During reign of Siladitya II of Maitraka Kingdom, Arabs
raided a port near Kathiawad . Arabs under the command of Ismail landed at the
p ort in 677AD. They met with a disastrous defeat at the place and gained no
access to the Saurashtra coast. This was one of the earliest Arab raids on
Gujrat.
During the caliphate of Hasham, around 735 AD, forces under
Junaid burst into India and sacked many places including Jaisalmer, Broach and
many areas in Northern Gujrat. The Gurjara king of Nandipuri, Jayabhata IV,
documented, in an inscription dated to 736 AD, that he went to the aid of the
king of Vallabhi and inflicted a crushing defeat on a Tājika (Arab) army. The
Arabs then overran the kingdom of Jayabhata himself and proceeded on to Navsari
in southern Gujarat.
As per Navasari plates of Pulakesin, Arabs moved south after
reducing Gujarat. At this stage, Hindus came together to face this common foe.
At Navasari, the confederate army reinforced by Chalukya troops defeated Arabs.
The Arab expansion in India came to a screeching halt. Pulakesin subsequently received the titles
"Solid Pillar of Deccan" (Dakshināpatha-sādhāra) and the
"Repeller of the Unrepellable" (Anivartaka-nivartayitr). This was the
“battle of Tour “ moment for India.
In 760AD, an Arab fleet under Amru-bin-Jamal landed in the
vicinity of Porbandar. The brunt of this attack was borne by the Saindhava feudatory
Aggukka. Aggukka with his flotilla
became victorious.
Saurashtra was again invaded by Arabs in 776AD with much
better preparation. This naval jihad was ordered by caliph Al-mahdi and was led by Abdul malik. They had many victories initially but sickness broke out
among their troops and they had to cancel this campaign. No further attempt was
made by caliph Al-Mahdi upon India.
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