History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c14.4

v1.c14.4

At the time of Harsha's death Sind was ruled, as we have already noted, by a Śūdra king named Sāhasī of the Maurya clan a branch of which ruled at Chitor in Rajputana. Sāhasī's capital was Alor a town situated on the left bank of the Indus, now in ruins, the river also having changed its course here. Subject to Sāhasī were three or four smaller kingdoms ruled by Jat and Kshatriya princes the chief two being the Lohana prince of Brahmanabad and the Rajput prince of Siwistān. What Brahmanabad, which is of course an Arabic name, was in ancient Indian geography it is difficult to determine. But it was a town to the south of Alor and some-where near Hydrabad* and its sway extended upto Debal a town on the sea-coast near modern Karachi. Siwistān seems to be nothing more than the country of the Sibis a noted Kshatriya clan in the Mahābhārata and even in Alexander's time. The Sibis had a principality to the west of the Indus and it was from ancient times subject to Sind. For even in the Mahābhārata Jayadratha king of Sind, is said to be lord of Sind, Sauvira, and Sibi (Vana P. ch. 267) and is accompanied by the princes of the two latter when he goes by way of the Kāmyaka forest on his expedition to the Sālva country. (Vana P. Ch. 265). These three are undoubtedly Alor, Brahmanabad, and Siwistān of the Chacha-nāma. Sind had subject chiefships in the north also towards the Panjab and this extensive country was ruled by Sāhasī with whose account the story of the Chacha-nāma begins. The whole country was thoroughly Buddhistic both the ruling king and the subordinate princes and the people generally being Buddhists even according to Hiuen Tsang. The country appears to have been, though nominally only, subject to the Emperor Harsha of Kanauj.