Invasion of Sind by Mahomed Kasim. — Deebul, called Tutta, taken. — The Arabians proceed up the river Indus. — Sehwan taken. — Mooltan taken. — Mahomed Kasim recalled — ac­count of his singular death. — Subversion of the Mahomedan power in Sind and Mooltan.

IT is related in several histories, such as the Kholasut-ool-Hikayat, the Huj-Nama, and the his­tory of Hajy Mahomed Kandahary, that the first establishment of the Mahomedan faith in the country of Sind occurred under the following circumstances: —

Hijaj (the son of Yoosoof Shukfy), governor of Bussora at the time when Wuleed, the son of Abdool Mullik, was ruler of the provinces of both

A. H. 87.
A. D. 705.

Iraks, resolved on invading India. Ac­cordingly, in the year 87, he deputed Mahomed Haroon with a select force into Mikran, who subdued that country, and made converts of many of the inhabitants called Bulo-chies; and having there established a regular go­vernment, the Mahomedan faith may be said to have prevailed in that country from the period alluded to.

We are told that in those days, also, the in­habitants of the island of Selandeep (Ceylon) were accustomed to send vessels to the coast of Africa, to the Red Sea, and to the Persian Gulf, a practice prevailing from the earliest ages; and that Hindoo pilgrims resorted to Mecca and Egypt for the purpose of paying adoration to the idols, to which they looked with the utmost veneration. It is related, also, that the people trading from Selan-deep became converts to the true faith at as early a period as the reign of the first caliphs, and that having thus had intercourse with Mahomedan na­tions, the King of Selandeep despatched a vessel laden with various rare articles, the produce of his country, to the caliph Wuleed at Bagdad.*

On this vessel arriving at the entrance of the Persian Gulf it was attacked and captured by orders of the ruler of Deebul, * together with seven other boats, in which were some Mahomedan fami­lies going on pilgrimage to Kurbula. Some of the captives making their escape carried their complaint to Hijaj, who addressed a letter to Raja Dahir, the son of Sasa, ruler of Sind, and sent it to be for­warded from Mikran by Mahomed Haroon. Raja Dahir replied, that the act of hostility was com­mitted by a powerful state, over which he had no control.

On the receipt of this letter Hijaj obtained the consent of Wuleed, the son of Abdool Mullik, to invade India, for the purpose of propagating the faith; and at the same time deputed a chief of the name of Budmeen, with three hundred cavalry, to join Haroon in Mikran, who was directed to reinforce the party with one thousand good soldiers more to attack Deebul. Budmeen failed in his expedition, and lost his life in the first action. Hijaj, not deterred by this defeat, resolved to

A. H. 93.
A. D. 711.

follow up the enterprise by another. In consequence, in the year 93, he de­puted his cousin and son-in-law, Imad-ood-Deen Mahomed Kasim, the son of Akil Shukhfy, then only seventeen years of age, with six thousand soldiers, chiefly Assyrians, with the necessary imple­ments for taking forts, to attack Deebul. This army proceeded by the route of Shiraz and Mikran. On reaching the towns of Deboon and Dursila, on the confines of the Sind territory, Mahomed Kasim halted; and having taken the necessary steps for advancing he marched on to Deebul, situated on the banks of the Indus, which town is now called Tutta.

On reaching this place, he made preparations to besiege it, but the approach was covered by a fortified temple, surrounded by a strong wall, built of hewn stone and mortar, one hundred and twenty feet in height. * After some time a bramin, belonging to the temple, being taken, and brought before Kasim, stated, that four thousand Rajpoots defended the place, in which were from two to three thousand bramins, with shorn heads, and that all his efforts would be vain; for the standard of the temple was sacred; and while it remained entire no profane foot dared to step be­yond the threshold of the holy edifice. Mahomed Kasim having caused the catapultas to be directed against the magic flag-staff, succeeded, on the third discharge, in striking the standard, and broke it down. In a few days after which the place fell. Mahomed Kasim levelled the temple and its walls with the ground, and circumcised the bramins. The infidels highly resented this treatment, by in­vectives against him and the true faith. On which Mahomed Kasim caused every bramin, from the age of seventeen and upwards, to be put to death: the young women and children of both sexes were retained in bondage; and the old women being released, were permitted to go whithersoever they chose.

The booty of the temple amounted to a large sum, one fifth of which was sent to Hijaj, together with seventy-five female slaves. The rest of the plunder was distributed among the soldiery. Ma-homed Kasim, having come for the purpose of pro­pagating the faith, proceeded to invest the town of Deebul, from whence Foujy, the son of Dahir, with a party of soldiers, forced his way to the fort of Bra-minabad ; * to which place he was pursued by Mahomed Kasim, who having closely invested it for some time, the lives of the besieged were spared, and they were allowed to retain their private pro­perty, on condition of surrendering.

Mahomed Kasim marched thence into See-vustan, to a place called Sehwan, the inhabitants of which country, being bramins, represented to their chief, Kucha Ray, the cousin of Dahir, governor of Sind, that as the spilling of blood was contrary to the tenets of their religion, it appeared to him advisable to submit quietly to the payment of the tribute required by Kasim. Kucha Ray, despis­ing the idea of this compromise, refused compliance, and the Mahomedans proceeded to invest Seh-wan. After a week's siege, a party from the garrison, making their escape by night, fled to the Ray of Sulim, * in order to gain reinforce­ments; but the bramins gave up the place on the following morning, and Mahomed Kasim distri­buted the property among the troops, reserving one fifth for Hijaj. From hence he marched to the fortress of Sulim, which he also reduced, and divided the spoils according to the practice of those times.

At this period, Hully Sa†, * the eldest son of Raja Dahir, having collected a large force, marched to oppose Mahomed Kasim; and the latter took up a strong position, and entrenched himself. In this situation his resources being contracted, and many of his carriage-cattle dying, the soldiers became discontented, and at length broke into open mu­tiny; Mahomed Kasim, however, encouraging his troops with the hope of aid, wrote to Hijaj Bin Yoosoof, who having heard of his situation before his letters arrived, had already despatched a rein­forcement of one thousand horse, with other requi­sites, to Sind. On receiving this seasonable as­sistance, Mahomed Kasim again took the field, and attacking the young Ray, several battles ensued, though neither party appears to have obtained any advantage of consequence. Raja Dahir hav­ing consulted his astrologers and bramins on the present crisis of his affairs, they declared that it was written in the ancient books, * that “at a “certain period a prophet would arise from among “the people of Arabia, who would succeed in con-“verting many nations to a new persuasion; after “which, in the lunar year 86, the Arabian forces “would invade the borders of Sind, and in the “year 93 they would subdue all those countries.” Raja Dahir having in many instances found the predictions of his astrologers verified placed great reliance on them, but resolved to defend himself with a courage becoming his rank and family. The cup of his life being now filled to the brim, he joined his son's army, of which he assumed the

Rumzan 10.
A. H. 93.
A. D. 711.

command in person; and on Wednesday the 10th of Rumzan, in the year 93, with a force consisting of fifty thousand men, composed of Rajpoots, Sindies, and Mool-tanies, he marched to attack the Mahomedans.

Mahomed Kasim, with barely six thousand troops, mostly Arabian cavalry, waited the onset. Raja Dahir at first took up a position near the Mahomedan lines, and endeavoured by skirmishes and manœuvres to entice the enemy from the strong position which he occupied; but failing in every attempt he resolved to storm it. Part of the Arab cavalry quitting the entrenched camp galloped forth and engaged the Indians singly; a mode of warfare in which the Arabians had the advantage, from the superior management of their horses, and their skill in the use of the sword. At length the action became more general, and Dahir with his rela­tions led on the Indians into the centre of the enemy. On this occasion, one of the Arab firemen threw a naphtha ball * on the white elephant of Dahir, which became so alarmed at the terrible effect of the liquid flame, that he ran off to the river, in spite of the efforts of his driver, and plunged into the stream. The temporary absence of the Raja com­municated a panic to his army, which instantly fol­lowed. Mahomed Kasim pursued the fugitives; but the elephant having come out of the water Raja Dahir again drew up his troops, and made a resolute stand on the banks of the Indus, when re­ceiving an arrow wound he fell. He, however, insisted on being placed upon a horse; and al­though the wound was very severe, he charged in the most gallant manner into the midst of the Arabian horse, where he died like a hero. On his death, the Hindoo troops fled in confusion towards the fort of Ajdur. The Mahomedans gained a vast quantity of plunder by this vic­tory. Mahomed Kasim now proceeded to Ajdur.† * Hully Sa, the son of Dahir, after leaving a suffi­cient garrison in that fort, proposed to meet the Mahomedan forces in the field; but his coun­sellors dissuading him, he retired to the fort of Braminabad.