FRONTIER WITH THE HOUSE OF GOLDtrenches around the troops anp set up lances around the trenches
with flags affixed to them. The armies were stationed under their
flags. He installed a catapult known as '.Arns, which took 500 men
to pull. In Daybul was a great temple (budd) with a tall mast, and on
that mast was a red flag, which covered the city when it blew in the
wind. And they report that the temple had a great minaret built in
the midst of the city, which housed their idols (sanam). The temple
was known by the name of the idols .... Every third day, Hajjaj's let-
ters reached Muhammad, and Muhammad's letters with news of what
he saw in front of him and his thoughts, reached Hajjaj. In a letter,
Hajjaj ordered Muhammad, "Install the catapult '.Arus. Shorten the
east-facing support. Call the operators of Arus and ask them to aim for
the mast which you described to me." The mast was aimed at and
broken, and great distress spread through the Unbelievers. They
left the fort to attack Muhammad, and he drove them back. He or-
dered ladders, and men climbed them to the fort wall-the first being
a man from the Murad of the people of Kufa. The fight lasted for three
days, as Muhammad killed many soldiers there. The governor of
Dahar fled, and the custodian (saadni) of their, houeye of gods was
killed. After the capture of the city, Muha1p.mad measured the quar-
ters for Muslims and built a mosque and settled four thousand men.^4439
From Baladhuri's account, Chachnama and later Persian histories
of Qasim's expedition take up a number of themes: the exchange of let-
ters, the presence of a temple, and the settlement of Muslims. After
the capture of the port city of Daybul, Qasim proceeded to Nirun,
"whose inhabitants sent to Hajjaj [via Qasim] their priests' plea for
peace. They gave Muhammad supplies and brought him into the city
and confirmed the treaty."^45 Similarly, when Qasim "reached this side
of the Mehran River [Indus], where monks from the Sarbiadas temple
came to him and offered peace. He assigned a governor and imposed a
tax (kharaj) on them."^46 The role of priestly mediators in the success
of Qasim's campaign is noted repeatedly by Baladhuri. Baladhuri also
emphasizes the negotiated settlements between the Muslim army and
the population: "The inhabitants asked for peace and a treaty, arid the
priests worked as envoys to mediate between him and them. He gave
them peace and imposed taxes on them, and as insurance he took some
notables from them and returned to Muhammad with four thou,sand
of the Jat (Zutt) people. He appointed a governor over Sadusa."^47