The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c11.58

Language: English

v1.c11.58.1

But, as I have said, in spite of these occasional raids and alliances² the Arab power did not prosper in Sind. Tamīm, the successor of Junayd, though famous for his generosity, was not apparently fitted to carry on the vigorous policy of his predecessors. Balādhurī tells us that in the time of al-Ḥakam ibn 'Awānah, who came to Sind, not long after Tamīm, 'the people of al-Hind apostatized with the exception of the inhabitants of Qaṣṣah.'...... 'A place of refuge,' we are told, 'to which the Moslems might flee was not to be found, so he built on the further side of the lake, where it borders on al-Hind, a city which he named al-Maḥfūẓah (the guarded), establishing it as a place of refuge for them, where they should be secure, and making it a capital.'³ Another city that was built at this time was al-Manṣūrah (the victorious; near modern Hyderabad).⁴ Alor was probably the first viceregal seat of the Arab governors of Sind,⁵ but in the time of Balādhurī (*circa* 892-93) the governors resided at al-Manṣūrah,⁶ in Lower Sind. From Balādhurī's description it seems clear that the cities were not far from each other, both being built on the sides of an unknown lake; and it is therefore likely that other portions of Sind were practically lost to the Arabs. But al-Ḥakam, we are told, "won back from the hands of the enemy all that they had conquered from him.

v1.c11.58.2

He was killed there later and afterwards the governors kept fighting the enemy and seizing whatever came into their hands, and subduing the neighbourhood whose inhabitants rebelled.’¹ This passage graphically describes the state of affairs in Sind during this period. The only other governor who is credited with a vigorous policy and successful invasions is Hishām ibn ‘Amr, appointed by the Abbasid Caliph al-Manṣūr (754-775). He is said to have ‘conquered what was left unsubdued,’ sent a fleet to Nārind, ‘conquered Kashmir, obtaining many prisoners and slaves,’ and reconquered Multan. He is further stated to have made an attack on ‘al-Qunduhar’ and cleared a faction of Arabs from Qandābīl.² During this period the power of the Caliphs over their governors in Sind appears to have been somewhat disturbed by the rebellions of their own officers and that of the conquered.³ But a more dangerous thing was the nomination of ‘Imrān ibn Mūsa by his father when the latter died as governor in A. H. 221 (A.D. 836).⁴ ‘Imrān, it is true, carried on a vigorous policy, fighting with the Zuṭṭs of Kīkān and the Mēds of Cutch.

v1.c11.58.3

But it has very appropriately been remarked that ‘when provincial governments in the east begin to become hereditary they are in a fair way to becoming kingdoms.’⁵ Moreover the power of the Abbasid Caliphs was also beginning to decline rapidly and dynasties rose all over the empire.⁶ They could no longer adequately support their distant viceroys with men and money.⁷ The effect of all these was a weakening of Arab control over Sind, which is illustrated by their expulsion from Sindān in Cutch in the reign of the Caliph al-Mu‘taṣim (833-42 A.D.).¹ The Caliphs appear to have lost all effective control over Sind from about the year A.H. 257 (870-71 A.D.) when Ya‘qūb ibn Layth established on the ruins of the Tahirids an independent dynasty. In that year the helpless Caliph formally conferred upon Ya‘qūb the government of Sind, Balkh, and Tukhāristān, in addition to Sijistān and Kirman, with which he had already been invested.² The Ṣaffārid dynasty thus founded was soon replaced in about the year 288 A.H. (900-901 A.D.) by the Sāmānids of Transoxania³ who finally reduced Sijistān to submission in A.H. 300.⁴ But there are no facts to prove, nor reasons to believe, that either the Ṣaffārids or the Sāmānids exerted any effective control over so remote a province as Sind.

v1.c11.58.4

Sind, thus neglected by the imperial government and its successors in the eastern provinces, appears to have been divided among several petty princes who though they transmitted no revenue and rendered no political allegiance to the Caliph, continued to acknowledge his spiritual supremacy, flattering him by occasional presents or gifts.⁵