A DEMON WITH RUBY EYES 107
ments that tie mass conversion to conquest. (These arguments have
shaped scholarship on medieval religious encounters in South Asia.^5 )
I argue that Chachnama produces a rich understanding of religious
difference-a theory of recognition of the sacral power of the different
communities and the necessity for accommodation and alliance
among them. We know that the political world of Qabacha's Uch
was heterodox and polyglot. Chachnama informs us of some of the
political theory that made this possible.
In the first part of this chapter, I do a close reading of Chachnama
to demonstrate how it argues for the recognition and incorporation of
difference to create political order. I examine the motif of ruby eyes in
Chachnama and then provide a genealogy of this motif through Muslim
accounts of Sind to demonstrate the ways in which its appearance in
narratives denotes the contours of Hindu-Muslim encounters. In the
second part of the chapter, I turn toward the making of the Muslim
polity in Chachnama-the usage of law and existing social practices
as tools for governing a diverse polity.
Encounters with Difference
The first delineation of a political theory of difference and power is nar-
rated by 'Ali Kufi in the section pertaining to Sind before.the arrival of
Islam-during the reign of Chach. The Brahmin Chach is attempting
to conquer the various principalities in Sind and unite them under his
rule. He faces resistance at the fort city of Brahmanabad and lays siege
to it. But Chach faces an antagonistic population that is largely Bud-
dhist. The inhabitants have paid tribute to the central Buddhist temple
as well as a recalcitrant ruler, Agham. The priest of the temple reads
the stars and discovers that the fort will fall to Chach but that the
priest will remain safe from Chach's wrath. So the priest encourages
the ruler Agham to resist Chach for a year. Chach hears that the head
priest of the Buddhist temple has magic and cunning (sahar o talbis o
jadu o tadb1Jr) that are strong enough to repel all invaders and that it is
due to his efforts that Chach's campaign to conquer the fort has taken
a year. Chach vows to "peel off the skin" of the priest and "give it to
the royal drummers so that they can stretch it across their drums and