The rise of Islam in India began with the conquest of Sind, one of the provinces of the present day Pakistan and also one of the oldest Indus Valley civilisations, by the Arabs. Among the Muslims, the first to conquer the territories of India were the Arabs. They, by spreading Islam, attained their political and religious unity in India. The conquest of Sind was successful after a number of attempts. It was under the leadership of Mohammad-bin-Qasim, that Sind, then a part of India along the Indus River (now in Pakistan) was conquered. Muhammad-bin-Qasim was an Umayyad general who conquered the Sindh and Punjab regions at a very young age of 17. Even today, Sind invasion is considered as one of the world's historic marvels as it led to the spread of Islam in South Asia and the Muslim communities in India. Today, Sind is given the nick name "Bab-e-Islam", the meaning of which is "The Gateway of Islam".
The reasons that led to the invasion
The foundation of Arab domination in Sind in 712 A.D. was the result of a number of efforts to enter India. In fact, Muhammad-bin-Qasim's exploration to India was actually the third attempt. After the death of Prophet Muhammad, the Arabs conquered Persia and Herat and formed a large empire. After these conquests, their attention was towards India. During that time, there were commercial trade connections between India and Arabia and the merchants of Arabs were familiar with the sea coast to the west of India. One prime factor that led Arabs to invade Indian territories was the vast wealth of India. Plus, they also wanted to spread Islam in India. Moreover, in order to form an Islamic empire, the Arabs also followed a policy of conquest, that too very systematically. The immediate cause of India's invasion was when some Sindi pirates plundered some Arab ships near the coast of Debal. Studies show that the king of Ceylone had sent precious gifts to Khalifa of Baghdad and to Hajaj, the Governor of Iraq on these ships. As a result, Hajaj wanted compensation from King Dahir of Sind, which he refused outrightly, as he had no control over the pirates. Thus, started the first military expedition against king Dahir, under Ubaidullah, which failed. The second invasion also failed and this time it was under Budail. In the third attempt, Hajaj entrusted the responsibility to his son-in-law Muhammad-bin-Qasim, with a powerful army to attack Dahir. He arrived at the coast in 712 A.D. and was successful in defeating and killing Dahir and thus, Debal was occupied. After Dahir's death, his wife Queen Rani Bai fought against the Arabs. She was also defeated and she performed the rites of Jauhar to save her honour. In the meantime, Mohammad-bin-Qasim kept on capturing all the neighbouring towns of Debal such as Nirun, Rewar, Brahmanbad, Alor and Multan and Sind as a whole. During these conquests, Qasim was all of a sudden recalled by the Khalifa and by making him a victim of party politics was put to death. It is said that had he been alive, he would have conquered the entire South Asian region.