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| conventional_long_name = Rai dynasty |
| conventional_long_name = Rai dynasty |
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| common_name = Rai dynasty |
| common_name = Rai dynasty |
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| native_name = راءِ گهراڻي |
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| image_flag = |
| image_flag = |
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| national_anthem = |
| national_anthem = |
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{{Annotation|5|55|<center>[[Sasanian Empire|<center>SASANIAN<br>EMPIRE</center>]]</center>|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}} |
{{Annotation|5|55|<center>[[Sasanian Empire|<center>SASANIAN<br>EMPIRE</center>]]</center>|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}} |
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{{Annotation|text-align=right|270|195|MAPS:<br>[[Template:South Asia in 500 BCE|-500]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 150 BCE|-150]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 120 CE|120]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 350 CE|350]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 600 CE|600]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 1000|1000]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 1175|1175]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 1250|1250]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 1400|1400]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=5|color=#000000}} |
{{Annotation|text-align=right|270|195|MAPS:<br>[[Template:South Asia in 500 BCE|-500]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 150 BCE|-150]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 120 CE|120]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 350 CE|350]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 600 CE|600]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 1000|1000]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 1175|1175]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 1250|1250]]<br>[[Template:South Asia in 1400|1400]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=5|color=#000000}} |
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|caption=<center>Map of Sindh (Rais), circa 550-600 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=145, map XIV.1 (i)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=182}}</ref></center> |
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| capital = |
| capital = |
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| flag_p1 = Derafsh_Kaviani_flag_of_the_late_Sassanid_Empire.svg |
| flag_p1 = Derafsh_Kaviani_flag_of_the_late_Sassanid_Empire.svg |
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| s1 = Brahmin dynasty of Sindh |
| s1 = Brahmin dynasty of Sindh |
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| flag_s1 = Map of the Chachas circa 650 CE.png |
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| flag_s2 = |
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| s2 = |
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| today = [[Sindh]], [[Pakistan]] |
| today = [[Sindh]], [[Pakistan]] |
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}} |
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== Background == |
== Background == |
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Numismatic evidence attends to the indirect influence of Sasanians over Sindh since under the reign of [[Shapur II]].<ref name="NS">{{cite book |last1=Schindel |first1=Nikolaus |title=The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires: adaptation and expansion |last2=Alram |first2=Michael |last3=Daryaee |first3=Touraj |last4=Pendleton |first4=Elizabeth |publisher=Oxbow Books |year=2016 |isbn=9781785702105 |pages=126–130 |language=en}}</ref>{{efn|Abundant Sasanian mints but with significant variations —in typology, style, and especially, denomination— have been excavated from Sind.<ref name="NS"/> Literary sources do not record Sasanian activity and details thereof in these frontier regions.}} In the last Sassanian mints discovered from the region — of [[Peroz I]] (r. 459-484) —, a new Brahmi legend "[[Ranaditya Satya]]" appears on the reverse, which was probably the name of the local ruler.<ref name="NS" />{{Efn|Two series of Peroz's coin (first crown and third crown) are observed in Sindh. Only in the second, does this legend appear replacing the two attendants of the fire temple!<ref name="NS" />}} Sometime soon, Sindh appears to have fallen off the orbit of Sassanians who were reeling under Hephthalite invasions.<ref name="NS" /> The Rai dynasty's origin probably laid in this power vacuum and Ranaditya might have been the first Rai ruler, Diwaji.<ref name="Wink pg.152" /><ref name=":4" /> |
Numismatic evidence attends to the indirect influence of Sasanians over Sindh since under the reign of [[Shapur II]].<ref name="NS">{{cite book |last1=Schindel |first1=Nikolaus |title=The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires: adaptation and expansion |last2=Alram |first2=Michael |last3=Daryaee |first3=Touraj |last4=Pendleton |first4=Elizabeth |publisher=Oxbow Books |year=2016 |isbn=9781785702105 |pages=126–130 |language=en}}</ref>{{efn|Abundant Sasanian mints but with significant variations —in typology, style, and especially, denomination— have been excavated from Sind.<ref name="NS"/> Literary sources do not record Sasanian activity and details thereof in these frontier regions.}} In the last Sassanian mints discovered from the region — of [[Peroz I]] (r. 459-484) —, a new Brahmi legend "[[Ranaditya Satya]]" appears on the reverse, which was probably the name of the local ruler.<ref name="NS" />{{Efn|Two series of Peroz's coin (first crown and third crown) are observed in Sindh. Only in the second, does this legend appear replacing the two attendants of the fire temple!<ref name="NS" />}} Sometime soon, Sindh appears to have fallen off the orbit of Sassanians who were reeling under Hephthalite invasions.<ref name="NS" /> The Rai dynasty's origin probably laid in this power vacuum and Ranaditya might have been the first Rai ruler, Diwaji.<ref name="Wink pg.152" /><ref name=":4" /> |
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== Sources == |
== Sources == |
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Sindh, as a region, had no extant histories until late-medieval era and our knowledge of Rai dynasty remains rudimentary.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Mirchandani |first=B. D. |title=Glimpses of Ancient Sind: A Collection of Historical Papers |publisher=Saraswati M. Gulrajani |year=1985 |location=Sindh |pages=25, 53–56}}</ref> The lone literary source remains [[Chachnama]].<ref name="Wink pg.152" />{{sfn|Asif|2016|p=}} However, the accuracy of Chachnama remains disputed among scholars.{{efn|''Chachnama'' purports to be a Persian translation by `Ali Kufi (13th-century) of an undated, original Arabic text which is not extant anymore. [[Manan Ahmed]] rejects Kufi's assertion and hypothesizes it to be an original work that drew on then-extant histories to imagine an alternative romantic-nationalist past of Sindh in tune with the exploits of his patron-King, [[Nasir ad-Din Qabacha]]. In contrast, [[Irfan Habib]] emphasizes on unique features of the text that would have been impossible without a literal translation and rejects Asif's doubts on the veracity of events described in Chachnama.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Habib |first=Irfan |date=June 2017 |title=Book Review: Manan Ahmad Asif, A Book of Conquest: The Chachnåma and Muslim Origins in South Asia |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=105–109 |doi=10.1177/2348448917694235 |issn=2348-4489}}</ref>}} Nonetheless, its contents has since made to multiple Persian and Oriental histories of the region — [[Masum Shah|Tarikh i Sind]] (17th c.), [[Mir Ali Sher Qaune Thattvi|Tuhfatul karaam]] (18th c.), Gazettes etc.<ref name=":2" /> |
Sindh, as a region, had no extant histories until late-medieval era and our knowledge of Rai dynasty remains rudimentary.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Mirchandani |first=B. D. |title=Glimpses of Ancient Sind: A Collection of Historical Papers |publisher=Saraswati M. Gulrajani |year=1985 |location=Sindh |pages=25, 53–56}}</ref> The lone literary source remains [[Chachnama]].<ref name="Wink pg.152" />{{sfn|Asif|2016|p=}} However, the accuracy of Chachnama remains disputed among scholars.{{efn|''Chachnama'' purports to be a Persian translation by `Ali Kufi (13th-century) of an undated, original Arabic text which is not extant anymore. [[Manan Ahmed]] rejects Kufi's assertion and hypothesizes it to be an original work that drew on then-extant histories to imagine an alternative romantic-nationalist past of Sindh in tune with the exploits of his patron-King, [[Nasir ad-Din Qabacha]]. In contrast, [[Irfan Habib]] emphasizes on unique features of the text that would have been impossible without a literal translation and rejects Asif's doubts on the veracity of events described in Chachnama.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Habib |first=Irfan |date=June 2017 |title=Book Review: Manan Ahmad Asif, A Book of Conquest: The Chachnåma and Muslim Origins in South Asia |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=105–109 |doi=10.1177/2348448917694235 |issn=2348-4489}}</ref>}} Nonetheless, its contents has since made to multiple Persian and Oriental histories of the region — [[Masum Shah|Tarikh i Sind]] (17th c.), [[Mir Ali Sher Qaune Thattvi|Tuhfatul karaam]] (18th c.), Gazettes etc.<ref name=":2" /> |
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No definitive epigraphic or archaeological evidence, pertaining to the dynasty, have been located either.<ref name=":2" /> Alexander M. Fishman and Ian Todd speculates a series of gold dinars and silver dammas — similar to the Ranaditya Satya mints, in deriving from Sassanian coinage but bearing different legends and different crown patterns — to have been minted by the Rais.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Fishman |first=A. M. |last2=Todd |first2=I. J. |last3=Pieper |first3=W. |date=2021 |title=Recently Discovered Gold, Silver and Copper Coins of pre-Islamic Sindh and the Yashaditya Series |journal=Numismatische Zeitschrift |volume=127 |pages=389-392}}</ref> The names were read as Shahi Rasra(…), Jayataka, Harsharuka and Bharharsha, and tentatively matched to Rai Sahiras I, Rai Sahasi I, Rai Sahiras II, and Rai Sahasi II of the Chachnama.<ref name=":4" />{{efn|[[André Wink]] found the names of Rai kings, as transmitted in Chachnama, to be corruptions of Sanskrit names and reconstructed them to Devaditya, Harsha, and Sinhasena using an etymological approach; Harsha appear to corroborate with the names found in coins.<ref name="Wink pg.152" /><ref name=":2" />}} |
No definitive epigraphic or archaeological evidence, pertaining to the dynasty, have been located either.<ref name=":2" /> Alexander M. Fishman and Ian Todd speculates a series of gold dinars and silver dammas — similar to the Ranaditya Satya mints, in deriving from Sassanian coinage but bearing different legends and different crown patterns — to have been minted by the Rais.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Fishman |first=A. M. |last2=Todd |first2=I. J. |last3=Pieper |first3=W. |date=2021 |title=Recently Discovered Gold, Silver and Copper Coins of pre-Islamic Sindh and the Yashaditya Series |journal=Numismatische Zeitschrift |volume=127 |pages=389-392}}</ref> The names were read as Shahi Rasra(…), Jayataka, Harsharuka and Bharharsha, and tentatively matched to Rai Sahiras I, Rai Sahasi I, Rai Sahiras II, and Rai Sahasi II of the Chachnama.<ref name=":4" />{{efn|[[André Wink]] found the names of Rai kings, as transmitted in Chachnama, to be corruptions of Sanskrit names and reconstructed them to Devaditya, Harsha, and Sinhasena using an etymological approach; Harsha appear to corroborate with the names found in coins.<ref name="Wink pg.152" /><ref name=":2" />}} |
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{{gallery |
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| title =Rai dynasty coinage |
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| state = collapsed |
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| mode = packed |
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| File:Sindh. Rai Dynasty. Ranadityasatya. Circa 524 to mid 6th century CE Crowned bust right; sun-wheel symbol to right Fire altar; ranadityasatya in Brahmi around.jpg |
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| Ranaditya Satya |
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| File:Sindh. “Sri Shahi Rasra(...)”. Circa mid 6th century CE.jpg |
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| Śri Shahi Rasra |
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| File:Śri Harsharuka of Sindh.jpg |
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| Śri Harsharuka |
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| File:Śrī Bharharsha of Sindh.jpg |
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| Śrī Bharharsha |
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}} |
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== Scholarship == |
== Scholarship == |
Revision as of 15:53, 19 September 2022
Rai dynasty | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
489–632 | |||||||||
Common languages | Sanskrit, Sindhi | ||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Established | 489 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 632 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Today part of | Sindh, Pakistan |
The Rai dynasty (c. 489–632 CE) was a polity of ancient Sindh.[1]
Background
Numismatic evidence attends to the indirect influence of Sasanians over Sindh since under the reign of Shapur II.[2][a] In the last Sassanian mints discovered from the region — of Peroz I (r. 459-484) —, a new Brahmi legend "Ranaditya Satya" appears on the reverse, which was probably the name of the local ruler.[2][b] Sometime soon, Sindh appears to have fallen off the orbit of Sassanians who were reeling under Hephthalite invasions.[2] The Rai dynasty's origin probably laid in this power vacuum and Ranaditya might have been the first Rai ruler, Diwaji.[1][3]
Sources
Sindh, as a region, had no extant histories until late-medieval era and our knowledge of Rai dynasty remains rudimentary.[4] The lone literary source remains Chachnama.[1][5] However, the accuracy of Chachnama remains disputed among scholars.[c] Nonetheless, its contents has since made to multiple Persian and Oriental histories of the region — Tarikh i Sind (17th c.), Tuhfatul karaam (18th c.), Gazettes etc.[4]
No definitive epigraphic or archaeological evidence, pertaining to the dynasty, have been located either.[4] Alexander M. Fishman and Ian Todd speculates a series of gold dinars and silver dammas — similar to the Ranaditya Satya mints, in deriving from Sassanian coinage but bearing different legends and different crown patterns — to have been minted by the Rais.[3] The names were read as Shahi Rasra(…), Jayataka, Harsharuka and Bharharsha, and tentatively matched to Rai Sahiras I, Rai Sahasi I, Rai Sahiras II, and Rai Sahasi II of the Chachnama.[3][d]
Scholarship
Pre-Islamic Sindh has been the subject of voluminous scholarship but only around the eve of Arab conquests; otherwise, the paucity of source materials remain a severe hindrance. Rai Dynasty has been yet to attract any significant scholarship except recent attention from numismatists.[3]
Nonetheless, under the British Raj, as bureaucrats and amateur historians mined the Chachnama to portray a civilizational clash during the incursion of Islam into India and justify their presence in the subcontinent, Rai dynasty received attention.[5] Alexander Cunningham proposed an alternate chronology (? - >641 A.D.) — primarily on the basis of numismatic and literary evidence[e] — identifying the first two Rais as Hunas and the later three as rulers of Zabulistan and Khorasan.[4][f] However, there exists little historical evidence to favor the proposition of Hunas ever making to Sindh and the bases of his hypothesis stands discredited in modern scholarship.[4] Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya supported Cunningham's chronology (? - >641 A.D.) but held the Rais to be descendants of Mauryas and Shudra, by caste.[4][g]
Rulers
The Rais reigned for a period of 144 years c. 489 - 632 A.D.[1] Their origins, caste status, and the precise details of rise remains unknown.[1][4] They appear to have had familial ties with other rulers of South Asia including Kashmir, Kabul, Rajasthan, Gujarat etc.[1][7] The first three kings were Rai Diwaji, Rai Sahiras I, and Rai Sahasi I.[1] Nothing is known about them; their names are mentioned in a single line, where Wazir Buddhiman describes the territorial expanses and administrative structure of Rais under Rai Sahiras II to Chach.[1][8]
Rai Sahiras II
The Chachnama in its opening verses note Rai Sahiras II to be famed for his justice and generosity; his coffers overflowed with wealth.[7] The kingdom was divided into four units, each under either a governor or a vassal.[9] The southern unit which extended from the coasts of Arabian Sea to Lohana and Samona — including Nerun and Debal port — had its capital at Brahmanabad.[9] The central unit had Sewistan as its capital and spanned across the areas around Jankan and Rujaban to the Makran frontier.[9] The third unit extended over a vast area — Batia, Chachpur and Dehrpur — of western Sindh; Iskalanda was the capital.[9] The fourth unit was centered around Multan, adjoining Kashmir.[9]
Sahiras II met his death while attempting to unsuccessfully ward off an invasion by the Sassanian King of Nimroz into Kirman — he was portrayed as a valiant King who battled till death despite much of his forces deserting the battle; Makran and other unknown territories were lost in the conflict.[1][9][8]
Rai Sahasi II
Under his regime, the kingdom exhibited socioeconomic prosperity; Sahasi II is noted to be a benevolent ruler who chose to abide by his counsel.[8] He was married to Sohman Devi.[7]
During his regime, Chach, a poor learned Brahmin was inducted under minister/chamberlain Ram in the epistolary office — he impressed the King with his expertise and rose through the ranks quickly, eventually becoming his personal secretary after Ram's death.[7][8] As Chach gained access to the interiors of palace, Devi became enamored of him.[7] Soon, she solicited Chach for marriage but met with Chach's rejection; Chachnama explains that he did not wish to incur the King's wrath and swerve further away from the scriptural ideals of a Brahminic life.[7][8] Yet, Chach accepted her request for providing company and their relationship blossomed.[7] The King, ignorant of Chach's ways, continued to let him gain unprecedented control in the affairs of the state until his natural death.[7]
Usurpation
On Sahasi II's death, Devi proposed that Chach exploit the opportunity to be the next king of Aror.[7] Chach conceded to Devi's plan and the news of Sahasi II's death was withheld from public as potential claimants to the throne; instead, they were incited against each other in a fatal internecine warfare.[7][h] Then Devi proclaimed that Sahasi II, though recovering, was unable to hold court and had appointed Chach as the caretaker ruler for his lifetime.[7][8] The elites were coaxed in support and such a state of affairs, with Chach as the de-facto King, prevailed for about six months.[8] However, the news of his death somehow made way to Sahasi II's brother — Rai Mahrit, then ruler of Chittor — who claimed to be the rightful heir of the throne and mounted a military offensive against Chach.[7][8]
Chachnama notes Chach to have been ambiguous about the morality of taking on a legitimate successor before being prodded by Devi, who shamed his masculinity.[1][7] After a victory,[i] Chach commissioned triumphal arches and held public feasts; soon, Devi had him declared as the heir to the throne, being a man of unsurmountable intellect and bravery, and would marry him with the approval of the court.[1][7][8] Thus the Brahman dynasty was established, in what is portrayed in Chachnama, as the intrigues of a femme fatale working in conjunction with a willing-yet-ethical apprentice.[1][7] Chach would later have to subdue protracted resistance from Bachhera, a relative of Sahasi II and the governor (or vassal) of Multan province.[8]
Notes
History of Sindh |
---|
History of Pakistan |
- ^ Abundant Sasanian mints but with significant variations —in typology, style, and especially, denomination— have been excavated from Sind.[2] Literary sources do not record Sasanian activity and details thereof in these frontier regions.
- ^ Two series of Peroz's coin (first crown and third crown) are observed in Sindh. Only in the second, does this legend appear replacing the two attendants of the fire temple![2]
- ^ Chachnama purports to be a Persian translation by `Ali Kufi (13th-century) of an undated, original Arabic text which is not extant anymore. Manan Ahmed rejects Kufi's assertion and hypothesizes it to be an original work that drew on then-extant histories to imagine an alternative romantic-nationalist past of Sindh in tune with the exploits of his patron-King, Nasir ad-Din Qabacha. In contrast, Irfan Habib emphasizes on unique features of the text that would have been impossible without a literal translation and rejects Asif's doubts on the veracity of events described in Chachnama.[6]
- ^ André Wink found the names of Rai kings, as transmitted in Chachnama, to be corruptions of Sanskrit names and reconstructed them to Devaditya, Harsha, and Sinhasena using an etymological approach; Harsha appear to corroborate with the names found in coins.[1][4]
- ^ The end-date arrived as a result of equating Sindhu with the Sin tu kingdom, described in the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions during 641 A.D. Modern scholars reject this claim.
- ^ Diwaji and Sahiras were respectively Toramana and Mihirakula. Rai Sahasi was held to be Tegin Shah, Rai Sahiras II to be Vasudeva, and Rai Sahasi II, an anonymous successor.
- ^ This descent from Mauryas was proposed on the basis of Rai Mahrit, then ruler of Chittor claiming to be Sahasi II's brother. Rulers of pre-Sisodiya Rajasthan usually claimed a descent from Mauryas and this identification went perfectly with Xuanzang's noting the King of Sin-tu to be a Sudra.
- ^ The claimants were asked to meet the frail King, one by one. In reality, Devi had each of them imprisoned and claimed that it was the King who had them imprisoned out of a quarrel with some other claimant. Thus, it was necessary to kill him to gain King's trusts, and freedom.
- ^ Chach had challenged Mahrit to a one-on-one combat, claiming his Brahmin origins precluded learning the skills of cavalry. However, in the combat, Chach suddenly mounted a horse and had Mahrit beheaded. Mahrit's forces went into a disarray receiving the news of his death.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wink, Andre (1996). Al Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. BRILL. pp. 133, 152–153. ISBN 90-04-09249-8.
- ^ a b c d e Schindel, Nikolaus; Alram, Michael; Daryaee, Touraj; Pendleton, Elizabeth (2016). The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires: adaptation and expansion. Oxbow Books. pp. 126–130. ISBN 9781785702105.
- ^ a b c d Fishman, A. M.; Todd, I. J.; Pieper, W. (2021). "Recently Discovered Gold, Silver and Copper Coins of pre-Islamic Sindh and the Yashaditya Series". Numismatische Zeitschrift. 127: 389–392.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mirchandani, B. D. (1985). Glimpses of Ancient Sind: A Collection of Historical Papers. Sindh: Saraswati M. Gulrajani. pp. 25, 53–56.
- ^ a b Asif 2016.
- ^ Habib, Irfan (June 2017). "Book Review: Manan Ahmad Asif, A Book of Conquest: The Chachnåma and Muslim Origins in South Asia". 4 (1): 105–109. doi:10.1177/2348448917694235. ISSN 2348-4489.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Asif, Manan Ahmed (2016). A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia. Harvard University Press. pp. 65, 81–82, 131–134. ISBN 9780674660113.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Baloch, N. A., ed. (1983). Fathnamah I-Sind: Being the Original Record of the Arab Conquest of The Sind. Islamabad, Pakistan: Institute of Islamic History, Culture and Civilization: Islamic University.
- ^ a b c d e f Siddiqi, Iqtidar Husain (2013). Indo-Persian Historiography Up to the Thirteenth Century. Primus Books. p. 31.