Habbarides

The Habbari (الإمارة الهبارية, Sindhi: حباري خاندان) were an Arab dynasty that ruled much of Greater Sindh, as a semi-independent emirate from 854 to 1024. Beginning with the rule of 'Umar bin Abdul Aziz al-Habbari in 854 CE, the region became semi-independent from the Abbasid Caliphate in 861, while continuing to nominally pledge allegiance to the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad. The Habbari ascension marked the end of a period of direct rule of Sindh by the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, which had begun in 711 CE. The Habbaris were based in the city of Mansura, and ruled central and southern Sindh south of Aror, near the modern-day metropolis of Sukkur. The Habbaris ruled Sindh until they were defeated by Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi in 1026, who then went on to destroy the old Habbari capital of Mansura, and annex the region to the Ghaznavid Empire, thereby ending Arab rule of Sindh. Arab SindUmayyad Caliphate and Abbasid Caliphate The region of Greater Sindh was first brought under Arab Islamic rule after the conquest of the Umayyad general Muhammad ibn Qasim in 711 CE, and formed the easternmost province of the Muslim Empire. The region corresponded to an area greater in area than the modern Pakistani province, and included the Makran coast, central Balochistan, and southern Punjab, which in sum correspond to much of the territory of modern Pakistan. The province's internal administration was largely delegated to the natives, rather than the Arab conquerors. According to Arab accounts of the initial conquest, central and southern Sindh was largely Buddhist - corresponding to the regions south of the old capital of Aror, although these regions had a large Hindu population as well. Upper Sindh, however, had few Buddhists, and was overwhelmingly Hindu. The accounts of Buddhists in Sindh was also noted by Xuanzang, who visited Sindh shortly before the Arab conquest, and by the Korean monk Hyecho, who travelled in Sindh shortly after the Arab conquest. Umayyad rule over Sindh was quickly supplanted by the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad in 750.