Chach of Alor
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Chach (632-671)[1] is the name of the Brahmin Chamberlain and Secretary to Rai Sahasi the Second, of the Rai Dynasty who succeeded him to the throne of Sindh.[2] The history of Chach is related in the Chach Nama as part of the history of Sind.
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[edit] Rise to Power
Chach was a Brahmin who rose to a position of influence under the Rai Sahasi of the Rai Dynasty of Sindh as both Chamberlain and Secretary.[3] Rana Maharath, the King of Chittor, who was the brother Rai Sahasi then claimed the throne and attacked Chach but the Rana was killed by strategem, in the war in 622.[4]
Later he expanded his rule subduing neighbouring Buddhist regions across the Indus River culminating in a battle at Brahmanabad. He stayed there for a year cementing his control by various means such as:
- Marrying the widow of the local king Agham
- Marrying his niece to Agham's son Sarhand
- Taking hostages
- Prohibiting the Jats and Luhanahs tribes from carrying weapons.
He further place upon the Jats and Luhanah restrictions such as:
- Forbidding them riding horses with saddles
- Forbidding them from wearing silk or velvet
- Forbidding them from wearing headgear or footwear
- Forcing them to wear black or red scarves
From there he then marched into Sassanid territory the town of Armanbelah, and through Turan to Kandahar from where he exacted tribute before returning.
In the 35th year of the reign of the Rai Chach, the Chach Nama reports the repulsion of a solitary Arab incursion. The force that arrived was ont that had pressed on from its campaign of the conquest of Bahrain launched in 632 AD under Mughaira bin A's, who died in this battle at Debal.
[edit] Succession
[edit] Chandar
Chandra (671-679)[5] succeeded by his brother. Chandar had to also defend his realm from the Rana Sahiras of Kannauj and after a protracted siege of the capital Aror, the Rana was captured during a conflict at a parley and peace concluded by means of hostages. Chandra was reputed to have ruled for 8 years.
[edit] Dahir
Main Article: Raja Dahir
Chach's eldest son Dahir then succeeded his uncle Chandar.
[edit] Family
His father is reported as one Selaij and there are conflicting reports on when Chach married the Queen Suhanandi, who had no children from the Rai, on whether it was before or after the battle with the Rana Maharath. Chach had two sons (Dahir and Daharsiah) with the Queen Suhanandi and one daughter (Bai) from the widow of Argham.
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
- Mirza Kalichbeg Fredunbeg: The Chachnamah, An Ancient History of Sind, Giving the Hindu period down to the Arab Conquest. Translated by from the Persian by, Commissioners Press 1900[1]
- Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas, Delhi, 1934
- Wink, Andre, Al Hind the Making of the Indo Islamic World, Brill Academic Publishers, Jan 1, 1996, ISBN 90-04-09249-8
