Muhammad Bin Qasim Al-Thaqafi, alias ‘Imad ad-Din,’ was born in Taif in 694 C. He was an Umayyad commander best known for conquering the Sindh and Punjab areas around the Indus River. along the Indus River, conquering the Sind and Punjab areas. He accomplished this goal at the tender age of seventeen. To accomplish this enormous task, he defeated the previous Hindu monarch Raja Dahir in a battle with Alor.

He was a devout Muslim who contributed significantly to the propagation of Islam. The conquest of Sind and Punjab ushered in the Islamic period in South Asia, earning Pakistan’s Sind province the moniker Bab-e-Islam (The Gateway of Islam). He was the first Muslim to effectively conquer Hindu territories and establish early Muslim rule.

Early Life

The Arabic sources provide no information regarding Qasim’s childhood or youth. Modern historians, on the other hand, think He was born and reared in the city of Taif. A Thaqafi tribesman from the Ta’if area. He was a member of an Abu Aqil family that gained prominence with the rise of Al-Hajaj ibn Yousaf, Qasim’s father Al-Qasim ibn Mohammad ibn al-paternal Hakam’s first cousin. Qasim bin Yusuf, Muhammad bin Qasim’s father, died while Muhammad bin Qasim was a child, putting his mother in charge of his education.

During the Umayyad Caliphate, Caliph Abdul Malik ibn Marwan assigned governor of Iraq. Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf and selected notable Saqafi family members in different posts. Among them was the father of Muhammad, Qasim, who held the Basra governorship.

Governor Al Hajajjaj Ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi, the paternal Uncle of Muhammad bin Qasim, played an essential part in the teaching of battle and administration Muhammad bin Qasim. Al-Hajjaj like Qasim greatly and thought that he is respectable to marry Zaynab his sister, but she chose the elder. Thaqafite ibn Ayyub ibn al-Hakam, with she is eventually married. Muhammad bin Qasim became the administrator of Persia under Hajjaj’s command, where he succeeded in dismissing a revolt.

Basra was the location of his first training. He is anticipate to grow into a competent and bright guy. Due to his poverty, he was unable to continue further education and joined the army after finishing his elementary schooling. He studied martial arts in Damascus.

His talents and abilities propelled him to the military’s highest rank and earned him an enviable reputation.

Thus, he finished his early training in Basra, and he was just five years old when his father died.

Career And Achievements

His first mission is in Fars, where he is taskes with defeating a Kurdish group. He is appoint Governor of Fars after satisfactorily fulfilling his assignment. He replaced Muhammad ibn Yousaf, al-brother, Hajjaj’s as governor.

Qasim resurrected Shiraz. In this city, he established a military camp and a royal palace. Muslim missionaries established the connection between Islam and Hindu Sind during al-Khilafah ar-Ridah. Al-Hakim was an Abu Talib rebel who invaded Mecran in 649 A.D.

History of Sindh

The first Muslim missionaries under the Rashidun Caliphate created the link between Hindu Sindh and Islam. Al-Hakim ibn Jabalah al-Abdi was an early ally of Ali ibn Abu Talib. He invaded Makran in 649 AD.

During that time period, many Muslim merchants in Ceylon died, and the Ceylonese monarch sent their widows and orphans to Baghdad. They traveled by water with pilgrims. Additionally, the King of Ceylon sent many expensive gifts to Walid and Hajjaj. As the eight-ship convoy sailed through Daibul’s harbor, Hindu pirates plundered it and abducted the women and children. When Hajjaj learned of the assault, he ordered that Dahir restore the Muslim prisoners and stolen property. Additionally, he urge that the perpetrators punished. Dahir said that he lacked authority over the pirates and could not, therefore, reprimand them. Hajjaj then planned to attack Sind. Two minor missions he sent failed to achieve their objective. As a result, Hajjaj resolved to launch a massive assault against Dahir, who was sponsoring the pirates, in order to liberate the captives and punish the guilty person. The assault was motivated by Raja Dahir’s policies.

The start of the Conquest

Hajjaj had spent more time and effort on this campaign than on the second. Between 708 and 711, when Qasim was just 15–17 years old, Al-Hajjaj appoints Qasim leader of the expedition. He presumably because the preceding two Umayyad commanders had failed to penalize Sindh’s ruler Raja Dahir for his inability to prevent pirates from interrupting Muslim commerce off the Sindh coast. Qasim’s army left Shiraz with 6,000 Syrian cavalry and detachments of mawali (non-Arab, Muslim freedmen) from Iraq. At the Sindh border, he is join an advance guard and 6,000 camel cavalries,the governor of Makran are sent straight to Debal,at the mouth of the Indus, by sea, along with five manjaniks .The army that ultimately conquered Sindh was augment by the Jats and Meds, as well as other irregulars who learned of the Arab victories in Sindh.

Muhammad bin Qasim launched

When Muhammad bin Qasim launched, Sindh’s ruler Raja Dahir is approximately 500 kilometers away in his capital Alor (Nawabshah). Debal is under the command of a governor with a garrison of between 4,000 and 6,000 Rajput troops.A few thousand Brahmans, Raja Dahir did not immediately march to its defense. Throughout this time, the young invader maintained constant touch with Hajjaj, seeking his guidance on even the most trivial things. The communication between the two is so effective that letters. He sent every three days and responses are receive within seven days.He give the impression that Hajjaj ibn Yusuf himself is practically directing the campaign.When the siege of Debal dragged on for some time.A defector told Muhammad bin Qasim of a method for capturing the temple.

The Arabs then attacked the citadel temple, placing their ladders and swarming over the walls. The people are encourage to embrace Islam in accordance with Islamic edicts. The bloodbath lasted three days. The temple is demolish and a mosque is construct in its place. Muhammad ibn Qasim established a Muslim quarter and garrisoned the town with 4,000 men. As this is the pattern of Muhammad bin Qasim’s subsequent sieges and triumphs – and indeed of all subsequent Muslim conquerors of the subcontinent – it may be replicate. Muslims are encourage to embrace Islam by the inhabitants of a conquered fort or town. At Ar-rur, he is engage in combat with Dahir’s troops and the eastern Jats. Dahir is kill in the fight, his troops are routes, and a victorious Muhammad bin Qasim captured Sindh.

Reason For Success

Muhammad ibn Qasim’s triumph has been attribute in part to Dahir’s unpopularity with the Buddhist population. who saw Chach of Alor and his family as traitors of the Rai Dynasty.This is credit with resulting in Buddhist backing and the incorporation of rebel troops as important infantry in his cavalry-heavy army from the Jat and Meds. Additionally, there were the following reasons:

• Military equipment of better quality, such as siege engines and the Mongol bow.
• Discipline and leadership within the troop.
• Jihad as a morale booster
• Religion; a widespread belief in the Muslim success prophesy.

After the Conquest of Sindh

Muhammad bin Qasim’s objective following the victory was to establish an institutional framework for a stable Muslim kingdom that included a recently acquired foreign country populated by non-Muslims. He pursued a conciliatory strategy, pleading with indigenous peoples to accept Muslim authority in exchange for non-interference in their religious practices, as long as they paid their taxes and tribute. In exchange, the state-protected non-Muslims against outside assaults and adversaries. He imposes Islamic Sharia law on the region’s inhabitants, although Hindus are permittes to govern their villages and resolve conflicts according to their own rules.

Tragic Death

Muhammad bin Qasim died tragically in his prime in 715. Sulayman was Hajjaj bin Yusuf’s arch-enemy, and Muhammad bin Qasim, his cousin, and son-in-law fell prey to his fury. He is apprehend and deportes to Mesopotamia, where he is executes torture. Thus, the distinguished career of the great leader who lay the groundwork for Muslim dominance in the subcontinent came to an end.