THIS is apropos Nadeem F. Paracha’s article, ‘The saviour saint’ (Nov 23). The writer has sought origin of Abdullah Shah Ghazi from the ‘History of Sindh’ by Sohail Lari and noted scholar Allama Muhammad Daudpota. The former has mentioned that Shah Gazi was an Arab merchant who had come to Sindh with the first wave of Arab invaders 712 AD. The latter has suggested that Ghazi arrived from Iraq as commander who, with Muhammad Bin Qasim, fought Raja Dahir. He settled in Sindh with his brother, Syed Misri Shah, and became a follower of Sufi strands of Islam.

The scribe has also failed to take note of the source material for the conclusion he has drawn. The Tarikh al-Tabrari by Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (838–923), a most prominent Persian historian, has a different story to narrate.

According to al-Tabari, Abdullah Shah Ghazi was a great grandson of Imam Hassan. He was son of Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Imam Hassan, known as Nafs Zakia.

When Caliph al-Mansur (709–775) came to power, he sent two separate expeditions, one to Madina and the other to Basra, to quell a revolt by Nafs Zakia and his brother Ibrahim. Abdullah Shah Ghazi was then in Madina. Fearing for the safety of his son, Nafs Zakia directed him to go to Sindh where they had sympathisers.

Abbasside forces under the command of the governor’s brother pursued Abdullah Shah Ghazi, who was out hunting along the banks of the Indus. Abdullah Shah Ghazi fought the numerically-strong attackers bravely while his companions tried hard to defend their leader. However, most of them were killed in defending their leader. It has been said that to prevent his head being taken to Baghdad to be presented before Al Mansur, some of the companions sank his body in the Indus and later took it out and buried it.

Isha M. Kureshi

Karachi

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014