The Great Arab Conquests (55 page)
Read The Great Arab Conquests Online
Authors: Hugh Kennedy
Our knowledge of the Arab conquest of Sind in the early eighth century is very limited. The area is largely neglected by the classical Arab authorities. Only Balādhurī gives a systematic account and that occupies only about a dozen pages of the text.
2
There is no indication that he, or any of the other Iraq-based chroniclers, had ever visited this remote outpost of the Muslim empire, and the few details they give shed little light on the country or its conquest. Nor are local sources much more forthcoming. The only Sindi chronicle to deal with the conquests is the Chāchnāmah
3
of 1216 by Alī b. Hāmid al-Kūfī, a translation of a lost Arabic original, said to have been collected by written by a
qādī
of Al-Rūr who claimed descent from the Thaqafīs, the tribe of the leader of the original conqueror, Muhammad b. Qāsim. The second half of this work is essentially an account of the first phase of the conquest.
4
The Chāchnāmah has not been held in high regard by historians and it contains many legendary accretions, but much of the core narrative seems to be derived from early Arabic sources: the author names the historian Madā’inī, and the outline of the narrative, and some specific incidents, are closely based on Balādhurī’s texts. Two themes are stressed in the text. One is the powerful role played by Hajjāj in distant Iraq. He is described as having absolute day-today control of the campaigning. Muhammad b. Qāsim scarcely moved without writing to his master and waiting for the reply, which always came with improbable speed by return of post. On one occasion the text describes Hajjāj ordering Muhammad to draw a sketch map of the River Indus so that he can give advice on the proper place to cross it.
5
What is meant to be conveyed, clearly, is the authority Hajjāj had over his commanders in the field. A second theme is the role of soothsayers and wise men, who are constantly telling the Sindi princes that the Arab conquests had been predicted and that there is nothing that can be done to prevent them. The Chāchnāmah contains some material said to have been conserved among the descendants of the original Arab conquerors which may be genuine, and some Arabic poetry that was not translated into Persian along with the rest of the book. This too may be of eighth-century origin.
2
There is no indication that he, or any of the other Iraq-based chroniclers, had ever visited this remote outpost of the Muslim empire, and the few details they give shed little light on the country or its conquest. Nor are local sources much more forthcoming. The only Sindi chronicle to deal with the conquests is the Chāchnāmah
3
of 1216 by Alī b. Hāmid al-Kūfī, a translation of a lost Arabic original, said to have been collected by written by a
qādī
of Al-Rūr who claimed descent from the Thaqafīs, the tribe of the leader of the original conqueror, Muhammad b. Qāsim. The second half of this work is essentially an account of the first phase of the conquest.
4
The Chāchnāmah has not been held in high regard by historians and it contains many legendary accretions, but much of the core narrative seems to be derived from early Arabic sources: the author names the historian Madā’inī, and the outline of the narrative, and some specific incidents, are closely based on Balādhurī’s texts. Two themes are stressed in the text. One is the powerful role played by Hajjāj in distant Iraq. He is described as having absolute day-today control of the campaigning. Muhammad b. Qāsim scarcely moved without writing to his master and waiting for the reply, which always came with improbable speed by return of post. On one occasion the text describes Hajjāj ordering Muhammad to draw a sketch map of the River Indus so that he can give advice on the proper place to cross it.
5
What is meant to be conveyed, clearly, is the authority Hajjāj had over his commanders in the field. A second theme is the role of soothsayers and wise men, who are constantly telling the Sindi princes that the Arab conquests had been predicted and that there is nothing that can be done to prevent them. The Chāchnāmah contains some material said to have been conserved among the descendants of the original Arab conquerors which may be genuine, and some Arabic poetry that was not translated into Persian along with the rest of the book. This too may be of eighth-century origin.
Archaeology has not provided much more evidence, and even the location of some key sites, such as Daybul, which was still flourishing in the thirteenth century, remains doubtful. With the exception of Multān and Nīrūn, none of the cities mentioned in the early texts has kept its name down to modern times, so identifications are often doubtful.
Arabs had had contact with Sind, before the coming of Islam. In late Sasanian times there was a growing trade by sea between the Gulf and Sind and one group of Arabs was especially important in the development of this trade. The Azd tribe of Uman may have been remote from the centres of early Muslim power in the Hijaz but they were well placed to play a role in the maritime trade in the Indian Ocean. They converted to Islam and played an important part in the conquest of Fars and other areas in Iran. They formed a powerful lobby, wanting to invade Sind to further their commercial aspirations.
Sind at this stage has been described as ‘the wild frontier of Indian civilisation’,
6
but for the early Muslims it was ‘the land of gold and of commerce, of medicaments and simples, of sweetmeats and resources, of rice, bananas and wondrous things’.
7
It derived its name from the Sanskrit Sindhu, the name of the river known in the west as the Indus and to the Arabs as the Mihrān. Sind is created by the Indus river system in the same way as Egypt is created by the Nile. Arab geographers of the tenth century recognized the resemblance: ‘It is a very great river of sweet water,’ Ibn Hawqal wrote. ‘One finds crocodiles in it, like the Nile. It also resembles the Nile by its size and by the fact that its water level is determined by summer rains. Its floods spread over the land, then withdraw after having fertilized the soil, just like the river in Egypt.’
8
6
but for the early Muslims it was ‘the land of gold and of commerce, of medicaments and simples, of sweetmeats and resources, of rice, bananas and wondrous things’.
7
It derived its name from the Sanskrit Sindhu, the name of the river known in the west as the Indus and to the Arabs as the Mihrān. Sind is created by the Indus river system in the same way as Egypt is created by the Nile. Arab geographers of the tenth century recognized the resemblance: ‘It is a very great river of sweet water,’ Ibn Hawqal wrote. ‘One finds crocodiles in it, like the Nile. It also resembles the Nile by its size and by the fact that its water level is determined by summer rains. Its floods spread over the land, then withdraw after having fertilized the soil, just like the river in Egypt.’
8
At the time of the Muslim invasion, the settled parts of the country were ruled by a dynasty of kings of Brahmin origin. This had been founded by Chāch (
c
. 632-71) and was led in the early eighth century by Dāhir (
c
. 679-712), who led the resistance to the Muslims.
9
The king seems to have lived in the city that the Arabs called al-Rūr, and the main port was the city of Daybul. The shifting course of the Indus delta has made the identification of this site very difficult, but it is probably to be identified with the ruins at Banbhore which now lies in desolate salt flats about 40 kilometres from the sea east of Karachi. The city first appears in the historical record in the fifth century, when it was a distant outpost of the Sasanian Empire. In the time of King Chāch and his son Dāhir it seems to have been a base for pirates, attacking trade between the Gulf and India, and suppression of this was one of the reasons for the Muslim attack.
10
c
. 632-71) and was led in the early eighth century by Dāhir (
c
. 679-712), who led the resistance to the Muslims.
9
The king seems to have lived in the city that the Arabs called al-Rūr, and the main port was the city of Daybul. The shifting course of the Indus delta has made the identification of this site very difficult, but it is probably to be identified with the ruins at Banbhore which now lies in desolate salt flats about 40 kilometres from the sea east of Karachi. The city first appears in the historical record in the fifth century, when it was a distant outpost of the Sasanian Empire. In the time of King Chāch and his son Dāhir it seems to have been a base for pirates, attacking trade between the Gulf and India, and suppression of this was one of the reasons for the Muslim attack.
10
Much of the country was occupied by semi-nomadic tribes like the Mīds and the Jats, known to the Muslim sources as the Zutt. The Mīds supplemented the meagre livelihood they could scrape from their barren homelands with piracy against merchant shipping. The Zutt were agriculturalists who used water buffalo to cultivate the swampy lands by the Indus and grow sugar cane. According to Muslim sources, some Zutt were transported to southern Iraq by the Sasanian shāh Bahrām Gūr (420-38) to cheer his people up with their music-making!
11
11
According to the Arab tradition, there had been proposals to invade Sind from as early as 644, when the Muslims first attacked the neighbouring province of Makrān, and there may also have been naval expeditions to India at this time. There is also a tradition, however, that the early caliphs Umar and Uthmān refused to allow raids in this distant and dangerous area, and the accounts of campaigns in the seventh century are probably largely mythical.
We are on firmer historical ground with the campaign of 710-12. According to Balādhurī, the immediate reason for the expedition was that the ‘king of the Island of Rubies’ (Sri Lanka) sent Hajjāj, governor of Iraq and all the east, some women who were daughters of Muslim merchants who had died in his country. The author adds the note that it was called the Island of Rubies ‘because of the beauty of the faces of its women’.
12
On the journey, the ship was attacked by some Mīd pirates sailing out of Daybul and was captured with all its passengers. One of the women, in her distress, was said to have called on the name of Hajjāj, and when he heard of the attack, he determined to take action.
12
On the journey, the ship was attacked by some Mīd pirates sailing out of Daybul and was captured with all its passengers. One of the women, in her distress, was said to have called on the name of Hajjāj, and when he heard of the attack, he determined to take action.
He first wrote to Dāhir, the king, ordering him to set them free, but the king replied that he had no control over the pirates who had taken them and was unable to help. Hajjāj then sent two small expeditions, but in both cases they were defeated and the leaders killed. He then decided on a larger-scale campaign. He chose as its leader a young cousin of his called Muhammad b. al-Qāsim al-Thaqafī (from the tribe of Thaqīf, originally from Tā’if). Muhammad was something of a golden boy and was described as ‘the noblest Thaqafī of his time’.
13
He is said to have been given high command at the age of seventeen but he proved an efficient commander and a wise and tolerant governor. His brief, meteoric career and tragic end left a lasting memory in both Sind and the central Islamic lands. Hajjāj ordered him to gather an army in the newly founded city of Shiraz in south-western Iran; 6,000 professional soldiers from Syria were dispatched to form the core of the army and he sent all the equipment he needed, ‘even including needles and threads’. When all was ready, they set out on the long land route through southern Iran and then into Makrān, taking the city of Fannazbūr en route. Meanwhile ships were sent with men, weapons and supplies.
13
He is said to have been given high command at the age of seventeen but he proved an efficient commander and a wise and tolerant governor. His brief, meteoric career and tragic end left a lasting memory in both Sind and the central Islamic lands. Hajjāj ordered him to gather an army in the newly founded city of Shiraz in south-western Iran; 6,000 professional soldiers from Syria were dispatched to form the core of the army and he sent all the equipment he needed, ‘even including needles and threads’. When all was ready, they set out on the long land route through southern Iran and then into Makrān, taking the city of Fannazbūr en route. Meanwhile ships were sent with men, weapons and supplies.
The forces met up outside Daybul. Muhammad immediately began to invest the city, digging siege works. He ordered that lances be set up with tribal banners flying from them and that the troops encamp by their own flags. He also set up a catapult (
manjanīq
) served by 500 men, which was known as the Bride. This suggests a large, hand-pulled swing-beam siege engine, and is one of the very few examples we have of the Muslim forces using siege artillery during the conquests. One of the main features of the city was a temple described as a
budd
, like a great minaret in the middle of the city; this was probably a Buddhist stupa. On top of the temple there was a mast (
daqal
) from which a great red banner flapped and twisted in the wind. This mast now became the target of the siege engine and when it was brought down morale in the city collapsed. Muhammad ordered up ladders and his men soon began to scale the walls, so taking the city by force.
14
Dāhir’s governor fled and there were three days of slaughter in which all the priests of the temple, among others, were killed. Muhammad then ordered the building of a mosque and laid out plots for the settlement of 4,000 Muslims.
manjanīq
) served by 500 men, which was known as the Bride. This suggests a large, hand-pulled swing-beam siege engine, and is one of the very few examples we have of the Muslim forces using siege artillery during the conquests. One of the main features of the city was a temple described as a
budd
, like a great minaret in the middle of the city; this was probably a Buddhist stupa. On top of the temple there was a mast (
daqal
) from which a great red banner flapped and twisted in the wind. This mast now became the target of the siege engine and when it was brought down morale in the city collapsed. Muhammad ordered up ladders and his men soon began to scale the walls, so taking the city by force.
14
Dāhir’s governor fled and there were three days of slaughter in which all the priests of the temple, among others, were killed. Muhammad then ordered the building of a mosque and laid out plots for the settlement of 4,000 Muslims.
Muhammad now made his way inland to the fortified city of Nīrūn near the banks of the Indus. Here he was met by two Buddhist (Samani) monks
15
who began negotiations. They made peace and welcomed him into their city, giving him supplies.
16
As he pressed on up the river, the pattern was repeated, with Buddhist monks frequently acting as peacemakers. According to the Chāchnāmah
17
the city of Sīwīstān fell because of divisions among the local population. On one side was the Buddhist party, on the other the Hindu governor of the fort. The Buddhists told the commander of the fort that they would not fight: ‘Our religion is peace and our creed is good will to all. According to our faith, fighting and slaughtering are not allowed. We will never be in favour of shedding blood.’ They added that they were afraid that the Arabs would take them to be supporters of the governor and would attack them. They urged him to make a treaty with the Arabs because ‘they are said to be faithful to their word. What they say they do’. When the governor refused to listen to their advice, they sent a message to the Arabs saying that all the farmers, artisans and common people had deserted the governor and that he was now unable to put up a prolonged resistance. The fort held out for a week before the commander made his escape by night. The Muslims entered the city, which was looted in the customary way, except that the possessions of the Buddhist party were respected. As always with the Chāchnāmah, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction, but the narrative does suggest that Buddhist pacifism may have been a factor in the success of Arab arms and that division between the ordinary people and the Hindu military caste allowed the Muslims to take some towns with comparative ease.
15
who began negotiations. They made peace and welcomed him into their city, giving him supplies.
16
As he pressed on up the river, the pattern was repeated, with Buddhist monks frequently acting as peacemakers. According to the Chāchnāmah
17
the city of Sīwīstān fell because of divisions among the local population. On one side was the Buddhist party, on the other the Hindu governor of the fort. The Buddhists told the commander of the fort that they would not fight: ‘Our religion is peace and our creed is good will to all. According to our faith, fighting and slaughtering are not allowed. We will never be in favour of shedding blood.’ They added that they were afraid that the Arabs would take them to be supporters of the governor and would attack them. They urged him to make a treaty with the Arabs because ‘they are said to be faithful to their word. What they say they do’. When the governor refused to listen to their advice, they sent a message to the Arabs saying that all the farmers, artisans and common people had deserted the governor and that he was now unable to put up a prolonged resistance. The fort held out for a week before the commander made his escape by night. The Muslims entered the city, which was looted in the customary way, except that the possessions of the Buddhist party were respected. As always with the Chāchnāmah, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction, but the narrative does suggest that Buddhist pacifism may have been a factor in the success of Arab arms and that division between the ordinary people and the Hindu military caste allowed the Muslims to take some towns with comparative ease.
It was during this march that Muhammad was joined by some 4,000 Zutt tribesmen, substantially increasing his forces.
Dāhir still remained as the leader of the resistance. Muhammad, on the west bank of the Indus, confronted him across the river.
18
The Chāchnāmah gives a detailed account of how Muhammad crossed the river to attack Dāhir.
19
He decided to build a bridge of boats and collected boats filled with ballast of sand and stones linked together with connecting planks. Meanwhile, Dāhir’s supporters gathered on the east bank of the river to oppose their landing. Muhammad ordered that all the boats should be brought together along the west bank until the row of boats was as long as the river was wide. Then brave armed soldiers gathered on the boats and the whole row was swung round in the stream until it reached the other bank. Immediately the Arabs drove the infidels back with volleys of arrows and the horsemen and foot soldiers landed.
18
The Chāchnāmah gives a detailed account of how Muhammad crossed the river to attack Dāhir.
19
He decided to build a bridge of boats and collected boats filled with ballast of sand and stones linked together with connecting planks. Meanwhile, Dāhir’s supporters gathered on the east bank of the river to oppose their landing. Muhammad ordered that all the boats should be brought together along the west bank until the row of boats was as long as the river was wide. Then brave armed soldiers gathered on the boats and the whole row was swung round in the stream until it reached the other bank. Immediately the Arabs drove the infidels back with volleys of arrows and the horsemen and foot soldiers landed.
The final confrontation between Muhammad b. Qāsim and Dāhir is given a few terse lines in Balādhurī but is described in dramatic terms in the Chāchnāmah. The Sindi army was composed of 5,000 veteran warriors (or 20,000 foot soldiers) and sixty elephants. Dāhir was mounted on a white elephant, armed with a tightly strung bow, with two female servants with him in the litter, one to hand him betel leaf to chew, the other to keep him supplied with arrows. There were speeches made on both sides and the names of numerous Arab warriors are given, a sure sign that this part of the Chāchnāmah at least is based on an Arab original. We are also told how Arabs who had previously joined Dāhir’s forces, for reasons that are not explained, now came to give Muhammad b. Qāsim vital information about his opponents’ movements. In the fierce fighting that followed, the Muslims used flaming arrows to set fire to the litter in which Dāhir was fighting and the elephant threw himself into the water. Dāhir was seized and decapitated, his body being identified by the two slave girls who were with him in the litter. The historian Madā’inī preserves a short poem of triumph said to have been uttered by the Arab who killed him:
The horses at the battle of Dāhir and the spears
And Muhammad b. Qāsim b. Muhammad
Bear witness that I fearlessly scattered the host of them
Until I came upon their chief with my sword.
And left him rolled in the dirt.
Dust on his unpillowed cheek.
20
The defeat and death of Dāhir meant the end of organized resistance. Many of Dāhir’s women committed suicide, burning themselves, their attendants and all their possessions, rather than be captured. The Chāchnāmah puts a little speech into the mouth of the dead king’s sister: ‘Our glory has gone and the term of our life has come to its close. As there is no hope of safety and liberty, let us collect firewood and cotton and oil. The best thing for us, I think, is to burn ourselves to ashes and so quickly meet our husbands in the other world.’
21
They all entered a house, set fire to it and were burned alive. Despite this self-sacrifice, the chronicle says that many high-caste women of great beauty were sent to Hajjāj in Iraq. He in turn passed them on to the court of the caliph, where they were sold or given away to favoured relatives and supporters. The remnants of Dāhir’s forces were pursued to Brahmanābādh, near where the Muslim city of Mansūra was later founded, where they were again defeated. The Chāchnāmah preserves an account of the dealings of Muhammad b. Qāsim with the inhabitants of Brahmanābādh which probably reflects many of the issues raised by the Muslim conquest. His immediate response was to spare all the artisans, traders and common folk and execute all the military classes.
22
He soon became aware of the need to recruit local officials for the administration. His first move was to conduct a census of the merchants and artisans, who were obliged to convert to Islam or pay the poll tax. He next appointed village chiefs to collect the taxes. Meanwhile the Brahmins sought to secure their status under the new regime. They came to Muhammad b. Qāsim with their heads and beards shaved, as a sign of humility, and petitioned him. First they secured a safe conduct for all surviving members of Dāhir’s family, including his wife Lādī, who was brought out from her inner chamber. She is said to have been purchased by Muhammad b. Qāsim and to have become his wife.
23
It is interesting to compare this with the contemporary marriage of the son of Mūsā b. Nusayr, conqueror of al-Andalus, with the daughter of the Visigothic king Rodrigo. In both cases the Arab conquerors were seeking to ally themselves with the old ruling house, perhaps in the hope that their descendants would become hereditary rulers. In both cases, however, they were thwarted by the robust action of the government in Damascus.
21
They all entered a house, set fire to it and were burned alive. Despite this self-sacrifice, the chronicle says that many high-caste women of great beauty were sent to Hajjāj in Iraq. He in turn passed them on to the court of the caliph, where they were sold or given away to favoured relatives and supporters. The remnants of Dāhir’s forces were pursued to Brahmanābādh, near where the Muslim city of Mansūra was later founded, where they were again defeated. The Chāchnāmah preserves an account of the dealings of Muhammad b. Qāsim with the inhabitants of Brahmanābādh which probably reflects many of the issues raised by the Muslim conquest. His immediate response was to spare all the artisans, traders and common folk and execute all the military classes.
22
He soon became aware of the need to recruit local officials for the administration. His first move was to conduct a census of the merchants and artisans, who were obliged to convert to Islam or pay the poll tax. He next appointed village chiefs to collect the taxes. Meanwhile the Brahmins sought to secure their status under the new regime. They came to Muhammad b. Qāsim with their heads and beards shaved, as a sign of humility, and petitioned him. First they secured a safe conduct for all surviving members of Dāhir’s family, including his wife Lādī, who was brought out from her inner chamber. She is said to have been purchased by Muhammad b. Qāsim and to have become his wife.
23
It is interesting to compare this with the contemporary marriage of the son of Mūsā b. Nusayr, conqueror of al-Andalus, with the daughter of the Visigothic king Rodrigo. In both cases the Arab conquerors were seeking to ally themselves with the old ruling house, perhaps in the hope that their descendants would become hereditary rulers. In both cases, however, they were thwarted by the robust action of the government in Damascus.
Other books
The Countess by Catherine Coulter
Breath on Embers by Anne Calhoun
All About Sam by Lois Lowry
Neanderthal Man by Pbo, Svante
End of Secrets by Ryan Quinn
Fade to Black by M. Stratton
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
My Mother's Body by Marge Piercy
Yasmine by Eli Amir
Behind the Castello Doors by Chantelle Shaw