History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c14.28

v1.c14.28

The Arabs having succeeded in crossing the river and in driving away Jaisiah placed there to oppose them, their subsequent victories need not be detailed at length. Dāhar who had left Alor and had come down with his most efficient forces, to the district of Jhim (somewhere to the south of Brāhmanābād) fought a determined battle with the Arabs, resolved like the ancient Kshatriyas to die or conquer. The contest was terrible. Dāhar had according to the Chacha-nāma about 5000 horsemen, 100 elephants and 20,000 foot soldiers with complete armour or coat of mail. Dāhar himself was seated on a furious elephant with a litter lashed to it and an iron coat spread over it. He was armed cap-a-pie and had a tightly strung bow in his hand. Two maid-servants were sitting with him in the litter, one of them handing him arrows and the other giving him betel leaf. His right was commanded by Jaisiah, his left by his nephew Jahin. His son Daharsia with many chief men of Sind (many names are given here) and all the Jats of the eastern part of the country brought the rear. How many men Mahomed Kasim had is not clear. He had probably 6000 horsemen and they used bows carrying lance also with arrows. He had infantry also and he had the assistance of renegade Indian forces such as those of Moka Bassaya and others,—Thakurs and Jats of the western portion of Sind (to the left of the Indus). But these must not have been considerable. The contest was fierce and determined and lasted from morn to about 4 in the evening when an unfavourable accident happened. The god of battles had decreed the day to the Mahomedans. Dāhar was fighting determinedly with arrows as also with discs (the peculiar Indian weapon called chakra) which was not known to the Arabs and which he threw with such force and aim that "it severed the head of a horse, a horseman or a foot at whosoever it was thrown." But at this time naphtha arrows shot by Arabs set the litter of Dahar's elephant on fire. The Indian battles show usually similar accidents. The commanders strangely enough always ride elephants which give sure targets to assailants. The elephant unable to bear the heat, disobeyed the driver, rushed out of the battle-field towards a lake that was near and plunged himself into the water. The driver as well as Dāhar were thrown down violently. They came or they were rescued out of the water but a party of Arabs assailed them and killed them. The army of Sind when the elephant of the king thus fled out of the battle as usual gave way and dispersed. The rout was soon complete and many were massacred, but a few reached the fort of Raor (not Alor) which was nearest the battlefield. Thus ended the chief battle in this conquest in favour of the Arabs on the 10th day of Ramzan of the 93rd year of the Hezira (712 A. D.).