bombay in 637. More were sent in the coming years
against Broach and Debal. The view that the Arbas indeed were not
interested in territorial acquisition till the ruler of Sind in 700 A.D.
provoked them, is not accepted by the book 'A Comprehensive History of
India'. This book relies on the authority of baladhuri, who is regarded
as the most reliable authority on the subject. Accroding to the book,
the Arabs made systematic inroads on the three kingdoms of Kabul, Zabul
and Sind. Very often the first two were united in resisting the
aggression of the Arabs. Baladhuri says that after 650 A.D. the Arabs
entered India. One more expedition was sent by the Caliphate of Ali to
conquer Kabul but was frusterated. Another attempt was made in 698 A.D.,
which was still less successful. The weakness of the Arabs was
undoubtedly due to internal troubles and weakness of the Caliphate
during the last days of Umayyids, but after the establishment of
powerful Abbasid Caliphate the earlier designs were repeated. Kabul was
conqured but again escaped from the control of the Caliphate. Zebul was
conquered only in 870 A.D.
Although both Kabul and Zabul succumbed to Islam the heroic resistance
they offered checked the spread of Islam into the Subcontinent. Fe
countries in the world, that too small principalities like these, have
defied the arms of Islam so bravely and for so long 2000 years.
Good number of details are found regarding the history of Sind in the
7th Century A.D. in Chachnama, a Persian translation of an old Arabicc
history of the conquest of Sind by the Arabs. An expedition of the Arabs
was sent against Debal some time before 643 A.D. Baladhuri speaks of
Muslim victory but Chachnama says that the Muslims were defeated. The
conquest of Sind was abandoned for some time. When then new Calipha
Uthman attempted to conquer, he too left it after a setback. During the
daysof Caliphate of Ali, a well-equipped Muslim Army came along the land
route, According to Baladhuri, the Muslims were put to rout. After
this, a series of expeditions were sent to conquer an outpost of Sind,
which all ended in failure.
The Arabs resumed their aggression against Sind only after 705 A.D. An
Arab ship fell in thehands of pirates near Debal. A Muslim governor
deamanded their release and also the arrest of the pirates. It appears,
Dehar refused to oblige. As a matter of fact, the governor for Iraq was
appointed for both the areas of Hindi and Sind. For long time the Arabs
chafed at their failure to conquer Sind. Thus, the governor Hajja merely
seized the plicy as a pretext to defeat and conquer Sind.
After making elaborate preparation, Mohammad-Bin-Kasim, the son-in-law
of Hajjaj, was sent with a well equipped army. He advanced to Makran and
laid siege to Debal in 711 A.D. The capital was captured then, Muhammad
advanced along the Indus to conquer the whole area. It appears that
very often trachery led to the Arab conquest of Sind Muhammad advanced
against Multan and succeeded in capturing it. According to Chachanam,
Muhammad himself advanced to the frontier of Kashmir.
The triumph and career of Muhammad wa suddenly cut short by political
changes at home. Since the new Caliph was the sworn enemy of Hajjaj.
Muhammad was taken prisoner, insulted and tortured to death.
This development made Jaisimha, the son of Daher, to re-occupy
Bahmansbad. The Caliph sent an army to subdue the rebels. They even
parleyed with Jaisimha. Junaid, the Governor of Sind, defeated Jaisimha
and took him prionser. Thus ended the dynasty of Daher and the
independence of Sind.
The comperatively easy conquest of Muhammad, son of Kasim, should
not make us forget the long resistance offered by Sind to the Arabs.
Later, Junaid sent several expeditions to the interior of India. They
were signally defeated by the Pratihara kng Nagabhatta - I Pulakesin,
the Chalukya chief of Gujarata, and probably also by Yasovarman. These
defeats forced the Arabs to confine themselves to Sind. The Arabs lost
control of Sind during the last years of Umayyids. The Abbasid Caliphs
once again started to re-establish their power in Sind. A claim was
made. The Arabs once again conquered Multan and Kashmir bu the evidence
shows that Lalitadiya thrice defeated the Arabs. It was some time
between 800 and 830 A.D. that the Arabs fully re-conquered the lost
areas. It was during this period that the Arabs forces probably advanced
as far as Chittor but the resistance offered by Indian kings probably
forced them to retreat.
After the collapse fo the Abbasid power, Sind became virually
independent and was divided into two independent states. Niehter of them
could become powerful.
SIGNIFICANCE:
It is no longer believed that the Arab conqeust of Sind was a mere
episode in the history of India. What this event reveals is the Sea
change that cave over Hindu Civilisation by 1000 A.D. A few Muslim
traders earlier settled in the Malabar region. But the might of Islam
was experienced in Sind. This challenge was met by rulers of the day. It
is now well-known that the political ambitions of the successors of
Muhammad-bin-Kasim were chaeckmated by Lalitaditya, Bhoja and a few
other rulers. This particular resistance bears testimony to the
political consciousness of the day. It is this consciousness that was
totally absent in India when Mahumud of Ghazni raided the country and
soon he was followed by Ghori who succeeded in establishing Islamic rule
in India. It is surprising to note that when the Sahiyas checkmated the
Arab penetration in the north-west and rulers within India contained
the penetration of Arabs in Sind, no concerted efforts were made by
Indian rulers after 1000 A.D. to defeat the invaders except for the
first battle of Tarain to some extent. Instead, we hear that Hinduism
retreated into its own shell, a fact sharply revealed by the
observations of Alberuni.
Apart from this significance, the Arab rule in Sind led to interaction
between two cultures. It is held by some historians that Sind was the
birt-place of later-day Sufism which in turn occasioned the emergence of
the famous bhakti cult in the middle ages.
Apart from this consequence, the Arab conquest of sind also led to the
transmission of Indian culture-Panchtantra and scientific lore of
ancient India like the digital system and knowledge of medicine. It is
to ba kept in mind that after the collapse of the Roman empire
intellectuals began to gather in Baghbad, meaning city of god in
Sanskrit. The intellectual speculations that the city facilitated by the
interaction of Greek and Roman heritage with that of the Indian lay at
the base of the Renaissance movement in Europe in the 16th century. "We
know definitely from Masudind Ibn Hauqal that Arab settlers lived side
by side with their Hindu fellow-citizens for many years on terms of
amity and peace, and Amir Khusrav mentions that the Arab astronomer Abu
Mashar come to Benaras and studied astronomy there for ten years.
Finally, the significance of the Arab conquest of Sind lies in the
tolerance that was shown to Hinduism by Islam. Although jaziya was
collected, the Arab governors chose to leave Hindu religious practices
untouched. What India witnessed after the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni
was not Islamic influence as pioneered by the Arabs but central-Asian
culture of the Turkish, nomade who carried the banner of Islam. In other
words, what the history of Arabs in Sind conveys is the fact that
persecution of other religious was not the avowed doctrine of Islam.
