Ali's Eastern Campaigns

During the reign of the third Rashidun caliph Uthman the governor of Sistan Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura led an army to suppress revolts in southern Afghanistan. His forces captured Zaranj and moved through the Hindu Kush to take Kabul and Ghazni. Another column moved into northeastern Balochistan and secured the area around the Bolan Pass. By 654 almost all of Balochistan was under Rashidun control with the exception of the Qayqan region. Following the assassination of Uthman and the outbreak of the First Fitna in 656 the eastern frontier experienced widespread instability. Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura left his post as governor in 656 and many of the conquered regions in Sistan and the Indus Valley revolted against central authority.^[5]

To address this collapse of control the Caliph Ali utilized commanders with prior experience in the eastern regions. Hukaym ibn Jabala al-Abdi had previously scouted Makran in 649 to report on the geography and local tribal dynamics including the Jats of the Indus delta. In 658 Al-Harith ibn Murra al-Abdi and Sayfi ibn Fusil al-Shaybani were commissioned to lead an advance into Sindh. Their immediate objectives were to suppress banditry and re-establish a military presence in the territories that had shifted toward local Sasanian and Hephthalite influence during the civil war.^[6]

During Ali's caliphate, a multi-pronged offensive was launched toward the Indus Valley. Al-Harith ibn Murra al-Abdi volunteered for the Sindh campaign after receiving authorization from Ali. He successfully raided the outskirts of Sindh, taking captives and securing significant spoils. Historical records indicate that two primary land expeditions took place during this period: one led by Tagir ibn Du'r in 659 and another by Al-Harith in 660.^[7][8] This campaign was supported by a strategic advance into the region of Qayqan, situated along the Bolan Pass. While Muslim forces initially moved through the pass without resistance, they engaged local defenders in 658 near modern-day Kalat. The Rashidun forces emerged victorious, reportedly inflicting 1,000 casualties in a single day.^[9] Although al-Harith achieved initial success, he was killed four years later while conducting further raids during the reign of the first Umayyad caliph, Mu'awiya I. ^[10][11][12]

According to the Chach Nama, Qayqan was under the direct administrative control of the Chach Rai and inhabited by the Jats and the Medes. While these groups mounted a fierce resistance that caused initial setbacks for the Arab forces, the chronicle notes that the defenders were eventually overpowered as the conflict progressed.^[13]

Complementing these land operations, the Rashidun navy conducted maritime raids against the ports of Thane, Bharuch, and Debal, projecting authority over the coastal regions of the Indian subcontinent.^[14]

After recapturing the provincial capital of Zaranj, Ali's governors utilized the city as a strategic base for large-scale raids into the dominions of the Hephthalites between 658 and 659. These expeditions served to secure the far-eastern Iranian highlands and re-assert the Caliphate's authority during the disruptions of the First Fitna.^[15]