A Book of Conquest The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia

NOTES TO PAGES 3 6-43

a good reputation for future conquerors. The episode in question may be

'Ubaidallah bin Abi Bakra's attempted invasion of Afghanistan in 698.

See C. E. Bosworth, "'Ubaidullah b. Abi: Bakra and the 'Army of Destruction'

in Zabulistan," Der Islam 501 1973, pp. 268-283 and J. P. Ferrier,, Caravan

Tourney and Wanderings in Persia, Afghanistan, Turkistan and BeliJochistan

(London: John Murray, 1856), p. 323.

39. Futiih al-Buldiin., p. 418.


40. That was the ill-fated Sa'id bin Aslam bin Zur'ah al-Kalbi. (Futiih al-Buldiin,
    p. 419.)


41. Futiih al-Buldiin, pp. 419-420.


42. Andre Wink, Al-Hind: The Making of the Inda-Islamic World (Delhi: Ox-
    ford University Press, 1990), p. 164.


43. Futiih al-Buldiin, p. 420.


44. Ibid., pp. 420-424.


45. Ibid., p. 426.


46. Ibid.


47. Ibid.


48. Ibid., p. 427.


49. Ibid.


50. Ibid.


51. Ibid.


52. Ibid.


53. For a thorough treatment of the financial demands upon the Umayyads, see
    Khalid Yahya Blankinship, The End of the fihiid State: The Reign of Hishiim
    Ibn 'A.bd Al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads (Albany: State Uni-
    versity of New York Press, 1994), pp. 47-73.


54. Samuel Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World: Translated from the
    Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang [London: Triibner and Co., 1884), p. 272.


55. Futiih al-Buldiin, p. 422.


56. There are only two cases of temple des.truction mentioned in Baladhuri's
    chapter on Sind and Hind. The first is during the reign of 'Abbasid Mansur
    [r. 750-754), when commander Hisham ibn 'Amr Taghlabi demolishes a
    temple and constructs a mosque in its place [hadm al-budd wa bani modhii
    masjida) in Kandahar. The second is during the caliphate of Mu'tasim [r. 813-
    833), when a local king of Usaifan demolishes his own temple, destroys the
    images contained therein, and kills the priests. He later converts to Islam
    and builds a mosque.


57. Leonard W. J. Van Der Kuijp brings to our attention the earliest mention
    (outside of the Qur'an) of musulman, from a Sanskrit commentary by
    Avalokitavrata, dated 700, which survives in a Tibetan translation. The
    text, intriguingly, refers to, the "traditions" of the "mu-sul-man" and reads
    familiarly as a "praise" or "eulogy" of a king [prashasti). See Leonard W. J.
    Van Der Kuijp, "The Earliest Indian Reference to Muslims in a Buddhist
    Philosophical Text of circa 700111 fournal of Indian Philosophy vol. 34 [2006),
    pp. 169-202. My thanks to Sonam Kachru for drawing my attention to this
    reference. For the more common terms denoting Muslims in Sanskrit
    sources, see Barjdulal Chattopadhyaya, Representing the Other/: Sanskrit