Muhammad bin Qasim

Muhammad ibn al -Qasim ( born December 31, 695; † July 18 715; محمد بن القاسم, DMG Muḥammad b al - Qāsim. ) Was a major Arab military commander under the Umayyads at the beginning of the 8th century.

Muhammad ibn al -Qasim al - Thaqafi was commissioned by al- Hajjaj, the governor of Basra with the conquest of the Indus. He managed 711 with Syrian troops from Makran from the conquest of Sindh and the Indus to Multan. Although Buddhists and Hindus from the Muslim point of view so far were not followers of a " religion of the book " (ahl al - kitab ) and thus would have had to be fought, the Hindu temples and Buddhist stupas by al -Qasim, such as churches, synagogues and Zoroastrian fire temples were treated. This Buddhism and Hinduism were the same status as religions of the book, which is why only the poll tax was collected by the subject population. This pragmatic approach was required only because of the numerical superiority of the conquered population to the Arab forces.

After the death of his superior al - Hajjaj ( 714) and the accession of Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al -Malik ( 715) al -Qasim was deposed as a result of court intrigues, imprisoned and executed in Damascus.