Debal

"Muhammad, with 6000 Syrian horse, the flower of the armies of the Caliphs, a camel corps of equal strength, and a baggage train of 3000 camels, marched by way of Shiraz and through Mekran towards Sind, crossing the frontier at Armail, probably not far from the modern Darbeji. On his way through Mekran he had been joined by more troops and the Arabs appeared before Debul, then a seaport situated about twenty-four miles to the south-west of the modern town of Tatta, in the autumn of 711. His artillery, which included a great balista known as ' the Bride/ worked by five hundred men, had been sent by sea to meet him. The town was protected by strong stone fortifications and contained a great idol temple, from which it took its name. The siege had continued for some time when a Brahman deserted from the temple and in- formed Muhammad that the garrison consisted of 4000 Rajputs and that 3000 shaven Brahmans served the temple. It was im- possible, he said, to take the place by storm, for the Brahmans had prepared a talisman and placed it at the base of the staff of the great red flag which flew from the steeple of the temple. Muhammad ordered Ja'wiyyah, his chief artillerist, to shorten the foot of ' the Bride/ thus lowering her trajectory, and to make the flagstaff his mark. The third stone struck it, shattered its base, and broke the talisman. The garrison, though much disheartened by the destruc- tion of their palladium, made a sortie, but were repulsed, and the Arabs, planting their ladders, swarmed over the walls. The Brah- mans and other inhabitants were invited to accept Islam, and on their refusing their wives and children were enslaved and all males of the age of seventeen and upwards were put to the sword. The carnage lasted for three days and Muhammad laid out a Muslim quarter, built a mosque, and placed a garrison of 4000 in the town. The legal fifth of the spoil and seventy-five damsels were sent to Hajjaj, and the rest of the plunder was divided among the army."

"Dahir attempted to make light of the fall of Debul, saying that it was a place inhabited by mean people and traders, and as Muhammad advanced towards Niriin, about seventy-five miles to the north-east and near the modern Haidarabad (Hydrabad), ordered his son Jai Singh to leave that fort, placing a priest in charge of it, and to join him in the strong fortress of Bahmanabad. The Arabs, after seven days' march, arrived before Nirun early in 712, and the priest left in charge of the place surrendered it to Mu- hammad, who, placing a Muslim governor there marched to Sehwan, about eighty miles to the north-west. This town, populated chiefly by priests and traders, who were anxious to submit at once to the invaders, was held by Bajhra, son of Chandra and cousin of Dahir, who upbraided the inhabitants for their pusillanimity and prepared, with the troops at his disposal, to defend the place, but after a week's siege lost heart, fled by the north gate of the city, crossed the Kumbh, which then flowed more than ten miles to the east of Sehwan, and took refuge with the Jats of Budhiya, whose raja was Kaka, son of Kotal, and whose capital was at Sisam, on the bank of the Kunibh. The inhabitants of Sehwan then surrendered the town to Muhammad, who granted them their lives on condition of their remaining loyal and paying the poll-tax leviable from non-Muslims."

"During the Arab invasion of Sindh (712 C.E.), Muhammad bin Qasim first attacked Debal, a word derived from Deval meaning temple. It was situated on the sea-coast not far from modern Karachi. It was garrisoned by 4000 Kshatriya soldiers and served by 3000 Brahmans. All males of the age of seventeen and upwards were put to the sword and their women and children were enslaved. “700 beautiful females, who were under the protection of Budh (that is, had taken shelter in the temple), were all captured with their valuable ornaments, and clothes adorned with jewels.” Muhammad despatched one-fifth of the legal spoil to Hajjaj which included seventy-five damsels, the rest four-fifths were distributed among the soldiers."

"In the city of Daybul, where the Thaqafite conquest commenced, the temple is described by Baladhuri as ... a great budd on which there was a tall mast sur- mounted by a red banner unfurling with the wind over the city. The budd - -which some say is a great tower ( minarah ) -- is utilized [as a term for) those structures in which they place one or more idols ( ag nam ) which bring it fame. Sometime the idol Is placed inside of the minarah ."

"Debal (identified with the ruins of Banbhore) was the first city to be stormed by Qasim. The ninth century Muslim historian, Al-Baladhuri, who wrote the most comprehensive account of early Islamic intrusions into India, recorded that a section of the population was killed in a massacre that lasted three days. The dead included two guardians of the famous Shiva temple. Qasim then marked out a quarter of the town for the Muhammadan garrison, built a mosque, and left behind four thousand men. The mosque at Debal was the first to be constructed in the Indian subcontinent (Wink 1990; 203). Excavations at the site in 1958-1965 revealed a Shiva linga fixed on a yonipitha, besides one lying on the floor. Several other lingas had been re-used in the lowest tread of steps leading to the entrance of the mosque. The excavations exposed four building phases. The first was the original temple that had been in use till it was smashed in 712. A century later, Anbisa bin Ishaq, the new governor of Sindh, pulled down the upper portion of the temple and converted the lower part into a prison. Several blocks of the temple were used for restoring other structures in the city. The city’s buildings were repaired after an earthquake in 854 cr. In 906, the edifice was converted into a mosque, which survived till the city turned into a ruin in the thirteenth century."

"700 beautiful females under the protection of Buddha who were of course made slaves."

"…The town was thus taken by assault, and the carnage endured for three days. The governor of the town, appointed by Dãhir, fled and the priests of the temple were massacred. Muhammad marked a place for the Musalmans to dwell in, built a mosque, and left four thousand Musalmans to garrison the place…"

"…‘Ambissa son of Ishãk Az Zabbî, the governor of Sindh, in the Khilafat of Mu’tasim billah knocked down the upper part of the minaret of the temple and converted it into a prison. At the same time he began to repair the ruined town with the stones of the minaret…"

"The Sultãn then went towards Dewal and Darbela and Jaisî… The Sultãn raised a Jãmi‘ Masjid at Dewal, on the spot where an idol temple stood."

"On the receipt of this letter, Hijaj obtained the consent of Wuleed, the son of Abdool Mullik, to invade India, for the purpose of propagating the faith and at the same time deputed a chief of the name of Budmeen, with three hundred cavalry, to join Haroon in Mikran, who was directed to reinforce the party with one thousand good soldiers more to attack Deebul. Budmeen failed in his expedition, and lost his life in the first action. Hijaj, not deterred by this defeat, resolved to follow up the enterprise by another. In consequence, in the year AH 93 (AD 711) he deputed his cousin and son-in-law, Imad-ood-Deen Mahomed Kasim, the son of Akil Shukhfy, then only seventeen years of age, with six thousand soldiers, chiefly Assyrians, with the necessary implements for taking forts, to attack Deebul'... 'On reaching this place, he made preparations to besiege it, but the approach was covered by a fortified temple, surrounded by strong wall, built of hewn stone and mortar, one hundred and twenty feet in height. After some time a bramin, belonging to the temple, being taken, and brought before Kasim, stated, that four thousand Rajpoots defended the place, in which were from two to three thousand bramins, with shorn heads, and that all his efforts would be vain; for the standard of the temple was sacred; and while it remained entire no profane foot dared to step beyond the threshold of the holy edifice. Mahomed Kasim having caused the catapults to be directed against the magic flag-staff, succeeded, on the third discharge, in striking the standard, and broke it down... Mahomed Kasim levelled the temple and its walls with the ground and circumcised the brahmins. The infidels highly resented this treatment, by invectives against him and the true faith. On which Mahomed Kasim caused every brahmin, from the age of seventeen and upwards, to be put to death; the young women and children of both sexes were retained in bondage and the old women being released, were permitted to go whithersoever they chose..."

"Bin Qasim arrives at the port of Debal. The supplies sent by sea arrive the same day. But Hajjaj doesn’t give the order to engage in battle until the eighth day. At the end of that day a Brahmin comes out of the town. He tells the Arabs that the town is guarded by a talisman: the four long flags of green silk that hang down from the arms of the flagstaff on the dome of the great temple of Debal. While the flagstaff stands, the Brahmin says, the people of Debal will fight. It is the first of the betrayals that will assist the Arab conquest. But they are not betrayals, really. They are no more than the actions of people who understand only that power is power, and believe they are only changing rulers; they cannot conceive that a new way is about to come."

"That is the compact (but it has to be ratified by Hajjaj). And on the next day, while the Arabs attack the town from four directions, the big catapult is placed where Jaubat says, the five hundred catapult men pull on the ropes, and the stones are shot off and the flagstaff and the dome are shattered. And it is then as the Brahmin said: the defenders of Debal open their gates and ask for mercy. But Hajjaj has issued precise instructions for this first victory: the residents of Debal are not to be spared. The Arab army has to slaughter for three days: this is what Bin Qasim tells the people of Debal."

"After the slaughter, the booty: the treasure and the slaves. One-fifth, the royal fifth, is set aside for the caliph, “in obedience to the religious law”; Hajjaj’s treasurer takes charge of that. (And it is odd to reflect that the Spanish royal fifth, set aside by Columbus and Cortés and others in the New World, should have had its origin in the religious laws of the Arabs.) The rest of the booty of Debal is distributed fairly, according to Arab practice: a cavalryman getting twice as much as a camelman or a foot soldier."