A History of Agriculture in India v2.c54.3

v2.c54.3

SIND was a part of India nearest to the Arab home-land. Apart from climatic and geographical conditions, the social conditions were also ideal for the Arab invaders. The lower classes were chafing under the tyranny of the upper-class Brahmans and Rajputs. The cultivators of Sind and the Punjab, who were never too orthodox, welcomed the Islamic invaders as liberators from caste tyranny. In A.D. 711-712 Muhammad-bin-Qasim conquered Sind and parts of Punjab. Debal the seaport fell to the Arabs in A.D. 711. Dahir, the Hindu king of Sind, was killed in a battle with the Arabs in A.D. 712, and they occupied his capital Brahmanabad. Mohd-bin-Qasim conquered Sind with the active assistance of Jats and other agricultural communities. The exploited castes of North India embraced Islam in large numbers to escape from the tyranny of the caste-system, and to enjoy the privileges which the religion of the conquerors conferred on them.