Al-Baladhuri Quotes

After the death of Mujja’, Hajjaj appointed in his place Muhammad, son of Harun, son of Zara al Namari. Under the government of Muhammad, the king of the Isle of Rubies [Ceylon] sent as a present to Hajjaj, certain Muhammadan girls who had been born in his country, the orphan daughters of merchants who had died there. The king hoped by this measure to ingratiate himself with Hajjaj; but the ship in which he had embarked these girls was attacked and taken by some barks (bawarij) belonging to the Meds of Debal. One of the women of the tribe of Yarbu exclaimed, ‘Oh Hajjaj!’ When this news reached Hajjaj, he replied, ‘I am here.’ He then sent an ambassador to Dahir to demand their release, but Dahir replied, “They are pirates who have captured these women, and over them I have no authority.” Then Hajjaj sent Ubaidullah, son of Nabhan, against Debal. Ubaidullah being killed, Hajjaj wrote to Budail, son of Tahfa, of the tribe of Bajali, who was at ’Uman, directing him to proceed to Debal. When he arrived there his horse took fright (and threw him), and the enemy surrounded him and killed him. Some authors say he was killed by the Jats of Budha…

Hakim, son of ‘Awana al Kalbi, succeeded Tamim. The people of India had returned to idolatry excepting those of Kassa, and the Musulmans had no place of security in which they could take refuge, so he built a town on the other side of the lake facing India, and called it Al Mahfuza, “The secure,” and this he made a place of refuge and security for them, and their chief town. He asked the [p. 28] elders of the tribe of Kalb, who were of Syrian descent, what name he should give the town. Some said Dimash [Damascus], others, Hims [Emessa], and others Tadmur [Palmyra]. Hakim said (to the latter), “May God destroy16 you, O fool.” He gave it the name of Al Mahfuza, and dwelt there.

Muhammad advanced to Alsaka, a town on this side of the Biyas, which was captured by him, and is now in ruins. He then crossed the Biyas, and went towards Multan, where, in the action which ensued, Zaida, the son of ‘Umur, of the tribe of Tai, covered himself with glory. The infidels retreated in disorder into the town, and Muhammad commenced the siege, but the provisions being exhausted, the Musulmans were reduced to eat [p. 24] asses. Then came there forward a man who sued for quarter, and pointed out to them an aqueduct, by which the inhabitants were supplied with drinking water from the river of Basmad. It flowed within the city into a reservoir like a well, which they call talah. Muhammad destroyed the water-course; upon which the inhabitants, oppressed with thirst, surrendered at discretion. He massacred the men capable of bearing arms, but the children were taken captive, as well as the ministers of the temple, to the number of six thousand. The Musulmans found I there much gold in a chamber ten cubits long by eight broad, and there was an aperture above, through which the gold was poured into the chamber. Hence they call Multan “the Frontier of the House of Gold,” for farj means “a frontier.”4 The temple (budd) of Multan received rich presents and offerings, and to it the people of Sind resorted as a place of pilgrimage. They circumambulated it, and shaved their heads and beards. They conceived that the image was that of the prophet Job, God’s peace be on him!

Muhammad then marched towards Alrur and Baghrur. The people of Sawandari came out to meet him and sued for peace, which was granted them, on the condition that they should entertain the Muhammadans and furnish guides. At this time they profess the Muhammadan creed. After that he went to Basmad, where the inhabitants obtained peace on the same terms as those accorded to the Sawandrians. At last he reached Alrur, one of the cities of Sind. It is situated on a hill. Muhammad besieged it for several months, and compelled it to surrender promising to spare the lives of the inhabitants and not touch the temples (budd). “The temples,” he said, “shall be unto us, like as the churches of the Christians, the syna-gogues of the Jews, and the fire temples of the Magians.” He imposed, however, the tribute upon the inhabitants, and built a mosque in the city.

In the reign of Mu’awiya, son of Abu Sufain, the Amir Abdullah, son of Amir, or according to some, Mu’awiya himself sent Abdullah, son of Suar al ‘Abdi, to the frontier of Hind. He fought in Kikan and captured booty. Then he came to Mu’awiya and presented to him some Kikan horses…

Afterwards, Hajjaj, during the Khilafat of Walid, son of ‘Abdul malik appointed Muhammad, son of Kasim, son of Muhammail, son of Hakim, son of Abu ‘Ukail to command on the Sindian frontier. Muhammad was in Fars when the order arrived, and had previously received instructions to go to Rai [south of the Caspian Sea]. Abu-l Aswad Jahm, son of Zahru-l Ju’fi, was at the head of the advanced guard, and he was ordered to return to Muhammad, and he joined him on the orders of Sind. Hajjaj ordered six thousand Syrian warriors to attend Muhammad, and others besides. He was provided with all he could require, without omitting even thread and needles. He had leave to remain at Shiraz until all the men who were to accompany him had assembled, and all the preparations had been duly made. Hajjaj had some dressed cotton saturated with strong vinegar, and then dried it in the shade, and said, “When you arrive in Sind, if you find the vinegar scarce, soak the cotton in water, and with the water you can cook your food and season your dishes as you wish.” Some authors say, that when Muhammad arrived on the frontiers, he wrote to complain of the scarcity of vinegar, and this was the reason which induced Hajjaj to send cotton soaked in vinegar.

At the end of the year 38, or the beginning of the year 39 H. (659 A.D.) in the Khalifat of Ali, son of Abu Salib, Haras, the son of Marra-I Abdi went with the sanction of the Khalif to the same frontier, as a volunteer. He was victorious, got plunder, made captives, and distributed in one day a thousand heads. He and those who were with him, saving a few, were slain in the land of Kikan in the year 42 H. (662 A.D.) Kikan is in Sind near the frontiers of Khurasan.

We are told that Hajjaj caused a calculation to be made of the sums expended in fitting out this expedition of Muhammad Kasim, and the riches which resulted from it. He had spent sixty millions (of dirhams) and that which had been sent to him amounted to one hundred and twenty millions. He said “We have appeased our anger, and avenged our injuries, and we have gained sixty millions of dirhams, as well as the head of Dahir.” Hajjaj then died.5 Upon learning this, Muhammad left Multan and returned to Alrur and Baghrur, which had been previously captured. He made donations to his men, and sent an [p. 25] army towards al-Bailaman, the inhabitants of which place surrendered without any resistance. He made peace with the inhabitants of Surast, with whom the men of Basea6 are now at war. They are Meds, seafarers, and pirates. Then he went against the town of Kiraj. Duhar advanced to oppose him, but the enemy was put to flight. Duhar fled, but some say he was killed. The inhabitants surrendered. Muhammad slew (all those capable of bearing arms) and reduced the rest to slavery.

When ‘Usman, son of Akkan become Khalif, he appointed Abdullah, son of Amar, son of Kuraiz to [the government of] Irak and wrote to him an order to send a person to the confines of Hind in order to acquire knowledge and bring back information. He accordingly deputed Hakim, son of Jaballa al ‘Abdi. When this men returned he was sent on to the Khalif, who questioned him about the state of those regions. He replied that he knew them because he had examined them. The Khalif then told him to describe them. He said, “Water is scarce, the fruits are poor, and the robbers are bold; if few troops are sent there they will be slain, if many, they will starve.” Usman asked him whether he spoke accurately or hyperbolically. He said that he spoke according to his knowledge. The Khalif abstained from sending any expedition there.

Ali, son of Muhammad, son of Abdullah, son of Abu Saif, has related that the Khalif ‘Umar, son of Al Khattab appointed Usman, son of Abu-l Asi of the tribe of Sakif to Bahrain and Uman in the year 15 H. (636 A.D.) Usman sent his brother Hakam to Bahrain, and he himself went to Uman, and despatched an army to Tana [Thana]. When the army returned he wrote to the Khalif Umar to inform him of it. Umar wrote in, reply: “O brother of Sakif, thou has placed the worm in the wood but I swear by the God, that if our men had been killed I would taken (slain) an equal number from your tribe.” Hakam dispatched a force to Barauz [Broach]; he also sent to the bay of Debal his brother Mughira, who met and defeated the enemy.

…Their idol of Zur was of gold, and its eyes were two rubies. The zealous Musalmans cut off its hands and plucked out its eyes, and then remarked to the Marzaban how powerless was his idol to do either good or evil…

In the year 44 H. (664. A.D.), and in the days of the Khalif Mu’awiya, Muhallab, son of Abu Safra made war upon the same frontier, and advanced as far as Banna and Alahwar, which lie between Multan and Kabul. The enemy opposed him and killed him and his followers. In the land of Kikan, Muhallab encountered eighteen Turki horsemen, riding crop-tailed horses. They fought well but were all slain. Muhallab said, “How much more active than we those barbarians were.” So he docked the tails of his horses, and was the first among the Musulmans who did so.

Muhammad and his Musulmans encountered Dahir mounted on his elephant, and surrounded by many of these animals, and his Takukaras [Thakurs] were near his person … Dahir dismounted and fought valiantly, but he was killed towards the evening, when the idolaters fled, and the Musulmans glutted themselves with massacre. According to Al Madaini, the slayer of Dahir was a man of the tribe of Kalab, who composed some verses upon the occasion.

Meanwhile, Walid, son of Abdu-l malik, died, and was succeeded by (his brother) Sulaiman, who appointed Salih, son of Abdu-r-Rahman, to collect the tribute of ‘Irak. Yalid, son of Abu kabsha as-Saksaki, was made governor of Sind, and Muhammad, son of Kasim, was sent back a prisoner with Mu’awiya, son of Muhallab. The people of Hind wept for Muhammad, and preserved his likeness at Kiraj. He was imprisoned by Salih at Wasit. Salih put him to torture, together with other persons of the family of Abu ‘Ukail, until they expired: for Hajjaj – (Muhammad’s cousin) had put to death Adam, Salih’s brother, who professed the creed of the Kharijis. Hamza, the son of Bail Hanafi, says:
Verily, courage, and generosity, and liberality,
Belonged to Muhammad, son of Kasim, son of Muhammad.
He led armies at the age of seventeen years,
He seemed destined for command from the day of his birth.
Yazid, son of Abu Kabsha, died eighteen days after his arrival in Sind. Sulaiman then appointed Habib, son of al Muhallab, to carry on the war in Sind, and he departed for that purpose. Meanwhile the princes of Hind had returned to their states, and Jaishiya,8 son of Dahir, had [p. 26] come back to Brahmanabad. Habib proceeded to the banks of the Mihran, where the people of Alrur made their submission; but he warred against a certain tribe and reduced them.

The governors (who succeeded Qasim) continued to kill the enemy, taking whatever they could acquire…