Daily Times

My plan is to meet the Arabs in open battle, and fight with them with all possible vigour. If I overpower them, I shall crush them to death and my kingdom will then be put on a firm footing. But if I am killed honourably, the event will be recorded in the books of Arabia and Hind, and will be talked of by great men, and it will be said that such and such king sacrificed his precious life for the sake of his country, in fighting with the enemy: Raja Dahar

Sometime before the final battle, Dahar’s vizier approached him and suggested that Raja Dahar should take refuge with one of the friendly kings of India. If that wasn’t acceptable to Raja Dahar, said the vizier, then he should at least send away his family to some safe point in India. Raja Dahar refused to do either. I cannot send away my family to security while the families of my nobles remain here. Raj Dahar then tried to prevent Bin Qasim’s army from crossing the Indus River, moving his forces to its eastern banks. According to Tareekh e Masumi an arrow from the Arab army snuffed out Dahar’s life on10th of the month of Ramzan 93 Hijra. Many of the Dahar’s soldiers died on the same day. The large scale battle lasted for four days. The very concept of slaughtering the entire population of a town had occurred at Deybal, with no concessions made for women and children. Dahar’s wife was taken by Muhammad Bin Qasim as his own wife. The decapitated head of Raja Dahar along with the thirty women of his family were sent to Caliph Walid bin Abdul Malik. After defeating Raja Dahar, bin Qasim extended his conquest up to Multan.

In the summer of 714 CE, Hajjaj bin Yusuf died of a stomach ailment. He made numerous bitter enemies because of his extreme cruel nature, according to Scottish Muslim scholar William Muir, Hajjaj stands out in the annals of Islam as the incarnation of cruelty. Caliph Walid too died and was succeeded by Suleiman bin Abdul Malik. The new caliph ordered Muhammad Bin Qasim recalled, to be imprisoned. The story narrated about the torture seems fabricated, but anyhow Muhammad bin Qasim died in 715 AD in Mosul, Iraq.

Yazid bin abi Kabash sent to govern Sindh after Bin Qasim’s death, died within few weeks of his arrival too. Habib bin Muhallab replaced Yazid and displaced Jai Sinh from Aror, but Jai Sinh took the control back and established himself firmly. Around 720 CE Jai Sinh adopted Islam in return for a promise from the Caliph to discontinue further assaults against his kingdom, and recognise him as a legitimate ruler. But in 725 CE, both Jai Sinh and his brother Chhaj were captured and killed by Junaid bin Abdarrehman, and the reins of Sindh finally slipped away from Chhach family forever.

The first town assaulted in Bin Qasim’s Sindh campaign was Deybal. Some archaeologist and historians suggest that Banbhore is the historical city of Deybal. The city of Banbhore dates from the 1st century BC to the 13th century AD. The city was gradually deserted after the 13th century due to change in the course of the Indus. Archaeological findings show that the eastern part contains ruins of a mosque with an inscription dating to 727 AD, sixteen years after the conquest of Sindh, indicating the best-preserved example of the earliest mosques in the region.

Umar ibn al-Khattab A.H. 13–23 / A.D. 634–644 to Al-Walid I A.H. 86–96 / A.D. 705–715

It is related by the historians that it was in the reign of Umar Ibn Khattab that an army was first sent out to different parts of Hind and Sindh to carry on religious war. Some narrators of the history have stated that after the death of Umar ibn Khattab, third Caliph Usman bin Affan sent Hakim bin Hailah to Hind and Sindh to gather information about the country. On his return when Caliph inquired: How are the people with regard to their promises and treaties? Are they faithful or violators of their word? He replied: They are treacherous and deceitful. After hearing the replies Caliph prohibited from invading Sindh. Then came the Caliphate Ali ibn abi Talib. This time Saghir ibn Dau lead the expedition, he took the land route through present day Afghanistan, this expedition managed to extend the Caliphate boundaries to the area of Kikanan Balochistan. The expedition continued during Muaviah bin abu Sufyan. But the Caliphate had been unsuccessful in controlling Kikanan. Muslim forces were pushed and retreated to Makran. Ahnaf proceeded towards Makran after his predecessor’s death but replaced after two years.

When Abd al Malik took over as the Caliph, Hajjaj bin Yusuf was made the governor of Basra. Upon assuming office, he handpicked Saeed and sent a force to Makran, but Saeed was killed by one of Dahar’s Arab commander Alafi, not as a part of war, but in retaliation for killing one of their clansmen. The next Arab force to Sindh was sent under the command of Buzail bin Tuhfa. Buzail’s faceoff with the Kingdom of Sindh was at Deybal. Raja Dahar sent his son Jai Sinh, who emerged victorious in the battle. Buzail was killed eventually, and finally he gave command to Muhammad Bin Qasim.

The primary reason cited for the expedition by Hajjaj bin Yusuf, because Raja Dahar refused to take any action against the pirates who looted a fleet of small ships and made males and females captive. We have been taught that Raja Dahar was a cruel king, unfair to minorities in Sind. But after going through different books of history including Chachnama which was written by an Arab and translated into Persian and then in Urdu and English, the reality seems to be different. This was not the first attempt to conquer Sindh, several attempts since the time of first Caliphate were made, and even sending Bin Qasim was Hajjaj’s third attempt. The primary motive behind this invasion was to extend the boundaries of Muslim Caliphate. And in recent times, the traces of pre-Islamic history were removed. The Indus Valley civilisation acquired a unique significance, for this was not as Hindu as some of the other historical sites are in the country. Separated from their Hindu influence, the historical sites of Sindh and Punjab became acceptable.

A lot has been done in recent years but not enough. Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been celebrating Hindu festivals with the Hindu community, Sindh culture day was celebrated at the site of Mohenjo Daro few years ago. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif celebrated Hindu festivals with the Hindu community in Karachi. On the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan 1,000-year-old Hindu temple in Sialkot city, which was sealed for the last 72 years, has been re-opened for people. A statue of Raja Ranjit Singh was erected outside Lahore fort last year. The Kartarpur corridor has opened just days before the 550th anniversary of the birth of Sikhism’s founder, Guru Nanak. Dozens of the Buddhist sites are well-maintained and open to visitors in Taxila.

We are slowly moving in the right direction, towards tolerance, towards inter-faith unity. We must now embrace our history with clarity. It is an honour that we are the only host of origin of Hinduism. Indus civilisation is incomplete without Hinduism. I offer my sincere wishes to the State of Pakistan to celebrate and honour unbiased history and all the minorities in Pakistan without any disposition.

The writer is a traveller and freelance writer based in UK. He has previously written for @the_nation @Dawn_com @DunyaNews @TheAsians He can be contacted on Twitter @SyedIHusain