Chach dynasty

In the 7th century the lower Indus valley was ruled by a short-lived Brahmin dynasty founded by a royal official named Chach. From its capital at Aror, near modern Rohri in Pakistan, the dynasty governed Sindh and, at times, Makran and Multan, from about 632 until 712. Its last king, Dahir, fell fighting the armies of the Umayyad Caliphate, and Sindh became the first region of South Asia to be brought into the Islamic world.

Almost everything known about the dynasty comes from the Chach Nama, a Persian work written in the 13th century by Ali Kufi, who said he had translated an older Arabic history. Parts of it agree with earlier Arab historians such as al-Baladhuri, and other parts seem to preserve local traditions. Some modern historians, however, doubt its reliability, and Manan Ahmed Asif argues that it is largely an original literary work shaped by the politics of its own time. Its dates, numbers and speeches are therefore best treated with caution.

According to the Chach Nama, Chach was a Brahmin who rose to become a close confidant at the court of Rai Sahasi II, the last ruler of the Rai dynasty, which had supported Buddhism. When the king died, Chach married his widow and took power, and he secured his position by killing the late king's brother, who had come from Chittor to claim the throne. Chach then campaigned in every direction to bring neighbouring rulers and peoples under his control. He reigned until about 671.

Chach was followed by his brother Chandar, who is said to have ruled for about eight years, and then by Chach's son Dahir, who ruled from Aror while another son governed at Brahmanabad. Sindh's population was mostly Hindu, with a significant Buddhist minority, and many accounts describe tensions between Buddhist communities and the Brahmin dynasty, which some regarded as usurpers.

Arab forces had raided the region since the mid-7th century. The immediate cause of the final war, according to the Chach Nama and other accounts, was an attack by pirates near the port of Debal on ships carrying gifts and Muslim travellers from Sri Lanka. Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, governor of Iraq, sent two Arab expeditions, and both were defeated near Debal.

In 711 al-Hajjaj sent his young nephew, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, with a large army of cavalry, camel troops and siege engines. He took Debal, won over several Buddhist towns and local groups, crossed the Indus and met Dahir near Aror. Dahir was killed in the battle, in 712 according to most accounts. His son Jaisimha held Brahmanabad for some months before it fell, and Aror and Multan were taken soon after. Casualty figures in the chronicles range into the thousands at several cities, though the invaders took most towns by negotiated surrender.

Sindh became a province of the caliphate, later passing to the Abbasid Caliphate. Members of the family survived: Jaisimha retook Brahmanabad for a time before being killed in battle with the Umayyad governor Junayd, while others, such as Hullishah, governed parts of Sindh under Arab rule. In modern times the Chach Nama's account of the conquest has fed competing historical narratives, and it appears in Pakistani school textbooks.

Our 700 map shows the Chach realm as the Kingdom of Sind, covering the lower Indus valley, with the Umayyad Caliphate to the west, the Turk Shahis (shown as the Kingdom of Kapisa) and the Zunbils to the north-west, and the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir to the north-east.