Heritage: Muhammad bin Qasim

[Nadeem Jamali <jamali@CS.UIUC.EDU>]

Last in the series of three articles about Sindh published in Dawn.
The first two were about Queen Suhandi and Rajah Dahar.

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Muhammad bin Qasim


By Khurram Ali Shafique

This is the last in a series of three articles covering the
personalities of Queen Suhandi, her son Raja Dahar and the Arab
conqueror Muhammad bin Qasim.

Muhammad bin Qasim was one of the finest colonialists in the Arab
history, and a worthy soldier. Unfortunately, our modern writers have
tried to turn him into a saint, and in the process, have lost all
those features that made this Arab general an interesting human
being. It is high time we restore his true picture from authentic
sources of history written by the earliest Muslim historians.

Muhammad bin Qasim was born around 694 AD (if we are to believe the
tradition that he was seventeen when he attacked Sindh in 711 AD). He
belonged to the Saqqafi tribe that had originated from Taif in Arabia,
and he was also a close relative of Hajjaj bin Yousuf (possibly a
second cousin, but not a nephew as narrated in the popular
tradition). Much because of the influence of Hajjaj, the young
Muhammad bin Qasim was appointed the governor of Persia while in his
teens, and it is said that he did a good job at crushing the rebellion
in that region.

Sometime around the same period he got married to a girl in the Tamim
tribe. There is also a popular tradition that presents him as the
son-in-law of Hajjaj bin Yousuf, but some scholars discredit this
tradition since an authentic pedigree of Hajjaj doesn't mention any
daughter. It is more likely that the young hero was married to a woman
of Banu Tamim, and although the name of his wife does not appear in
recorded history it is certain that she gave him two sons who later
became famous for their own exploits.

When Muhammad bin Qasim invaded Sindh, Hajjaj arranged for special
messengers between Basra and Sindh, and told the general never to take
any step without his advice. This order was followed to the letter
during the campaign. "When you advance in the battle, see that you
have the sun behind your backs," Hajjaj wrote to his cousin just
before the famous storming of Debal. "If the sun is at your back then
its glare will not prevent you from having a full view of the
enemy. Engage in fight immediately, and ask for the help of God. If
any of the people of Sindh ask for mercy and protection, do give it to
them but not to the citizens of Debal, who must all be put to the
sword."

Debal was the first important town in Sindh captured by the Arabs
under Muhammad bin Qasim. It is also said that just before the final
attack, a Brahmin came out to inform the invaders that the flag on the
temple is a talisman and if they strike it down the city will hold no
longer. "When the army of Islam scaled the walls of the fort, the
Debalese opened the gates and asked for mercy," says the writer of
Chachnameh, the primary source on Muhammad bin Qasim written on the
orders of his descendants. "Muhammad bin Qasim replied that he had no
orders to spare anyone in the town, and that his soldiers had to do
the slaughtering for three days 700 beautiful females, who were under
the protection of the temple, were all captured along with their
valuable ornaments and clothes adorned with jewels."

The women and children thus captured from Debal were included in the
spoils of the war. Some of them were distributed among the soldiers,
while one-fifth was sent to the ruler through Hajjaj bin Yousuf in
accordance to the law followed at the time which proclaimed that
one-fifth of the spoils of the war belonged to the ruler for rightful
use. These spoils included two daughters of the deceased ruler of
Debal, who were handpicked for his harem.

The fate of Debal sent shock-waves across Sindh. People consulted
their astrologers, and soon the word was out: fate has ordained that
the country will fall to the Arabs. It is more likely than not that
the invaders sponsored the rumour after witnessing at Debal how local
superstition could be used as a war strategy. The Buddhist population
of Sindh was the first to make secret alliances with the Arabs, since
they had little stake in the rule of the Brahmin dynasty. Hajjaj Bin
Yousuf carefully dictated the terms of mercy to Muhammad bin Qasim all
the way from Basra. "Whoever submits to you, let him retain his power
and wealth and family," Hajjaj ordered his cousin. "And whoever does
not submit, treat him brutally and torture him till he submits."

This strategy was carried out with great success. Nothing weakens the
spirit of a human being more than existing on a borderline of hope and
fear. All colonialists have known this fact of human psychology, and
exploited it to make traitors of their enemy. The colonialization of
Sindh by Mohammad Bin Qasim's army is a superb example of this policy.

One such case is the story of Kaka Kotak, a Buddhist of some influence
in Siwistan (now Sehwan). Kaka made a secret alliance with the Arabs
and then went to the Brahmin ruler of the town, telling him that it
was written in the ancient books of India that the country of Sindh
would fall to the Arabs at a certain time, and that time had now
arrived. "Our religion forbids us to shed blood," the cunning Buddhist
told the governor. "We are afraid that when the Arab horde storms the
city, they will take us for your followers and deprive us of our life
and domestics. We have come to know that Lord Hajjaj, under the orders
of the Caliph, has ordered this army to grant pardon to those who ask
for it, and the Arabs are said to be faithful to their word."

He then asked for the governor's permission to make an alliance with
the Arabs. When permission was refused, Kaka continued to serve as a
spy to the Arabs, and never failed to remind his governor that the
fall of Sindh was foretold in books written hundreds of years ago. The
governor soon lost hope, and fled to his cousin Raja Dahar while the
Arab army marched on and occupied the city. True to their word, they
spared the family of Kaka and his friends while the rest of the
population was sold into slavery or distributed among the
soldiers. Kaka was then raised to the rank of a local chief, something
he might not have dreamt of under the Brahmin rulers. "When Kaka put
on this dress of honor, all the noblemen in the surrounding places
were inspired to accept his influence," writes the author of
Chachnameh.

"Kaka secured immunity from the Arab army for those who submitted
while he led the Arabs to those who refused to submit, so that the
stubborn could be punished." Muhammad bin Qasim's advance towards
Dahar was very careful. He ensured that his supply line was safe,
moving ahead only after each city on the way was secured in possession
and its population either annihilated or won over with generosity. To
Hajjaj, who was sitting several thousand miles away, it might have
seemed that his cousin was wasting time. "Now give up other towns and
march against Dahar," Hajjaj wrote in a rather frustrated mood. There
is a subtle, almost vague suggestion that Muhammad bin Qasim wanted
Raja Dahar to submit to him and rule over Sindh as the Caliph's
viceroy. Hajjaj saw this as a waste of time. "I am shocked at the
weakness of your policy," Hajjaj wrote to him. "People will think that
you are trying to bring about peace- and nothing will be gained. You
must not give up the ways of imperialism and high-handed conquest, and
you should inspire fear in order to subdue the enemy completely."

Muhammad bin Qasim, whose first lesson as a soldier was to take
orders, then gave up his personal bias and led his armies for a
head-on collision with the elephants of Dahar. "O Men of Arabia,"
Muhammad bin Qasim charged his armies to the final contest with
Dahar. "These crowds of infidels have come prepared to fight with
us. You must use all your strength, for they will put up a furious
resistance for the sake of their wealth and families. Ride against
them - with the help of God, we hope to make them all food for our
sharp swords, take away their wealth and their families, and obtain
large booty. Do not show weakness, and remember that God makes the end
of the pious happy."

Dahar was killed at the Battle of Rawar. "It is related that when the
fort of Rawar was taken, all the treasures and arms that were in it
were secured, except what had been taken away by Dahir's son
Jaisingh," narrates the author of Chachnameh. "All this booty was
brought to Muhammad bin Qasim. The slaves were counted, and their
number came to 60,000. Out of these, 30 were young ladies of royal
blood including Raja Dahar's niece whose name was Husna (Sundri).

Muhammad bin Qasim sent all these to Hajjaj, together with Dahar's
head, and one-fifth of the booty, as the royal share. When the head of
Dahar and women and the treasure were brought to Hajjaj, he placed his
forehead on the ground and offered prayers of thanks-giving, saying:
Now I have got all the treasures of the world. I rule the world." It
is said that one of Dahar's wives, Ladi, married Muhammad bin Qasim,
but there is another tradition according to which Ladi killed herself
by jumping down the rampart when she saw the approaching army.

The conquest of Sindh was completed with occupation of the remaining
major cities, specially Brahmanabad and Multan. This brought more
serious responsibilities. So far, Sindh was treated as an enemy
country, and in his earlier conquests Muhammad bin Qasim had torn down
temples, replacing them with mosques. "Now that the people of this
land have placed their heads in the yoke of submission," Hajjaj
instructed his general. "I do not see what further rights we have over
them beyond the usual tax. Therefore, permit them to build the temples
of those they worship. No one is prohibited from or punishes for
following his own religion, and let no one prohibit it, so that these
people may live happily in their homes."

This edict of Hajjaj bin Yousuf had a lasting influence in the history
of Muslim India. By giving the Buddhists and Hindus the status of
zimmis and imposing 'protection tax' (or jizya) on them, the Arabs had
given them acceptance. However, the Muslim psychology could never come
to terms with the practice of idol-worship by the Hindus. Hence a
paradoxical situation existed throughout the Muslim rule in India
where Hinduism was accepted for the purpose of tax collection but was
otherwise seen as the creed of the infidels in all matters. It is
difficult to conclude from the edict of Hajjaj what he or other
Muslims of his age actually thought about Hinduism, but it is obvious
that the Arabs as colonialists had to make pragmatic compromises.

Muhammad bin Qasim completed the annexation of Sindh in three years,
enlisting a large cohort of loyal followers from the native
population. He then prepared plans to annex other states of India,
beginning with Qannauj, which lied just across the Rajasthan
desert. Of course, these states had given no provocation, and since
the Hindus had just gained religions acceptance,' there was no
justification of a religious war against them either. But clearly,
Muhammad bin Qasim was serving the interests of the Arab Empire as a
worldly-wise general.

It was about this time that he lost both of his sponsors at the
court. His cousin Hajjaj was the first to die, soon followed by the
master himself, Caliph Walid. The successor on throne, Caliph Sulieman
bin Abdul Malik, was a generous monarch who owed his throne to the
opponents of the late Hajjaj bin Yousuf. Most of these were relatives
of people killed or tortured by Hajjaj (some 20,000 women and 50,000
men were found unjustly imprisoned when Hajjaj died). They demanded
revenge, and there was no way, nor enough reason, for Sulieman to stop
them.

Muhamamd bin Qasim was high on the hit list due to his close
association with Hajjaj. It is said that the young general was about
to invade an Indian state when the Caliph's messengers arrived to take
him back in chains. True to the soldier's honor, like always, Muhammad
bin Qasim obliged. His followers wept bitterly, warning him that he
was going back to a certain death. We don't know what he said in
reply, if he said anything. We do know, however, that shortly
afterwards, just before he died of torture in the prison of Wasit, he
recited an Arabic couplet to the effect: "They wasted me at the prime
of my youth, and what a youth they wasted: the one who was a defender
of their borders."

Sources used in this series of articles: Chachnameh by Ali Kufi;
Futuhul Baldan by Al Balazri; Tarikh-e-Masumi by Mir Masum Bakhari;
and Tuhfatil Kiram by Mir Ali Sher Qanea