Muhammad ibn Qasim was able to establish control over the whole of Sind, which was subsequently inte-grated into the Umayyad Caliphate, where it remained during the succeeding Abbasid dy
Trang 1the Umayyad Caliphate, complained but was unable to
receive justice to his satisfaction and prepared for a
mil-itary campaign Two initial forays were repulsed but a
third, led by Muhammad ibn Qasim, was more
success-ful A force of 6,000 camels, 6,000 cavalry, and
accom-panying infantry and baggage train was dispatched and
managed fi rst to capture the coastal town of Dehul and
then defeat the troops of King Dahar in battle, after
a number of travails The Arabs were assisted by the
voluntary surrender of large numbers of Sindhi people
and offi cials, whose loyalty to Dahar was very limited
Muhammad ibn Qasim was able to establish control
over the whole of Sind, which was subsequently
inte-grated into the Umayyad Caliphate, where it remained
during the succeeding Abbasid dynasty until central
power loosened and it became possible to establish
local dynasties The Abbasid governor, Hisham, who
arrived in 757, undertook military expeditions against
neighboring states, but there were no further territorial
expansions throughout Arab rule
Arab rule of Sind followed a similar pattern to that
employed elsewhere, with most offi cial posts
remain-ing in local hands while an Arab governor administered
the area with the assistance of troops who garrisoned
the major towns and cities Some people converted to
Islam but comparatively few, and there was little effort
expended on forcing people to change their religion at
that time The Arab period of rule led to the creation
of a fusion of cultures that have helped to
character-ize subsequent Sindhi society The city of Mansura was
established as the capital and its people benefi ted from
Arab learning and knowledge
See also Umayyad dynasty
Further reading: Hitti, Philip History of the Arabs New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2002; Lambrick, H T Sind: A General
Introduction Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975.
John Walsh
Sixtus IV
See Rome, papacy in Renaissance
Song (Sung) dynasty
The Song dynasty (960–1279) was founded by Zhao
Kuangyin (Chao K’uang-yin), r 960–976, and is known
posthumously as Song Taizu (Song T’ai-tsu) or Grand
Ancestor of Song After the fall of the Tang (T’ang)
dy-nasty in 907 China had been divided with the northern part ruled by a succession of short-lived regimes called the Five Dynasties of China, while southern China was divided between 10 province-sized minor ruling houses Zhao Kuangyin was an important general serv-ing the last of the Five Dynasties, the Later Zhou He became emperor as a result of a mutiny conducted by his troops Fearful that the same soldiers and their
of-fi cers could depose him as easily as they had raised him
to the throne, he immediately set out to persuade the leading generals to retire on generous pensions, replac-ing them with junior offi cers loyal to him In formreplac-ing his new government Taizu made the military subordi-nate to civilians and rotated commanders and garrisons
to discourage the formation of strong bonds between them He also made the army a professional one based
on long-term enlistment and fostered policies that dis-couraged martial pursuits According to a popular say-ing, “Good iron is not used to make nails; good men do not become soldiers.” No military uprisings or signifi -cant domestic revolts troubled the dynasty
NORTHERN SONG, 960–1127
Taizu used a combination of persuasion and military action to annex the 10 states in the south However he did not take on two border states: Liao in the nort heast, ruled by nomadic people called Khitan, and Xixia (Hsi Hsia) in the northwest, ruled by seminomads called Tangut, even though they occupied territories that had been part of the Tang empire To prevent a repetition
of the Song dynasty’s falling after Taizu’s death because
of no able heir to take over, Taizu’s mother made him promise to make his younger brother his heir, rather than his young son, when she lay dying in 961 The younger brother, who was already a seasoned general, succeeded
in 977 and reigned until 997 as Taizong (T’ang-tsung) When Taizong died the Song dynasty had been in power for almost four decades and was well established
Taizong twice attempted to recover lands inside the Great Wall that Liao had seized; they totaled 16 prefec-tures and included an important city that is today called Beijing He failed both times In 1004 Liao and Song con-cluded the Treaty of Sangyuan, which defi ned the bound-ary, established frontier markets, and stipulated annual payment by Song to Liao of 100,000 ounces of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk (the amount was increased by 100,000 units each later) that Song called gifts and Liao called tribute Except for minor wars the two sides lived
in peace for a century Song also fought an inconclusive war against Xixia between 1040 and 1044, which ended when Song agreed to give Xixia annual gifts of 200,000
Song (Sung) dynasty 373