Muhammad ibn al-Qasim in the context of "Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent"

Sind was a province of the Umayyad Caliphate and later of the Abbasid Caliphate from around 711 CE with the Islamic conquest of Sindh by Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, to around 854 CE with the emergence of the independent dynasties of the Habbarid Emirate in Sindh proper and the Emirate of Multan in Punjab. The "Governor of Sind" (Arabic: عامل السند, romanized: ‘āmil al-Sind) was an official who administered the caliphal province over what are now Sindh, southern Punjab and Makran (Balochistan) in Pakistan.

The governor was the chief Muslim official in the province and was responsible for maintaining security in the region. As the leader of the provincial military, he was also in charge of carrying out campaigns against the non-Muslim kingdoms of India. Governors appointed to the region were selected either directly by the caliph or by an authorized subordinate, and remained in office until they either died or were dismissed.

Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (c. 675 – 24 September 717) was the seventh Umayyad caliph, ruling from 715 until his death. He was the son of Caliph Abd al-Malik and Wallada bint al-Abbas. He began his career as governor of Palestine, while his father Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705) and brother al-Walid I (r. 705–715) reigned as caliphs. There, the theologian Raja ibn Haywa mentored him, and he forged close ties with Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, a major opponent of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, al-Walid's powerful viceroy of Iraq and the eastern Caliphate. Sulayman resented al-Hajjaj's influence over his brother. As governor, Sulayman founded the city of Ramla and built the White Mosque in it. The new city superseded Lydda as the district capital of Palestine. Lydda was at least partly destroyed and its inhabitants may have been forcibly relocated to Ramla, which developed into an economic hub, became home to many Muslim scholars, and remained the commercial and administrative center of Palestine until the 11th century.

After acceding as caliph, Sulayman dismissed his predecessor's governors and generals. Many had been handpicked by al-Hajjaj and had led the war efforts which brought the Caliphate to its greatest territorial extent. Among them were the conqueror of Transoxiana (Central Asia), Qutayba ibn Muslim, who was killed by his own troops in an abortive revolt in anticipation of his dismissal, and the conqueror of Sind (the western Indian subcontinent), Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, who was executed. In the west, Sulayman deposed Musa ibn Nusayr, the conqueror of the Iberian Peninsula (al-Andalus) and governor of Ifriqiya (central North Africa), and had his son Abd al-Aziz, governor of al-Andalus, assassinated. Although he continued his predecessors' militarist policies, expansion largely stopped under Sulayman, partly due to effective resistance along the Central Asian frontiers and the collapse of Arab military leadership and organization there after Qutayba's death. Sulayman's appointee over the eastern Caliphate, his confidant Yazid, invaded the southern Caspian coast in 716, but withdrew and settled for a tributary arrangement after being defeated by the local Iranian rulers. Sulayman intensified the war with the Byzantine Empire, the primary focus of his war efforts, culminating in the 717–718 siege of Constantinople, which ended in a disastrous Arab defeat.

The Conquest of Multan was a military campaign launched by the Umayyads against the city of Multan. The conquest was successful, and it was the last military campaign of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim.