The Chachnāma (Fatḥnāma-yi Sind) 167: Muhammad Kasim marches towards Lohana and Sihta.

167

The historians say, upon the authority of 'Ali bin Muhammad bin 'Abdu-r Rahman bin 'Abdu-llah us Saliti, that when Muhammad Kasim had settled the affairs of Lohana, he came to Sihta. The chiefs and peasants advanced bare-headed and bare-footed to receive him, and sued for mercy. He granted them all protection, fixed the revenue they were to pay, and took hostages. He asked them to guide him through the various stages to Alor. Their guides were sent forward to Alor, which was the capital of Hind and the greatest city in all Sind. The inhabitants were chiefly merchants, artisans, and agriculturists. The governor of its fort was Fufi, son of Rai Dahir, and before him nobody dared say that Dahir was slain. He maintained that Rai Dahir was yet alive, and had gone to bring an army from Hind, that with its support and assistance he might fight with the Arabs. Muhammad Kasim encamped for one month before the fort, at the distance of one mile. He built there a mosque, in which he read the Khutba every Friday.