Battle of Aror

Battle of Aror
Part of Umayyad conquest of Sindh
Indus River near Aror
Date 20 June 712[1] Location Aror, Sindh 27°39′00″N 68°59′00″E / 27.65°N 68.9833°E / 27.65; 68.9833 Result Umayyad victory
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate	Kingdom of Sindh
Commanders and leaders
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim	Raja Dahir †
Strength
20,000	20,000–25,000[2][3] 50,000 (modern estimates)
class=notpageimage| Location within Sindh Show map of Sindh Battle of Aror (Pakistan) Show map of Pakistan

The Battle of Aror took place in 712 AD between the Umayyad forces under Muhammad ibn al-Qasim and the army of the Brahmin dynasty of Sindh under Raja Dahir. At the Battle of Aror (Rohri), Muhammad ibn al-Qasim was met by Dahir's forces and the eastern Jats in battle.^[4] It was the last military conflict involving Raja Dahir, whose army was defeated by the Umayyads near the Indus River, and Dahir was killed.

Battle

The battle took place on the left bank of the Indus. The names of that place on those occasions were Jiwar, Bet, and Rawer.^[5] After besieging Debal, Muhammad ibn Qasim joined with 2,000 cavalry from Persia in addition to the rest of his forces, making it 20,000-strong, and marched towards Aror. Raja Dahir's forces opposed him. According to the Chach Nama, the strength of the troops was 20,000-25,000. According to modern historians such as K. S. Lal, the forces included not less than 50,000 men.^[6][7][8][9]

Qasim, seeing the imbalance, took advantage of the ground. He waited for Dahir to attack after getting in a good position. During the battle, a fireball struck Dahir's elephant, and the elephant bore Dahir off the field.^[9] Even though Dahir fought, he was killed by an arrow to his neck, and his army faced high casualties, resulting in a Umayyad victory.^[10][11]

Aftermath

After the victory, Muhammed ibn Qasim found the body of Raja Dahir and sent it to Al-Hajjaj.^[10] The Rani governed the capital after Dahir's death.^[8] Ibn Qasim later dispatched his army to besiege the fort of Rewar.^[10] Since her son had retreated to Brahmanabad in war, the queen of Raja Dahir, Rani Bai, committed jauhar to avoid being captured by the army of Mohammed ibn Qasim.^[8]

References

1. Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava (1950), The Sultanate of Delhi, including the Arab invasion of Sindh, 711-1526 AD, p. 16.[1]
2. Khushalani, Gobind (2006). Chachnamah Retold : An Account Of The Arab Conquest Of Sindh. Bibliophile South Asia. p. 127. ISBN 9788185002682.
3. Sāvitrī Kotūmal Mansukhānī, Rāmu Amarlaʻlu Panjvāṇī (2002). Sindh land of hope and glory. Har-anand publication. p. 103. ISBN 9788124108468.
4. Wink, André (2002) [first published 1990], Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Vol 1: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, Brill, ISBN 9780391041738, pp=201–205.
5. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Soc. 1887. pp. 330–331.
6. Rapson, Edward James; Haig, Sir Wolseley; Burn, Sir Richard; Dodwell, Henry (1958). The Cambridge History of India: Turks and Afghans, edited by W. Haig. S. Chand. p. 5.
7. Wynbrandt, James (2009). A Brief History of Pakistan. Infobase Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-8160-6184-6.
8. Lal, Kishori Saran (1984). Early Muslims in India. Books & Books. pp. 14–19. ISBN 978-81-85016-08-5.
9. Satyapal; Chandra, Prabodh (1946). Sixty Years of Congress: India Lost; India Regained, a Detailed Record of Its Struggle for Freedom. Lion Press. pp. 32–36.
10. Mehta, J. L. Vol. Iii: Medieval Indian Society And Culture. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 12. ISBN 978-81-207-0432-9.
11. Kadyan, Amir (2020-04-02). Know The Jat. BlueRose Publishers. p. 10.