[8

INDIA

been said about the direct land route between Western
[ndja and Bagdad which passed through Makran and
iraversed the length of Central Persia, the possession of
which, far more than the desire to punish a band of
Karak (Karachi) pirates, was the probable objective of the
Arab advance into Sind in the eighth century of our era.

CHIEF ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL .
TRADE ROUTES TO CHINA & INDIA

200 MILES

8
~
po

Receny LAND FORMATION

Fic. &.

The Muhammadan conquest of Sind, and the establishment
 of Mussulman dynasties in India, was almost
coincident with the general disappearance of Buddhism
from the land of its birth, although Buddhist provinces
still maintained a failing struggle for existence on the
western borders in the days when the great traveller,
[bn Haukel, constructed the first intelligible map of the
Baluchistan districts between India and Eastern Persia
(A.D. 943-976).