The Habbari (, Sindhi: حباري خاندان) were an
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
dynasty that ruled much of Greater
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
, as a semi-independent ''emirate'' from 854 to 1024. Beginning with the rule of 'Umar bin Abdul Aziz al-Habbari in 854 CE, the region became semi-independent from the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
in 861, while continuing to nominally pledge allegiance to the Abbasid Caliph in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
.
[P. M. ( Nagendra Kumar Singh), ''Muslim Kingship in India'', Anmol Publications, 1999, , pg 43-45.][P. M. ( Derryl N. Maclean), ''Religion and society in Arab Sindh'', Published by Brill, 1989, , pg 140-143.] The Habbari ascension marked the end of a period of direct rule of Sindh by the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
and Abbasid Caliphates, which had begun in 711 CE. The Habbaris were based in the city of
Mansura, and ruled central and southern Sindh south of
Aror
Aror ( Sindhi: اروهڙ) or Alor or Arorkot (Sindhi: اروهڙ ڪوٽ) is the medieval name of the city of Rohri (in Sindh, modern Pakistan). Aror once served as the capital of Sindh.
History
As Roruka, capital of the Sauvira Kingdom, it ...
,
near the modern-day metropolis of
Sukkur
Sukkur (; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and Hyderabad, and 14th largest ci ...
. The Habbaris ruled Sindh until they were defeated by
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
Mahmud Ghaznavi
Yamīn-ud-Dawla Abul-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sebüktegīn ( fa, ; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi ( fa, ), was the founder of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 998 to 1030. At th ...
in 1026, who then went on to destroy the old Habbari capital of Mansura, and annex the region to the
Ghaznavid Empire
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic peoples, Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, ...
, thereby ending Arab rule of Sindh.
History
Background
The region of Greater Sindh was first brought under
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic rule after the conquest of the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
general
Muhammad ibn Qasim
Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqāfī ( ar, محمد بن القاسم الثقفي; –) was an Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh (part of modern Pakistan), inaugurating the Umayya ...
in 711 CE, and formed the easternmost province of the
Muslim Empire
This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and contin ...
. The region corresponded to an area greater in area than the modern Pakistani province, and included the Makran coast, central Balochistan, and southern Punjab, which in sum correspond to much of the territory of modern Pakistan.
The province's internal administration was largely delegated to the natives, rather than the Arab conquerors.
According to Arab accounts of the initial conquest, central and southern Sindh was largely Buddhist - corresponding to the regions south of the old capital of
Aror
Aror ( Sindhi: اروهڙ) or Alor or Arorkot (Sindhi: اروهڙ ڪوٽ) is the medieval name of the city of Rohri (in Sindh, modern Pakistan). Aror once served as the capital of Sindh.
History
As Roruka, capital of the Sauvira Kingdom, it ...
,
although these regions had a large Hindu population as well.
Upper Sindh, however, had few Buddhists, and was overwhelmingly Hindu.
The accounts of Buddhists in Sindh was also noted by
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
, who visited Sindh shortly before the Arab conquest,
and by the Korean monk
Hyecho
Hyecho (; 704–787), Sanskrit: Prajñāvikrama; pinyin: Hui Chao, was a Buddhist monk from Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
Hyecho studied esoteric Buddhism in Tang China, initially under Śubhakarasiṃha and then under the famous In ...
, who travelled in Sindh shortly after the Arab conquest.
Umayyad rule over Sindh was quickly supplanted by the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
in 750.
The new Abbasid governor of Sindh, Hisham bin 'Amr al-Taghlibi further consolidated Abbasid power in the region. In the early 9th century, Abbasid authority began to weaken. Sindh's governor,
Bishr ibn Dawud, led a short-lived revolt against the Abbasid caliph, but quickly surrendered in exchange for a pardon.
Abbasid rule continued to weaken, however, leading to the establishment of five semi-independent Arab principalities in Greater Sindh, based in
Mansura,
Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the List ...
, Qusdar (modern
Khuzdar
Khuzdar ( Brahui/ bal, ; ur, , ), historically known as Qusdar ( ar, قصدار, quṣdār), is the capital city of Khuzdar District in the central part of Balochistan Province, Pakistan. Khuzdar is the 2nd-largest city of Balochistan province ...
), and
Mashkey.
The Habbari Emirate
![Amirs of Sindh (Habbarids)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Amirs_of_Sindh_%28Habbarids%29._%27Abd_Allah_II._Early-mid_10th_century.jpg)
The Habbari were a
Quraysh
The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qur ...
tribe
that had played an active role in the politics of
Nejd
Najd ( ar, نَجْدٌ, ), or the Nejd, forms the geographic center of Saudi Arabia, accounting for about a third of the country's modern population and, since the Emirate of Diriyah, acting as the base for all unification campaigns by the H ...
in the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
since Pre-Islamic times, and gained prominence during Umayyad rule. The ancestors of 'Umar bin Abdul Aziz, the founder of the Habbari emirate, came to Greater Sindh as Arab settlers almost five or six generations prior to the establishment of Habbari rule in Sindh. The Habbari family acquired an agricultural estate in the village of ''Baniya'', where they engaged in agriculture and in commerce, later achieving prominence among Sindh's Arab settlers.
Arab tribes became rebellious in Sindh in the early 9th century during the Abbasid period. During a period of strife in 841-2 between Yemeni and Hijazi tribes, 'Umar bin Abdul Aziz al-Habbari's Hijazi faction assassinated the pro-Yemeni Abbasid governor of Sindh, Imran bin Musa
Barmaki, leaving Umar bin Abdul Aziz al-Habbari as the ''de facto'' governor of Sindh. According to
al-Ya'qubi
ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer and perhaps the first historian of world cultu ...
, Umar's request to be formally appointed governor was granted in 854 by the Abbasid caliph
Al-Mutawakkil
Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was t ...
. Following the death of Al-Mutawakkil in 861, 'Umar bin Aziz al-Habbari then established himself as an independent ruler, although he continued to read the Friday prayers in the name of the Abbasid caliph,
thereby nominally pledging allegiance to the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad.
The state established by the Habbaris came to be known as ''Mansura,
'' named after the city which was designated their capital in 883. The Mansura state ruled by Umar bin Abdul Aziz Habbari controlled the region between the
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
and
Aror
Aror ( Sindhi: اروهڙ) or Alor or Arorkot (Sindhi: اروهڙ ڪوٽ) is the medieval name of the city of Rohri (in Sindh, modern Pakistan). Aror once served as the capital of Sindh.
History
As Roruka, capital of the Sauvira Kingdom, it ...
,
and
Khuzdar
Khuzdar ( Brahui/ bal, ; ur, , ), historically known as Qusdar ( ar, قصدار, quṣdār), is the capital city of Khuzdar District in the central part of Balochistan Province, Pakistan. Khuzdar is the 2nd-largest city of Balochistan province ...
in central Balochistan. The region around the city of
Aror
Aror ( Sindhi: اروهڙ) or Alor or Arorkot (Sindhi: اروهڙ ڪوٽ) is the medieval name of the city of Rohri (in Sindh, modern Pakistan). Aror once served as the capital of Sindh.
History
As Roruka, capital of the Sauvira Kingdom, it ...
continued to be ruled by its local Hindu Raja, who acted as a subordinate of the Habbari emirate.
Other parts of Greater Sindh did not fall under Habbari rule after the collapse of direct Abbasid rule. The ''Banu Munabih'' established an
emirate in Multan,
the Banu Ma'dan established an emirate in
Makran
Makran ( fa, مكران), mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, ...
before annexing the short-lived emirate of Mashkey. The Habbari ruled over the area of ''Turan'' (modern
Khuzdar
Khuzdar ( Brahui/ bal, ; ur, , ), historically known as Qusdar ( ar, قصدار, quṣdār), is the capital city of Khuzdar District in the central part of Balochistan Province, Pakistan. Khuzdar is the 2nd-largest city of Balochistan province ...
), until the end of the 9th century, when its chief Mughira bin Ahmad established his independence and moved his capital to ''Kijkanan'' (modern
Kalat).
After the secession of Greater Sindh from the Caliphate, there was no basic change in the character of the regime and the newly established Habbari state continued to function on the lines set by the Umayyads and the Abbasids.
'Umar bin Aziz al-Habbari ruled until around 884, when his son Abdullah bin Umar took power until around 914. He, in turn, was followed by 'Umar bin Abdullah until around 943. During the rule of the first 3 Habbari rulers, caravan routes from Persia were routed into the Habbari capital of Mansura, before continuing westward into the rest of the Indian Subcontinent.
The routing of trade through Mansura made it a wealthy city, as confirmed by the accounts of
Istakhri
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al-Istakhri () (also ''Estakhri'', fa, استخری, i.e. from the Iranian city of Istakhr, b. - d. 346 AH/AD 957) was a 10th-century travel-author and geographer who wrote valuable accounts in Arab ...
,
Ibn Hawqal
Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal (), also known as Abū al-Qāsim b. ʻAlī Ibn Ḥawqal al-Naṣībī, born in Nisibis, Upper Mesopotamia; was a 10th-century Arab Muslim writer, geographer, and chronicler who travelled during the ye ...
, and
Al-Maqdisi
Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Maqdisī ( ar, شَمْس ٱلدِّيْن أَبُو عَبْد ٱلله مُحَمَّد ابْن أَحْمَد ابْن أَبِي بَكْر ٱلْمَقْدِسِي), ...
, who had all visited the city.
Five more members of the Habbari family held the office of ''Emir'' of Mansura until 1025 C.E. The state was then under the rule of the
Saffarids
The Saffarid dynasty ( fa, صفاریان, safaryan) was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian origin that ruled over parts of Persia, Greater Khorasan, and eastern Makran from 861 to 1003. One of the first indigenous Persian dynasties to emerg ...
, and the
Samanids People
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownershi ...
, until being conquered by the
Ghaznavids
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...
in 1026. Mahmud Ghaznavi considered the Abbasids the true Caliphs, and regarded the Habbaris as representative of ongoing Umayyad rule, despite their nominal allegiance to the Abbasid caliph, since they had originally migrated and gained prominence in Sindh under Umayyad rule.
Religious beliefs
The first Habbaris were followers of the Sunni school of thought, and pledged allegiance to the Sunni caliphs in Baghdad, although the last Habbari ruler,
Khafif, may have converted to
Isma'ili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
Islam.
Under Habbari rule, Ismaili missionaries, who pledged allegiance to the
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, became active in Sindh, which became one of 12 ''jaza'ir,'' or "islands" in the Islamic world in which Ismaili missionary activity was successful.
In 957, al-Qadi al-Nu'man recorded that an Ismaili ''da'i'' travelled throughout Sindh in the mid-10th century, and successfully converted large numbers of non-Muslims to Ismaili Islam.
By 985,
Al-Maqdisi
Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Maqdisī ( ar, شَمْس ٱلدِّيْن أَبُو عَبْد ٱلله مُحَمَّد ابْن أَحْمَد ابْن أَبِي بَكْر ٱلْمَقْدِسِي), ...
noted that the population of
Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the List ...
(in northern Greater
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
, ruled by the Banu Munnabih) was largely Shia,
although the population of
Mansura pledged allegiance to the Sunni Imam
Daud Zahiri ibn Athir. Following the conquest of Multan by Mahmud Ghaznavi in 1005, who is noted to have massacred the Ismaili population, large numbers of Ismailis fled south to Mansura, where Ismailism continued even after the Ghaznavid invasion,
and became the religion of the
Soomra dynasty
The Soomra (or Soomro) dynasty (, '' lit.'' the family/dynasty of the Soomras) was a late medieval dynasty of Sindh, and at times adjacent regions, located in what is now Pakistan.
Sources
The only contemporary literary source remains the ' ...
that would rule Sindh in later centuries.
Central and southern Sindh was largely Buddhist south of
Aror
Aror ( Sindhi: اروهڙ) or Alor or Arorkot (Sindhi: اروهڙ ڪوٽ) is the medieval name of the city of Rohri (in Sindh, modern Pakistan). Aror once served as the capital of Sindh.
History
As Roruka, capital of the Sauvira Kingdom, it ...
,
but during the Arab rule of Sindh, Buddhism was largely extinguished, while Hinduism continued on.
List of Habbari Emirs
''Note: the dates below are only approximate.
''
* Umar ibn'Abd al-Aziz al'Habbari (855-884)
* Abdullah ibn Umar (884-913)
* Umar ibn-Abdullah (913-943)
* Muhammad ibn Abdullah (943-973)
* Ali ibn Umar (973-987)
* Isa ibn Ali
* Manbi ibn Ali ibn Umar (987-1010)
*
Khafif (Soomra dynasty) (1010-1025)
See also
*
List of Monarchs of Sindh
This is a list of known rulers of Sindh, in present-day Sindh, Pakistan. This list starts from the establishment of the Rai dynasty around 489 AD until the conquest of the Sindh from Talpur dynasty by East India Company in 1843 AD.
Sultan ( ar, س ...
References
External links
Coins of Habbarids Dynasty
{{History of Sindh
Dynasties of Pakistan
Arab dynasties
Vassal rulers of the Abbasid Caliphate
Muslim dynasties
854 establishments