154 A CONQUEST OF PASTS
Abu'l-Fazl had no reason to mention or utilize Chachnama because
his purpose was to narrate from the perspective of the Mughal capital.
Yet we know Chachnama was familiar to elite members of Akbar's
court. Mir Muhammad Masum (1537-1610) was born in Bhakkar and
served honorably under Akbar during Akbar's campaigns in Sind in
- Akbar appointed him as governor of Sind, and in 1600, Mir Masum
wrote a history of Sind, now known as Tar'ikh-i Masumi. In this work
he sought to describe the people and politics of the region. He began
his history with a summary of 'Ali Kufi's Chachnama, "which the
writer of these pages reproduces without the long and tedious passages
of the older texts."^5 Masum's presentation, though condensed, is
true to the structure of Chachnama and retains the presentation of
Chach as a noble conqueror and just ruler. Many of the themes from
Chachnama are presented: Qasim's application of justice to conquered
people, the resistance against the Muslim army, and the treatment of
civilians. However, aspects of political theory such as the importance
of advice, consultation, and alliance building are not reproduced by
Masum.
As the Mughal governor of Sind, Mir Masum brought his own ad-
ministrative concerns to his interpretation of Chachnama. His motive
in writing was to present a history of the local elite, showing the status
of various communities and families in Sind. Masum used Chachnama
to establish a political hierarchy of loyal or suspect populations under
his governance. He cited Chachnama to assert that "the first tribe from
the nations of Sind who became Muslim was the chanah tribe."^6 In
Masum's telling, the people converted after observing Qasim leading
his army in prayer and then seeing him dine without any restrictions
of caste or rank. This episode, given on the authority of Chachnama,
was purely a construct of Masum and demonstrates the utility of
Chachnama in shaping local' politics.
Masum goes on to trace the early history of the Samma people of
Sind and to place them in the role of the Jat of Chachnama-a lower
caste needing to be monitored. Masum, as a Mughal officer adminis-
tering a recalcitrant province, uses Chachnama to reorient claims of
genealogical importance and significance in Sind. There are other in-
triguing changes in Masum's interpretation: Muhammad bin Qasim
does demolish the temple at Daybul but does not build a mosque there,