Sindh
From Freepedia
Sindh (Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and is home to the Sindhis and Muhajirs and various other groups. Neighbouring regions are Balochistan to the west and north, Punjab in the north and Rajasthan (India) to the east. To the south are the Arabian Sea and the Rann of Kutch. The main languages are Sindhi and Urdu. Known by various names in the past, the name Sindh comes from early the Indo-Aryans whose legends claimed that the Indus river flowed from the mouth of a lion or Sinh-ka-bab. In Sanskrit the province was dubbed Sindhu meaning an ocean. The Assyrians (as early as the 7th century BCE) knew the region as Sinda, the Persians Abisind, the Greeks Sinthus, the Romans Sindus, the Chinese Sintow, while the Arabs dubbed it simply Sind, which is what the province is now known as.
Contents |
History
The first known village settlements date as far back as 7000 BCE. Permanent settlements at Mehrgarh to the east expanded into Sindh and then by 3500 BCE the Mohenjodaro civilization (collectively referred to as the Indus Valley Civilization) emerged. Possibily founded by Elamo-Dravidian-speaking peoples, the civilization rivalled the then contemporary Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in both size and scope numbering nearly half a million inhabitants at its height with well-planned grid cities and sewer systems. Speculation remains as to how and why the civilization declined and may have been a combination of natural disasters such as flooding and internecine conflicts. Early Indo-European invaders of the Indo-Aryan branch invaded the region having arrived in two waves around 2000 and 1400 BCE from Central Asia. These Indo-Aryans would ultimately merge with the native inhabitants in Sind and throughout northern India as well, while estalishing their language and, in part, their culture.
The Aryans called most of what is today Pakistan, Kashmir and eastern Afghanistan, Sapta Sindhu, the land of seven rivers. In the Rigveda it is referred to as Sapta Sindhva, while India is named Bharat Varsa (the land of the sons of Bharat, a legendary Emperor). Thus, for the Aryans there were two countries in South Asia: Sapta Sindhva (Sindh) and Bharat Varsa (Hind). However, when India began to be called Hind by Persians and Arabs, and Ind by Greeks and Romans, the local people continued to call their land, Sind. This distinction continued for centuries.
Sindh was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE, and became part of the Persian satrapy (province) of Hindush centered in the Punjab to the north. They introduced the Kharoshti script and links to the west in the region. Subsequently conquered by Greeks led by Alexander the Great, the region came under loose Greek control for a few decades until Alexander's death and brief Seleucid rule and then was conquered by the Mauryans led by Chandragupta in 305 BCE and then during the reign of the Buddhist Indian king Ashoka the region would solidly become a Buddhist domain. Following a century of Mauryan rule which ended by 232 BCE, the region came under the Greco-Bactrians based in what is today Afghanistan and these rulers would also convert to and proliferate Buddhism in the region. The Scythians shattered the Greco-Bactrians fledgling empire and then the Tocharian Kushan Empire annexed Sindh by the 1st century CE. Though the Kushans were Zoroastrian, they were tolerant of the local Buddhist tradition and sponsorerd many building projects for local beliefs. The Huns and remnants of the Kushans, Scythians, and the Sassanian Persians all exercised some degree of control in Sindh until the coming of the Muslim Arabs in 711 CE.
Led by Muhammad bin Qasim Sind became the easternmost province of the Umayyad Caliphate, while the lands further east were known as Hind to the Arabs. The defeat of the Brahmin ruler Dahir was made easier due to the tension between the Buddhist majority and the ruling Brahmins' fragile base of control. The Arabs redefined the region and adopted the term budd to refer to the numerous Buddhist idols they encountered, a word that remains in use today. The city of Mansura was established as a regional capital and Arab rule lasted for nearly 3 centuries and a fusion of cultures produced much of what is today modern Sindhi society. Arab geographers, historians and travellers also sometimes called the entire area from the Arabian Sea to the Hindu Kush, Sind. The meaning of the word Sindhu being water (or ocean) appears to refer to the Indus river. In addition, there is a mythological belief among Muslims that four rivers had sprung from Heaven: Neel (Nile), Furat (Euphrates), Jehoon (Jaxartes) and Sehoon (Sind or in modern times the Indus).
Arab rule ended with the ascension of the Soomra dynasty, who were local Sindhi Muslims and who controlled the province directly and as vassals from 1058 to 1249. Turkic invaders conquered the area by 977 CE and the region loosely became part of the Ghaznavid Empire and then the Delhi Sultanate which lasted until 1524. The Mughals seized the region and their rule lasted for another two centuries, while another local Sindhi Muslim group the Samma challenged Mughal rule from their base at Thatta. Sind, though part of larger empires, continued to enjoy certain autonomy as a loyal Muslim domain and came under the rule of the Arghun and Turkhan dynasties from 1519 to 1625. Sind became a vassal-state of the Afghan Durrani Empire by 1747. It was then ruled by Kalhora rulers. Later, it turned to Baluchi Talpurs rule by 1783 until the British conquest in 1843.
In 1843 British forces under General Charles Napier conquered Sindh. It is said that he sent back to the Governor General a one-word message, "Peccavi" – Latin for "I have sinned". In actual fact, this pun first appeared as a cartoon in Punch magazine. The first Aga Khan helped the British in the conquest of Sindh and was granted a pension as a result. Sind was made part of British India's Bombay Presidency, and became a separate province in 1935. The British ruled the area for a century and Sindh was home to many prominent Muslim leaders including Muhammad Ali Jinnah who agitated for greater Muslim autonomy. Following World War II, Britain withdrew from British India and Sind voted to join Pakistan in 1947 during partition as the largely Hindu educated elites were replaced by Muslim immigrants from India. Relations in the province have since been defined by power struggles between the Mujahirs and their descendents and the local Sindhis who have also resented the influx of Pashtun and Punjabi immigrants to Karachi. Nonetheless, local Sindhis remained prominent in Pakistani politics and none have been more important than the Bhutto dynasty. In recent years Sindhi dissatisfaction has grown as larger and more influential ethnic groups in Pakistan have prompted the growth of a Sindhi separatist movement known as Sindhudesh which envisions an independent Sindhi entity based upon what is viewed as a unique local history and veneration of such local figures as Shah Abdul Latif. Dr. Safdar Sarki is a prominent activist for the independance of Sindh. At present, Sindh remains both an economic center of activity due to the prominence of Karachi and a potential cauldron of ethnic and religious strife in Pakistan.
Geography
Sindh is located at the northeastern corner of South Asia just before the Iranian plateau in the west. It is the third largest province geographically. Its size is about 579 km north-south and 442 km (extreme) or 281 km (average) east-west, with an area of 140,915 km². Sindh is bounded by the Thar Desert to the east, the Kirthar Mountains to the west, and the Arabian Sea in the south. In the center is the fertile plain where the Indus river runs through. Largely irrigated, the Indus' devastating floods are now under control.
Its capital is Karachi. Other towns and cities include Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Shahdadpur, Tando Adam, Tando Allahyar, Nawabshah, Larkana, Shikarpur, Khairpur, Badin.
Demographics and society
The population is roughly 35 million, with over half being urban dwellers and mainly found in Karachi. Languages spoken include Sindhi, Urdu, Baluchi, Punjabi, Pashto, Siraiki, Rajasthani and many others. Sindhis may or may not be a majority in the province and statistics vary. Sindh is a multi-ethnic province and sometimes highly polarized as a result.
Sindh's population is predominantly Muslim and mainly of the Sunni variant as well as having a large Shia minority. Sindh is home to the vast majority of Hindus in Pakistan and they number roughly 1.5 million. Smaller groups of Christians, Parsis, Ahmadis and a tiny Jewish community (of around 200) can also be found in the province.
The Sindhis as a whole are composed of various sub-groups related to the Punjabis and Siraikis as well as a large minority of Baloch origin. A small group either partially descended from or claiming descent from early Muslim invaders including Arabs, Turks, and Persians is also found in the province and are referred to as ashraf or high-born. For further information regarding the disparate origins of the Sindhis refer to Sindhi people.
Economy and education
Sindh is in many ways the main province of economic activity in Pakistan and has a highly diversified economy with heavy industry and finance centered in and around Karachi to a substantial agricultural base along the Indus. Pakistan's rapidly growing information technology sector (IT) is also centered in Karachi and manufacturing includes machine products, cement, plastics, and various other goods.
Agriculture is also very important in Sind. The main crops are cotton, rice, wheat and sugar cane, with rice being the most important. Other crops include banana and mango. Mangos of Sind are sweet in taste and exported to all over the world.
Education in the province is quite widespread and the province has a high literacy rate compared to other parts of Pakistan, mainly due to the importance of Karachi as it attracts Pakistan's best and brightest. The University of Karachi is an important academic school as is the Aga Khan University and many other schools.
Major attractions
Image:Indusvalleyexcavation.jpg Sindh has numerous tourist sites with the most prominent being the ruins of Mohenjodaro near the city of Larkana. Islamic architecture is quite prominent in the province with the Jamia Masjid and numerous mausoleums dot the province including the very old Shah Lal Baz Qalander mausoleum dedicated to the Iranian-born Sufi and the ultra-modern mausoleium for Muhammad Ali Jinnah known as the Quaid-i-Azam Mausoleum in Karachi.
Personalities
There are many popular figures from Sind. The following is brief list:
Pre-partition (pre-1947)
Post-partition (post-1947)
Religious mythology and related articles
External Links
- Sindh WebSite
- Images of Sindh
- World Sindhi Congress
- The Royal Talpurs of Sindh
- Sindh.TV WebSite
- Picture Gallery of Sindh
- American Institute of Sindhulogy
- Website highlighting places of interest in Karachi
See also
