Background The region of
Greater Sindh was first brought under
Arab Islamic rule after the conquest of the
Umayyad general
Muhammad ibn Qasim in 711 CE, and formed the easternmost province of the
Muslim Empire. The region corresponded to an area greater in area than the modern Pakistani province of
Sindh, and included the
Makran coast,
central Balochistan, and
southern Punjab, which in sum correspond to much of the territory of modern Pakistan. The province's internal administration was largely delegated to the natives, rather than the Arab conquerors. Umayyad rule over Sindh was quickly supplanted by the
Abbasid Caliphate of
Baghdad in 750. The new Abbasid governor of Sindh, Hisham bin 'Amr al-Taghlibi further consolidated Abbasid power in the region. In the early 9th century, Abbasid authority began to weaken. Sindh's governor,
Bishr ibn Dawud, led a short-lived revolt against the Abbasid caliph, but quickly surrendered in exchange for a pardon. that had played an active role in the politics of
Nejd in the
Arabian Peninsula since Pre-Islamic times, and gained prominence during Umayyad rule. The ancestors of 'Umar bin Abdul Aziz, the founder of the Habbari emirate, came to Greater Sindh as Arab settlers almost five or six generations prior to the establishment of Habbari rule in Sindh. The Habbari family acquired an agricultural estate in the village of
Baniya, where they engaged in agriculture and in commerce, later achieving prominence among Sindh's Arab settlers. Arab tribes became rebellious in Sindh in the early 9th century during the Abbasid period. During a period of strife in 841-2 between Yemeni and Hijazi tribes, 'Umar bin Abdul Aziz al-Habbari's Hijazi faction assassinated the pro-Yemeni Abbasid governor of Sindh, Imran bin Musa
Barmaki, leaving Umar bin Abdul Aziz al-Habbari as the
de facto governor of Sindh. According to
al-Ya'qubi, Umar's request to be formally appointed governor was granted in 854 by the Abbasid caliph
Al-Mutawakkil. Following the death of Al-Mutawakkil in 861, 'Umar bin Aziz al-Habbari then established himself as an independent ruler, although he continued to read the Friday prayers in the name of the Abbasid caliph, The Mansura state ruled by Umar bin Abdul Aziz Habbari controlled the region between the
Arabian Sea and
Aror, Other parts of Greater Sindh did not fall under Habbari rule after the collapse of direct Abbasid rule. The
Banu Munabih established an
Emirate in Multan and the ''Banu Ma'dan
established an Emirate in Makran before annexing the short-lived emirate of Mashkey. The Habbari ruled over the area of Turan
(modern Khuzdar), until the end of the 9th century, when its chief Mughira bin Ahmad established his independence and moved his capital to Kijkanan'' (modern
Kalat). After the secession of Greater Sindh from the Caliphate, there was no basic change in the character of the regime and the newly established Habbari state continued to function on the lines set by the Umayyads and the Abbasids. 'Umar bin Aziz al-Habbari ruled until around 884, when his son Abdullah bin Umar took power until around 914. He, in turn, was followed by 'Umar bin Abdullah until around 943. During the rule of the first 3 Habbari rulers, caravan routes from Persia were routed into the Habbari capital of Mansura, before continuing westward into the rest of the Indian Subcontinent. The routing of trade through Mansura made it a wealthy city, as confirmed by the accounts of
Istakhri,
Ibn Hawqal, and
Al-Maqdisi, who had all visited the city. Five more members of the Habbari family held the office of
Emir of Mansura until 1025 C.E. The state was then under the rule of the
Saffarids, and the
Samanids, until being conquered by the
Ghaznavids in 1026. Mahmud Ghaznavi considered the Abbasids the true Caliphs, and regarded the Habbaris as representative of ongoing Umayyad rule, despite their nominal allegiance to the Abbasid caliph, since they had originally migrated and gained prominence in Sindh under Umayyad rule. == Religious beliefs ==