A DEMON WITH RUBY EYES II9
imposes a tax (mal) on the community; finally, when Chach takes
Brahmanabad, he grants amnesty to the inhabitants, protects them
with a treaty, and imposes no taxation.
These treatments involve the making of alliances and the capacity
of civilian populations to negotiate independently with the conqueror.
The populations' capacity to enter into new agreements with rulers
and their ethical claim on governors are highlighted repeatedly in
Chachnama. In these cases, Chachnama makes explicit that the goal
of the king is always to protect the general population.^28 In the Qasim
cycle, we see how the narrative repeats the model of Chach and how
Qasim implements a Muslim polity in the same fort of Brahmanabad:
The governor of the Summa Sandvi Amir Muhammad reports that
when Muhammad bin Qasim approached the environs of Brahman-
abad, he camped at a site known as Manhal, which is lake of boun-
tiful vegetation and birds. The people who live there are Buddhist
merchants. They appealed to him for alliance, and he gave them all
peace and proclaimed, "Stay in your country (watan) in peace and
prosperity, and deliver your tax (mal) to the treasury on time. Then
after deciding on their tax, he appointed two men from among them
as their administrators."^29On approaching Brahmanabad, Qasim recognizes the social class
and occupation (merchants) of the people and grants them protection.
He also appoints their own e1ite as governors. When Qasim reports
Brahmanabad's resolution to his superior, Hajjaj accepts it and issues
an official policy for broader Muslim governance over the region. Hajjaj
grants peace and "very light" taxation on "artisans and merchants,"
and he protects and releases from taxation those who work in the field
or who build. There is no call for mass conversion, but Hajjaj limits
the tax collected from those who convert to Islam. Lastly, he orders
that those who are under an existing legal structure be accommodated:
"Whoever stays on his own law (bar kish-i khud), require from his
work the t~x as designated for the administration.^1130 Hajjaj gives the
highest regard to those who contribute to the prosperity of the land
through their work.
After the declaration by Qasim, the Buddhist subjects near Brah-
manabad begin celebrating with "dancing and singing with drums and