The Coming of the Arabs
IN the western part of Asia lies a vast country called Arabia, a land of rocks and deserts with few oases and fertile valleys thinly peopled by a hardy and sturdy folk. In this country, at a short distance from the western sea coast, stands the holy city of Mecca-where sometime in the year 570 was born the great Prophet, the founder of a religion that preached the unity of God, and roused the people to energy and unbounded enthusiasm. Under the successors of the Prophet, called Khalifas or Caliphs, who led the Faithful from AD 632, the arms of the Moslems advanced in all directions, and the banner of Islam floated over many countries from Iran to Spain. From the beginning the Arabs had their eyes on the rich ports of Western India and the outlying parts of the north-west borderland. As early as the time of the great Pulakesin II, an army was sent to Thana near Bombay (C. AD 637). This was followed by expeditions to Broach, the Gulf of Debal (in Sind), and Al-Kikan (the district round Kelat). About the middle of the seventh century, the satrapy of Zaranj in Southern Afghanistan fell into the hands of the Arabs. The turn of Makran in Baluchistan came next. The Arabs now made repeated onslaughts on the Shah of Kabul, supposed to be a descendant of the great Kanishka, and the Ratbil of Zabul in the upper valley of the Helmund river and some adjoining districts. The latter succumbed after a brave struggle (AD 870). The Turki Shahiya kings of Kabul maintained a precarious existence till the closing years of the ninth century when they were supplanted by Kallar, usually identified with Lalliya, the founder of the Hindu Shahiya dynasty of Udabhandapura (Waihand, Ohind or Und on the Indus).
Meanwhile the Arabs had followed up their success in Baluchistan by the conquest of Sind. That province figures in the narrative of Bana as one of the territories overrun by Prabhakaravardhana and his more famous son, Harsha. In the days of Hiuen Tsang the throne was occupied by a Sudra dynasty which gave way to a Brahmana family founded by Chach. Dahar or Dahir, son of Chach, was on the throne when al-Hajjaj, governor of Irak, incensed at the action of certain pirates of Debal, sent several expeditions to Sind. The earlier incursions were repulsed by Dahir. There upon al-Hajjaj entrusted the work of punishing the Indian king to his nephew and son-in-law, Muhammad ibn-Kasim. The young commander stormed Debal, captured Nerun and some other cities and strongholds, and pushed on to the western bank of the Indus. His work was greatly facilitated by the treachery of certain Buddhist priests and renegade chiefs who deserted their sovereign and joined the invader. With the assistance of some of these traitors, Muhammad crossed the vast sheet of water separating his army from that of Dahir and gave battle to the Indian ruler near Raor (AD 712). Dahir offered a brave resistance, but was defeated and killed. The fort of Raor fell next after a heroic defence by the widowed queen. The invaders now pushed on to Bahmanabad and Alor, which submitted. The turn of Multan came next. The whole of the lower Indus valley was now dominated by the Arabs. But the invaders had no mind to stop there. Already in the time of Muhammad ibn-Kasim minor operations were carried on in the neighbouring provinces. A later governor, Junaid or Junayd, pursued a more aggressive policy and sent expeditions against Marmad (Marwar?),al-Mandal(Mandor? near Viramgam?) Dahnaj, Barwas (Broach), Ujjain, Malibah (Malwa), Baharimad, al-Bailaman (Vallamandala?)and al-Jurz (Gurjara). According to Indian inscriptions, the territories overrun by the invaders included Sind, Cutch, Surashtra or Kathiawar, Chavotaka (some Chapa principality of Gujarat or Western Rajputana), a Maurya principality apparently in southern Rajputana or Malwa, and the Gurjjara territory apparently round Bhinmal or Broach. The progress of the Arabs was stopped by the Chalukyas in the south, the Pratiharas in the east, and the Karkotas in the north. But a new scene opened with the foundation of the kingdom of Ghazni by Alptigin in or about AD 962.
Fall of the Shahiya Dynasty of Udabhanda
Alptigin was formerly a slave of the Samanid rulers of Central Asia. This enterprising chief made himself independent in Ghazni and conquered a part of the kingdom of Kabul. He died in AD 963. In AD 977 his sceptre passed into the hands of his son-in-law, Sabuktigin. He encroached on the dominions of the Shahiya ruler Jayapala to whom reference has been made above. In order to put a stop to the depredations of Sabuktigin, Jayapala advanced towards Ghazni and met his enemy near a place called Ghuzak between Ghazni and Lamghan. A snowstorm compelled Jayapala to conclude a humiliating peace, but he soon broke his engagements and brought on his head the wrath of the Sultan. The latter carried fire and sword into the territory of his antagonist and seized the districts in the neighbourhood of Lamghan. In 997 Sabuktigin died, and in the next year the crown went to his famous son, Mahmud. In 1001 the new Sultan inflicted a crushing defeat on Jayapala near the city of Peshawar. Unable to survive this disgrace, the defeated king burnt himself on a funeral pyre and was succeeded by his son, Anandapala (AD 1002 or 1003). In 1006 Mahmud took Multan, but the final subjugation of the city was postponed till 1010. In 1008 he routed the troops of Anandapala, led by prince Brahmanapala, at the battle of Waihand, and pursued the fugitives as far as Bhimnagar.
Anandapala continued to offer resistance from the fastnesses of the Salt Range (Nandana). His successor, Trilochanpala, carried on the struggle with the assistance of Samgramaraja of Kashmir. In the end he was compelled to retire to the east and conclude an alliance with the Chandella ruler of Kalinjar and other princes of Mid-India. But he was again defeated on the river Ruhut (Rahib) identified by some with the Ramganga. He was assassinated in AD 1021-1022. With the death of his son and successor, Bhima, in 1026 the dynasty came to an end. Both al-Biruni and Kalhana bear testimony to the courage and magnanimity of this noble line of kings who poured out their blood like water in defending the northwestern gates of their country against the invader.
Mahmud did not remain content with the laurels he won in the Punjab. In 1014 he took Thanesar, and in the following years made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer the vale of Kashmir. He also burnt the temple of Mathura. In 1018 he sacked Kanauj and extinguished the once powerful empire of the Pratiharas. In 1022-1023 he received the submission of Gwalior and Kalinjar. His most famous expedition, that against Somnath in Kathiawar, was undertaken in 1025. The fall of the most celebrated Hindu shrine of the age in 1026 synchronised with the extinction of the Hindu Shahiya kingdom of the Punjab. Four years later the Sultan died.
Mahmud’s expeditions were mostly regular raids undertaken mainly with the object of destroying Hindu temples, desecrating Hindu idols and plundering the wealth of the country. Altogether seventeen expeditions are set to his credit by Muslim chroniclers who describe with glee the wanton destruction and massacre on a large scale by Mahmud and the fabulous wealth carried by him to Ghazni after each expedition. It is said that from Nagarkot alone he plundered “700,000 golden diners, 700 mans of gold and silver plates, 200 mans of pure gold in ingots, 2,000 mans of unwrought silver, and twenty mans of various jewels, including pearls, corals, diamonds and rubies.”
The only permanent results of his arduous campaigns were the annexation of the Hindu Shahiya kingdom and certain other districts in the Punjab and the north-west borderland and the destruction of the morale of the Hindu armies. The raids of Mahmud must have made a profound impression on the minds of the great Rajput powers of Western and Central India that sought to divide among themselves the imperial heritage of the Prratiharas. During the period 1030-1192, that is to say from the death of Mahmud to the arrival on the scene of Muhammad of Ghur, the princes of the Indian interior enjoyed comparative immunity from foreign attacks. The Ghaznavid Sultans now and then harried certain territories, and on one occasion one of their generals advanced up to Benares and sacked the holy city. But on the whole, the invaders could not make much headway. The terror inspired by their ravages had, however, lasting consequences.
