Sind () was an administrative division of the Umayyad Caliphate and later of the Abbasid Caliphate in post-classical India, from around 711 CE with the Umayyad conquest of Sindh by the Arab military commander Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, to around 854 CE with the emergence of the independent dynasties of the Habbarid Emirate and the Emirate of Multan. The "Governor of Sind" () was an official who administered the caliphal province over what is now Sindh, Pakistan.
The governor was the chief Muslim official in the province and was responsible for maintaining security in the region. As the leader of the provincial military, he was also in charge of carrying out campaigns against the non-Muslim kingdoms of India. Governors appointed to the region were selected either directly by the caliph or by an authorized subordinate, and remained in office until they either died or were dismissed.
Geography
Sind was a frontier province of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates from its conquest in c. 711 until the mid-ninth century. Situated at the far eastern end of the caliphate, it consisted of the territories held by the Muslims in India, which at the time were centered in the Indus region. Sind proper was bounded on the west by Makran, on the northwest by Sijistan and the district of Turan, on the northeast by Multan, on the east by the Thar Desert, on the southeast by the non-Muslim Hind, and on the southwest by the Indian Ocean.
Conquest of Sind
In the history of the Muslim conquests, Sind was a relatively late achievement, occurring almost a century after the Hijrah (start of Islamic calendar). Military raids against India had been undertaken by the Muslims as early as Umar's reign (634–644), but the pace of expansion in the region was initially slow: in 636, an Arab naval expedition attacked Broach, which had come under the control of the Chalukyas following the submission of Jayabhata of the Gurjaras of Lata, and Thana, but it was soon recalled after achieving some damage and they failed to capture these cities. Several governors were appointed to the Indian frontier () and tasked with conducting campaigns in the east. Some of these expeditions were successful, but others ended in defeat and a number of governors were killed while serving there.
According to Derryl N. Maclean, a link between Sind and the early partisans of Caliph Ali or proto-Shi'ites could be traced to Hakim ibn Jabalah al-Abdi, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who traveled across Sind to Makran in 649 and presented a report on the area to the caliph. He supported Ali, and died in the Battle of the Camel alongside Sindi Jats. During the reign of Ali, many Jats came under the influence of Islam. Harith ibn Murrah al-Abdi and Sayfi ibn Fil al-Shaybani, both officers of Ali's army, attacked Sindi bandits and chased them to al-Qiqan (present-day Quetta) in 658. Sayfi was one of the seven partisans of Ali who were beheaded alongside Hujr ibn Adi al-Kindi in 660 AD, near Damascus.
In the caliphate of Mu'awiya I (), the region of Makran was subdued and a garrison was established there. Over the following decades, the Muslims progressed further east, conquering the district of Qusdar and raiding the areas around Qandabil and al-Qiqan.
Sind was conquered in by Muhammad ibn Qasim al-Thaqafi, who had been sent to undertake a punitive expedition against Dahir, the king of Sind. After marching through Makran and defeating its inhabitants, Muhammad entered Sind and attacked the port city of Daybul, which fell after a siege and was partly colonized by the Muslims. Following this victory, Muhammad moved north and encountered Dahir, whom he defeated and killed. He then spent the next few years campaigning in Sind and Multan, forcing the various cities of the country to submit to him.
This period of conquests continued until 715, when Caliph al-Walid I () died; shortly after the accession of Caliph Sulayman, Muhammad was arrested and executed, and a replacement was sent by the government to take control of Sind.
From then on, the Turk Shahis now had to face an additional Muslim threat from the southeast, as did Hindu kingdoms, especially the Maitrakas and the Gurjara-Pratiharas, on their western borders, since the Caliphal province of Sind extended as far as Multan, at the gates of the Punjab, and would last until 854 CE as an Umayyad and then Abbasid dependency.
