Sind () was an administrative division of the
Umayyad Caliphate
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 th ...
and later of 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
post-classical India, from around 711 CE with the
conquest of Sind by the
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, ...
military commander
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 ...
, to around 854 CE with the emergence of the
independent dynasties of the
Habbarid Emirate and the
Multan Emirate. The "Governor of Sind" () was an official who administered the
caliphates
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
' province over what is now
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 ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.
The governor was the chief
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
official in the province and was responsible for maintaining security in the region. As the leader of the provincial military, he was also in charge of carrying out campaigns against the
non-Muslim kingdoms of India. Governors appointed to the region were selected either directly by the caliph or by an authorized subordinate, and remained in office until they either died or were dismissed.
Geography
Sind was a frontier province 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 ...
and Abbasid caliphates from its conquest in c. 711 until the mid-ninth century. Situated at the far eastern end of the caliphate, it consisted of the territories held by the Muslims in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, which at the time were centered in the
Indus
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
region. Sind proper was bounded on the west by
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, ...
, on the northwest by
Sijistan
Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan (N ...
and the district of
Turan
Turan ( ae, Tūiriiānəm, pal, Tūrān; fa, توران, Turân, , "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical re ...
, on the northeast by
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 ...
, on the east by the
Thar Desert
The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's Li ...
, on the southeast by the non-Muslim
Hind A hind is a female deer, especially a red deer.
Places
* Hind (Sasanian province, 262-484)
* Hind and al-Hind, a Persian and Arabic name for the Indian subcontinent
* Hind (crater), a lunar impact crater
* 1897 Hind, an asteroid
Military
...
, and on the southwest by the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
.
Conquest of Sind
![Sindh campaigns 711-715 CE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Sindh_campaigns_711-715_CE.png)
In the history of the
Muslim conquests
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
, Sind was a relatively late achievement, occurring almost a century after the
Hijrah
The Hijrah or Hijra () was the journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the epoch of the Lunar Hijri and Solar Hijri calendars; its date eq ...
(start of Islamic calendar). Military raids against India had been undertaken by the Muslims as early as
Umar
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
's reign (634–644), but the pace of expansion in the region was initially slow: in 636, an Arab naval expedition attacked
Broach
The BROACH warhead is a Tandem-charge, multi-stage warhead developed by Team BROACH; BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions, Thales Missile Electronics and QinetiQ. BROACH stands for ''Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented CHarge''.
Development of ...
, which had come under the control of the
Chalukyas
The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...
following the submission of Jayabhata of the
Gurjaras of Lata
The Gurjaras of Lata, also known as Gurjaras of Nandipuri or Bharuch Gurjaras, was a dynasty which ruled Lata region (now South Gujarat, India) as a feudatory of different dynasties from c. 580 CE to c. 738 CE.
Sources of Information
All the ...
, and
Thana
Thana means "police station" in South Asian countries, and can also mean the district controlled by a police station.
* Thanas of Bangladesh, former subdistricts in the administrative geography of Bangladesh; later renamed ''upazila''
* in (Briti ...
, but it was soon recalled after achieving some damage and they failed to capture these cities. Several governors were appointed to the Indian frontier (') and tasked with conducting campaigns in the east. Some of these expeditions were successful, but others ended in defeat and a number of governors were killed while serving there.
According to Derryl N. Maclean, a link between Sind and the early partisans of Caliph
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
or proto-Shi'ites could be traced to
Hakim ibn Jabalah al-Abdi, a
companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who traveled across Sind to
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, ...
in 649 and presented a report on the area to the caliph. He supported Ali, and died in the
Battle of the Camel
The Battle of the Camel, also known as the Battle of Jamel or the Battle of Basra, took place outside of Basra, Iraq, in 36 AH (656 CE). The battle was fought between the army of the fourth caliph Ali, on one side, and the rebel army led by ...
alongside Sindi
Jats
The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subse ...
. During the reign of Ali, many Jats came under the influence of Islam.
Harith ibn Murrah al-Abdi and
Sayfi ibn Fil al-Shaybani, both officers of Ali's army, attacked Sindi bandits and chased them to al-Qiqan (present-day
Quetta
Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...
) in 658. Sayfi was one of the seven partisans of Ali who were beheaded alongside
Hujr ibn Adi al-Kindi in 660AD, near Damascus.
In the caliphate of
Mu'awiya I
Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
(), the region of Makran was subdued and a garrison was established there. Over the following decades, the Muslims progressed further east, conquering the district of
Qusdar and raiding the areas around
Qandabil and al-Qiqan.
Sind was conquered in by
Muhammad ibn Qasim al-Thaqafi
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 ...
, who had been sent to undertake a punitive expedition against
Dahir, the king of Sind. After marching through Makran and defeating its inhabitants, Muhammad entered Sind and attacked the port city of
Daybul, which fell after a siege and was partly colonized by the Muslims. Following this victory, Muhammad moved north and encountered Dahir, whom he defeated and killed. He then spent the next few years campaigning in Sind and
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 ...
, forcing the various cities of the country to submit to him. This period of conquests continued until 715, when Caliph
al-Walid I
Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ( ar, الوليد بن عبد الملك بن مروان, al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān; ), commonly known as al-Walid I ( ar, الوليد الأول), was the sixth Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad ca ...
() died; shortly after the accession of Caliph
Sulayman
Sulayman (Arabic: سُلِيمَان ''sulaymān'') is an Arabic name of the Biblical king and Islamic prophet Solomon meaning "man of peace", derived from the Hebrew name Shlomo.
The name Sulayman is a diminutive of the name Salman (سَلْ ...
, Muhammad was arrested and executed, and a replacement was sent by the government to take control of Sind.
From that time, the
Turk Shahis
The Turk Shahis or Kabul Shahis were a dynasty of Western Turk, or mixed Turko- Hephthalite, origin, that ruled from Kabul and Kapisa to Gandhara in the 7th to 9th centuries AD.
They may have been of Khalaj ethnicity."The new rulers of Kabu ...
now had to face an additional Muslim threat from the southeast, as did Hindu kingdoms, especially the
Maitrakas
The Maitraka dynasty ruled western India (now Gujarat) from approximately 475 to approximately 776 CE from their capital at Vallabhi. With the sole exception of Dharapaṭṭa (the fifth king in the dynasty), who followed the Mithraic mysteries, ...
and the
Gurjara-Pratiharas
The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj.
The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of the ...
, on their western borders, since the Caliphal province of Sind extended as far as
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 ...
, at the gates of the
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
, and would last until 854 CE as an
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 then
Abbasid
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 ...
dependency.
Umayyad period
![Umayyad Caliphate coinage temp Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik al-Hind (possibly Multan) mint](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Umayyad_Caliphate_coinage_temp_Suleiman_ibn_Abd_al-Malik_al-Hind_%28possibly_Multan%29_mint._Dated_AH_97_%28AD_715-6%29.jpg)
As a result of its conquest, Sind became a province of the Caliphate and governors were appointed to administer it. As the commander of a frontier province, the governor was responsible for guarding the country against external incursions, and could carry out raids into Hind (India) at his discretion. The governor's jurisdiction usually also included the neighboring regions of Makran, Turan and Multan; in addition, any territories that he conquered in Hind were added to his area of authority.
In the administrative hierarchy of the Umayyad Caliphate, the responsibility for selecting governors to the province was assigned to the
governor of Iraq, or, if that position was vacant, to the governor of
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
. Unless he received specific commands from the caliph, the governor of Iraq had the authority to appoint and dismiss governors to Sind and he was in charge of supervising their activities in the province.
According to the historian
Khalifa ibn Khayyat
Abū ʿAmr Khalīfa ibn Khayyāṭ al-Laythī al-ʿUṣfurī () (born : 160/161 AH/777 AD– died 239/240 AH/854 AD) was an Arab historian.
His family were natives of Basra in Iraq. His grandfather was a noted muhaddith or traditionalist, and Kh ...
, after the downfall of Muhammad ibn Qasim the responsibilities of the governor of Sind were temporarily divided between two officials, one of whom was in charge of military affairs and the other in charge of taxation. This change was soon rescinded and the next governor,
Habib ibn al-Muhallab al-Azdi
Habib ibn al-Muhallab al-Azdi ( ar, حبيب بن المهلب الأزدي) (died 720) was an Umayyad provincial governor and military commander, and a member of the Muhallabid family. He later participated in the revolt of his brother Yazid ibn ...
, had full authority over both the fiscal and military affairs on the province.
![Coinage of al-Hakam bin Awana al-Kalbi, Umayyad governor of Sindh (circa AH 111-123 AD 731-740)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Coinage_of_al-Hakam_bin_Awana_al-Kalbi%2C_Umayyad_governor_of_Sindh_%28circa_AH_111-123_AD_731-740%29.jpg)
As a general rule, provincial governorships in the Umayyad period were held almost exclusively by Arabs, and this trend was reflected in the appointees to Sind during this period.
Qaysi–Yamani tribal politics also played a strong role in the selection and dismissal of governors; if the governor of Iraq was
Qays
Qays ʿAylān ( ar, قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe does not appear to have functioned as a unit in the pre-Islamic er ...
i, then his governor to Sind would likely be Qaysi, and if he was
Yamani, his selection would likely be Yamani as well. There were, however, some exceptions;
Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri was initially appointed to Sind by a fellow Qaysi, but was allowed to retain his position for two years after the governor of Iraq was replaced with a Yamani.
![Arab-Gujarat campaigns 724-740 CE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Arab-Gujarat_campaigns_724-740_CE.png)
The governors of Sind in the Umayyad period undertook extensive campaigns against the non-Muslim kingdoms of Hind, but with mixed results. Al-Junayd's campaigns were largely successful, but his successor
Tamim ibn Zaid al-Utbi
Tamim ibn Zayd al-Utbi () was the caliphal governor of Sind in 726–731. He succeeded al-Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri. Wink, André. ''Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, ...
encountered difficulties and the Muslims were forced to retreat from Hind. The next governor,
al-Hakam ibn Awana
Al-Hakam ibn Awana () was the Umayyad governor of Sindh in 731–740.Wink, André. ''Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, 7th–11th Centuries.'' 3rd ed. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 199 ...
, vigorously campaigned in Hind and initially achieved some victories, but he too experienced a reversal of fortune and was eventually killed. Raids into Hind continued after al-Hakam's death, but no major territorial gains were achieved, and the Muslim presence in India remained largely restricted to the Indus valley region.
As part of his efforts to secure the Muslim position in Sind, al-Hakam constructed the military garrison of
al-Mahfuzah, which he made into his capital ('). Shortly after this, his lieutenant
Amr, a son of Muhammad ibn Qasim, built a second city near al-Mahfuzah, which he called
al-Mansura. This latter city eventually became the permanent administrative capital of Sind, and it served as the seat of the Umayyad and
Abbasid
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 ...
governors.
The names of the caliphal governors of Sind are preserved in the histories of Khalifa ibn Khayyat and
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 ...
. Some differences exist between the two authors' versions; these are noted below. The ''
Futuh al-Buldan'' by
al-Baladhuri
ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and ...
, which focuses on the military conquests of the early Muslim state, also contains the names of many of the governors who served in Sind.
Abbasid period
At the time of the
Abbasid Revolution
The Abbasid Revolution, also called the Movement of the Men of the Black Raiment, was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE), the second of the four major Caliphates in early History of Islam, Islamic history, by the third, the A ...
, Sind was in the hands of the anti-Umayyad rebel
Mansur ibn Jumhur al-Kalbi
Mansur ibn Jumhur al-Kalbi ( ar, منصور بن جمهور الكلبي) was an 8th-century Arab commander and one of the main and most fanatical leaders of the south Arab ("Yaman") tribes in the Qays–Yaman rivalry of the period, playing a major ...
. Following their victory over the Umayyads, the Abbasids at first left Mansur in control of the province, but this state of affairs did not last and the new dynasty sent
Musa ibn Ka'b al-Tamimi
Musa ibn Ka'b al-Tamimi () was an 8th-century Arab commander during the Abbasid Revolution and then provincial governor for the Abbasid Caliphate.
Biography
Musa first appears as one of the "twelve '' naqibs''" who prepared the Abbasid Revolution ...
to take over the region. He was able to defeat Mansur and enter Sind,
thereby firmly establishing Abbasid control over the province.
After the new dynasty came to power, Sind's administrative status was somewhat ambiguous, with governors being appointed either directly by the caliph or by the governor of
Khurasan
Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...
,
Abu Muslim
, image = Abu Muslim chastises a man for telling tales, Folio from the Ethics of Nasir (Akhlaq-e Nasiri) by Nasir al-Din Tusi (fol. 248r).jpg
, caption = "Abu Muslim chastises a man for telling tales," Folio from the '' ...
. This situation lasted only until Abu Muslim's murder in 755; thereafter, appointments to Sind were almost always handled by the caliph and the central government.
In the first century of the Abbasid caliphate, governors continued to conduct raids against the non-Muslim kingdoms of Hind, and some minor gains were achieved. The historians also recorded the various struggles of the governors to maintain stability within Sind, as internecine tribal warfare,
Alid
The Alids are those who claim descent from the '' rāshidūn'' caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—cousin, son-in-law, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—through all his wives. The main branches are the (inc ...
partisans and disobedient Arab factions intermittently threatened the government's control over the region. Another potential source of trouble came from the governors themselves; a few of the individuals appointed to Sind attempted to rebel against the Abbasids, and had to be subdued by force of arms. In general, however, Abbasid authority in Sind remained effective during this period of their rule.
Under the Abbasids, Arabs continued to frequently occupy the governorship, but over time the selections became somewhat more diverse. Under the caliphs
al-Mahdi
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله المنصور; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name Al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abba ...
(775–785) and
al-Rashid (786–809), non-Arab clients (''
mawali
Mawlā ( ar, مَوْلَى, plural ''mawālī'' ()), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874.
Before the Islamic prophet ...
'') were sometimes appointed to Sind. In the caliphate of
al-Ma'mun
Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد, Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn ar-Rashīd; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'mu ...
(813–833), the governorship was given to a member of the Persian
Barmakid
The Barmakids ( fa, برمکیان ''Barmakiyân''; ar, البرامكة ''al-Barāmikah''Harold Bailey, 1943. "Iranica" BSOAS 11: p. 2. India - Department of Archaeology, and V. S. Mirashi (ed.), ''Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era'' vol ...
family, and the province remained under their rule for a number of years. After the Barmakids, the Turkish general
Itakh
Aytākh or Ītākh al-Khazarī ( ar, إيتاخ الخزري) was a leading commander in the Turkic army of the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833-842 C.E.).
As the ''nisba'' in his name suggests, he was a Khazar by origin, and is said to have ...
was given control of Sind, although he deputed the actual administration of the province to an Arab. During this period several members of the prominent
Muhallabid family served in Sind; their combined administrations spanned over a period of more than three decades.
Under al-Rashid, a few minor members of the Abbasid family were also appointed as governors of the province.
Decline of Abbasid authority
![Map of the Habbarid and Multan Emirates](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Map_of_the_Habbarid_and_Multan_Emirates.png)
Over the course of the mid-ninth century, Abbasid authority in Sind gradually waned. A new era in the history of the province began in 854, when Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Habbari, a local Arab resident of Sind, was appointed to govern the country. Shortly after this, the central government
entered a period of crisis which crippled its ability to maintain its authority in the provinces; this stagnation allowed 'Umar to rule Sind without any interference from the caliphal court at
Samarra
Samarra ( ar, سَامَرَّاء, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The city of Samarra was founded by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutasim for his Turkish professional army ...
. 'Umar ended up creating a hereditary dynasty, that of the
Habbarids, which ruled in al-Mansura for almost two centuries. Although the Habbarids continued to acknowledge the Abbasids as their nominal suzerains, the effective authority of the caliph largely disappeared and the Habbarids were de facto independent.
In spite of their loss of effective control over Sind, the Abbasid government continued to formally appoint governors to the province. In 871 the caliphal regent
Abu Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil invested the
Saffarid
The Saffarid dynasty ( fa, صفاریان, safaryan) was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian origin that ruled over parts of Persia, Greater Khorasan, and eastern Makran from 861 to 1003. One of the first indigenous Persians, ...
Ya'qub ibn al-Layth
Ya'qūb ibn al-Layth al-Saffār ( fa, یعقوب لیث صفاری; 25 October 840 – 5 June 879), was a son of a coppersmith named Laith (coppersmith), Laith and he himself was also a coppersmith before rosing to the power , he was the founder of ...
with the governorship of Sind. In 875 the general
Masrur al-Balkhi
Masrur al-Balkhi ( ar, مسرور البلخي; died 26 December 893) was a senior military officer in the late-9th century Abbasid Caliphate.
Career
Little is known of Masrur's background; his ''nisba'' suggests that he was from Balkh and of Ir ...
was given control of most of the eastern provinces, including Sind. Four years after this, Sind was again assigned to the Saffarids, with
Amr ibn al-Layth
Amr ibn al-Layth or Amr-i Laith Saffari ( fa, عمرو لیث صفاری) was the second ruler of the Saffarid dynasty of Iran from 879 to 901. He was the son of a whitesmith and the younger brother of the dynasty's founder, Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al- ...
receiving the appointment. These appointments, however, were purely nominal, and it is unlikely that these individuals exercised any actual authority over the local rulers within the province.
As the central government's authority over Sind declined, the region underwent a period of decentralization. Habbarid authority appears to have been largely restricted to Sind proper, and did not extend to Makran, Turan and Multan, which all broke away under separate dynasties. Some of the rulers in these regions also continued to nominally recognize the caliph as their ruler, but were effectively self-governing; others rejected the caliph's authority altogether and were outright independent. These minor dynasties continued to govern in their respective localities until the early eleventh century, when 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 ...
invaded India and annexed most of the Muslim territories in the country.
[Baloch and Rafiqi, pp. 294–6; 296 ff.]
See also
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List of Umayyad governors of al-Andalus
The southern part of the Iberian peninsula was under Islamic rule for seven hundred years. In medieval history, "al-Andalus" ( ar, الأندلس) was the name given to the parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Arab and North ...
*
List of caliphal governors of Arminiyah
*
List of caliphal governors of Egypt
*
List of caliphal governors of Ifriqiyah
*
List of Umayyad governors of Iraq
*
List of caliphal governors of al-Madinah
Notes
References
* Al-Baladhuri, Ahmad ibn Jabir. ''The Origins of the Islamic State, Part II.'' Trans. Francis Clark Murgotten. New York: Columbia University, 1924.
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*
*
* ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam.'' New Ed. 12 vols. with supplement and indices. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–2005.
* Gabrieli, Francesco. "Muhammad ibn Qasim ath-Thaqafi and the Arab Conquest of Sind." ''East and West'' 15/3-4 (1965): 281–295.
* Khalifah ibn Khayyat. ''Tarikh Khalifah ibn Khayyat.'' Ed. Akram Diya' al-'Umari. 3rd ed. Al-Riyadh: Dar Taybah, 1985.
*
* Shaban, M. A. ''The 'Abbasid Revolution.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1970.
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* Al-Tabari, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir. ''The History of al-Tabari.'' Ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater. 40 vols. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1985–2007.
* Al-Ya'qubi, Ahmad ibn Abu Ya'qub. ''Historiae, Vol. 2.'' Ed. M. Th. Houtsma. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1883.
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{{History of Sindh
Sind
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 ...
Governors
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...