Editing Muhammad ibn al-Qasim (section)

===Clashes with the Jats===
{{anchor | Jat | Jats }}

Significant medieval [[Muslim]] chronicles such as the ''Chach Nama'', ''Zainul-Akhbar'' and ''[[Tarikh-i Bayhaqi|Tarikh-I-Baihaqi]]'' have recorded battles of [[Jat]]s of Sindh and Balochistan against the invading forces of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim and other Muslims.<ref>Chapter by S Jabir Raza ''Passages in the Chachnama, Zainul-Akhbar And Tarikh-i-Baihaqi'', Text and Translation, from the book ''The Jats, Their Role and contribution to the socio-Economic Life and Polity of North and North-West India'', Volume 2, pp. 43–52</ref>

The legendary [[Kalat, Balochistan#Kinan|Six battles of Kinan]] parallel the [[battle of Thermopylae]], where a small contingent of pastoral Jat warriors defeated a massive Muslim army. Despite facing a vastly superior Muslim military in numbers, training, and weaponry, Jats inflicted a crushing defeat on Arabic invaders, a humiliation so profound it was taken personally by the Muslim Caliph. Chach Nama reports that the mountain-dwelling brave and agile Jats of Kikan or Kikanan or Kizkanan near [[Bolan Pass]] in [[Balochistan]],<ref name=invadersinfidel1/> [[Gandava#Kikan|likely same as]] present-day [[Kalat, Pakistan|Kalat]],<ref name="Baloch 1978">{{cite book |last1=Baloch |first1=N.A. |editor1-last=Van Donzel |editor1-first=E. |editor2-last=Lewis |editor2-first=B. |editor3-last=Pellat |editor3-first=Ch. |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Volume IV (IRAN-KHA) |date=1978 |publisher=E.J. Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=90-04-05745-5 |pages=534–5 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/volume-5/Volume%204/page/533/mode/2up |access-date=8 April 2022 |chapter=ḲANDĀBĪL}}</ref><ref name="Le Strange 1905">{{cite book |last1=Le Strange |first1=Guy |title=The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia, from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur |date=1905 |publisher=Barnes & Noble, Inc. |location=New York |pages=331–2 |url=https://archive.org/details/landsoftheeaster028596mbp/page/330/mode/2up?q=kandabil}}</ref> summarily defeated invading Arabic Muslim forces of Haras and killed Haras in 662, only a small portion of Muslim forces returned to caliphate. The impact of Muslim defeat was so significant that for next 20 years each successive caliph made Kikan a special target for attack and sent 6 expeditions of which 5 "failed miserably" and "failed to make any permanent impression" in Sindh.<ref name=invadersinfidel1/>
 
{{Blockquote|text="The Bolan Pass was protected by the brave Jats of Kikan or Kikanan. The long-drawn struggle of the Arabs with these powers [Jats] ... marks their [Arab Muslims'] steady but fruitless endeavours to enter India ... The hardy mountaineers [Jats] of these regions, backed by the natural advantage of their hilly country, offered stubborn resistance to the conquerors of the world ... If there had been a history of India written without prejudices and predilections, the heroic deeds of these [Jat] people, who stemmed the tide of Islam for two centuries, would certainly have received the recognition they so richly deserve [emphasis added]".<ref name=invadersinfidel1>Sandeep Balakrishna, 2020, [https://www.google.com.sg/books/edition/Invaders_and_Infidels_Book_1/lzALEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=jat+of+kikan+or+kikanan&pg=PT26&printsec=frontcover Invaders and Infidels (Book 1): From Sindh to Delhi: The 500-year journey of Islamic invasion], [[Bloomsbury Publishing]].</ref>|sign=|source=}}

The eastern Hindu Jats supported the Sindhi king, Dahir, against the Arab Muslim invaders, whereas the western Jats aligned with Muhammad bin Qasim (708-711 CE) against Dahir.<ref name=Viajaya>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5CYxDwAAQBAJ&dq=jats+and+muhammad+bin+qasim&pg=PT127 |title=Migrations in Medieval and Early Colonial India |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=9781351558242 |editor=Vijaya Ramaswamy |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> At battle of Aror (Rohri), the united forces of Dahir and the eastern Jats jointly fought against Muhammad ibn al-Qasim.<ref name="2004Wink1"/> Rani Bai, the queen of King Dahir, had Jat origins, her father was Jat. [[Al-Baladhuri]]'s historical accounts document that the Jat people displayed a strong sense of independence, following the Muslim incursions into Sindh, some Jats, along with their livestock (buffalo), were taken to Iraq where they engaged in disruptive and rebellious activities.<ref name=ranib1>[[Manan Ahmed Asif]], 2016, A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia, [[Harvard University Press]], p.211.</ref>  After defeating Dahir, Muhammad bin al-Qasim turned against the Jats and Lohanas, the ''Chach Nama'', ''Zainul-Akhbar'' and ''Tarikh-i Bayhaqi'' have recorded battles between Hindu Jats and forces of Muhammad ibn Qasim.<ref name=Viajaya />

After the death of Hajjaj in 714 CE, the son of Dahir, Jaisimba (Jaisiah) reconquered the Brahmanabad during the time of [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] caliph [[Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik]] (r. 715-717). Jaisimba was later killed in a battle with Umayyad governor of Sindh, [[Junayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Murri]] (r. 723 to 726 CE). However, the Jats and Meds continue to mount a formidable resistance against the Muslim forces around the ancient Sindhi capital of Alor (near [[Sukkur]]) during the time of caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] (r. 786-809), in which Muslims did not fare well.<ref name=jatmed1>Sailendra Nath Sen, 1999, Ancient Indian History and Civilization, New Age International Publishers, pp-347-348.</ref> [[David Nicolle]] writes that "The resident Buddhist Jats [of Sindh] remained formidable warriors until they dropped out of historical records from the 11th to 17th century."<ref name=drop1>[[David Nicolle]], 2023, Medieval Indian Armies (2): Indo-Islamic Forces, 7th–Early 16th century, [[Osprey Publishing]], United Kingdom of Britain, p 14.</ref>