Islamic history praises its heroes, yet often forgets or suppresses the names of those who died defending the very principles that the Prophet of Islam stood for. Two names erased from the dominant Islamic narrative are Raja Dahir Sen, the last Hindu king of Sindh, and Rahab Sidh Datt, a Brahmin warrior who fought alongside Imam Hussain in the Battle of Karbala. Both were Hindus. Both stood for justice. And both were betrayed by the same Islamic imperial system they once protected.
Today, Muslims across South Asia glorify Muhammad bin Qasim, the Umayyad general who killed Raja Dahir and destroyed a civilization that once gave shelter to the Prophet’s kin. The irony is glaring. The very invader who killed the protector of Muhammad’s relatives is hailed as a savior by the same religion whose ethics Dahir once defended.
Rahab Datt and the Hussaini Brahmins
The Hussaini Brahmins, particularly of the Mohyal Datt clan, trace their origin to Rahab Sidh Datt, a warrior-saint who is recorded to have fought and died in the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE, siding with Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, against the tyrannical forces of Yazid ibn Muawiya, the Umayyad Caliph.
According to preserved historical records within the community, Rahab Datt was sent by Raja Dahir of Sindh to support the cause of Imam Hussain, who had openly opposed Yazid’s illegitimate rule and appealed for help. Rahab and his seven sons traveled from Sindh to Karbala, then a remote location in present-day Iraq, and joined Imam Hussain’s small army. All seven sons were martyred in the battle. Rahab himself fought valiantly and protected the sacred severed head of Imam Hussain from desecration.
These Hussaini Brahmins were not converts, not opportunists, but Sanatani Hindus. They fought for righteousness, not religion. Their actions were in line with the dharmic values of truth, honor, and sacrifice.
In later years, their settlement was recognized in the region near present-day Al-Hindiya, a city in Iraq south of Karbala. This area got its name because it was inhabited by Indians who had stayed behind after fighting for Hussain. Even today, references to Indian presence near Karbala exist, though Muslim historians remain silent on the subject. Hussaini Brahmins in India are found today in parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, many of whom still mourn during Muharram not as Muslims, but as proud Sanatani warriors who remember their ancestral duty.
Imam Hussain’s Call and Sindh’s Response
It is historically documented that Imam Hussain sent letters to different regions asking for support in his fight against Yazid’s oppressive regime. Among those who responded was Raja Dahir Sen of Sindh, a Brahmin king who believed in the principles of justice and asylum. He was known to offer refuge to persecuted people, including Muhammad’s own relatives and followers, who were escaping the cruelty of the Umayyad governor Al Hajjaj ibn Yusuf.
Documented examples of those who sought asylum in Sindh under Raja Dahir include:
• Atiyah ibn Saʿd al-ʿAwfi, a respected Shi’a scholar and supporter of the Ahl al-Bayt, who fled from Basra to Sindh due to the persecution of Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. Several Islamic biographical dictionaries confirm that he was hunted by Umayyad forces, and Raja Dahir protected him from extradition. (Ref: Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat al-Kubra; al-Dhahabi, Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubala)
• Muhammad ibn al-Afif (or Alafi), an Arab nobleman of Alid allegiance, who also took refuge in Sindh after persecution by the Umayyad governor. His asylum is directly referenced in the Chachnama and later chronicled by Mir Ma’sum in Tarikh-i-Ma’sumi.
• Zayyada al-Sindhi, mentioned in some Shi’a genealogical accounts as a female relative of the Prophet’s family who took refuge in Sindh after the Karbala tragedy.
Raja Dahir’s principled refusal to hand these individuals over to the Umayyads infuriated Al Hajjaj, who saw it as a challenge to the caliphate’s authority and honor.
When Imam Hussain’s appeal reached Sindh, Raja Dahir chose to send Rahab Datt, one of his most trusted warriors, to stand by the family of Muhammad. This was not an act of diplomacy or alliance. It was a decision based on dharma. Raja Dahir did not consider Hussain a Muslim enemy. He considered him a righteous man betrayed by his own so-called believers.
Thus, the first blood from the Indian subcontinent that soaked the sands of Karbala was not Muslim but Hindu. The sacrifice was not made for Islam, but for justice. And yet, Islam today does not even acknowledge this contribution.
Raja Dahir’s Betrayal and Murder by the Umayyads
Years after Karbala, the same Umayyad empire that had killed Imam Hussain turned its eyes eastward. The tyrant Al Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, angered that Raja Dahir had offered asylum to the Prophet’s persecuted followers, ordered his general Muhammad bin Qasim to invade Sindh.
Raja Dahir, despite knowing the military strength of the Arab army, chose to uphold his principles rather than betray his guests. He refused to hand over the Arab refugees. For this, he was declared an enemy of Islam. In 712 CE, Muhammad bin Qasim invaded Sindh. Raja Dahir was killed in battle. His two daughters were captured, enslaved, and sent to the Caliph in Damascus as war trophies. One of them, in front of the Caliph, revealed that Qasim had violated them before they reached the court. This led to Qasim’s own death, not because of his crimes, but because he embarrassed the Caliph.
This is the true face of the Umayyad conquest. It was not a spiritual mission. It was a political, imperial, and barbaric campaign. It betrayed even those who once protected Islam’s sacred family.
Muslims Worship the Murderers of Their Own Protectors
Today, Muslims in Pakistan and elsewhere revere Muhammad bin Qasim as the founder of Islam in South Asia. They build monuments in his name, write textbooks glorifying his conquest, and celebrate him as a bringer of light to a land of darkness.
They conveniently forget that the man he killed, Raja Dahir, had once sheltered their Prophet’s relatives. They remain silent about the Brahmin blood spilled at Karbala, and the fact that their own religious heroes betrayed those who stood by their Prophet’s family.
There is no honor in worshipping tyrants like Qasim. There is no glory in forgetting the protector of your own people. The fact that Muslims have built their historical memory around conquerors, while erasing the names of those who helped their Prophet’s household, exposes the moral emptiness of their glorified history.
Rahab Datt fought and died for Imam Hussain. Raja Dahir gave his life protecting Muhammad’s kin. Yet today, Muslims remember neither. They have replaced the ethics of their Prophet with the swords of their invaders. They honor murderers and forget allies. They celebrate conquest and erase compassion.
History must be reclaimed not by the victors, but by the righteous. In that light, Rahab Datt and Raja Dahir do not belong to Hindu history alone. They are part of a greater truth that shames those who betray their protectors and glorify their killers.
