Sind and Hind are just two of many regions substantially neglected in the historiography of the early Arab conquests. Although 711 CE stands firm in Islamic history writing as the date of the conquest of Sind, this single date and monolithic terminology hide longer and more complex processes: a history of extensive raids into both Sind and Hind, territorial losses as much as gains, strategic local conversions and re-conversions, as well as substantial population movements. Furthermore, intersecting with this largely military history is that of the pre-existing West Asian mercantile networks and diasporas already active in these regions.
I would also like to argue that these are two regions where the “conquests” were fundamentally shaped by maritime and riverine networks. Seaborne access to Hind and Sind was more direct and far faster than land based routes across the extensive deserts between Iran and the northern Indian plains. Longstanding seaborne trade links between the Gulf and Oman only strengthened this seaborne relationship. Navigable rivers, notably the Indus, were also key routes for inland access.
Grounded in re-readings of the Arabic and Persian futuh literature, together with data from a variety of Indic epigraphic sources, this paper begins the task of substantially re-assessing the history of these conquests from a maritime and riverine perspective. My paper will engage in substantial topographical and chronological revision of the conquest narratives, and question current thinking about the aims and agency of the conquests.
See more of: Illuminating the Importance of Islands and Maritime Interaction Points in Islamic Empires
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