The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c11.31

v1.c11.31

The conquest of Sind by the Arabs in 712 A.D. was the final act of a drama which began as early as the Caliphate of ‘Umar in the year 15 A.H. (A.D. 636), with the Arab naval attack on Tānaḥ (mod. Thana near Bombay) and Barwaṣ (Broach).² The Arab fleet appeared in the gulf of ‘ad-Daibul’ and from this time onward kept on raiding this frontier both by land and sea. But the task was not an easy one. For as a report to Caliph “‘Uthmān” describes it: “the water supply is scanty, the dates are inferior; a small army would be lost there, and a large army would starve.”³ But the conquering energy of the Arabs recognised no barriers, and they continued to hammer at the frontier-gates in spite of these difficulties and the stubborn nature of the resistance. In the year 39 A.H. (659 A.D.) al-Ḥārith raided this frontier but was killed after some initial success in ‘al-Kīkān’ in A.H. 42 (A.D. 662). In