FRONTIER WITH THE HOUSE OF GOLDThis concludes Baladhuri's section on Qasim's campaign in Sind.
His narrative continues to explain that almost immediately after
Qasim's dismissal, the Muslim armies lost much of the territory over
the southern areas, governing only land south and west of Multln. An-
other Umayyad rebel, Yazid bin Muhallab, seized Sind and was able to
hold it until 723. Hisham bin Abdal Malik dispatched another com-
mander, Junayd bin Abdar Rahman Murri, to Sind in 723. Junayd em-
barked on a significant reconquest of the region, expanding into Gu-
jarat and Rajasthan. In 731, the Umayyad founded a city, Mahfuza, as
the Muslim base of operations. Baladhuri states that the city was named
Mahfuza (Sanctuary), because "by this time all inhabitants of Hind had
reverted back to unbelief froJTI Islam, and there were no cities safe for
Muslims." Near the end of his account, Baladhuri writes that the region
is torn between two Arab groups-the Hijazi and the Qahtani-who
are further divided by sectarian differences. He concludes that the Arab
campaigns were followed by shaky political rule: "Governors were dis-
patched to Sind. They fought the enemies, collected the little tribute
available, and suppressed the people who rebelled."^52
Five significant points from Baladhuri's account of the Muslim
campaigns in Sind bear highlighting. The first is the prominence given
to the Umayyad governor Hajjaj. Baladhuri, as an 'Abbasid court scribe
could be attempting to critically highlight the policies of the earlier
Umayyad regime. Second, we must-consider the full import of the rea-
sons behind Muhammad bin Qasim's campaign in Sind. It is clear
from Baladhuri that the nascent empire had an acute need to subdue a
frontier territory that provided safe harbor to Umayyad enemies and
rebels. Baladhuri's account is peppered with many names of 'Alawis
and Kharajites, evidencing their numbers. Alongside the political con-
cern for subjugation of rebels, there are rare explicit references to the
cost of Muslim campaigns in Sind. Baladhuri notes that Hajjaj spent
60 million dirham on the campaign and recouped 120 million dirham
from the spoils of war. These almost totemic figures indicate the
Umayyad state's monetary crisis. The strained Umayyad military ex-
penditures during the reign of 'Abdal Malik, as detailed by Blankin-
ship, confirms such a reading. s3
The third point concerns Muslim encounters with polytheists.
Baladhuri is one of the earliest extant sources for our understanding