The Battle of Rajasthan

After the collapse of the Gupta state (around 550 CE), India was surrounded by warring states and clans from all sides, who tried to take the place of the Gupta power. Among them were the Yasodharmans from Malva , Maitraka from Vallabi, and Harsha from Thanesar. However, a stable state formation in northern India - Gurjara-Pratihara - was formed only in 750 in the Rajasthan-Malva-Gujarat region, while it lasted a little more than one century.

In the 7th century, the political and religious trends of Islam began to penetrate into East Asia , and its representatives sometimes led an aggressive policy. Under the Umayyad caliphate, the Arabs tried to seize the border areas of India, which were under the rule of disparate kingdoms - Kabul , Zabul and Sindh , but were rebuffed. At the beginning of the 8th century, the Kingdom of Sind under the rule of the Rajput king (Raji) Dahir from the Rai dynasty shook internal strife. The Arabs took advantage of the weakening of the enemy and as a result, in 712, Muhammad ibn Qasim occupied this territory. Muhammad was the nephew of Al-Hadjay, the ruler of Iraq and the Great Khorasan . Muhammad ibn Qasim and his followers tried to penetrate from Sindh to the Punjab and other Indian regions, but were defeated by Lalitaditiya from Kashmir and Yasovarman from Kannauja. In addition, the position of the Arabs in Sindh was also fragile.

The follower of Muhammad ibn Qasim - Junaid ibn Abdur-Rahman al-Marri , eventually suppressed the resistance of the Sindi Indians. Taking advantage of the prevailing conditions in Western India, on the territory of which at that time several small states were located, Junaid launched an offensive with troops at the beginning of 730. Dividing the troops into two parts, he managed to plunder several cities in southern Rajasthan, western Malva , and Gurjar .

In Indian historical chronicles, the fact of the invasion of the Arabs is confirmed, however, only in the territory of small states in the Gurjar region. They also note the defeat of the Arabs in two places. The southern army turned north into the Gurjar region and was defeated in Navsari by the Gurjar clans. The army, which turned east, reached Avanti, whose ruler Gurjar Pratihara ^[1] Nagabhatta defeated the troops of the Arabs and they fled.

When Emir Junaid entered Rajasthan with his troops, the ruler of Gurjar-Pratihar Nagabhat I created an alliance with Jayashimha Warman, the ruler of Lata of the Chalukya dynasty , who was the brother of King Vikramaditya I. Jayashimha Warman sent his son, Avanidjanashraya Pulakideshi I. , died of wounds received in the battle with the allied forces.

In Gwalior's description, there is evidence that Nagabhatta “ crushed the vast army of the powerful king Mleccha .” The huge army consisted of cavalry, infantry, siege artillery, and possibly military camels. From the moment Tamin became the new ruler, he led the Syrian cavalry from Damascus , the local Arab troops recruited Indians in Sindh, as well as foreign mercenaries such as the Turks . The total number of invasion troops ranged from 30-40 thousand people. For comparison, the Rajputs could put up only 5-6 thousand cavalry units.

The Arab historian Suleiman described the imperial army of Gurdjar-Pratihar as of 851: King Gurdjar is in constant readiness to hold a large number of troops, like no other Indian prince he favors cavalry. I must say that she is in excellent condition. He is hostile to the Arabs, although he understands that the Arab caliph is the greatest king of kings. Among the princes of India there is no one else who would be such an adversary of the Islamic faith. He is also rich - his wealth is made up of horses and camels, of which there are countless . ^[2]

However, by the time of the battle for Rajasthan, the combat power of the troops of Gurdjar-Pratikharov ^{[1] had} only just begun to grow. In fact, Nagabhatta was the first prominent ruler. As can be seen from the description, cavalry was an important part of the army. Some other works say that the kings and military leaders of India rode elephants to "survey the battlefield." The infantry stood behind the elephants, and the cavalry formed the flanks and the vanguard.

Junaid’s successor, Tamim bin Zayed al- Uthbi, organized several military campaigns against Rajasthan, but he did not succeed in this; the Arabs did not receive any new territories. Moreover, his troops were driven back to the Indus by the combined forces of King Kannauj Yaso Warman. Thus, the Indus River became the eastern border of Arab possessions in Sindh . According to the Arab historian Suleiman, " there was no place where Muslims could take refuge ." The Arabs fled to the west coast of the Indus, leaving all their possessions on the east coast, inherited by the victors of Gurjar. Local leaders took advantage of this in order to regain their power and independence. Subsequently, the Arabs built the city of Mansour on the other side of the Indus, where the river was the deepest and widest. This city has become the new capital of Sindh.

The Arabs in Sindh took a long time to recover from the defeat. At the beginning of the 9th century, the ruler Bashar tried to organize an invasion of India, but he was also defeated. Even the ground expedition sent by the caliphs was defeated by the Saindhava clan of Kathiyavar . After that, the Arab chronicles noted that the Caliph Mahdi, " refused to conquer any parts of India ."

Subsequently, civil strife began among the Arabs of Sindh . As a result, Sind fell into two rival Shiite states: Mansur and Multan , each of which paid tribute to Gurdjar-Pratihar . In addition, internal resistance was increasing in Sindh against the invaders. This struggle never stopped, and after the victory of the Rajput neighbors, the population opposed the rule of the Arab conquerors. In the end, they were overthrown, and Sindh began to rule the local dynasties of the Islamic Rajputs, such as Soomra and Samm.

Hindi Works

• Gwalior stone inscription of Bhoja Pratihara
• Jodhpur inscription of Bauka Pratihara
• Bappabhattcharitam
• Harivamsapurana (Jinasena)
• Kumarpalacharita (Jaysimha)
• Vikramarjuna Vijaya (Pampa)
• Khummana-Raso

Muslim sources

• Al-madaini
• Futuhu-l Buldan (Ahmad bin Yahya)
• Chach-nama (Muhammad Ali Kufi)
• Kitab ul-Aqalim (Istakhri)
• Ashkal ul-Bilad (ibn Hauqal)
• Silsilat ut-Tawarikh (Sulayman)

Contemporary works

• The Age of Imperial Kannauj (The History and Culture of the Indian People - Volume IV)
• Who were the Imperial Pratiharas (RR Halder)
• The Glory that was Gurjaradesa (KM Munshi)