{{short description|640 AD battle in Makran, Pakistan}} {{Notability|date=October 2025}} {{Use Pakistani English|date=December 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox military conflict | image = Mohammad adil rais-battle of rasil.PNG | image_size = 290px | caption = Map detailing location of Battle field according to present-day geography | conflict = Battle of Rasil | date = Early 640 | place = along the [[Indus River]] in [[Sindh]], Pakistan | result = [[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun]] victory | territory = [[Makran|Makran coast]] up to [[Indus river]] and western territories of [[Rai dynasty|Rai Kingdom]] annexed by [[Rashidun Caliphate]] | combatant1 = [[Rai dynasty]] | combatant2 = [[Rashidun Caliphate]] | commander1 = Raja Rasil <br>[[Rai Sahasi II]] <br> [[Rai Sahiras II]] | commander2 = Suhail ibn Adi<br>Usman ibn Abi al-'As<br>Hakam ibn Amr | strength1 = Unknown | strength2 = Unknown | casualties1 = Unknown | casualties2 = Unknown | partof = [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent#Early Muslim presence|early Muslim conquests in South Asia]] }} {{Campaignbox Early Muslim Expansions}} The '''Battle of Rasil''' ({{Langx|sd|راسل جي جنگ}}) was fought between the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] and the [[Rai dynasty]] of [[Sindh]] in early 640 AD in present-day [[Pakistan]]. It was the first battle the Muslims fought in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. The exact location of the battle is not known, but historians suggest it was fought on the western bank of the [[River Indus]].
[[Suhail ibn Adi]] was given command of this expedition by [[Caliph Umar]]. Suhail marched from [[Basra|Busra]] in 639 ad. He eventually reached [[Makran]], in present-day [[Pakistan]]. It had been a traditional territory of [[Sassanids]] for centuries but was then a domain of the [[Rai dynasty|Rai Kingdom]], who had annexed it in 636-637 although they had acted as a vassal of Sassanid Persians in past.<ref>Peter Crawford, ''The War of the Three Gods: Romans, Persians and the Rise of Islam'', (Pen & Sword, 2013), 192.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPAHBAAAQBAJ&dq=raja+rasil&pg=PA192]</ref><ref>André Wink, ''Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World'', Vol. I, (E.J. Brill, 1990), 133.[https://books.google.com/books?id=U7Q3AAAAIAAJ&q=Chach&pg=PA133]</ref>
==Background==
Before the Muslim raids, Makran was under the Hindu ''Rais'' of Sindh, but the region was also shared by the [[Zunbils]]. From an early period, parts of it frequently alternated between Indian and [[Sassanid Empire|Persian]] control with the Persian portion in the west and the Indian portion in the east. It was later annexed by the Persians from [[Rai Sahiras II]]. It was reconquered by the usurper [[Chach of Alor]] in 631. Ten years later, it was described to be "under the government of Persia" by [[Xuanzang]] who visited the region. Three years later however, when the Arabs invaded, it was regarded as the "frontier of ''Al-Hind''".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2m7_R5P2oAC&pg=PA136|title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7th-11th Centuries|publisher=Brill|pages=131–132, 136|isbn=0391041738|year=2002}}</ref>
== Battle ==
Raja Rasil, a local Hindu potentate of the [[Kingdom of Sindh]], concentrated huge armies in [[Makran]] to halt the advance of the [[Muslims]]. Suhail was reinforced by Uthman ibn Abi al-'As from [[Persepolis]], and Hakam ibn Amr from [[Busra]]. The combined forces defeated Raja Rasil at the Battle of Rasil, who retreated to the eastern bank of [[Indus|River Indus]]. The Raja's army had included [[war elephant]]s, but these had posed little problem for the Muslim army, who had dealt with them during the [[Muslim conquest of Persia|conquest of Persia]]. In accordance with the orders of Caliph [[Umar]], the captured war elephants were sold in Islamic Persia, with the proceeds distributed among the soldiers as share in booty.<ref name="auto">''Tarikh al Tabri'', vol: 4 page no: 180</ref>
Further east from the Indus River laid [[Sindh]], which was the domain of the [[Rai Kingdom]].<ref>The Muslim Conquest of Persia By A.I. Akram. Ch:13 {{ISBN|0-19-597713-0}},</ref> [[Umar]], after learning that Sindh was a poor and relatively barren land, disapproved Suhail's proposal to cross the Indus River.<ref>The History of Al-Tabari: The Challenge to the Empires, Translated by Khalid Yahya Blankinship, Published by SUNY Press, 1993, {{ISBN|0-7914-0852-3}}</ref> For the time being, Umar declared the Indus River, a natural barrier, to be the easternmost frontier of his domain. This campaign came to an end in mid-640 ad.<ref>''Al Farooq, Umar'' By [[Muhammad Husayn Haykal]]. chapter 19 page no:130</ref>
==Aftermath== This was the first confrontation between the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] and a Hindu kingdom of Sindh. The victorious Arab army returned to Persia along with booty and a war elephant.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7Q3AAAAIAAJ&q=Chach&pg=PA129 |title = Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World|isbn = 9004092498|last1 = Wink|first1 = André|year = 1991| publisher=BRILL }}</ref> In accordance with the orders of Umar, the captured war elephants were sold in Islamic Persia, with the proceeds distributed among the soldiers as share in booty.<ref name="auto"/> [[Caliph]] [[Umar]], after learning that Baluchistan was a barren land and unfavorable for sending an army, instructed Hakim bin Amr al Taghlibi that for the time being [[Makran]] should be the easternmost frontier of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], and that no further attempt should be made to extend the conquests. This was mainly because of Umar's policy of consolidating the rule before conquering more land. The same year, in 640 ad. Umar had already rejected the proposal by [[Ahnaf ibn Qais]], conqueror of [[Greater Khorasan|Khurasan]], of crossing [[Oxus river]] in the north to invade [[Central Asia]]. In the west he similarly had called back [['Amr ibn al-'As]] who had marched to [[North Africa]] and had captured [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPAHBAAAQBAJ&dq=raja+rasil&pg=PA194 | title=The War of the Three Gods: Romans, Persians and the Rise of Islam| isbn=9781848846128| last1=Crawford| first1=Peter| date=2013-07-16| publisher=Pen & Sword Military}}</ref>
== See also == *[[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]] *[[Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent]]
== Notes == {{reflist}}
{{coord missing|Sindh}} {{History of Sindh}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasil, Battle Of}} [[Category:Battles involving the Rashidun Caliphate]] [[Category:Military history of Sindh]] [[Category:644]]