Junayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Murri (or Al Junayd) was appointed the governor of Sindh in 723 CE.
| Campaign of Al-Junayd | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Umayyad campaigns in India | |||||||||
 The state of Sindh in 700 AD | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Umayyad Caliphate |
Brahmin dynasty Gurjaradesa Pratiharas of Mandavyapura Bhinmal Kingdom Malwa Kingdom Kangra Kingdom Gurjaras of Lata Maitraka dynasty Jaisalmer Kingdom | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Junayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Murri Habib ibn Marrah |
Jaisiah  Sassa Druhar Siluka or Chanduka Jayabhata IV Siladitya IV Tanu or Tunno | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
After defeating and executing two sons of Dahir, "Jaisiah" and "Sassa", he subdued the whole of Sindh. Junayd then sent an expedition against (Kiraj)-Kangra, and subdued it as well. A large expedition sent to Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, which included Mermad (Maru-Mada, in Jaisalmer and Jodhpur), al-Baylaman (Bhillamala or Bhinmal) and Jurz (Gurjaradesa—southern Rajasthan and northern Gujarat).[3] A force was also sent under Habib ibn Marra which successfully conquered Maliba Malwa. Another force was sent against Uzayn (Ujjain), which made incursions into its country (Avanti) and destroyed some parts of it, including the city of Baharimad, Mewar or Barmer.[4]
Another force was dispatched and it subdued Qassa (Kutch), al-Mandal (Mandore), Dahnaj (Dahej), Surast (Saurashtra) and Barus or Barwas (Bharuch).[5] Either Chanduka Or Shiluka was on the throne when the Arabs under Junayd swept over the whole region where these rulers ruled.[6] The Bhattis under Tunno or Tanu were ruling the Jaisalmer region during Al-Junayd's invasion. They suffered defeat in the Arab raids and expanded eastward.
Al-Junayd sent his tax agents to the region, which implies that the new province would have included western and southern Rajasthan, area of Punjab, entire Gujarat and small parts of Madhya Pradesh as well.[7][8]
Background[edit | edit source]
The first incursion by Arabs in India occurred around 636/7 AD, during the Rashidun Caliphate, long before any Arab Army reached the frontier of India by land.[9] Uthman ibn Abi al-As al-Thaqafi, the governor of Bahrain and Oman, had dispatched the naval expeditions against the ports and positions of the Sasanian Empire, and further east to the borders of India.[10] The raided ports in India were Thane, Bharuch,[11] and Debal (in Sindh).[12] These expeditions were not sanctioned by Caliph Umar and Uthman escaped punishment only because there weren't any casualties.[13]
The motivation for these expeditions may have been to seek plunder or to attack pirates to safeguard Arabian trade in the Arabian Sea, not to start the conquest of India.[14] Arabs led by Suhail b. Abdi and Hakam al Taghilbi later defeated a Sindhi army in the Battle of Rasil in 644 beside the Indian Ocean sea coast, then reached the Indus River.[15] Caliph Umar denied them permission to cross the river or operate in Makran and the Arabs returned home.[16]
Campaign[edit | edit source]
During the caliphates of Yazid II (r. 720–724) and Hisham (r. 724–743), the expansion policy was resumed, Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri was appointed the governor of Sindh in 723 CE.
After subduing Sindh, Junayd sent campaigns to various parts of India. The justification was that these parts had previously paid tribute to Ibn al-Qasim but then stopped. The first target was al-Kiraj (possibly Kangra Valley), whose conquest effectively put an end to the kingdom. A large campaign was carried out in Rajasthan which included Mermad (Maru-Mada, in Jaisalmer and Jodhpur), al-Baylaman (Bhillamala or Bhinmal) and Jurz (Gurjaradesa—southern Rajasthan and northern Gujarat). Another force was sent against Uzayn (Ujjain), which made incursions into its country (Avanti) and some parts of it were destroyed (the city of Baharimad, unidentified). Ujjain itself was not conquered. A separate force was also sent against al-Malibah (Malwa, to the east of Ujjain[17]), The Umayyads tried to extend Muslim dominion over interior parts of India. They conquered most of the western India and conquered Bhinmal, Juzr, Marmad, Mandal, Dahnaz, Burwas and Malibah.[18] This means that Umayyad boundaries would have included western and southern Rajasthan, nearly all of Gujarat, and a small part of Madhya Pradesh.[19]
Towards the North, the Umayyads attempted to expand into Punjab but were defeated by Lalitaditya Muktapida of Kashmir.[20] Another force was dispatched south. It subdued Qassa (Kutch), al-Mandal (perhaps Okha), Dahnaj (unidentified), Surast (Saurashtra) and Barus or Barwas (Bharuch).[21] According to historian Dilip K. Chakrabarti, Yashovarman of Kannauj likely defeated Arab forces attempting to invade Kannauj.[22]
The kingdoms weakened or destroyed included the Bhattis of Jaisalmer, the Gurjaras of Bhinmal, the Moris of Chittor, the Guhilas of Mewar, the Kacchelas of Kutch, the Maitrakas of Saurashtra and Gurjaras of Lata. Altogether, Al-Junayd have conquered all of Gujarat, a large part of Rajasthan, and some parts of Madhya Pradesh. Blankinship states that this was a full-scale invasion carried out with the intent of founding a new province of the Caliphate.[23]
In 726 CE, the Umayyads replaced Al-Junayd by Tamim ibn Zayd al-Utbi as the governor of Sindh. During the next few years, all of the gains made by Junayd were lost. The Arab records do not explain why, except to state that the Umayyad troops, drawn from distant lands such as Syria and Yemen, abandoned their posts in India and refused to go back. Blankinship admits the possibility that the Indians must have revolted but thinks it more likely that the problems were internal to the Arab forces.[24] Tamim is said to have fled Sindh and died en route. The Umayyads appointed al-Hakam ibn Awana al-Kalbi (Al-Hakam) in 731 who governed till 740.
Aftermath[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1994-06-28). The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishām Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. State University of New York Press. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-7914-9683-1.
- ↑ Balocu, Nabī Bak̲h̲shu K̲h̲ānu (1995). Lands of Pakistan: Perspectives, Historical and Cultural. el-Mashriqi Foundation. p. 48.
- ↑ Elliot, Sir Henry Miers (2008-01-01). History of India, in Nine Volumes: Vol. V - The Mohammedan Period as Described by Its Own Historians. Cosimo, Inc. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-60520-498-7.
- ↑ Jain, Kailash Chand (1972-12-31). Malwa Through The Ages. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 321. ISBN 978-81-208-0824-9.
- ↑ Wink, André (1990). Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World. BRILL. p. 208. ISBN 978-90-04-09249-5.
- ↑ Allan, John; Haig, Sir Wolseley; Dodwell, Henry (1964). The Cambridge Shorter History of India. S. Chand. p. 102.
- ↑ Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1994-06-28). The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishām Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. State University of New York Press. pp. 133–134. ISBN 978-0-7914-9683-1.
- ↑ Balocu, Nabī Bak̲h̲shu K̲h̲ānu (1995). Lands of Pakistan: Perspectives, Historical and Cultural. el-Mashriqi Foundation. p. 48.
- ↑ Wink 2002, p. 201
- ↑ Hoyland 2015, p. 85.
- ↑ Proceedings and Transactions of the ... All-India Oriental Conference. Bihar and Orissa Research Society. 1947. p. 551.
- ↑ El Hareir & M'Baye 2011, pp. 594, 601–602
- ↑ al-Balādhurī 1924, p. 209: "'Uthmân ibn-abu-l-'Âși ath-Thaķafi ... sent his brother, al-Hakam, to al-Bahrain, and went himself to 'Umân, and sent an army across to Tânah. When the army returned, he wrote to 'Umar, informing him of this expedition and its result. 'Umar wrote to him in reply, ' ... By Allah, I swear that if they had been smitten, I would exact from thy tribe the equivalent.' Al-Hakam sent an expedition against Barwaș [Broach] also, and sent his brother, al-Mughîrah ibn-abu-l-'Âsi, to the gulf of ad-Daibul, where he met the enemy in battle and won a victory."
- ↑ Sen 1999, p. 346
- ↑ Wink 2002, p. 129
- ↑ Crawford 2014, p. 192
- ↑ Jain, Kailash Chand (1972). Malwa through the Ages, from the Earliest Times to 1305 A.D. Motilal Banarsidas. p. 10. ISBN 9788120808249.
- ↑ Jain, Kailash Chand (1972-12-31). Malwa Through The Ages. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 321. ISBN 978-81-208-0824-9.
- ↑ Blankinship 1994, p. 133.
- ↑ Hasan, Mohibbul (1959). Kashmir Under the Sultans. Delhi: Aakar Books. p. 30.
In the reign of Caliph Hisham (724–43) the Arabs of Sindh under their energetic and ambitious governor Junaid again threatened Kashmir. But Lalitaditya (724–60), who was the ruler of Kashmir at this time, defeated him and overran his kingdom. His victory was, however, not decisive for the Arab aggression did not cease. That is why the Kashmiri ruler, pressed by them from the south and by the Turkish tribes and the Tibetans from the north, had to invoke the help of the Chinese emperor and to place himself under his protection. But, although he did not receive any aid, he was able to stem the tide of Arab advance by his own efforts.
- ↑ Bhandarkar 1929, pp. 29–30; Wink 2002, p. 208; Blankinship 1994, pp. 132–133
- ↑ Chakrabarti, Dilip K. (2010-10-07), "The Re-emergence of the Gangetic Orbit and the Regional Power Centres: c. ad 300 to c. ad 800", in Chakrabarti, Dilip K. (ed.), The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India: The Geographical Frames of the Ancient Indian Dynasties, Oxford University Press, p. 77, doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069898.003.0004, ISBN 978-0-19-806989-8, retrieved 2025-06-20
- ↑ Blankinship 1994, pp. 133–134.
- ↑ Blankinship 1994, pp. 147–148.
Further reading[edit | edit source]
- Crawford, Peter (2013). The War of the Three Gods: Romans, Persians and the Rise of Islam. Barnsley, Great Britain: Pen & Sword Books. p. 216. ISBN 978-1-84884-612-8