Hindu Shahi–Saffarid wars

The Hindu Shahi–Saffarid wars were a series of military conflicts fought between the forces of the Hindu Shahis and the Saffarids.^[1]

Hindu Shahi–Saffarid wars
A detailed map of the conflict
Date 870 C.E - 900 C.E Location Kabul, Ghazni Result Final Hindu Shahi victory Territorial changes Hindu Shahis regain Kabul as well as Ghazni after their earlier fall to Saffarids
Belligerents
Hindu Shahis Lawik dynasty	Saffarid dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Samanta (POW) Lalliya Toramana Asata	Ya'qub ibn al-Layth Khudarayaka Amr ibn al-Layth Fardaghin
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Background

The predecessor of the Hindu Shahis were the Turk Shahis. They suffered great reverses from the Abbasid Caliphate which paved the way for the Brahmin vazir of the Turk Shahi king Lagaturman who was Kallar.^[2][3]

Abbasid Invasions of Khorasan and the Brahmin Revolution

Abbasids under the caliph Al-Ma'mun had invaded the Kabul as well the Gandhara branch of the Turks and had made them embrace Islam and cede key cities and regions as well as to pay a high tribute for territorial mutuality.^[4][3]

As per Al-Biruni, Kallar by chance finds treasury and purchases his power and imprisons the king, hence establishing the Hindu Shahi kingdom which was a Hindu Brahmin kingdom.

The Conflicts

Main article: Conquest of Kabul and Zabulistan

By 870, Ya'qub ibn al-Layth had built the Saffarid Empire and quickly expanded onto Ghazni, defeating the Zunbils.^[5]

First Battle of Kabul

One of the sons of the Zunbils had fled to Kabul which lead to the first battle of kabul, where the saffarids managed to put a defeat upon the ruler of Kabul which is attested to be Samanta the Hindu Shahi king, Rawżat aṣ-ṣafāʾ mentions that the ruler was taken as a prisoner of war. Tarikh-i Sistan mentions that a blood relative of Samanta was the Saffarid governor of Kabul who took the title of Khudarayaka . Kabul remained under Saffarid control up to 878 - 879 C.E. ^[6][7][8]

Second Battle of Kabul

Lalliya was the first Hindu Shahi mentioned by Kalhana he mentions him as a courageous king. It's unknown about the downfall of Khudarayaka but it's implicated that Lalliya managed to revert the control of Kabul to him.^[9][10]

Saffarid Sack of Sakawand

Sakawand was not included in the Hindu Shahi realm but was 50 miles south of Kabul and 35 miles north east of Ghazni and was considered as a part of Zabulistan, Fardaghin informed his Amr about the plunder he made and broke idols of the tenple Kamaluka being alert considered revenge.^{[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]}

Hindu Shahi Invasion of Ghazni

Yaqub was succeeded by Amr al-Layth who was indulged in internal conflicts at Khorasan, seeing opportunities, the two Indian princes and governors, Toramana and Asata had invaded Ghazni and defeated it's governor Fardaghin. ^{[18][19][20][21]}

Aftermath

By the reign of Kamaluka, the Saffarids had greatly lost power to the Samanids which resulted in a power vacuum and rise of the Lawik dynasty in Ghazni which would later join marital ties with the Shahis as well as would fight wars against the Samanids. ^[22][23]

References

1. Wink, André (2021-10-25). Al-Hind, Volume 1 Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7th-11th Centuries. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-48300-2.
2. Kuwayama, Shoshin (1976). "The Turki Śāhis and Relevant Brahmanical Sculptures in Afghanistan". East and West. 26 (3/4): 375–407. ISSN 0012-8376. JSTOR 29756318.
3. Rehman, Abdur (1976). The last two dynasties of the Sahis : an analysis of their history, archaeology, coinage and palaeography (PhD thesis). Australian National University.
4. Sasanian Iran in the Context of Late Antiquity: The Bahari Lecture Series at the University of Oxford. BRILL. 2021-02-01. ISBN 978-90-04-46066-9.
5. The Last Two Dynasties of The Shāhis. 1976.
6. Central Asia. Area Study Centre (Central Asia), University of Peshawar. 1982.
7. Sharma, R. S. (1992). A Comprehensive History of India: A.D. 985-1206. People's Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7007-121-1.
8. Mitchiner, Michael (1978). The Ancient & Classical World, 600 B.C.-A.D. 650. Hawkins Publications. ISBN 978-0-904173-16-1.
9. "Central Asia". 1988.
10. Petrie, Cameron A. (2020-12-28). Resistance at the Edge of Empires: The Archaeology and History of the Bannu basin from 1000 BC to AD 1200. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78570-306-5.
11. Jan, Changez (2022-07-18). Forgotten Kings: The Story of the Hindu Sahi Dynasty. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-93-92099-01-4.
12. Bose, Mainak Kumar (1988). Late Classical India. A. Mukherjee & Company.
13. Ṣiddīqī, Muḥammad Shamsuddīn (1988). The Ruling Dynasties of Central Asia. Area Study Centre (Central Asia), University of Peshawar.
14. Rehman, Abdur (1979). The Last Two Dynasties of the Śahis: An Analysis of Their History, Archaeology, Coinage, and Palaeography. Centre for the Study of the Civilizations of Central Asia, Quaid-i-Azam University.
15. Central Asia. Area Study Centre (Central Asia), University of Peshawar. 1982.
16. Ali, Mohammed (1959). A New Guide to Afghanistan. Northern Pakistan Publ.
17. Afghanistan. Historical Society of Afghanistan. 1957.
18. MISHRA, YOGENDRA (1972). THE HINDU SAHIS OF AFGHANISTAN AND THE PUNJAB. S. M. SUSHILA DEVI.
19. Wink, André (2021-10-25). Al-Hind, Volume 1 Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7th-11th Centuries. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-48300-2.
20. Petrie, Cameron A. (2020-12-28). Resistance at the Edge of Empires: The Archaeology and History of the Bannu basin from 1000 BC to AD 1200. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78570-306-5.
21. Wink, André (1990). Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-09249-5.
22. Asimov, Muhammad Seyfeydinovich; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund; UNESCO (1998-12-31). History of civilizations of Central Asia: The Age of Achievement: A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. UNESCO Publishing. ISBN 978-92-3-103467-1.
23. Petrie, Cameron A. (2020-12-28). Resistance at the Edge of Empires: The Archaeology and History of the Bannu basin from 1000 BC to AD 1200. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78570-306-5.