Muhammad bin Qasim was put to death on 18 July 715 CE. He is known for the Umayyad conquest of Sindh.
Table of Contents
There are different stories of the death of Muhammad bin Qasim. Here we are going to discuss one of them, which also tells about the factionalism among the Umayyads.
Background
In 694, Hajjaj bin Yusuf was appointed as the governor of Iraq by Abdul Malik bin Marwan. After Abdul Malik’s death in 705, his son and successor Walid bin Abdul Malik maintained Hajjaj bin Yusuf in his position.
In 698, al-Muhallab was appointed as the governor of Khurasan by Hajjaj bin Yusuf. He remained in office there until his death in 702 when he was succeeded by his son Yazid bin Al-Muhallab. Relations between Hajjaj and Yazid got worsened and eventually, in 704, the Iraqi governor obtained the caliph’s permission to remove Yazid from office and imprison him.
In 709, Yazid escaped the prison and took refuge at Ramla with Suleyman bin Abdul Malik, the brother and heir apparent of Walid bin Abdul Malik. The hostility between Hajjaj and Sulayman was connected with Hajjaj’s desire for the succession to the caliphate of a son of al-Walid rather than Suleyman. This refuge of Yazid worsened it even more.
Muhammad bin Qasim’s Conquest of Sindh
On the other hand, Muhammad bin Qasim was appointed by Hajjaj to lead an expedition to conquer Sindh. Following the conquest of Sindh, Hajjaj bin Yusuf died in 714. The next year on February 23, 715, Walid bin Abdul Malik also died, and thus Suleyman sat on the throne.
On his accession, Suleyman liberated those men who were put into prison by Hajjaj and his hand heavily fell upon the supporters of Walid and Hajjaj. Muhammad bin Qasim was one of the loyalists of Hajjaj bin Yusuf.
Death of Muhammad bin Qasim
When Sulayman became caliph he installed Yazid bin al-Muhallab as governor of Iraq and the east, and Yazid appointed his own men to the offices previously filled by al-Hajjaj’s appointees. As a result, Muhammad bin Qasim was also called from Sindh and executed by Yazid bin al-Muhallab at the instigation of Suleyman due to the long factionalism among the Umayyads.
Sources:
Al-Baladhuri
G.R. Hawting
P.K. Hitti
Last updated on July 18th, 2025 at 03:53 pm
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