Indian campaign of Al Hakam

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Indian campaign of Al hakam
Part of Umayyad campaigns in India

The region in which the arab campgain took place
Date731-740
Location
Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan
Result
  • Partial Arab victory; Final Indian victory
  • Decline of Gurjaras of Lata
  • Decline of Mori Kingdom
  • Arabs reconquered all of the the lost territories
  • Arab raid halted due to the death of Al Hakim
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate Chavda dynasty
Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty
Chalukyas of Navasarika
Kachchh Kingdom
Saindhava
Gurjaras of Lata
Maitraka dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Al-Hakam ibn Awana † Pushyadeva
Dhavala
Unknown chavda king †
Jayabhata IV
Siladitya IV
Pulakeshin
Nagabhata I

Although Arab sources do not mention details of the campaigns, they are recorded in Indian sources which mentioned some victories over the Arab forces and their expeditions. Al-Hakam ibn Abu al-Aas ventured to Indias coastline from Sindh utilizing the Caliphate navy.[1] The Navsari inscription attributed to Avanijanashraya Pulakeshin of the Chalukya dynasty claimed victory over Arab forces after stating that they had arrived to Navsari and defeating the rulers.[2] Since these conquests had been lost under Tamim Zayd, and since the Muslims had again reached the southeastern corner of Gujarat by 739 AD, we must conclude that Al-Hakam or his lieutenants had indeed reconquered these territories.[3] Al-Hakam died in battle while fighting the Saurashtra in present-day Gujarat in 740 AD, putting an end to his expedition.[4][5]

Campaign[edit | edit source]

Al-Hakam restored order to Sindh and Kutch and built secure fortifications at Al-Mahfuzah and Al-Mansur. He then proceeded to retake Indian kingdoms previously conquered by Al-Junayd. The Arab sources are silent on the details of the campaigns. However, several Indian sources record victories over Arab forces.[6]

The Lord of Nandipuri, Jayabhata IV, documented, in an inscription dated to 736 CE, that he went to the aid of his suzerain, the King of Vallabhi and inflicted a crushing defeat on an Arab army. The Umayyads then overran the feudatory of Jayabhata himself and proceeded on to Navsari in southern Gujarat.[7] Their intention might have been to make inroads into South India. However, to the south of the Mahi River lay the powerful Chalukya Kingdom. In the Battle of Navsari, the Chalukyan general Avanijanashraya Pulakeshin decisively defeated the invading Arab forces as documented in a Navsari grant of 739 CE. The Arab army defeated was, according to the grant, one that had attacked "Kacchella, Saindhava, Saurashtra, Cavotaka, Maurya and Gurjara" kings. Pulakeshin subsequently received the titles "Solid Pillar of Deccan" (Dakshināpatha-sādhāra) and the "Repeller of the Unrepellable" (Anivartaka-nivartayitr). The Rashtrakuta prince Dantidurga, who was then a vassal to the Chalukyas, played an important role in the battle.[8]

The kingdoms recorded in the Navsari grant are interpreted as follows: Kacchelas were the people of Kutch. The Saindhavas are thought to have been emigrants from Sindh, who presumably moved to Kathiawar after the Arab occupation of Sindh in 712 CE. Settling down in the northern tip of Kathiawar, they had a ruler by the name of Pushyadeva. The Cavotakas (also called Capotaka or Capa) were also associated with Kathiawar, with their capital at Anahilapataka. Saurashtra is south Kathiawar. The Mauryas and Gurjaras are open to interpretation. Blankinship takes them to be the Moris of Chittor and Gurjaras of Bhinmal whereas Baij Nath Puri takes them to be a subsidiary line of Mauryas based in Vallabhi and the Gurjaras of Bharuch under Jayabhata IV. In Puri's interpretation, this invasion of the Arab forces was limited to the southern parts of modern Gujarat with several small kingdoms, which was halted by the Chalukyan Kingdom.[9]

Indications are that Al-Hakam was overstretched. An appeal for reinforcements from the Caliphate in 737 is recorded, with men being sent, a surprisingly small 3000 contingent. Even this force was absorbed in its passage through Iraq for quelling a local rebellion.[10] The defeat at the hands of Chalukyas is believed to have been a blow to the Arab forces with large costs in men and arms.[10]

The weakened Arab forces were driven out by the subsidiaries of the erstwhile kings. Bappa Rawal. the King of Mewar (r. 734–753) drove out the Arabs who had put an end to the Mori dynasty at Chittor.[11] A Jain prabandha mentions a King Nahada, who is said to have been the first ruler of his family at Jalore, near Bhinmal, and who came into conflict with a Muslim ruler whom he defeated.[12] Nahada is identified with Nagabhata I (r. 730–760), the founder of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, which is believed to have started from the Jalore-Bhinmal area and spread to Avanti at Ujjain.[13] The Gwalior inscription of the Pratihara King Bhoja I, says that Nagabhata, the founder of the dynasty, defeated a powerful army of Valacha Mlecchas ("Baluch" barbarians[14]) around 725 CE.[15] Even though many historians believe that Nagabhata repulsed Arab forces at Ujjain, there is no authentic information about where precisely he encountered them.

Baij Nath Puri states that the Arab campaigns to the east of Indus proved ineffective. However, they had the unintended effect of integrating the Indian kingdoms in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Chalukyas extended their kingdom to the north after fighting off the Arabs successfully. Nagabhata I secured a firm position and laid the foundation for a new dynasty, which would rise to become the principal deterrent against Arab expansion.[16] Blankinship also notes that Hakam's campaigns caused the creation of larger, more powerful kingdoms, which was inimical to the caliphate's interests.[17] Al-Hakam died in battle in 740 CE while fighting the Meds of north Saurashtra (Maitrakas, probably under the vassalage of Chalukyas at this time).[18]

Aftermath[edit | edit source]

The death of Al-Hakam effectively ended the Arab presence to the east of Sindh. In the following years, the Arabs were preoccupied with controlling Sindh. They made occasional raids to the seaports of Kathiawar to protect their trading routes but did not venture inland into Indian kingdoms.[19] Dantidurga, the Rashtrakuta chief of Berar turned against his Chalukya overlords in 753 and became independent. The Gurjara-Pratiharas immediately to his north became his foes and the Arabs became his allies, due to the geographic logic as well as the economic interests of sea trade. The Pratiharas extended their influence throughout Gujarat and Rajasthan almost to the edge of the Indus river, but their push to become the central power of north India was repeatedly thwarted by the Rashtrakutas. This uneasy balance of power between the three powers lasted till the end of the caliphate.[citation needed] In 756, the Abbasid governor of Sindh sent a naval fleet against the Saindhavas. This naval attack was repulsed by the Saindhavas as they had a strong navy. Later in 776, another naval expedition by the Arabs was defeated by the Saindhava naval fleet under the command of Agguka I. After this the Abbasid caliph Al-Mahdi gave up the project of conquering any part of India through the navy.[20]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ ALPERS, EDWARD A. (2018-06-07), "Researching the History of the Indian Ocean World", Connecting Continents, Ohio University Press, pp. 92–120, retrieved 2025-11-29
  2. ↑ Truschke, Audrey (2021-01-05). The Language of History: Sanskrit Narratives of Indo-Muslim Rule. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-55195-3.
  3. ↑ 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. 188. ISBN 978-0-7914-9683-1.
  4. ↑ Gordon, Matthew S.; Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1996). "The End of the jihād state: The Reign of Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 116 (4): 795. doi:10.2307/605483. ISSN 0003-0279.
  5. ↑ Fisher, Michael H.; Wink, Andre (1992). "Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Volume 1, Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries". The American Historical Review. 97 (3): 910. doi:10.2307/2164901. ISSN 0002-8762.
  6. ↑ Blankinship 1994, p. 187.
  7. ↑ Blankinship 1994, p. 187; Puri 1986, p. 44; Chattopadhyaya 1998, p. 32
  8. ↑ Blankinship 1994, p. 186; Bhandarkar 1929, pp. 29–30; Majumdar 1977, pp. 266–267; Puri 1986, p. 45; Wink 2002, p. 208; Sailendra Nath Sen 1999, p. 348; Chattopadhyaya 1998, pp. 33–34
  9. ↑ Blankinship 1994, p. 187; Puri 1986, pp. 45–46
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Blankinship 1994, p. 188.
  11. ↑ Blankinship 1994, p. 188; Sailendra Nath Sen 1999, pp. 336–337
  12. ↑ Sanjay Sharma 2006, p. 204.
  13. ↑ Sanjay Sharma 2006, p. 187.
  14. ↑ Bhandarkar 1929, p. 30.
  15. ↑ Bhandarkar 1929, pp. 30–31; Rāya 1939, p. 125; Majumdar 1977, p. 267; Puri 1986, p. 46; Wink 2002, p. 208
  16. ↑ Puri 1986, p. 46.
  17. ↑ Blankinship 1994, pp. 189–190.
  18. ↑ Blankinship 1994, p. 189.
  19. ↑ Blankinship 1994, pp. 203–204.
  20. ↑ Kumar, Amit (2012). "Maritime History of India: An Overview". Maritime Affairs:Journal of the National Maritime Foundation of India. 8 (1). Taylor & Francis: 93–115. doi:10.1080/09733159.2012.690562. S2CID 108648910. In 776 AD, Arabs tried to invade Sind again but were defeated by the Saindhava naval fleet. A Saindhava inscription provides information about these naval actions.

Bibliography[edit | edit source]

Further reading[edit | edit source]

  • Atherton, Cynthia Packert (1997). The Sculpture of Early Medieval Rajasthan. BRILL. ISBN 978-9004107892.
  • Bose, Mainak Kumar (1988). Late classical India. Calcutta: A. Mukherjee & Co. OL 1830998M.
  • O'Brien, Anthony Gordon (1996). The Ancient Chronology of Thar: The Bhattika, Laulika and Sindh Eras. Oxford University Press India. ISBN 978-1582559308.
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