When this reply was received, Hajjáj communicated the whole matter to Khalífah Walíd son of Abdul Malik, and asked his permission to declare a religious war against Hind and Sind, but Walíd hesitated to give the permission. Hajjáj then wrote again (showing the necessity of such a step), and even­tually the Khalífah gave his permission. Then Hajjáj ap­pointed Abdulláh son of Bahtán-Salmí to be in charge of Makrán, and he asked Bazíl* to go to Muhammad Hárún, and told him: “You must inform that officer when you arrive at Makrán so that he may send you 3,000 men.” Accordingly Bazíl started with ??00 brave men accompanied by Abdulláh. Sailing by the sea of Ammán, Bazíl arrived at the fortified town of Nerún.* When Muhammad Hárún got Hajjáj's letter, he sent a large army to Bazíl, and (with that force) Bazíl marched towards Debal.* The residents of Debal sent a person to Dáhar at Alór, informing him of the arrival of Bazíl at Nerún, and Dáhar hastened to send his son Jaisiah* with 4,000 soldiers on horses and camels, who came by hurried marches to Debal, and encamped there. Bazíl had already put to flight the warriors of Debal.* But now Jaisiah came out with his forces and four elephants to give battle, and commenced fighting with the enemy. A pitched battle ensued which lasted from early morning to the close of the day. In the midst of the fight Bazíl's horse became frightened at the sight of the elephants, but Bazíl took off his own turban and tied the eyes of the horse, and made an onset in which he sent 80 kafirs to hell, and became himself also a martyr. Then Jaisiah appointed a thakur to be in charge of the place, and left him 70 elephants and conferred Deh Makrí upon him.

It is said that when the news of Bazíl's martyrdom reached Hajjáj, he became very sad, and said: “O crier of the mosque, at every time of prayer, when you call the people, remind me of Bazíl's name, so that I may pray for him till I avenge him” A man is said to have come from the Arab army, and to have related to him how that battle was fought, and what deeds of manliness and bravery Bazíl had performed therein. “I was pre ent,” said he, “till the time he was killed and the army of Islam fled, and I witnessed his bravery and heroism.” On hearing this Hajjáj said: “If you had been a brave man yourself, you should have been killed by the side of Bazíl,” and he then ordered the man to be punished.

It is related on the authority of Abdurrahmán son of Abdríh, that when Bazíl was killed, the people of Nerún became restless with the fear that the Arab army, bound as it was to take revenge, would, when passing by Nerún, swoop down on them and destroy them. At that time a Samani was the governor of Nerún. (The Samani was frightened) for he sent men in his confidence to Hajjáj to seek his pardon for what had happened, and he fixed a tribute on himself, and undertook to send it regularly. Hajjáj, the governor of the Khalífah sent a letter of pardon, and cheered him with solemn promises. (But) “You must,” said he, “release all the prisoners, or else I will not leave a single infidel up to the limits of China, and will make them all a prey to the sword of Islám.”

When Hajjáj determined to appoint another agent for Hind, Amir son of Abdulláh applied for the post and Hajjáj said to him: “You covet the place, but the astro­logers have found out after consulting their books, and I too have learnt in my own way, by throwing dice, that the country of Hind will be conquered by Ámir Imadud-dín Muhammad Kásim son of Ukail Sakifí.”

The recorders of events and the relaters of news have stated that when the administration of the affairs of Hind and Sind was entrusted to Hajjáj son of Yúsif by the Khalífah, Hajjáj appointed Mu­hammad Kásim* who was his nephew and son-in-law, (Hajjáj's daughter being his wife) as agent for Hind. Muhammad Kásim was then a youth of seventeen. Con­gratulating him on his nomination to the high post of governor, Hamzah Hanafí uttered the following verses:—

Verses.—O people of Sód—Sód his birth place—verily Muhammad bin Kásim is brave and generous and wise. And on the 17th of Zulhaj he has been appointed the leader of our army.

It is related by Abdul Hasan Hazlí, on the authority of Bashar son of Khálid, that after Bazíl was killed, Hajjáj wrote to Walíd the reigning Khalífah, asking permission to conquer Hind. The Khalífah wrote in reply:—“The people (of that country) are cunning and the country itself is very distant. It will cost us very large sums of money to provide a sufficient number of men and arms and instruments of war, and will require unusual skill and might to carry on the war, not to mention enormous provisions. This affair will be a source of great anxiety, and so we must put it off; for, every time the army goes (on such an expedition) (vast) numbers of Mussalmans are killed. So think no more of such a design.” Hajjáj then wrote another letter in which he stated: “O Commander of the Faithful, the Mussalmans of Hind are prisoners in the hands of infidels, who have on one occasion put to flight the army of Islám. That (defeat) must be avenged, and the prisoners released. As for the distance of the country, and the cost of the expedi­tion, to which you refer in your letter, we have men and arms and instruments of war, and other things all ready to hand; nothing more is required. I undertake (God will­ing) to pay back into the royal treasury (may God make it last long) double the amount spent on provisions and other items of expenditure for the army here.”

When the Khalífah read this letter, he wrote an order sanctioning the undertaking. (On receipt of this order) Hajjáj wrote a reply, in which he made the following request: “When you have honoured me by granting your permission, you will kindly order 6,000 men out of the chiefs of Shám (Syria) to come to this camp fully prepared, with all their arms and instruments of war and in all their pomp and glory, so that I may know the name of each when the engagement takes place. They should co-operate with me, and should never turn their face from battle.”

Abdul Hasan states on the authority of Ishák son of Yaakúb, that Hajjáj wrote a letter directing that 6,000 men out of the descendants of the chiefs of Syria should join him—men who had both their parents living— men who were celebrated, and who were likely—for the sake of their name and fame—to give a good account of themselves when the actual fighting took place, and who were likely to prove loyal to Muhammad Kásim.

Abdul Hasan relates that 6,000 men, whose names were celebrated, did come. (But) one of these men came into the presence of Hajjáj and said: “I do not wish to go with this expedition.” Hajjáj roared out to him angrily: “Be off from my presence or else I shall kill you.” The Syrian (at once) ran away from before Hajjáj. He met some other horsemen who were coming by the same way. They asked him “whither are you going so fast?” His reply was: “I did not like to go, and Hajjáj has threatened to punish me.” They brought the man back with themselves, and seeing a favour­able opportunity they took him to Hajjáj, and said: When we have received your order, how dare we stay he-hind? Here we are ready to serve you.”

On a Friday, Hajjáj delivered the following address to the assembled forces:—“Verily, time is changeful, and resembles a double-edged sword. One day it is with us, and another day it is against us. On the day on which it is with us, we ought to put our armies in order, and be prepared to meet and avert the calamity (likely to over­take us on the day on which time is against us). We should feel thankful to God, our great and glorified Lord, to whom there is no equal. We must recite his praise, and have full trust in his liberal kindness, in order that he may vouchsafe favours to us, and may not close any door upon us, and may make us recipients of merits and virtues in return for our thanksgiving.” (In conclusion he said), “owing to excessive grief consequent on my separation from Bazíl, every moment, the ear of my mind catches a cry (for revenge), and I give a ready response to it. I swear by God that I am determined to spend the wealth of the whole of Irák, that is in my possession, on this expedi­tion, and the flame of my fire will never go down until I take this revenge, and remove the blot from my name.”