Brahmin dynasty of Sindh in the context of "Muhammad ibn al-Qasim"

The Muslim conquest of Sindh, also known as the Umayyad conquest of Sindh, took place between 711-713 AD in present-day Pakistan when the Umayyad Caliphate defeated the last Hindu dynasty of Sindh, the Brahmin dynasty, and incorporated Sindh (including a portion of southern Punjab and Makran) as a province, officially establishing the first Islamic entity in South Asia.

During the first half of the 8th century, a series of battles took place in the Indian subcontinent between the Umayyad Caliphate and Indian kingdoms situated to the east of the Indus River, subsequent to the Arab conquest of Sindh (present day Pakistan) during 711–713.

The Rashidun Caliphate (632–661) launched a few raids in India, but no larger campaign took place. The second wave of military expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate lasted from 692 to 718. The reign of Al-Walid I (705–715) saw the most dramatic Marwanid Umayyad conquests in a period of barely ten years; North Africa, Iberia, Transoxiana, and Sindh were subdued and conquered by the Arabs. Sindh, ruled by King Dahir of the Brahmin dynasty, was captured by the Umayyad general Muhammad bin Qasim, which became a second-level province of the Caliphate (iqlim) and a suitable base for excursions into India, but, after bin Qasim's departure in 715 most of his captured territories were recaptured by Indian kings.

Raja Dahir (663–712) was the last Hindu Maharaja of Sindh from 695 to 712. A Brahmin ruler, his kingdom was invaded in 711 by the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, led by Muhammad bin Qasim, where Dahir died. According to the Chach Nama, the Umayyad campaign against Dahir was due to a pirate raid off the Sindh coast that resulted in gifts to the Umayyad caliph from the king of Serendib (old name of Sri Lanka) being stolen.

Raja Dahir was born in 663 into the Brahman dynasty of Sindh, a family deeply rooted in Hindu traditions and governance. His father, Chach of Aror, who ruled from 631 to 671, was a Brahmin who ascended to the throne after marrying the widowed Queen Suhandi. This event established the Chach dynasty, which would rule Sindh for nearly a century.