Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gamesmasterg9 (talk | contribs) at 08:30, 17 January 2009 (Do not make this personal. See discussion page.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Sindhis
سنڌي , सिन्धी

, File:Pankaj gold medal.jpg, L.K. Advani, Pankaj Advani, Karan Johar
Regions with significant populations
Pakistan: 43,842,000  India: 4,890,000
Languages
Sindhi
Religion
Islam, Hinduism,Sikhism & Christianity

Sindhis (Sindhi: سنڌي ) are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, now a province of Pakistan. Sindhis living in Pakistan are predominantly Muslim but there is a significant number of Hindus Sindhis, and a small minority of Christians. Most Hindu Sindhis migrated to India in 1948, following creation of the Islamic state of Pakistan in 1947. These Hindu Sindhis are presently a small but visible minority in India. There are also small populations of Sindhis in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia,Nigeria, Europe and the Americas

History

The original inhabitants of ancient Sindh were believed to be aboriginal tribes speaking languages of the Indus Valley Civilization around 3000 BC. The ancient civilization centered around the towns whose modern names are Mohenjodaro and Harappa (both derived from the Sindhi language - the language of the Indus Valley Civilization remains undeciphered).

The Indus Valley Civilization went into decline for reasons that are not entirely known. Their decline coincided with the arrival of Aryan tribes from Central Asia. The Indo-Aryans are believed to have founded the Vedic Civilization that have existed between Sarasvati River and Ganges river around 1500 BC. This civilization helped shape subsequent cultures in the South Asia.

Muslim travelers, specifically the great Persian scholar Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī (Al-Beruni) in his book Kitab-ul-Hind, has declared that even before the advent of Islam into Sindh (711 A.D.), the Sindhi was prevalent in Sindh. It was not only widely spoken but written in different scripts. Al-Beruni has described many Sindhi words and reached the conclusion that the language, though widely spoken, had a limited vocabulary at that time.

Sindh was often the final stop for Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks and Pashtuns travellers. This gave Sindh a distinct and unique culture even before the arrival of Islam.

Because of its location at the Western edge of South Asia, Sindh was one of the earliest regions in the Indian subcontinent to be influenced by Islam. It was part of the Islamic empires of the Abbasids and Umayyids. Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and Sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world to the Islamic Sultanate in Sindh. Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting millions of native Sindhis to Islam. Settled by Turks, Pashtuns, and Mughals, Sindh continued to evolve as a frontier state and by the time of British colonial occupation was ruled by Baloch kings.

Partition and mass exodus of Hindu Sindhis

In 1947, with the departure of the British from India, the state of Pakistan was created out of the Muslim-majority provinces of British India. All of Sindh was allotted to Pakistan. According to the 1941 census, 25% of the population of the province of Sindh was Hindu, about 23% was made up of Sindhi Baloch tribes and nearly one-third was made up of descendants of Muslim conquerors, administrators and missionaries who were mainly naturalized Arabs, Persians, Afghans and Turks (including the Mughals), who had assimilated with native Sindhis. Most of the Hindu Sindhis were city dwellers and were largely occupied with trade and commerce. They were responsible for export of products made in Sindh and contributed significantly to the economy of Sindh. A number of Sindhi Hindus opted to remain in Sindh even after Partition, because there was no history of conflict between Hindu and Muslim Sindhis. However, when waves of Muslim refugees from India (known as Muhajirs) started to pour into Sindh, violence erupted on the streets. Many Hindu Sindhis were forced to flee Sindh leaving everything behind. Popati Hiranandani, a Sindhi Hindu writes in her autobiography that the local police were complicit in the anti-Hindu violence.. After the mass exodus of Hindus, their property was taken over by Mohajirs, making it impossible for them to return. These Hindus were settled in refugee camps in India, and went on to assimilate into the local population, mainly in Western India. The city of Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra, India presently houses a large number of Hindu Sindhis.

Present Day

The influx of Pashtun and Punjabi immigrants to Karachi and other parts of Sindh caused a great deal of resentment among the local Sindhi population. In 1972 the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz movement was founded by G M Syed. The aim of this movement was the liberation of Sindh and ethnic Sindhis from Pakistan. G M Syed was placed under house arrest until his death on 25th April 1995. In spite of this, traditional Sindhi families remain prominent in Pakistani politics, especially the Bhutto dynasty. In recent years Sindhi dissatisfaction has grown over issues such as the construction of large dams, perceived discrimination in military and government jobs, provincial autonomy and overall revenue shares. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto has led to a renewal in separatist activity..

Culture and society of Sindh

Muslim Sindhis

Dress

Most Sindhi women in Pakistan are still very traditional, but many wear very colorful clothes, while donning a Chador on their heads. Men traditionally wear white and/or blue clothes and sometimes wear turbans or a traditional Sindhi cap on their heads. This, however, has changed in cities where some more devout women can be seen wearing the Hijab, while the Shalwar Qameez and Western clothing have become common for men.

Names

Muslim Sindhis tend to have traditional Muslim names, but sometimes with localized variations.

Hindu Sindhis

Cuisine

Koki, kadhi, dal pakwan are popular Sindhi dishes.

Names

Sufism

Sufism has deep roots in Sindhi culture with many prominent Sindhi Sufis Dargahs all over Sindh. The Sufu mystic poets Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi and Hafiz Shirazi deeply influenced Sindhi Sufis. Notable among them are : Shaheed Shah Inayat Sufi, Shah Abdul Karim Bulri, Makhdoom Bilawal, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Saeen Sachal Sarmast, Syed Misri Shah, etc.

Hindus of the diaspora Sindhi community also practice elements of Sufism in their day to day life. Jhulelal, the Sufi pioneer of Sindh is revered by both Hindus and Muslims.

Notable Sindhis

Politics

Pakistan's political scene is dominated by Sindhi politicians like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Muhammad Khan Junejo, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Asif Zardari, Muhammad Mian Soomro who served as President, Prime Minister and Senate chairman and major political leaders of Pakistan. While in the province of Sindh. the Sindhis have always dominated the government and its various departments.

Lal Krishna Advani, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in India is also Sindhi.

Before partition, important Sindhi politicians included Darya Khan Rind, Raja Dahir, Hoshu Sheedi and Hemu Kalani.

Entertainment

A number of Sindhis became prominent in Bollywood. They include actors Aftab Shivdasani, Dalip Tahil, Sadhna, Babita, Sangeeta Bijlani, Hansika Motwani, Preeti Jhangiani and Asrani; director Karan Johar, Tarun Mansukhani, Rajkumar Hirani, Nikhil Advani and Govind Nihalani; producers Ritesh Sidhwani, Jatin Lalwani and Ramesh Taurani; and musicians Ehsaan Noorani and Vishal Dadlani.

Notable television actors Hiten Tejwani, Shilpa Saklani and Kitu Gidwani are also Sindhi.

See also

• Sindhi literature
• Sindhi music
• Sindhi poetry
• Sindhi language media in Pakistan

References

1. Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan - Population by Mother Tongue
2. Ethnologue report for India
3. Popati Hiranandani, one of the best-known Sindhi women writers, born in 1924 in Hyderabad, Sind
4. Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz
5. G. M. Syed - A national leader of the Sindhi people who struggled for human rights, democracy, secularism and freedom of Sindh
6. The Destabilization of Pakistan

Related Websites

• Sindhi Sangat: promoting & preserving the Sindhi heritage, culture and language.
• Sindhi Jagat: All India Sindhi Consolidating Centre.

• Sindhi people