Revisiting Early Muslim Civilization in Sindh using Myth, Historiography and Historical Method

Abstract

In the history of South Asia, the Arab conquest of Sindh in 712 CE by Muhammad ibn Qasim has long been depicted as the pivotal event in the history of Islam. This historical narrative, supported by medieval chronicles and contemporary nationalist historiography, gives preference to stories of conquest and downplays other forms of earlier and alternative processes of Islamic presence in Asia. This paper is a critical re-evaluation of the history of the early Muslim civilization in Asia through questioning the historical validity of the primary sources of narrative more specifically, the Chachnama and placing them in a wider context of memory, myth-making, and political historiography. The study challenges the narrative of the daughters of Raja Dahir, a king of Sindh, to find out that the myth of the legacy of the daughters of the king is more about how people constructed their memories after the conquest than the realities of the 7th century. The article also shows how colonial and post-colonial uses of Muhammad ibn Qasim turned an episode in the history of a region into a myth of origin of civilizations. By changing the analysis emphasis on conquest to networks, institutions and cultural negotiating, the paper suggests a more subtle interpretation of the early Muslim civilization in Asia as a process that was gradual and multi-layered.

Keywords: Islam, Sindh, Muhammad bin Qasim, Chachnama, Surya, Premal.