"When Muhammad bin Qasim invaded Sind, he took captives wherever he went and sent many prisoners, especially women prisoners, to his homeland. Parimal Devi and Suraj Devi, the two daughters of Raja Dahir, who were sent to Hajjaj to adorn the harem of the Caliph, were part of a large bunch of maidens remitted as one-fifth share of the state from the booty of war . The Chachnama gives the details. After the capture of the fort of Rawar, Muhammad bin Qasim “halted there for three day, during which time he masscered 6,000 …men. Their followers and dependents, as well as their women and children were taken prisoner.” When the number of prisoners was calculated, it was found to amount to thirty thousand persons , amongst whom thirty were the daughters of the chiefs. They were sent to Hajjaj. The head of Dahir and the fifth part of prisoners were forwarded in charge of the Black Slave Kaab, son of Mubarak Rasti.96 In Sind itself female slaves captured after every campaign of the marching army, were married to Arab soldiers who settled down in colonies established in places like Mansura, Kuzdar, Mahfuza and Multan. The standing instructions of Hajjaj to Muhammad bin Qasim were to “give no quarter to infidels, but to cut their throats”, and take the women and children as captives. In the final stages of the conquest of Sind, “when the plunder and the prisoners of war were brought before Qasim… one-fifth of all the prisoners were chosen and set aside; they were counted as amounting to twenty thousand in number… and veils were put on their faces, and the rest were given to the soldiers”.97 Obviously, a few lakhs of women were enslaved and distributed among the elite and the soldiers."
React to this quote
More by Muhammad bin Qasim
See allResonant Thoughts
"Jacques Spex had explained to Ieyasu the methods of Spain and Portugal and in 1612 Henrick Brower presented to the Shogun a memorandum on Spanish and Portuguese methods of conquest. In the time of the…"
"To all this, someone is sure to object that life ought to subject itself to reason, to which we will reply that nobody ought to do what he is unable to do, and life cannot subject itself to reason. "O…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"Dear Mr. Rosenberg , - Many thanks for your good letters which are a great encouragement to me. I assure yo…"
— Giorgio de Chirico"I had a listen, I was intrigued … by this strange voice, and I went to her house, met her parents down in K…"
— David Gilmour"But you are a scientist, Michael Poole; and the skill of a scientist is in asking the right question."
— Stephen Baxter"Notwithstanding all the guidance of divine grace Israel did not know the time of her visitation. The great …"
— Michael von Faulhaber"The Will-be and the Has-been touch us more nearly than the Is. So we are more tender towards children and o…"
— Samuel Butler (novelist)"It is fortunate that each generation does not comprehend its own ignorance. We are thus enabled to call our…"
— Charles Dudley Warner
