View source for Muhammad ibn al-Qasim

{{Short description|Umayyad general and governor of Sindh (695–715)}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Muhammad ibn al-Qasim
| nickname   = {{lang|ur|فاتح سندھ }}
| office              = 1st [[Sind (caliphal province)|Governor of al-Sindh]]
| term_start          = 712
| term_end            = 18 July 715
| predecessor         = ''Position established''
| successor           = [[Habib ibn al-Muhallab]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|695|12|31|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Taif]], [[Hejaz]], Umayyad Caliphate<br/>{{small|(present-day [[Saudi Arabia]])}}
| death_date          = {{death date and age|715|7|18|695|12|31|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Mosul]], Umayyad Caliphate<br/>{{small|(present-day [[Iraq]])}}
| spouse              = Zaynab (daughter of [[al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]])
| father              = al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hakam
| mother              = Habibat al-Uzma
| signature           = 
| image               = Umayyad Caliphate coinage temp Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik al-Hind (possibly Multan) mint. Dated AH 97 (AD 715-6).jpg
| image_size          = 300px
| caption             = Qasim-era [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] coinage of [[Sindh|Sind]] (minted possibly at [[Multan]]), dated [[Islamic calendar|97 AH]] ({{circa|715 CE}}) per obverse circular legend: ''"In the name of [[Allah]], struck this [[dirham]] in [[Indian Subcontinent|al-Hind]] {{nowrap|([[File:India in Abd al-Malik al-Hind coin 715 CE.jpg|40px|India in Abd al-Malik al-Hind coin 715 CE]])}} in the year seven and ninety"''
| native_name         = {{Script/Arabic|محمد بن القاسم}}
| native_name_lang    = ar
| leader              = [[Al-Walid I]]
| military_blank1     = Allegiance
| military_data1      = {{flagicon image|Umayyad Flag.svg}} [[Umayyad Caliphate]]
| military_blank2     = Battles/wars
| military_data2      = [[Muslim conquest of Sindh|Muslim conquest of Sind]] (708–711)<br>[[Siege of Debal]] (711)<br>[[Battle of Aror]] (711)
| relations           = Sulb, al-Hajjaj (brother)
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=April 2022}}

'''Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqafī''' ({{langx|ar|محمد بن القاسم الثقفي}}; {{Birth date|695|12|31|df=y}}–{{Death date|715|7|18|df=y}}) was an [[Arabs|Arab]] military commander in service of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] who led the [[Muslim conquest of Sindh]] (and [[Punjab]], part of ancient Sindh), inaugurating the Umayyad campaigns in India. His military exploits led to the establishment of the [[Sind (caliphal province)|Islamic province of Sindh]], and the takeover of the region from the [[Brahmin dynasty of Sindh|Sindhi Brahman dynasty]] and its ruler, [[Raja Dahir]], who was subsequently decapitated with his head sent to [[al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]] in [[Basra]]. With the capture of the then-capital of [[Aror]] by Arab forces, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim became the first [[Muslims|Muslim]] to have successfully captured Indian land, which marked the beginning of [[Islamic rulers in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim rule in South Asia]].

Muhammad ibn al-Qasim belonged to the [[Banu Thaqif]], an [[Tribes of Arabia|Arab tribe]] that is concentrated around the city of [[Taif]] in western [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]]. After the Muslim conquest of [[Persia]], he was assigned as the governor of Fars, likely succeeding his uncle [[Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi]]. From 708 to 711, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim led the Sindh conquest. He established [[Sharia|Islamic rule]] throughout the region, serving as governor of Sindh from 712 until his death in 715. After his last conquest of [[Multan]] (Punjab) he returned to Arabia where on the way he died in [[Mosul]], in modern Iraq, though some sources{{Who|date=April 2022}} record that his body was buried in [[Makran]], a semi-desert coastal region in [[Balochistan]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

==Sources==
Information about Muhammad ibn al-Qasim and the Arab conquest of Sind in the medieval Arabic sources is limited, compared to the contemporary [[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana]].{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=281}} The ''[[Futuh al-Buldan]]'' ('Conquests of the Lands') by [[al-Baladhuri]]  (d. 892) contains a few pages on the conquest of Sind and Muhammad's person, while biographical information is limited to a passage in a work by [[al-Ya'qubi]] (d. 898), a few lines in the history of [[al-Tabari]] (d. 839) and scant mention in the ''[[Kitab al-Aghani]]'' (Book of songs) of [[Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani]].{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=281}} A detailed account of Muhammad's conquest of Sind and his death is found in the ''[[Chach Nama]]'', a 13th-century Persian text.{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=281}} The information in the ''Chach Nama'' purportedly derives from accounts by the descendants of the Arab soldiers of the 8th-century conquest, namely [[qadi]]s (judges) and imams from the Sindi cities of [[Aror|Alor]] and Bhakar who claimed descent from Muhammad's tribe, the [[Banu Thaqif]].{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=281}} The Orientalist [[Francesco Gabrieli]] holds the accounts likely emerged after {{circa|1000}} and considers the ''Chach Nama'' to be a "historical romance" and "a late and doubtful source" for information about Muhammad.{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|pp=281–282}}

==Origins and early life==
Muhammad was born in {{circa|694}}.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=244}} His birthplace was almost certainly in the [[Hejaz]] (western Arabia), either in [[Ta'if]], the traditional home of his Thaqif tribe, or in [[Mecca]] or [[Medina]].{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=282}} Following their general embrace of Islam in {{circa|630}}, members of the Thaqif gradually attained high military and administrative ranks in the [[Rashidun Caliphate|nascent Caliphate]] and played important command and economic roles during and after the [[early Muslim conquests]], particularly in [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Iraq]].{{sfn|Lecker|2000|p=432}} The tribe produced effective commanders associated with early Arab military operations against the Indian subcontinent: in {{circa|636}} the Thaqafite governor of [[Eastern Arabia|Bahrayn]] (eastern Arabia), [[Uthman ibn Abi al-As]], dispatched naval expeditions against the Indian ports of [[Debal]], [[Thane]] and [[Bharuch]].{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=243}} The tribe's power continued to increase with the advent of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] in 661.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=243}}

Muhammad belonged to the Abu Aqil family of the Banu Awf, one of the two principal branches of the Thaqif.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=243}} The Abu Aqil family gained prestige with the rise of [[al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]], the paternal first cousin of Muhammad's father al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hakam.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=243}} Al-Hajjaj was made a commander by the Umayyad caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] ({{reign|685|705}}) during the [[Second Muslim Civil War]] and killed the Umayyads' chief rival for the caliphate, [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr]], in 692, and two years later was appointed the viceroy of Iraq and the eastern Caliphate.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|pp=243–244}}{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=282}} Following his promotion, al-Hajjaj became a patron of the Thaqif and appointed several members to important posts in Iraq and its dependencies.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=244, note 11}} Muhammad's father was appointed the deputy governor of [[Basra]], though his career was otherwise undistinguished.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=245}} According to a letter between Muhammad and al-Hajjaj cited by the ''Chach Nama'', Muhammad's mother was a certain Habibat al-Uzma (Habiba the Great).{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=245}} The ''Chach Nama'' also indicates Muhammad had a similar-aged brother named Sulb and Arabic sources indicate he had a much younger brother named al-Hajjaj, who served as an Umayyad commander during the [[revolt of Zayd ibn Ali|Alid revolt of 740]].{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=245}}

No information is provided by the Arabic sources about Muhammad's childhood and adolescence.{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=282}} The modern historian [[Nabi Bakhsh Khan Baloch|Nabi Bakhsh Baloch]] holds that Muhammad most likely grew up partly in Ta'if and then Basra and [[Wasit]], the provincial capital of Iraq founded by al-Hajjaj in 702.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=245}} Muhammad's time in Basra, a military and intellectual centre of the Islamic world at the time, may have widened Muhammad's career horizons, while at Wasit he was likely educated and trained under al-Hajjaj's patronage.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|pp=245–246}}

Al-Hajjaj was highly fond of Muhammad,{{sfn|Baloch|1953|pp=245–246}} and considered him prestigious enough to marry his sister Zaynab,{{sfn|Friedmann|1993|p=405}} though she preferred the older Thaqafite al-Hakam ibn Ayyub ibn al-Hakam, to whom she was ultimately wed.{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=283}}{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=247}} The ''Kitab al-aghani'' refers to Muhammad at the age of 17 as "the noblest Thaqafite of his time".{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|pp=282–283}} In the summation of Baloch, "Muhammad grew up under favourable conditions into an able, energetic and cultured lad of fine tastes".{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=246}}

==Governor of Fars==
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's first assignment was in the province [[Pars (Sasanian province)|Fars]] in modern Iran, where he was asked to subjugate a group of Kurds. After the successful completion of the mission, he was appointed as the governor of Fars.<ref name=Asani>{{citation |first=Ali |last=Asani |chapter=Muhammad ibn al-Qasim |editor-first=Josef W. |editor-last=Meri |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: L-Z |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaV-IGZ8VKIC&pg=PA524 |year=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-96692-4 |pages=524–525}}</ref> He likely succeeded his uncle [[Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi]], a brother of al-Hajjaj, who was previously a governor. The city of [[Shiraz]] is said to have been revived by Muhammad ibn al-Qasim. He built a royal villa in the city and a military camp at a short distance from it.<ref>{{citation |last=Durrani |first=Ashiq Muhammad Khān |title=History of Multan: from the early period to 1849 A.D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mucqAAAAIAAJ |year=1991 |publisher=Vanguard |page=10|isbn=9789694020457 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Limbert |first=John |title=Shiraz in the Age of Hafez: The Glory of a Medieval Persian City |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x5-voc6nzmkC&pg=PA3 |year=2004 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0-295-98391-2 |page=4}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=The Silk Road Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgOwDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT1622 |date=18 July 2016 |publisher=Seoul Selection |isbn=978-1-62412-076-3 |page=1622}}</ref> He was also given the task of subjugating the area to the south of Shiraz, and the distant area of [[Jurjan]] near the [[Caspian Sea]].<ref name=Asani/>

Fars might have also had at this time some of the rebels leftover from the revolt of [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath|Ibn al-Ash'ath]], which almost brought down the rule of al-Hajjaj. An aged supporter of rebels and a Shia notable of the time, a disciple of the companion of Jabir ibn Abd Allah al-Ansari and a famous narrator of Hadith,<ref>Maclean, Derryl N. (1989), Religion and Society in Arab Sind, BRILL, pp. 126, {{ISBN|90-04-08551-3}}</ref> [[Atiyah ibn Sa'd|Atiyya ibn Sa'd al-Awfi]] was arrested by Muhammad ibn al-Qasim on the orders of Al-Hajjaj and demanded that he curse Ali on the threat of punishment. Atiyya refused to curse Ali and was punished. While Maclean doesn't give the details of the punishment, early historians like Ibn Hajar Al-asqalani and Tabari record that he was flogged by 400 lashes and his head and beard shaved for humiliation and that he fled to [[Khurasan]] and returned to [[Iraq]] after the ruler had been changed.<ref>History of al-Tabari Vol. 39, pp. 228, under "Those Who Died in the Year 111", State University of New York Press, (1998).</ref><ref>Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, "Tahdhib al-Tahdhib", Volume 7, pp 226, narrator no. 413.</ref>

==Background on Sindh==
===Early Muslim presence===
[[File:Mohammad adil rais-Rashidun Caliphate-different phases.gif|thumb|Rashidun Caliphate (632-661 AD)]]
The connection between the Hindu Sind and [[Islam]] was established by the initial Muslim missions during the [[Rashidun Caliphate]]. Hakim ibn Jabala al-Abdi, who attacked [[Makran]] in the year 649 AD, was an early partisan of [[Ali|Ali ibn Abu Talib]].<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|MacLean1989|p=126}}</ref> During the caliphate of Ali, many Jats of Sindh had come under influence of Islam<ref>S. A. A. Rizvi, "A socio-intellectual History of Isna Ashari Shi'is in India", Volo. 1, pp. 138, Mar'ifat Publishing House, Canberra (1986).</ref> and some even participated in the [[Battle of Camel]] and died fighting for [[Ali]].<ref name=":0" /> Harith ibn Murrah al-Abdi and Sayfi ibn Fasayl' al-Shaybani, both officers of Ali's army, attacked Makran in the year 658.<ref name=":0" /> Sayfi was one of the seven shias who were beheaded alongside [[Hujr ibn Adi]] al-Kindi in 660 AD near Damascus.<ref name=":0" /> Under the Umayyads (661–750 AD), many Shias sought asylum in the region of Sindh, to live in relative peace in the remote area. Ziyad Hindi is one of those refugees.<ref>S. A. N. Rezavi, "The Shia Muslims", in History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Vol. 2, Part. 2: "Religious Movements and Institutions in Medieval India", Chapter 13, Oxford University Press (2006).</ref>

===Umayyad interest in Sindh===
[[File:Map of expansion of Caliphate.svg|upright=1.35|thumb|Map of expansion of Umayyad Caliphate]]

According to Wink, [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] interest in the region was galvanised by the operation of the ''[[Meds (tribe)|Meds]]'' (a tribe of Scythians living in Sindh) and others.<ref name="wink1">{{harvnb|Wink|2002|p=164}}</ref> The Meds had engaged in [[piracy]] on [[Sassanid]] shipping in the past, from the mouth of the [[Tigris]] to the [[Sri Lanka]]n coast, in their ''[[bawarij]]'' and now were able to prey on Arab shipping from their bases at [[Kutch]], [[Debal]] and [[Kathiawar]].<ref name="wink1"/> At the time, [[Sindh]] was the wild [[frontier]] region of al-Hind, inhabited mostly by semi-nomadic tribes whose activities disturbed much of the Western [[Indian Ocean]].<ref name="wink1"/> Muslim sources insist that it was these persistent activities along increasingly important Indian trade routes by Debal pirates and others which forced the [[Arab people|Arab]]s to subjugate the area, in order to control the seaports and maritime routes of which [[Sindh]] was the nucleus, as well as, the overland passage.<ref>{{harvnb|Wink|2002|pp=51–52}}</ref> During [[Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf|Hajjaj]]'s governorship, the ''Meds'' of [[Debal]] in one of their raids had kidnapped Muslim women travelling from [[Sri Lanka]] to [[Arabia]], thus providing grounds to the rising power of the Umayyad Caliphate that enabled them to gain a foothold in the [[Makran]], [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]] and [[Sindh]] regions.<ref name="wink1"/><ref name="Gier">Nicholas F. Gier, [http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/mm.htm From Mongols to Mughals: Religious violence in India 9th-18th centuries], Presented at the Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting American Academy of Religion, Gonzaga University, May 2006.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shoeb |first1=Robina |title=Female Sufism in Pakistan: A Case Study of Bibi Pak Daman |journal=Pakistan Vision |year=2016 |volume=17 |issue=1 |page=229|quote=But this version of the story is almost absent and not accepted by many historians, because Muhammad bin Qasim attacked Sindh to punish the then ruler of Sindh Raja Dahir who captured some Muslim women, and to release them he attacked Sindh.}}</ref>
[[File:Umayyad Caliphate in 710.png|thumb|left|The Umayyad Caliphate on the eve of the invasions of Spain and Sindh in 710.]]

Also cited as a reason for this campaign was the policy of providing refuge to Sassanids fleeing the [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Arab advance]] and to Arab rebels from the [[Second fitnah|Umayyad consolidation]] of their rule.{{clarify|date=June 2018}}

These Arabs were imprisoned later on by Governor Deebal Partaab Rai. A letter written by an Arab girl named Nahed who escaped from the prison of Partab Rai asked Hajjaj Bin Yusuf for help. When Hajjaj asked Dahir for the release of prisoners and compensation, the latter refused on the ground that he had no control over those. Al-Hajjaj sent Muhammad ibn al-Qasim for action against the Sindh in 711. {{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

The [[mawali]] (new non-Arab converts) who were usually allied with Al-Hajjaj's political opponents and thus were frequently forced to participate in battles on the frontier of the Umayyad Caliphate, such as [[Kabul]], [[Sindh]] and [[Transoxania]].<ref name="2004Wink1">{{harvnb|Wink|2002|pp=201–205}}</ref> An actual push into the region had been out of favour as an Arab policy since the time of the [[Rashidun]] [[Caliph]] [[Umar bin Khattab]], who upon receipt of reports of it being an inhospitable and poor land, had stopped further expeditionary ventures into the region.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

==Conquest of valley of Sindh==
[[File:Sindh campaigns 711-715 CE.png|thumb|300px|right|Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's conquest of Sindh (711-715 CE).<br>
{{legend|yellow|Desert areas ([[Registan Desert]] and [[Thar Desert]])}}
{{legend|#FFD700|[[Zunbils]]}}
{{legend|#DEB887|Kingdom of Sindh (c. 632– 712 CE)}}
{{legend|#7FFF00|[[Maitraka dynasty|Maitraka Kingdom]] (c.475–c.776 CE)}}
]]
Hajjaj had put more care and planning into this campaign than the second campaign.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> Al-Hajjaj gave Muhammad ibn al-Qasim command of the expedition between 708 and 711, when he was only 15–17 years old, apparently because two previous Umayyad commanders had not been successful in punishing Sindh's ruler [[Raja Dahir]] for his failure to prevent pirates from disrupting Muslim shipping off the coast of Sindh.{{sfn|Friedmann|1993|p=405}} Al-Hajjaj superintended this campaign from [[Kufa]] by maintaining close contact with Muhammad ibn al-Qasim in the form of regular reports for which purpose special messengers were deputed between [[Basra]] and [[Sindh]].<ref name="2004Wink1"/> The army which departed from Shiraz under Muhammad ibn al-Qasim consisted of 6,000 [[Bilad al-Sham|Syria]]n cavalry and detachments of ''[[mawali]]'' (sing. ''mawla''; non-Arab, Muslim freedmen) from Iraq.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> At the borders of Sindh he was joined by an advance guard and six thousand camel cavalry and later, reinforcements from the governor of Makran were transferred directly to [[Debal]] (Daybul), at the mouth of the Indus, by sea along with five ''manjaniks'' (catapults).<ref name="2004Wink1"/> The army that eventually captured Sindh would later be swelled by the [[Jat]]s and [[Med people|Med]]s as well as other irregulars who heard of the Arab successes in Sindh.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> When Muhammad ibn al-Qasim passed through the Makran desert while raising his forces, he had to subdue the restive towns of Fannazbur and Arman Belah ([[Lasbela District|Lasbela]]), both of which had previously been conquered by the Arabs.<ref>{{harvnb|Wink|2002|p=131}}</ref>

The first town assaulted in Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's Sindh campaign was [[Siege of Debal|Debal]] and upon the orders of al-Hajjaj, he exacted retribution on Debal by giving no quarter to its residents or priests and destroying its great temple.<ref name="2004Wink1"/>{{sfn|Friedmann|1993|p=405}} From Debal, the Arab army then marched north-east taking towns such as Nerun and Sadusan ([[Sehwan]]) without fighting.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> One-fifth of the war booty including slaves were remitted to al-Hajjaj and the Caliph.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> The conquest of these towns was accomplished with relative ease; however, Dahir's armies being prepared on the other side of the Indus{{efn|The [[Indus River]] during this time flowed to the east of Nerun, but a 10th-century earthquake caused the river to change to its course}} had not yet been confronted.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> In preparation to meet them, Muhammad returned to Nerun to resupply and receive reinforcements sent by al-Hajjaj.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> Camped on the east bank of the Indus, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim sent emissaries and bargained with the river Jats and boatmen.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> Upon securing the aid of Mokah Basayah, "the King of the island of Bet", Muhammad crossed over the river where he was joined by the forces of the [[Thakur (Indian title)|Thakore]] of Bhatta and the western Jats.<ref name="2004Wink1"/>

At Aror ([[Rohri]]) Muhammad ibn al-Qasim was met by Dahir's forces and the eastern Jats in battle.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> Dahir died in the battle, his forces were defeated and Muhammad ibn al-Qasim took control of Sindh.<ref name="2004Wink1"/>

Soon the capitals of the other provinces, Brahmanabad, Alor (Battle of Aror) and [[Multan]], were captured alongside other in-between towns with only light Muslim casualties.<ref name="2004Wink1" /> Multan was a key site in the [[Hindu religion]].{{sfn|Friedmann|1993|p=405}} Usually after a siege of a few weeks or months the Arabs gained a city through the intervention of heads of mercantile houses with whom subsequent treaties and agreements would be settled.<ref name="2004Wink1" /> After battles all fighting men were executed and their wives and children enslaved in considerable numbers and the usual fifth of the booty and slaves were sent to al-Hajjaj.<ref name="2004Wink1" /> The general populace was encouraged to carry on with their trades and taxes and tributes settled.<ref name="2004Wink1" />

The conquest of Sindh (and areas of [[Punjab]]) in modern-day Pakistan, although costly, was a major gain for the Umayyad Caliphate. However, further gains were halted by Hindu kingdoms during [[Caliphate campaigns in India|Arab campaigns]]. The Arabs attempted to invade India but they were defeated by North Indian kings [[Bappa Rawal]] of [[Guhila dynasty]],  [[Nagabhata I|Nagabhata]], of the [[Gurjara-Pratihara]] dynasty and by the South Indian emperor [[Vikramaditya II]] of the [[Chalukya dynasty]] in the early 8th century. After the failure of further expeditions on Kathiawar, the Arab chroniclers conceded that the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] caliph [[al-Mahdi]] ({{reign|775|785}}) "gave up the project of conquering any part of India."<ref name="Sen1999">{{citation|author=Sailendra Nath Sen|title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA343|date=1999-01-01|publisher=New Age International|isbn=978-81-224-1198-0|pages=343–}}</ref>

===Military and political strategy===
The military strategy had been outlined by Al-Hajjaj in a letter sent to Muhammad ibn al-Qasim:<ref name="Derryl1">{{harvnb|MacLean|1989|pp=37–39}}</ref>
<blockquote>My ruling is given: Kill anyone belonging to the ''ahl-i-harb'' (combatants); arrest their sons and daughters for hostages and imprison them. Whoever does not fight against us...grant them [[Aman (Islam)|''aman'']] (peace and safety) and settle their tribute [''amwal''] as ''dhimmah'' (protected person)...</blockquote>

The Arabs' first concern was to facilitate the conquest of Sindh with the fewest casualties while also trying to preserve the economic infrastructure.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=37-39}} Towns were given two options: submit to Islamic authority peacefully or be attacked by force ({{Transliteration|ar|anwattan}}), with the choice governing their treatment upon capture.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=37-39}} The capture of towns was usually accomplished by means of a treaty with a party from among the enemy, who were then extended special privileges and material rewards.<ref name="Wink">{{harvnb|Wink|2002|pp=204–206}}</ref> There were two types of such treaties, "''[[Sulh]]''" or "''ahd-e-wasiq'' (capitulation)" and "''aman'' (surrender/ peace)".<ref name="Wink"/> Among towns and fortresses that were captured through force of arms, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim performed executions of ''ahl-i-harb'' (fighting men) as part of his military strategy, whose surviving dependants were enslaved.<ref name="Wink"/>

'''Casualties'''

Where resistance was strong, prolonged, and intensive, often resulting in considerable Arab casualties, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's response was dramatic, inflicting 6,000 deaths at Aror (Rohri), between 6,000 and 26,000 at Brahmanabad, 4,000 at Iskalandah (Uch), and 6,000 at Multan.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=22-29}} Conversely, in areas taken by ''sulh'', such as Armabil, Nirun, and Aror, resistance was light and few casualties occurred.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=22-29}} Sulh appeared to be Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's preferred mode of conquest, the method used for more than 60% of the towns and tribes recorded by al-Baladhuri and the ''Chach Nama''.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=22-29}} At one point, he was actually berated by Al-Hajjaj for being too lenient.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=22-29}} Meanwhile, the common folk were often pardoned and encouraged to continue working;<ref name="Wink"/> Al-Hajjaj ordered that this option not be granted to any inhabitant of Debal, yet Muhammad ibn al-Qasim still bestowed it upon certain groups and individuals.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=22-29}}

===Reasons for success===
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's success has been partly ascribed to Dahir being an unpopular Hindu king ruling over a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] majority who saw [[Chach of Alor]] and his kin as usurpers of the [[Rai dynasty]].<ref name="Gier"/> This is attributed to having resulted in support being provided by Buddhists and inclusion of rebel soldiers serving as valuable infantry in his cavalry-heavy force from the Jat and [[Meds (tribe)|Meds]].<ref>"The fall of Multan laid the Indus valley at the feet of the conqueror. The tribes came in, 'ringing bells and beating drums and dancing,' in token of welcome. The Hindu rulers had oppressed them heavily, and the Jats and Meds and other tribes were on the side of the invaders. The work of conquest, as often happened in India, was thus aided by the disunion of the inhabitants, and jealousies of race and creed conspired to help the Muslims. To such suppliants, Mohammad Qasim gave the liberal terms that the Arabs usually offered to all but inveterate foes. He imposed the customary poll tax, took hostages for good conduct, and spared the people's lands and lives. He even left their shrines undesecrated: 'The temples,' he proclaimed, 'shall be inviolate, like the churches of the Christians, the synagogues of the Jews, and the altars of the Magians.'" Stanley Lane-Poole, ''Medieval India under Mohammedan Rule'', 712-1764, G.P. Putnam's Sons. New York, 1970. p. 9-10</ref> Brahman, Buddhist, Greek, and Arab testimony however can be found that attests towards amicable relations between the adherents of the two religions up to the 7th century.<ref name="chachnama">''The Chachnamah, An Ancient History of Sind, Giving the Hindu period down to the Arab Conquest''. (1900). Translated from the Persian by Mirza Kalichbeg Fredunbeg. Karachi: Commissioners Press.</ref>

Along with this were:
# Superior military equipment; such as [[siege engines]] and the [[Mongol bow]].<ref name="Gier"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eV262iNGUb4C&q=manjaniks&pg=PA23|title=The Evolution of the Artillery in India: From the Battle of Plassey (1757) to the Revolt of 1857|first=Romesh C.|last=Butalia|date=Jul 30, 1998|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=9788170238720|access-date=Jul 30, 2020|via=Google Books}}</ref>
# Troop discipline and leadership.<ref name="Gier"/>
# The concept of Jihad as a morale booster.<ref name="Gier"/>
# Religion, i.e. the widespread belief in the prophecy of Muslim success.<ref name="Gier"/><ref name="chachnama"/>
# The Samanis being persuaded to submit and not take up arms because the majority of the population was Buddhist who were dissatisfied with their rulers, who were Hindu.<ref name="chachnama"/>
# The labouring under disabilities of the [[Lohana]] Jats.<ref name="chachnama"/>
# Defections from among Dahir's chiefs and nobles.<ref name="chachnama"/>

==Administration of Sindh==
{{main|Caliphal province of Sind}}

{{ Annotated image
| image=Map of the Caliphal Province of Sind.png
| width=290  
| image-width = 290  <!--  DO NOT CHANGE MAP SIZE (290) AS THIS WILL DISPLACE THE LABELS  -->
| image-left=0 | image-top=0| float = right
| annotations =
{{Annotation|115|215|[[Pandyan dynasty|PANDYAS]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|115|185|[[Chola dynasty|CHOLAS]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|70|34|[[Turk Shahis|TURK<br>SHAHIS]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|75|130|[[Maitrakas]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|115|90|[[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|GURJARA<br>PRATIHARAS]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|185|110|[[Pala Empire|PALA<br>EMPIRE]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|35|47|[[Zunbils|ZUNBILS]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|95|160|[[Chalukya dynasty|CHALUKYAS]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|5|63|[[Abbasid Caliphate|ABBASID<br>CALIPHATE]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|140|5|[[Tang dynasty|TANG DYNASTY]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
|caption={{center|Map of the Caliphal province of Sindh, a province of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], circa 750 CE.<ref name="JES">{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=145, map XIV.1 (e)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=182}}</ref>}}
}}
After the conquest, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's task was to set up an administrative structure for a stable Muslim state that incorporated a newly conquered alien land, inhabited by non-Muslims.<ref name="Appleby292">Appleby. pg. 291-292</ref> He adopted a conciliatory policy, asking for acceptance of Muslim rule by the natives in return for non-interference in their religious practice,<ref name="Appleby292"/> so long as the natives paid their taxes and tribute.<ref name="Gier"/> In return, the state provided protection to non-Muslim from any foreign attacks and enemies. He established Islamic [[Sharia]] law over the people of the region; however, Hindus were allowed to rule their villages and settle their disputes according to their own laws,<ref name="Gier"/> and traditional hierarchical institutions, including the village headmen ({{Transliteration|ar|rais}}) and chieftains ({{Transliteration|ar|[[dihqan]]s}}) were maintained.<ref name="Appleby292"/> A Muslim officer called an ''amil'' was stationed with a troop of cavalry to manage each town on a hereditary basis<ref name="Appleby292"/>

Everywhere taxes (''mal'') and tribute (''[[kharaj]]'') were settled and hostages taken&nbsp;— occasionally this also meant the custodians of temples.<ref name="Wink" /> Non-Muslim natives were excused from military service and from payment of the religiously mandated tax system levied upon Muslims called [[Zakat]],<ref name="Appleby292"/> the tax system levied upon them instead was the [[jizya]] - a [[progressive tax]], being heavier on the upper classes and light for the poor.<ref name="Appleby292"/> In addition, three percent of government revenue was allocated to the [[Brahmins]].<ref name="Gier"/>

===Incorporation of ruling elite into administration===
During his administration, Hindus and Buddhists were inducted into the administration as trusted advisors and governors.<ref name="Gier"/> A Hindu, Kaksa, was at one point the second most important member of his administration.<ref>H. M. Elliot and John Dowson, ''[[The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians]]'', (London, 1867-1877), [https://archive.org/details/cu31924024066593/page/203 vol. 1, p. 203]. "Kaksa took precedence in the army before all the nobles and commanders. He collected the revenue of the country and the treasury was placed under his seal. He assisted Muhammad Kásim in all of his undertakings..."</ref> Dahir's prime minister and various chieftains were also incorporated into the administration.<ref>''The Chach-Nama''. English translation by Mirza Kalichbeg Fredunbeg. Delhi Reprint, 1979. [http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=12701030&ct=3 Online version]. Retrieved 3 October 2006</ref>

===Clashes with the Jats===
{{anchor | Jat | Jats }}

Significant medieval [[Muslim]] chronicles such as the ''Chach Nama'', ''Zainul-Akhbar'' and ''[[Tarikh-i Bayhaqi|Tarikh-I-Baihaqi]]'' have recorded battles of [[Jat]]s of Sindh and Balochistan against the invading forces of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim and other Muslims.<ref>Chapter by S Jabir Raza ''Passages in the Chachnama, Zainul-Akhbar And Tarikh-i-Baihaqi'', Text and Translation, from the book ''The Jats, Their Role and contribution to the socio-Economic Life and Polity of North and North-West India'', Volume 2, pp. 43–52</ref>

The legendary [[Kalat, Balochistan#Kinan|Six battles of Kinan]] parallel the [[battle of Thermopylae]], where a small contingent of pastoral Jat warriors defeated a massive Muslim army. Despite facing a vastly superior Muslim military in numbers, training, and weaponry, Jats inflicted a crushing defeat on Arabic invaders, a humiliation so profound it was taken personally by the Muslim Caliph. Chach Nama reports that the mountain-dwelling brave and agile Jats of Kikan or Kikanan or Kizkanan near [[Bolan Pass]] in [[Balochistan]],<ref name=invadersinfidel1/> [[Gandava#Kikan|likely same as]] present-day [[Kalat, Pakistan|Kalat]],<ref name="Baloch 1978">{{cite book |last1=Baloch |first1=N.A. |editor1-last=Van Donzel |editor1-first=E. |editor2-last=Lewis |editor2-first=B. |editor3-last=Pellat |editor3-first=Ch. |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Volume IV (IRAN-KHA) |date=1978 |publisher=E.J. Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=90-04-05745-5 |pages=534–5 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/volume-5/Volume%204/page/533/mode/2up |access-date=8 April 2022 |chapter=ḲANDĀBĪL}}</ref><ref name="Le Strange 1905">{{cite book |last1=Le Strange |first1=Guy |title=The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia, from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur |date=1905 |publisher=Barnes & Noble, Inc. |location=New York |pages=331–2 |url=https://archive.org/details/landsoftheeaster028596mbp/page/330/mode/2up?q=kandabil}}</ref> summarily defeated invading Arabic Muslim forces of Haras and killed Haras in 662, only a small portion of Muslim forces returned to caliphate. The impact of Muslim defeat was so significant that for next 20 years each successive caliph made Kikan a special target for attack and sent 6 expeditions of which 5 "failed miserably" and "failed to make any permanent impression" in Sindh.<ref name=invadersinfidel1/>
 
{{Blockquote|text="The Bolan Pass was protected by the brave Jats of Kikan or Kikanan. The long-drawn struggle of the Arabs with these powers [Jats] ... marks their [Arab Muslims'] steady but fruitless endeavours to enter India ... The hardy mountaineers [Jats] of these regions, backed by the natural advantage of their hilly country, offered stubborn resistance to the conquerors of the world ... If there had been a history of India written without prejudices and predilections, the heroic deeds of these [Jat] people, who stemmed the tide of Islam for two centuries, would certainly have received the recognition they so richly deserve [emphasis added]".<ref name=invadersinfidel1>Sandeep Balakrishna, 2020, [https://www.google.com.sg/books/edition/Invaders_and_Infidels_Book_1/lzALEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=jat+of+kikan+or+kikanan&pg=PT26&printsec=frontcover Invaders and Infidels (Book 1): From Sindh to Delhi: The 500-year journey of Islamic invasion], [[Bloomsbury Publishing]].</ref>|sign=|source=}}

The eastern Hindu Jats supported the Sindhi king, Dahir, against the Arab Muslim invaders, whereas the western Jats aligned with Muhammad bin Qasim (708-711 CE) against Dahir.<ref name=Viajaya>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5CYxDwAAQBAJ&dq=jats+and+muhammad+bin+qasim&pg=PT127 |title=Migrations in Medieval and Early Colonial India |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=9781351558242 |editor=Vijaya Ramaswamy |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> At battle of Aror (Rohri), the united forces of Dahir and the eastern Jats jointly fought against Muhammad ibn al-Qasim.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> Rani Bai, the queen of King Dahir, had Jat origins, her father was Jat. [[Al-Baladhuri]]'s historical accounts document that the Jat people displayed a strong sense of independence, following the Muslim incursions into Sindh, some Jats, along with their livestock (buffalo), were taken to Iraq where they engaged in disruptive and rebellious activities.<ref name=ranib1>[[Manan Ahmed Asif]], 2016, A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia, [[Harvard University Press]], p.211.</ref>  After defeating Dahir, Muhammad bin al-Qasim turned against the Jats and Lohanas, the ''Chach Nama'', ''Zainul-Akhbar'' and ''Tarikh-i Bayhaqi'' have recorded battles between Hindu Jats and forces of Muhammad ibn Qasim.<ref name=Viajaya />

After the death of Hajjaj in 714 CE, the son of Dahir, Jaisimba (Jaisiah) reconquered the Brahmanabad during the time of [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] caliph [[Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik]] (r. 715-717). Jaisimba was later killed in a battle with Umayyad governor of Sindh, [[Junayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Murri]] (r. 723 to 726 CE). However, the Jats and Meds continue to mount a formidable resistance against the Muslim forces around the ancient Sindhi capital of Alor (near [[Sukkur]]) during the time of caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] (r. 786-809), in which Muslims did not fare well.<ref name=jatmed1>Sailendra Nath Sen, 1999, Ancient Indian History and Civilization, New Age International Publishers, pp-347-348.</ref> [[David Nicolle]] writes that "The resident Buddhist Jats [of Sindh] remained formidable warriors until they dropped out of historical records from the 11th to 17th century."<ref name=drop1>[[David Nicolle]], 2023, Medieval Indian Armies (2): Indo-Islamic Forces, 7th–Early 16th century, [[Osprey Publishing]], United Kingdom of Britain, p 14.</ref>

===Religion===
Lane-Poole writes that, "as a rule Muslim government was at once tolerant and economic".<ref>''Medieval India'' by Stanly Lane-Poole, Pub 1970, Page 10.</ref> The preference of collection of jizya over the conversion to Islam is a major economic motivator.<ref name=Extortion1>Habib Tiliouine, Richard J. Estes, 2016, "The State of Social Progress of Islamic Societies", Springer, page 338.</ref><ref name="Extortion2">John Powell, 2010, "Weapons & Warfare: Warfare : culture and concepts", Salem Press, page 884.</ref> Hindus and Buddhists who were classified as [[Dhimmi]]s had to pay mandatory [[Jizya]] instead of [[Zakat]] paid by Muslims.<ref>(Quran 9:29) “Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.”</ref><ref>
(Sahih Bukhari Volume 4 Chapter 88) Narrated Ibn Umar that the Prophet said, "My livelihood is under the shade of my spear, and he who disobeys my orders will be humiliated by paying Jizya."</ref> Contrastingly preferential treatment was given to a small number of people who were converted to Islam by "exempting them from Jizya in lieu of paying the [[Zakat]]".<ref name="Appleby292"/> Muhammad ibn al-Qasim fixed the Zakat at 10% of the agricultural produce.<ref name=sid1/> Others had to pay the mandatory jizya.<ref>{{cite book |last=Glenn |first= H. Patrick |author-link=H. Patrick Glenn |year=2007 |title=Legal Traditions of the World |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=218–219}}</ref><ref>H. Patrick Glenn, ''Legal Traditions of the World''. [[Oxford University Press]], 2007, p. 219.</ref><ref name=Bennett>{{Cite book|title=Muslims and Modernity: An Introduction to the Issues and Debates|first=Clinton|last=Bennett|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]]|year=2005|isbn=082645481X|page=163|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D0vYYovH7OQC|access-date=7 July 2012|author-link=Clinton Bennett}}</ref> "In Al-Biruni's narrative", according to [[Manan Ahmed Asif]] – a historian of Islam in South and South East Asia, "Muhammad bin Qasim first asserts the superiority of Islam over the polytheists by committing a taboo (killing a cow) and publicly soiling the idol (giving the cow meat as an offering)" before allowing the temple to continue as a place of worship.<ref name="Asif2016p112">{{cite book|author= Manan Ahmed Asif|title= A Book of Conquest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3QD6DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA112|year= 2016|publisher= Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-97243-8|pages=111–112}}</ref>

A religious Islamic office, "''sadru-I-Islam al affal"'', was created to oversee the secular governors.<ref name="Appleby292"/> The native hereditary elites were reappointed with the title of [[Rana (title)|Rana]]. According to [[Yohanan Friedmann]], Muhammad ibn al-Qasim declared that the Brahmins of [[Mansura, Sindh|Brahmanabad]] were good people.<ref name=sid1>Iqtidar Hisain Siddiqui, 2010, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DJbmTL8svpwC&dq=treatment+of+jats+by+muhammad+bin+qasim&pg=PA35 Indo-Persian historiography up to thirteenth century], Primum Books, Delhi.</ref>

While [[proselytization]] occurred, given the social dynamics of areas of Sindh conquered by Muslim, the spread of Islam was slow and took centuries.<ref name="Appleby292"/> No mass conversions to Islam took place and some temples escaped destruction such as the [[Sun Temple of Multan]]  on payment of jizya.<ref>Schimmel pg.4</ref> In the Arab settlers controlled areas of Sindh and Multan, conversion to Islam occurred only slowly, not on a massive scale.<ref name="StillHindu1"/> Majority of the population continued to remain Hindu who had to pay the jizya imposed by the Muslim state.<ref name="StillHindu1">Mohammad Yunus, Aradhana Parmar, 2003, "South Asia: A Historical Narrative", Oxford University Press, page 123.</ref>

It has been reported that Muhammad ibn al-Qasim met with [[Ruqayya bint Ali|Sayyida Ruqayya bint Ali]] ([[Bibi Pak Daman]]) in India, a daughter of [[Ali|Ali ibn Abi Talib]] the son-in-law of the Islamic [[prophet Muhammad]] and the fourth [[Rashidun caliph]] (r. 656-661). The events of the [[Battle of Karbala|massacre of Muhammad's family at Karbala]] (680 CE) caused many relatives of Muhammad including Ruqayyah to migrate to [[Makran]]. Among her potential assassins had been Muhammad Bin Qasim who later switched allegiances and became a supporter of Ruqayyah after learning of the sufferings experienced by the family of Muhammad.<ref name="Shoeb2016">{{cite journal|last1=Shoeb|first1=Robina|year=2016|title=Female Sufism in Pakistan: A Case Study of Bibi Pak Daman|journal=Pakistan Vision|volume=17|issue=1|pages=225–229}}</ref>

==Death==
Al-Hajjaj died in 714, followed a year later by Caliph al-Walid I, who was succeeded by his brother [[Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik|Sulayman]]. The latter took revenge against the generals and officials who had been close to al-Hajjaj. Sulayman owed political support to al-Hajjaj's opponents and so recalled both of al-Hajjaj's successful generals [[Qutayba ibn Muslim]], the conqueror of [[Transoxiana]] (Central Asia), and Muhammad. He also appointed the son of the distinguished general [[al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra]], [[Yazid ibn al-Muhallab|Yazid]], who was once imprisoned and tortured by al-Hajjaj, as the governor of Fars, Kirman, Makran, and Sind; he immediately placed Muhammad in chains.<ref>{{harvnb|Wink|2002|p=53}}</ref>

Muhammad ibn al-Qasim died on 18 July 715 in [[Mosul]] which is a part of the modern-day Iraq. Some sources say that his body was transferred to [[Makran]] in [[Balochistan]] at the [[Hingol National Park]] which is part of modern-day Pakistan.

There are two different accounts regarding the details of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's fate:

* According to [[al-Baladhuri]] Muhammad was killed due to a family feud with the governor of Iraq. Sulayman was hostile toward Muhammad because apparently, he had followed the order of Hajjaj to declare Sulayman's right of succession void in all territories conquered by him. When Muhammad received the news of the death of al-Hajjaj he returned to Aror. Muhammad was later arrested under the orders of the Caliph by the replacement governor of Sindh, [[Yazid ibn Abi Kabsha al-Saksaki]], who worked under the new military governor of Iraq, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, and the new fiscal governor, the ''mawla'' [[Salih ibn Abd al-Rahman]]. Salih, whose brother was executed by al-Hajjaj, tortured Muhammad and his relatives to death. The account of his death by al-Baladhuri is brief compared to the one in the ''Chach Nama''.<ref name="Gier"/><ref name="keay185"/><ref>{{harvnb|Wink|2002|pp=207–}}</ref>
* The ''Chach Nama'' narrates a tale in which Muhammad's demise is attributed to the daughters of  Raja Dahir of Aror (Sind), [[Surya Devi]] and Parimal Devi, who had been taken captive during the campaign. Upon capture their mother had been made a slave of ibn Qasim himself,<ref>End of ‘Imad-ud-Din Muhammad ibn Qasim. The Arab Conqueror of Sind by S.M. Jaffar   - Quarterly Islamic Culture, Hyderabad Deccan, Vol.19 Jan 1945</ref>  while the two sisters had been sent on as presents to the Caliph for his [[harem]] in the capital [[Baghdad]] (however Baghdad had not yet been built and the actual capital was Damascus). The account relates that they then tricked the Caliph into believing that ibn Qasim had violated them before sending them on and as a result of this subterfuge, ibn Qasim was wrapped and stitched in oxen hides,<ref>Pakistan, the cultural heritage by Aḥmad Shujāʻ Pāshā Sang-e-Meel Publications, 1998, Page 43</ref> and sent to Syria, which resulted in his death en route from suffocation.<ref name=Dawn>{{cite news|last1=Balouch|first1=Akhtar|title=Muhammad Bin Qasim: Predator or preacher?|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1098562|access-date=31 March 2021|newspaper=Dawn|location=Pakistan|date=8 April 2014}}</ref> This narrative attributes their motive for this subterfuge to securing vengeance for their father's death. Upon discovering this subterfuge, the Caliph is recorded to have been filled with remorse and ordered the sisters buried alive in a wall.<ref name="chachnama" /><ref name="keay185">Keay, pg. 185</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJbmTL8svpwC&pg=PA32|title= Indo-Persian Historiography Up to the Thirteenth Century|author= Iqtidar Husain Siddiqi|publisher= Primus Books|year= 2010|page= 32|isbn= 9788190891806}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
After Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's departure, the next appointed Arab governor died on arrival. Dahir's son recaptured Brahmanabad and c. 720, he was granted pardon and included in the administration in return for converting to Islam. Soon, however, he recanted and split off when the Umayyads were embroiled in a succession crisis. Later, [[Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri]] killed Jaisiah and recaptured the territory before his successors once again struggled to hold and keep it.

'''Arab states in South Asia'''

During the [[Abbasid]] period, c. 870, the local emirs shook off all allegiance to the caliphs and by the 10th century the region was split into two separate states, [[Mansura (Brahmanabad)|Mansurah]] on the lower Indus and [[Multan]] on the upper Indus, both were the major Arab principalities in South Asia, which were soon captured by [[Ismailis]] who set up an independent [[Fatimid]] state.<ref name="Gier" /><ref>Keay, pg 186-187</ref> The Arab conquest remained checked in what is now the south of Pakistan for three centuries by powerful Hindu monarchs to the north and east until the arrival of [[Mahmud of Ghazni]].<ref>Akbar, M.J, ''The Shade of Swords'', Routledge (UK), December 1, 2003, {{ISBN|0-415-32814-4}} pg.102.</ref>

==Controversy==
There is controversy regarding the conquest and subsequent conversion of Sindh. This is usually voiced in two antagonistic perspectives viewing Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's actions.<ref name="Derryl2">{{harvnb|MacLean|1989|pp=22–29}}</ref>

His conquest, as described by Stanley Lane-Poole, in Medieval India (Published in 1970 by Haskell House Publishers Ltd), was "liberal". He imposed the customary poll tax, took hostages for good conduct and spared peoples' lives and lands. He even left their shrines undesecrated: 'The temples;'  he proclaimed, 'shall be inviolate, like the churches of the Christians, the synagogues of the Jews and altars of the Magians'.<ref>''Medieval India'' by Stanley Lane-Poole, Published by Haskell House Publishers Ltd. NY 1970. Page 10</ref> In the same text, however, it is mentioned that "Occasional desecration of Hindu fanes took place... but such demonstrations were probably rare sops to the official conscience...", as destruction of temples and civilian massacres still took place.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4oxDQAAQBAJ&dq=arisen+from+the+small+number+of+the+invading+force%2C+as+well+as+from+ignorance+of+civil+institutions&pg=PA169 A Book of Conquest]'', p. 169, authored by Manan Ahmed Asif, published by Oxford University Press, 19-Sep-2016.</ref>

#''Coercive conversion'' has been attributed to early historians such as Elliot, Cousens, Majumdar and Vaidya.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=22-29}} They hold the view that the conversion of Sindh was necessitated. Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's numerical inferiority is said to explain any instances of apparent religious toleration, with the destruction of temples seen as a reflection of the more basic, religiously motivated intolerance.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=22-29}}
#''Voluntary conversion'' has been attributed to Thomas W. Arnold and modern Muslim historians such as Habib and Qureishi. They believe that the conquest was largely peaceful, and the conversion entirely so, and that the Arab forces enacted liberal, generous and tolerant policies.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=22-29}} These historians mention the "praiseworthy conduct of Arab Muslims" and attribute their actions to a "superior civilizational complex".<ref name="Derryl3">{{harvnb|MacLean|1989|pp=31–33}}</ref>

Various [[polemic]]al perceptions of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are also reflected in this debate.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=31–33}} The period of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's rule has been called by U.T. Thakkur "the darkest period in Sindh history", with the records speaking of massive forced conversions, temple destruction, slaughters and genocides; the people of Sindh, described as inherently pacifist due to their Hindu/Buddhist religious inclinations, had to adjust to the conditions of "barbarian inroad".<ref name="Thakkur">''Sindhi Culture'' by U.T. Thakkur, University of Bombay 1959</ref> On one extreme, the [[Arab Muslims]] are seen as being compelled by religious stricture to conquer and forcibly convert Sindh, but on the other hand, they can be seen as being respectful and tolerant of non-Muslims as part of their religious duty, with conversion being facilitated by the vitality, equality and morals of the Islamic religion.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=31–33}} Citations of towns taken either violently or bloodlessly, reading back into Arab Sindh information belonging to a later date and accounts such as those of the forcible circumcision of Brahmins at Debal or Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's consideration of Hindu sentiment in forbidding the slaughter of cows are used as examples for one particular view or the other.{{sfn|MacLean|1989|pp=31–33}}

Some historians strike a middle ground, saying that Muhammad ibn al-Qasim was torn between the political expediency of making peace with the Hindus and Buddhists; having to call upon non-Muslims to serve under him as part of his mandate to administer newly conquered land; and orthodoxy by refraining from seeking the co-operation of "infidels". It is contended that he may have struck a middle ground, conferring the status of [[Dhimmi]] upon the native Sindhis and permitting them to participate in his administration, but treating them as "non-citizens" (i.e. in the Caliphate, but not of it).<ref name="Appleby292"/>

While Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's warring was clearly at times brutal, he is supposed to have said of Hinduism that 'the idol temple is similar to the churches of the Christians, (to the synagogues) of the Jews and to the [[fire temples]] of the [[Zoroastrians]]' (''mā al-budd illā ka-kanāʾis al-naṣārā wa ’l-yahūd wa-buyūt nīrān al-madjūs'').{{sfn|Friedmann|1993|pp=405–406}} This 'seems to be the earliest statement justifying the inclusion of the Hindus in the category of ''[[Dhimmi|ahl al-dhimma]]'', leading Muhammad to be falsely viewed by many modern Muslims as a paragon of religious tolerance.{{sfn|Friedmann|1993|p=406}}

==Legacy==
[[File:A wide angle picture of Muhammad Bin Qasim Masjid.jpg|thumb|Muhammad ibn al-Qasim Mosque in Sukkur, Pakistan, dedicated to the leader.]]
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's presence and rule was very brief. His conquest for the Umayyads brought Sindh into the orbit of the Muslim world.<ref name="Markovits">Markovits, Claude ''The Global World of Indian Merchants, 1750-1947: Traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama'', Cambridge University Press, June 22, 2000, {{ISBN|0-521-62285-9}}, pg. 34.</ref> After the conquest of Sindh, he adopted the [[Hanafi]] school of [[Sharia law]] which regarded Hindus, Buddhists and Jains as "[[dhimmis]]" and "[[People of the Book]]", allowing them religious freedom as long as they continued to pay the tax known as "[[jizya]]". This approach would prove critical to the way Muslim rulers ruled in India over the next centuries.<ref name="Gier" /> Coastal trade and a Muslim colony in Sindh allowed for cultural exchanges and the arrival of [[Sufi]] missionaries to expand Muslim influence.<ref>Federal Research Division. ''"Pakistan a Country Study"'', Kessinger Publishing, June 1, 2004, {{ISBN|1-4191-3994-0}} pg.45.</ref>

From [[Debal]], which remained an important port until the 12th century, commercial links with the [[Persian Gulf]] and the [[Middle East]] intensified as Sindh became the "hinge of the Indian Ocean Trade and overland passway."<ref name="Markovits" /> [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], the founder of Pakistan, claimed that the [[Pakistan movement]] started when the first Muslim put his foot on the soil of [[Sindh]], the [[Gateway of Islam]] in India.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pakistan Movement|url=http://www.cybercity-online.net/pof/pakistan_movement.html|publisher=cybercity-online.net|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201083149/http://www.cybercity-online.net/pof/pakistan_movement.html|archive-date=2016-02-01|url-status=dead}}</ref> He is often referred to as the first [[Pakistani]] according to [[Pakistan Studies curriculum]].<ref name="DT">{{cite news| title=Distorted history of the Subcontinent |newspaper=Daily Times (newspaper)|url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/627609/distorted-history-of-the-subcontinent/ |author=Qasim Sodhar|date=17 June 2020|access-date=31 March 2021}}</ref> [[Yom-e Bab ul-Islam]] is observed in Pakistan, in honour of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim.<ref name="Yom-e-Babul Islam">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press Of Pakistan|title=KARACHI: Babul Islam day observed|url=http://archives.dawn.com/2003/11/07/local9.htm|access-date=31 March 2021|newspaper=Dawn|location=Pakistan|date=7 November 2003}}</ref><ref name="DT" />

[[Port Qasim]], Pakistan's second major port, is named in honor of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim.<ref>Cheesman, David ''Landlord Power and Rural Indebtedness in Colonial Sind'', Routledge (UK), February 1, 1997, {{ISBN|0-7007-0470-1}}</ref> [[Bagh Ibne Qasim|Bagh Ibn Qasim]] is the largest park in [[Karachi]] (Sindh, Pakistan), named in honour of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim. [[Ibn-e-Qasim Bagh Stadium]], [[Multan]] is a multi-use stadium named after Muhammad ibn al-Qasim. The Pakistan Naval Station Qasim, or [[PNS Qasim]], is the major naval special operations base for the Amphibious Special Operations Forces in the Pakistan Navy named after Muhammad ibn al-Qasim. [[Bin Qasim Town]] in Karachi is named after Muhammad ibn al-Qasim.

in 1996 PTV Series ''Labbaik'' he was played by Babar Ali and 2019 Egyptian animated musical film ''[[The Knight and the Princess]]''

==See also==
* [[Jat people in Islamic history]]
* [[Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent]]
* [[Caliphate campaigns in India]]
* [[Abdullah Shah Ghazi]]
* [[Shaikh Habib Al-Raee]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite journal |last1=Baloch |first1=Nabi Bakhsh |author-link=Nabi Bakhsh Khan Baloch |title=Muhammad ibn al-Qasim: A Study of His Family Background and Personality |journal=Islamic Culture |date=October 1953 |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=242–271 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gabrieli |first1=Francesco |author-link=Francesco Gabrieli |title=Muḥammad ibn Qāsim ath-Thaqafī and the Arab Conquest of Sind |journal=East and West |date=September–December 1965 |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=281–295 |jstor=29754928 }}
* {{EI2 |first=Y. |last=Friedmann |authorlink=Yohanan Friedmann |title=Muḥammad b. al-Ḳāsim |volume=7 |pages=405–406}}
* {{citation |last=Gier |first=Nicholas F. |chapter=From Mongols to Mughals : Hindu–Muslim relations in medieval India |title=The Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0LBhBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |year=2014 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-9223-8}}
** Nicholas F. Gier, [http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/mm.htm From Mongols to Mughals: Religious violence in India 9th-18th centuries], Presented at the Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting American Academy of Religion, Gonzaga University, May 2006.
* Lane-Poole, Stanley ''Medieval India under Mohammedan Rule, 712-1764'', G.P. Putnam's Sons. New York, 1970
* {{EI2 |article=Thakīf |last=Lecker |first=M. |volume=10 |page=432}}
* Schimmel, Annemarie, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=3zEhkAEACAAJ Islam in the Indian Subcontinent]'', Brill Academic Publishers, Jan 1, 1980, {{ISBN|90-04-06117-7}}
* Appleby, R Scott & Martin E Marty, ''Fundamentalisms Comprehended'', University of Chicago Press, May 1, 2004, {{ISBN|0-226-50888-9}}
* {{citation |last=Wink |first=André |title=Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Vol 1: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam |publisher=Brill |year=1996 |edition=Third |orig-year=first published 1990 |isbn=0391041738 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC}}
** {{citation |last=Wink |first=André |title=Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Vol 1: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam |publisher=Brill |year=2002 |orig-year=first published 1990 |isbn=9780391041738 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2m7_R5P2oAC}}
* Keay, John, ''India: A History'', Grove Press, May 1, 2001, {{ISBN|0-8021-3797-0}}
* {{citation |last=MacLean |first=Derryl N. |title=Religion and Society in Arab Sind |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xxAVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA126 |year=1989 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-08551-3}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}

{{Pakistan topics|history}}
{{Karachi}}
{{Multan}}
{{Hyderabad District, Pakistan}}{{Authority control}}

[[Category:695 births]]
[[Category:715 deaths]]
[[Category:8th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:8th-century executions by the Umayyad Caliphate]]
[[Category:Banu Thaqif]]
[[Category:Chach Nama]]
[[Category:Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate]]
[[Category:Pakistani Muslims]]
[[Category:Arab Muslims]]
[[Category:History of Islam in Pakistan]]
[[Category:History of Sindh]]
[[Category:Umayyad governors of Sind]]
[[Category:Torture victims]]
[[Category:City founders]]
[[Category:Hinduism and Islam]]