Raja Dahir
Also called: Dahar · Topic: Early Medieval North India: Harsha to the Rajputs · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"
Meaning
Raja Dahir (also written Dahar) was the last Hindu king of Sindh, and ruled from Aror. In 712 CE the Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim invaded Sindh. Qasim first took the port of Debal and then marched inland. Dahir died fighting him, and Sindh became the first part of the subcontinent ruled by Arabs. His story shows how fiercely India resisted the first Arab conquest.
Example
Dahir was killed fighting from the back of his elephant. The Chachnama is a 13th-century Persian version of an older Arabic account. It records that Qasim declared a religious war, and it praises the brave resistance of Dahir's queens after his death.
Don't confuse with
- Jayapala: a Hindu Shahi king of Afghanistan–Punjab. He was defeated by the Ghaznavid Turks around 300 years later. The Arabs did not defeat him.