Umayyad campaigns in India
| Umayyad campaigns in India | |||||||||
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| Part of Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Karkota dynasty Pratihara dynasty Mori Kingdom Sapadalaksha Guhila dynasty Gurjaras of Lata Chalukya dynasty Rashtrakuta Empire Kingdom of Valabhi Chavda dynasty Saindhava | Umayyad Caliphate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Chavotaka king † Lalitaditya Muktapida Yashovarman Nagabhata I Bappa Rawal Jayabhata IV Vikramaditya II Avanijanashraya Pulakeshin Dantidurga Pushyadeva |
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim Junayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Murri Tamim ibn Zayd al-Utbi Al-Hakam ibn Awana † | ||||||||
During the first half of the 8th century, a series of battles took place in the Indian subcontinent between the Umayyad Caliphate and Indian kingdoms situated to the east of the Indus River, beginning with the Arab conquest of Sindh (present day Pakistan) during 711–713.
The Rashidun Caliphate (632–661) launched a few raids into India, but no larger campaign took place. The second wave of military expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate lasted from 692 to 718. The reign of Al-Walid I (705–715) saw the most dramatic Umayyad conquests in a period of barely ten years; North Africa, Hispania, Transoxiana, and Sindh were subdued and conquered by the Arabs. Sindh, ruled by King Dahir of the Brahmin Chach dynasty, was captured by the Umayyad general Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, which became a second-level province of the Caliphate (iqlim) and a suitable base for excursions into India, but, after Ibn al-Qasim's departure in 715 most of his captured territories were recaptured by Indian kings.
Yazid II (720–724) launched the third Umayyad expansion along all the warring frontiers, including in India, which resulted in a series of battles between the Arabs and Silluka (725–750) of the Pratiharas of Mandavyapura, Nagabhata I of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, Siladitta IV (710-740) of Maitraka dynasty, Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya dynasty, and other small Indian kingdoms between 724 and 750. Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri (723–726) recaptured Sindh, conquered Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan. However, Arab forces invaded Malwa and achieved victory.
The fourth Umayyad campaign was launched after the Arabs lost control of Sindh and the onquered territories of Rajasthan and Gujarat under Tamim ibn Zayd al-Utbi (726–731). Al-Hakam ibn Awana, assisted by Amr, son of Muhammad ibn Qasim, pacified Sindh, established garrison cities of Al-Mahfuza and Al-Mansura, then campaigned in Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Lalitaditya Muktapida and Yashovarman of Kannauj checked the Arabs in Punjab, although Al-Hakam conquered Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan, the Arabs were decisively defeated at Navsari in 739 by Avanijanashraya Pulakeshin, a general of Vikramaditya II. The Arabs lost their conquests in Rajasthan and Gujarat by 743. These events took place during the reign of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 691–743), the 10th Umayyad caliph, which saw a turn in the fortune of the Umayyads that resulted in eventual defeat on all fronts and a complete halt of Arab expansion. The hiatus from 740 to 750 due to military exhaustion, also saw the advent of the third of a series of civil wars, which resulted in the collapse of the Umayyads.