THE MILITARY AND ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES OF THE ABBASIDS IN INDIA (132-422 A.H)

After the fall of the Umayyads, the territories under their domination including parts of western India gradually came under the influence of the Abbasids. At the same time the Shi'ah, who were disappointed and dissatisfied with the Abbasids, were persecuted and oppressed by them and were forced to immigrate to such distant lands as Sind. This problem aroused the Abbasids and attracted their special attention to the Islamic regions in India and the Indus Valley (Sind). Differences among tribes of Arab origin in these areas; whose ancestors had been warring with one another long before Islam; brought a stop to Muslim conquests in India, weakened their front, and undermined the pillars of Islamic rule there. These differences, the great distance between India and Sind from the center of the caliphate, and ambitions of some tribal chieftains finally lead to the rise of independent states in Mansurah and Moltan bringing local and regional rivalries to their peaks. These events took place about the same time or a little after independence - seeking movements in North Africa and Iran, the result of which was nothing but division and discord in the Muslim World.