Umayyad campaigns in India

In the first half of the 8th century CE, a series of battles took place between the Umayyad Caliphate and kingdoms to the east of the Indus river, in the Indian subcontinent.

Quotes

• The conquest of Sindh opened a new chapter in the history of South Asia. Muslims had ever lasting effects on their existence in the region. [. . . .] For the first time the people of Sindh were introduced to Islam, its political system and way of the government. The people here had seen only the atrocities of the Hindu Rajas. [. . . .] The people of Sindh were so much impressed by the benevolence of Muslims that they regarded Muhammad bin-Qasim as their savior. [. . . .] Muhammad bin-Qasim stayed in Sindh for over three years. On his departure from Sindh, the local people were overwhelmed with grief.
  • Social Studies For Class VI, (Jamshoro: Sindh Textbooks Board, April 1997).

• When we remember their wonderful military success in other parts of the world, the comparatively insignificant results the Arabs achieved in India certainly stand out in marked contrast. The cause of this, however, does not lie in the religious and social peculiarities of India as old historians like Elphinstone vainly attempted to establish. The cause lies undoubtedly in the superior military strength and state-organisation of the Indians as compared with most other nations of the time. However incredible this might appear in the light of subsequent events, this is the plain verdict of history. page 175
  • Volume 3: The Classical Age [320-750 A.D.]

• Contrary to the current notion that the Arab conquest of Sind was an unimportant episode in the history of India and affected merely the fringe of the subcontinent, we should stress the great commercial importance of this province. Sind was the hinge of the In­dian Ocean trade as well as the overland pass way.
  • A Wink, Al-Hind, The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Volume 1 ,52