222 CHRONOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF SIND Masud, but soon afterwards, Ahmed, son of Muhammad, put Masud to death. 1040-48 A.D.—432-40 A.H. : Sultan Masud's son Maudud having The statement shows that Sind was not occupied Ghazni, sent Abu Nasar Bin subdued after Mahmud's expeditions of Muhammad Bin Ahmed as Governor of 1025 and 1026 A.D. Lahore. The latter took an expedition against Sind, but on his return Sind and Multan revolted. 1048-49 A.D.- 440 A.H. : i Sultan Maudud of Ghazni appointed his It simply shows that Ghazni's control son Abul-Qasim Mahmud as Governor over Sind since the sacking of Mansura of Punjab and Sind and sent him to in 1025 A.D. had not been enforced and Lahore. The same year his Kotwal the expeditions of Masud and Maudud Abu Ali crushed rebellions in Sind, Mul- were simply raids of no consequence. tan, Peshawar and Kashmir. Abul Hasan, a general seneschal of Ghazni was sent to subdue Mathila and Bhatia, the ruler of which, Ahannin, took to flight. 1048-49 A.D.— 440 A.H. : Abu Saeed Abdul Hayee Gardaizi wrote Text published from London, in 1928. Zainul-Akhbar. It deals with Ghaznavi —Sind relations. 1049 A.D., 22nd December : Maudud died and in accordance with his will his son Masud, aged three, was nominated as the king, but Maudud's brother Ali Abul Hassan deposed the infant and became Sultan. 1050 A.D. : Conquest of Baghdad by the Seljuk Turks. Since then, Abbasid Caliph's ^> power was limited to a small area around Baghdad and he was reduced to nominal religious head-ship for the purposes of Khutba and issue of Sanads. BEGINNING OF SOOMRAS RISE TO POWER 223 1050 A.D. : Abdul Hayee-Bin-Al-Dahhak-Bin-Mah- The date of its writing is some where I mood Gardaizi, the Persian geographer, between 1049-1053 A.D. The text was wrote his book Zainul-Akhbar "The published from Berlin in 1928, the Iranian jewel of Histories". It has references edition has been issued from Tehran in pertaining to Sind specially Jayratha,, 1342 Sh. the Rai Dynasty, Persia—Sind .conflicts and also Ghaznavid raids. ' SOOMRA DYNASTY 1051 A.D.— 443 A.H. or soon afterwards: Sultan Abdul Rashid Ghaznavi appoint- According to Masumi, p. 59; in the ed Navishtagin Kharki as the Governor beginning of the rule of Sultan Abdul of his territories in India (the Punjab Rashid bin Masud, a weak and in- & NVVFP). Sind enjoyed complete in- efficient ruler, the Soomras assembled dependence under the Soomras, after at Tharri and nominated Soomra as its fall to Mahmud of Ghaznavi in 1025 independent king of Sind. This Soomra A.D. The Soomras seem to have ruled married the daughter of a powerful Arab independently for another 200 years, rich chieftain Sa'ad and thus over-came until the raids of Altatmash who sub- opposition. Bhoongar was born out of dued them and made them vassals. this wedlock. Uch and part of Northern Sind, how- Masumi's information can only be con- ever, had come under Delhi's control sidered partially correct as Ghaznavids during Qutubuddin's rule, when had virtually no control over Sind since Qabacha conquered these areas. the sacking of Mansura and suppressing of the Jats in 1025 and 1026 A.D. res- pectively. Their governors at Lahore had never attempted to control Sind except possibly undertaking raids a couple of times. Tuhfat-ul-Karam, pp. 95-96 puts year of Soomra's independent rule from 446 A.H. or 1054 A.D. but Tuhfat-ul-Karam is equally undefendable on Soomra period. Khafif Soomra had already established his rule over the whole of Sind since 401 A.H. (1010-1011 A.D.) which was interrupted only for a short while by Mahmud. Sind, which had evaded paying tribute Masumi, pp. 31-33. regularly to Ghazni since Mahmud's Masumi has tried in vain to show conquest in 416 A.H., was virtually in that Sind formed part of the Ghaznavid dependent although Ghaznavids kept Empire. It is therefore fair, to assume 1011-1351/52 AD. SOOMRA5 OF SIND AND THEIR CONTEMPORARIES YfA* A.O. " 95. Coin of Mahmood of Gazni having in Dev-Nagri script *' Abyaktamek • Avatar Nripti Mahmud Muhammad 96. Coin of Masud of Ghazni, showing a ( The Invisible one, Muhammad incar- cavalryman and king's name in Kufic nation. King Mahmud ). The margin is script ( From Thomas: Pathan Kings in the same script stating " In the name of Delhi ). if Invisible this Tanka struck at Mahmoodpur Samavt 418 ". Reverse has legend in Arabic as well as Hijri year. Bilingual coins existed in Scythian, Parthian and Kushan .Era too. ( From Thomas : Pathan Kings of Delhi ), 97. Muhammad Bin Sam's coin struck at Kanauj. Obverse: copy of Kanauj coins having the goddess Lakshmi seated. Reverse: Sri Muhammad Bin Sam in Dev-Nagri script. These coins may have been struck for local use in their most acceptable form, to the newly conquered public. ( From Thomas : Pathan Kings of Delhi ). 98. 608 A. D. Gold Coin of Altalmish Obverse : Cavalryman above and ( Muhammad ) Rasul-u-Allah in the margin. Reverse : Al-Sultan, Al-Muizam Shamul-Duniy wa Din Abu Al-Muzafaral Shans Al-Qutbi Bazaman Amir-ul-Mummin, From : Thomas Pathan Kings of Delhi. 99. 680 A. H. Gold Coin of Giasuddin Balban From Thomas Pathan Kings of Delhi. 100. 729 A. H. Gold Coin of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq (From Thomas: Pathan Kings of Delhi). 101. Brass Coin of Muhammad Tughlaq ( Forced Currency.from Thomas ). f 102. Soomro period clay vessel with engraved patterns. Similar engraving work on copper vessels was common upto m'dfiftees of this century (Courtesy of Institute of Sindhology ). 1 103. Soomra period. 9-wick oil lamp. (Courtesy Sind Museum Hyderabad). 1 . SOCMRA DYNASTY 225 claiming it as part of their empire for the that the Soomras ruled un-interrupted next 130 years. since Khafifs taking over Sind in 1010-1 A.D. 1052 A.D.: As Ali Abul Hassan was a weak ruler, . Mahmud of Ghazni's sixth brother Rashid, till then in prison, was released by the courtiers. He deposed his nephew and became Sultan. There is no evidence that between 1028- 1052 A.D., the Ghaznavids or their Pun- jab Governors exercised any influence in Sind. The tribute, if paid, must have been irregular. There were a few raids on Sind between 1040 and 1049 A.D. 1053 A.D.: The Ghaznavids lost hold on Upper Sind (Uch, Bhatia and Multan). Probably, the Ismailis (Qarmatis of historians) had again established themselves as Muha- mmad Ghori had to subdue them in Multan, Uch and Bhatia in 1175 A.D. 226 CHRONOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF SIND given in this history appear to be oriented 8 with Delhi rulers names, usually ending with ud-Din and appear to be forged. 1066-67 A.D. to 1070 A.D. : Billhana, the great Kashmirian court Mujamdar, Chaulkayas of Gujarat, p. 60. poet of Vikramaditya-VI, who for some This story is now considered as pure # time resided in the court of the Chau- fiction and not a historical fact. lukaya ruler Karana of Gujarat, and wrote his drama "Karnasundari", men- tions in it that Kama conquered Sind and had romantic marriage with a princess Mayanalladevi. This story though a fiction, reflects on the condi- ' tions in Sind then. 1067 A.H.: The visit of Ismaili missionary Abdullah Arnold, Preachings of Islam. to Sind. 1068-69 A.D.—461 A.H. : Boongar Soomro died and Dodo-I Muntakhab-ul-Tawarikh of Muhammad ascended the throne. Yousif, quoted by Hussamuddin, T.K., pp. 95-96 and 484-486. Daulat-i-Alviya names the latter as Asam- ud-Daula Doda, and states that he abdi cated in 481 A.H. (1088-89 A.D)., and lived a retired life. His daughter (Zenab) Tari ruled on behalf of her minor brother and handed over the rule to the latter (Sanghar) in 491 A.H. (1098 A.D.). According to Masumi, Dodo-I extended his domain upto Nasarpur, and died when still young. This statement is unacceptable due to 22 years rule o Dodo-I. The extension of territories upto Nasarpur is equally doubtful as Tharri and Nasarpur would hardly be 30 miles ap^rt. By the time of Dodo-I, there was no power strong enough to stop Soomra expansion to the whole of Sind, right upto Uch, specially in view SOOMRA DYNASTY 227 of the fact that as early as 1032 A.D. Soomra Rajpal Shaikh ruled Multan. 1070 A.D.—462 A.H.: Death of Qazi Saeed Andlusi, who He lived in court of Fatmids of Egypt. wrote that Sindhis were extremely sharp in Mathematics. 1070 A.D.—462 A.H. : Qazi Rashid Bin Zubair wrote Kitab Al-Zakhair wa al-Tuhf. The book gives some information on Arab governors of Sind, namely : Junaid, Musa bin Amar bin Abul Aziz (271 A.H.), Hashim bin Amro Taghlibi, Imra bin Musa bin Yahya bin Khalid etc. 1071 A.D. Sept.-463 A.H. Zil-Haj ; Death of Hafiz Abi Bakar Ahmed Ibn The author was born on 3rd Jamadi-al- Ali Ibn Thabit Ibn Mahdi al-Katib al- Sani, 392 A.H. i.e. 1002 A.D. Baghdadi. He wrote Tarikh-i-Baghdad which gives information on Sindhi scho- lars settled in Baghdad. 1072 A.D.: Death of Ali-bin-Usman-al-Hujwairi, founder of Sufi cult in the Sub-conti- nent. He is also known as Data Ganj Bakhsh and his tomb is at Lahore. His \/ book Kashf-al-Mahjub is a popular text for Sufis of Sind and the rest of the Sub-continent.