Synonyms
Definition
Muḥammad b. Qāsim (d. 715) was the Arab conqueror of Sind under whom Islam was first permanently established in the Indian subcontinent.
Origins and Early Career
His full name was Muḥammad b. al-Qāsim b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥakam b. Abī ‘Aqīl al-Thaqafī, a prominent member of the Thaqīf tribe of Ṭā’if near the holy city of Mecca. (His laqabs or titles ‘Imād al-Dīn and Karīm al-Dīn attested in the Chachnāmaare obvious anachronisms.) Muḥammad’s cousin and patron was the domineering Umayyad governor of ‘Irāq and the east, al-Ḥajjāj b. Yūsuf, who placed him in charge of an expedition to Sind in c. 709–711 at the tender age, according to al-Balādhurī, of 17, putting his birth at c. 692–694. At this time Muḥammad was campaigning in Fārs, and al-Ḥajjāj appointed him to the recently conquered province of Makrān with the task of a punitive operation against Sind, purportedly to chastise Mēd corsairs at the mouth of the Indus who had kidnapped Muslim women...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abdul Ghafur M (1966) Fourteen Kufic inscriptions of Banbhore, the site of Daybul. Pak Archaeol 3:65–90
Ahmed M (2012) The long thirteenth century of the Chachnama. Indian Econ Soc Hist Rev 49(4):459–491
al-Balādhurī Abūl-l-‘Abbās Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā b. Jābir (1968) Kitāb futūḥ al-buldān = Liber expugnationis regionum, 2nd edn (ed: de Goeje MJ). E.J. Brill, Leiden
Baloch NA (ed) (1983) Fatḥnāmah-i Sind, being the original record of the Arab conquest of Sind: Persian text. Institute of Islamic History, Culture and Civilisation, Islamic University, Islamabad
Crone P (1994) Were the Qays and Yemen of the Umayyad period political parties? Der Islam 71(1):1–57
Fatimi SQ (1964) The identification of Jazīrat al-Yāqūt. J Asiat Soc Pak 9(1):19–35
Fatimi SQ (1981) The twin ports of Daybul: A study in the early maritime history of Sind. In: Khuhro H (ed) Sind through the centuries. Oxford University Press, Karachi, pp 97–105
Fredunbeg MK (tr) (1900–1902) The Cachnamah, an ancient history of Sind, giving the Hindu period down to the Arab conquest, 2 vols. The Commissioner’s Press, Karachi
Friedmann Y (1972) The temple of Multan: a note on early Muslim attitudes to idolatry. Israel Orient Stud 2:176–182
Friedmann Y (1977) A contribution to the early history of Islam in India. In: Rosen-Ayalon M (ed) Studies in memory of Gaston Wiet. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, pp 309–333
Friedmann Y (1984) The origins and significance of the Chach Nāma. In: Friedmann Y (ed) Islam in Asia. South Asia, vol 1. Magnes Press, Jerusalem, pp 23–37
Gabrieli F (1965) Muḥammad ibn Qāsim ath-Thaqafī and the Arab conquest of Sind. East West 15(3–4):281–295
Goron S, Goenka JP (2001) The coins of the Indian sultanates: covering the area of present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi
Hinds M (tr) (1990) The history of al-Ṭabarī. The zenith of the Marwānid house, vol 23. State University of New York Press, Albany
Jaffar SM (1945) End of ‘Imād-ud-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Qāsim, the Arab conqueror of Sind. Islam Cult 19(1):54–68
Kennedy H (2007) The great Arab conquests: how the spread of Islam changed the world we live in. Da Capo Press, Philadelphia
Klat MG (2002) Catalogue of the post-reform dirhams: the Umayyad dynasty. Spink, London
Maclean DN (1989) Religion and society in Arab Sind. E.J. Brill, Leiden
Majumdar RC (1931) The Arab invasion of India. Dacca University supplement. Diocesan Press, Madras
Murgotten FC (tr) (1924) The origins of the Islamic state, being a translation from the Arabic accompanied with annotations geographic and historic notes of the Kitâb Futûḥ al-Buldân of al-Imâm abu-l ‘Abbâs Aḥmad ibn-Jâbir al-Balâdhuri, pt. 2. Columbia University, New York
Piacentini VF (2002) Arab expeditions overseas in the seventh century AD – working hypotheses on the dissolution of the Sasanian state apparatus along the eastern seaboard of the Arabian Peninsula. Proc Semin Arabian Stud 32:165–173
Richards JF (1974) The Islamic frontier in the east: expansion into South Asia. South Asia 4:91–109. Reprinted in: Richard JF (1993) Power, administration and finance in Mughal India. Variorum Ashgate, Aldershot
Siddiqui IH (2010) Indo-Persian historiography up to the thirteenth century. Primus Books, Delhi
Wink A (1996) Al-Hind: the making of the Indo-Islamic world, 3rd edn. Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam 7th–11th centuries, vol 1. E.J. Brill, Leiden
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
O’Neal, M. (2018). Muḥammad b. Qāsim. In: Kassam, Z.R., Greenberg, Y.K., Bagli, J. (eds) Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1267-3_2047
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1267-3_2047
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1266-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-024-1267-3
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities