The Rajput tribe of Somra

Sindh was under the rule of the Rajput tribe of Somra, which had succeeded to

the power of the Arab conquerors. There is a long list of Somra kings in the
Chronicles, no less than five of whom bore the name of Doda. The chronology is
very uncertain, but Doda IV. seems to have reigned about the middle of the
thirteenth century (A.H 650).

 In the time of his father Khafif a body of Baloches

entered Sindh, and allied themselves with two local tribes, the Sodhas and
Jharejas. When Doda IV. succeeded, the Baloches and Jharejas forsook the Sodha
alliance, and supported him. In the time of Umar, the next king, we again find
the Baloches entering into a combination with the Sammas, Sodhas, and Jatts
(Jharejas), but this did not last long. The Sammas made terms for themselves, and
their allies had to submit, which probably means that the Baloches retired into
the mountains. There is no evidence that they made any permanent settlement in
the plains at this time. In the reign of Doda V. the Somra rule was finally
overthrown, and the power passed into the hands of the Sammas, who
established what is known as the Jam dynasty. This event took place probably at
the end of the thirteenth century, while ‘Alau‘d-din Khalji was reigning at Delhi.
A story, evidently derived from popular folklore, is told in the Tarikh-i-M’asumi
(written

circ. A.D. 1600) about Doda’s extraordinary adventures.2 He wins the

favour of Sultan Maudud of Ghazni by his power of seeing through men’s bodies,
which enables him to fish out two snakes which the Sultan had swallowed, and
is finally restored to his dominions. Possibly the legend referred originally to
Doda I., who lived while the Ghaznavi dynasty still existed (his death is placed
in A.H. 485, while Mas’ud III. was reigning).

 This story begins with the escape

of Doda from his enemies and his crossing the river Indus.