Muhammad bin Qasim in the context of "Umayyad campaigns in India"

Multan is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the sixth-largest city in the country; and serves as the administrative headquarters of its eponymous division and district. A major cultural, religious and economic centre of the Punjab region, Multan is one of the oldest inhabited cities of Asia, with a history stretching deep into antiquity.

Multan was part of the Achaemenid Empire in the early 6th century BC. The ancient city was besieged by Alexander the Great during the Mallian campaign. Later it was conquered by the Umayyad military commander Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 CE after the conquest of Sindh. In the 9th century, it became capital of the Emirate of Multan. The region came under the rule of Ghaznavid and the Delhi Sultanates in the medieval period. In 1445, it became capital of Langah Sultanate. Multan Subah was one of the largest provinces of the Mughal Empire. The Sikhs ruled over Multan from 1818 till 1849 when it was conquered by the British and made part of the British Punjab.

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.

Mansura (Arabic: المنصورة, romanized: al-manṣūra, lit. 'the triumphant [city]'; Sindhi: منصوره‎), referred to as Brahmanabad or Bahmanabad (Sindhi: برهمڻ آباد‎, romanized: barhamaṇabād, pronounced [ˈbəɾɦəmnɑːˈbɑːd̪]) in later centuries, was the historic capital of the caliphal province of Sindh, during the eighth century under the Umayyad Caliphate and later the Abbasid Caliphate from the year 750 AD to 1006 AD. Founded as a central garrison by Umayyad forces in Sindh, the city transformed into a metropolis during the Abbasid era, surpassing the wealth of both Multan to the north and Debal to the south. Mansura was the first capital established by Muslims in the Indian subcontinent after Muhammad bin Qasim seized the Brahmanabad territory. Built on the banks of the Indus River, Mansura was surrounded by fertile farmland. Ibn Hauqal mentioned the wealthy local merchants who wore Baghdad Costume and were of Sindhi-Arab origins, houses were made of clay, baked bricks and plaster.

Mansura exported herbs and spices, textiles, ivory, metals and mirrors to Baghdad. The city also housed renowned educational institutions, which produced the first translation of the Quran in the Sindhi language. The translation was used throughout the Indus valley region. Mansura was home to notable figures such as Abu Mashar Sindhi, who is described by many historians and chroniclers as a pioneer in the compilation of Hadith; Abu Raja Sindhi lived in Baghdad and engaged in scientific and literary pursuits they translated a large number of ancient books of South Asia on mathematics, astronomy, astrology, medicine, literature and ethics into Arabic.According to geologists an earthquake struck both Debal and Mansura in the year 893.AD, the city was later ruled by the Soomro Emirs. Mansura was sacked by the forces of Mahmud of Ghazni because the inhabitants feared his reputation and refused to open the gates. The city never recovered and its Soomro Emirs were deposed.