The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c8.s14: The death of Muhammad bin Qasim

c8.s14.1

After these outstanding achievements the conqueror of Sindh met his tragic end in the prime of his life in 715 or 716 A.D. Two different causes are given about Muhammad bin Qasim's death. The first reads like a romantic tale. It says that when the two daughters of Dahir, Surya Devi and Parmal Devi, were presented to the Khalifa Walid they informed him that Muhammad had dishonoured them before sending them to him. The infuriated Khalifa, thereupon, ordered that the offender should be sewn up in the raw hide of an ox and thus carried to his capital. Muhammad immediately obeyed the order and died within three days. When the box was opened in the presence of the Khalifa the two ladies expressed satisfaction at having avenged the death of their father and told the Khalifa that Muhammad was innocent. Walid was transported into a rage and ordered the two princesses to be tied to the tails of horses and dragged until they were dead. Modern research has rejected this story as a later concoction. The other account, which ascribes Muhammad's death to political reasons, is more worthy of credence. On Khalifa Walid's death in 714 A.D. his brother, Sulaiman, succeeded him. The new Khalifa was an arch enemy of Hajjaj on whose family and relations he inflicted ruinous punishments. Muhammad, who was a cousin and son-in-law of Hajjaj, was dismissed from Sindh and sent a prisoner to Mesopotamia where he was soon after tortured to death.