Al-Hakam ibn Awana

Campaign of Al hakam
	Part of Umayyad campaigns in India
	; The region in which the arab campgain took place
Date	731-740
Location	Gujarat, Rajasthan.
Result	Contested Caliphate raids; Decline of Gurjaras of Lata; Decline of Mori Kingdom; Defeat and reversion of Umayyad campaigns;
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate	Chavda dynasty; Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty; Chalukyas of Navasarika; Kachchh Kingdom; Saindhava; Gurjaras of Lata; Maitraka dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Al-Hakam ibn Awana †	Pushyadeva; Dhavala; Unknown chavda king †; Jayabhata IV; Siladitya IV; Pulakeshin; Nagabhata I

Al-Hakam ibn Awana
Al-Hakam ibn Awana
	Coinage of al-Hakam bin Awana al-Kalbi, Umayyad governor of Sindh
Umayyad Governor of Sindh
	In office; 731–740
Appointed by	Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik
Preceded by	Tamim ibn Zaid al-Utbi
Personal details
Died	740; india
Nationality	Umayyad
Children	Awana ibn al-Hakam
Occupation	Governor
Military service
Allegiance	Umayyad Caliphate

Al-Hakam ibn Awana (Arabic: الحكم بن عوانة الكلبي) was the Umayyad governor of Sindh in 731–740.^[1] He was appointed by Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik after the death of the governor Tamim ibn Zaid al-Utbi, Al-Hakam restored order to Sindh and Kush and built secure fortifications at al-Mahfuzah and al-Mansur, and proceeded to retake lands previously conquered by al-Junayd.

Campaigns

Although Arab sources do not mention details of the campaigns, they are recorded in Indian sources which mentioned some victories over the Arab forces and their expeditions. Al-Hakam ibn Abu al-Aas ventured to Indias coastline from Sindh utilizing the Caliphate navy.^[2] The Navsari inscription attributed to Avanijanashraya Pulakeshin of the Chalukya dynasty claimed victory over Arab forces after stating that they had arrived to Navsari and defeating the rulers.^[3] Since these conquests had been lost under Tamim Zayd, and since the Muslims had again reached the southeastern corner of Gujarat by 739 AD, we must conclude that Al-Hakam or his lieutenants had indeed reconquered these territories.^[4] Al-Hakam died in battle while fighting the Saurashtra in present-day Gujarat in 740 AD, putting an end to his expedition.^[5]^[6]

References

^ Wink, André. Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, 7th–11th Centuries. 3rd ed. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996. ISBN 90-04-09249-8
^ ALPERS, EDWARD A. (7 June 2018), "Researching the History of the Indian Ocean World", Connecting Continents, Ohio University Press, pp. 92–120, retrieved 29 November 2025
^ Truschke, Audrey (5 January 2021). The Language of History: Sanskrit Narratives of Indo-Muslim Rule. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-55195-3.
^ Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (28 June 1994). The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishām Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. State University of New York Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7914-9683-1.
^ Gordon, Matthew S.; Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1996). "The End of the jihād state: The Reign of Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 116 (4): 795. doi:10.2307/605483. ISSN 0003-0279.
^ Fisher, Michael H.; Wink, Andre (1992). "Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Volume 1, Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries". The American Historical Review. 97 (3): 910. doi:10.2307/2164901. ISSN 0002-8762.

[1] Wink, André. Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, 7th–11th Centuries. 3rd ed. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996. ISBN 90-04-09249-8

[2] ALPERS, EDWARD A. (7 June 2018), "Researching the History of the Indian Ocean World", Connecting Continents, Ohio University Press, pp. 92–120, retrieved 29 November 2025

[3] Truschke, Audrey (5 January 2021). The Language of History: Sanskrit Narratives of Indo-Muslim Rule. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-55195-3.

[4] Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (28 June 1994). The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishām Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. State University of New York Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7914-9683-1.

[5] Gordon, Matthew S.; Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1996). "The End of the jihād state: The Reign of Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 116 (4): 795. doi:10.2307/605483. ISSN 0003-0279.

[6] Fisher, Michael H.; Wink, Andre (1992). "Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Volume 1, Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries". The American Historical Review. 97 (3): 910. doi:10.2307/2164901. ISSN 0002-8762.

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