The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c12.76

v1.c12.76

The above is a meagre account of the struggles of the Arabs for about two hundred years (*c.* 650-860 A.D.) with the Indian princes of the Helmund and the Kābul valleys. Though Balādhuri once refers to a *Kābul-Shāh*,⁴ yet he makes it quite clear that the line of princes designated by him as Ratbīl held sovereign power over the whole region indicated above. We find these princes sometimes not only preventing the Arabs from advancing beyond Zaranj, but also successfully negotiating alliances with the representatives of the Caliph “for his own country and the land of Kābul.” It is thus likely that the *Satrap* on the Helmund as well as the *Kābul-Shāh* were subordinate to this powerful line of princes.⁵ That they were Hindus seems to be hinted at by the description of the image of Zūr and the epithet 'polytheists' applied to them and their soldiers. But it is uncertain what the word Ratbīl actually means. There is no doubt that it was a *title* and not a personal name, for it is assumed by successive princes from father to son. Scholars are agreed that the word is not Arabic, and may possibly be Turkish.¹ In that case the identification of this line of princes with the descendants of the *Śāhis* who ruled south of the Hindukush from about the middle of the fifth century onwards is probable. Whether these princes are further to be identified with the princes of Kia-pi-shi, noticed by Yuan Chwang must remain in the present state of our knowledge uncertain. But the fact that the Ratbīls are found ruling in the Kābul valley in the middle of the 9th century A.D., the period which, according to al-Bīrūnī and Kalhaṇa,² saw the extinction of the *Turki Śāhis*, seems to favour such an identification. In that case we can explain why the kings of Kia-pi-shi, who formerly lived in Und³ gradually shifted their sphere of activity further to the west and south. The rise of the Kārkoṭas in Kashmir, who conquered Ta-ch'a-shi-lo (Takṣaśilā) from them effectively blocked their advance towards the east while the lofty Hindukush range was a barrier in the north and the northwest. Thus it was only in the south and the south-west, along the valley of the Helmund that they could extend their power; and it is interesting to note that it was here, and not across the Hindukush, that the Arabs first came into conflict with them. The position of the *Śāhis*, during this period, threatened as they were by powerful enemies from the north and the south, was critical. But the raids of the Arabs on the southern dominions of Kashmir,¹ must have soon convinced the Kārkoṭas of the common danger threatening the Indian states; and this had probably something to do with the policy pursued by Lalitāditya Muktāpīḍa (*c.* 713-750 A.D.), who conferred high offices on the *Śāhi* princes in his court.² But, as we shall see further on, this wise policy was not followed by his successors.