The army of Walid, the Caliph of Baghdad, attacked the kingdom of Deval in the Sindh region of India. The commander of this army was Muhammad bin Qasim. Raja Dahir of Deval and his son Jayshah confronted the enemy with their forces. The brave warriors of Deval fought with great courage, but the invading army was far larger. The entire army of Deval, along with the king and the prince, was killed in the battle.
When the queen heard of her husband’s death, she formed an army of women and marched out of the royal palace, attacking the enemies. The queen and the brave women who accompanied her were all martyred while fighting. Muhammad bin Qasim then had the royal palace looted. Along with other spoils, he sent to Baghdad the severed head of Raja Dahir, the royal umbrella, and the king’s two daughters named Surya and Parmal as captives. He himself stayed back in Sindh, for he wished to conquer the whole of India.
When Raja Dahir’s daughters reached the Caliph of Baghdad, he was astonished by their extraordinary beauty and felt as if heavenly nymphs had descended from paradise. He proposed marriage to Princess Surya. What could the poor princesses do, alone in a foreign land, in the enemy’s royal palace? Yet they had resolved to take revenge on the one who had killed their father.
Hearing this, the Caliph trembled with rage. At once he sent his messengers to India with the order that Muhammad bin Qasim be sewn alive into a dry animal hide and that his body be presented before him.
The Caliph’s envoys reached India. Muhammad bin Qasim tried desperately to be taken alive to the Caliph so that he could prove his innocence, but no one listened to him. He was sewn alive into a dry hide.
Sewn into the sack of dry leather, Muhammad bin Qasim soon died. His body was brought to Baghdad in that sack. In fury, the Caliph kicked it several times. Then he went to the terrace of his palace and summoned Surya and Parmal, telling them that Muhammad bin Qasim’s corpse lay below in the court, stitched inside a leather sack.
When the Caliph realized that his commander had in fact been innocent, he beat his head in remorse.
Saying this, the two brave girls stood at the very edge of the palace terrace and forcefully plunged poison-smeared daggers into each other’s chests. Their lifeless bodies rolled down from the high terrace.
Witnessing this astonishing bravery of the daughters of India, the Caliph was so shaken that he sat down there, holding his head in shock.
