Sindh Map

Origin of the name

The province of Sindh and the people inhabiting the region new yark designated after the river' s name prior to partition as the Sindhu River, now known as the Indus River. In Sanskrit, síndhu means "river, stream", and refers to the Indus river in particular. The Greeks who conquered Sindh in 325 BC under the command of Alexander the Great rendered it as Indós, hence the modern Indus. The ancient Iranians referred to everything east of the river Indus as hind from the word Sindh and when the British arrived here in the 17th century, they followed that example and applied the name to the entire subcontient calling it India, once again from the word Sindh.

Sindh's first known village settlements date as far back as 7000 BCE. Permanent settlements at Mehrgarh to the west expanded into Sindh. This culture blossomed over several millennia and gave rise to the Indus Valley Civilization around 3000 BCE. The Indus Valley Civilization rivaled the contemporary civilizations of 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.
The Indus Valley civilization is the farthest known outpost of archaeology in prehistoric times. Evidence of a new element of pre-Harappan culture has been traced here. When the primitive village communities in Balochistan were still struggling against a difficult highland environment, a highly cultured people were trying to assert themselves at Kot Diji. This was one of the most developed urban civilizations of the ancient world. It flourished between the 25th century BC and 1500 BC in the Indus valley sites of Moenjodaro and Harappa. The people had a high standard of art and craftsmanship and a well-developed system of quasi-pictographic writing which remains un-deciphered despite ceaseless efforts. The remarkable ruins of the beautifully planned towns, the brick buildings of the common people, roads, public baths and the covered drainage system suggest a highly organized community. According to some accounts, there is no evidence of large palaces or burial grounds for the elite. The grand and presumably holy site might have been the great bath, which is built upon an artificially created elevation.^[8] This indigenous civilization collapsed around 1700 BC. The cause is hotly debated, and may have been a massive earthquake, which dried up the Ghaggar River. Skeletons discovered in the ruins of Mohen Jo Daro ("mount of dead") indicate that the city was suddenly attacked and the population was wiped out.^[9]
Sindh finds mention in the Hindu epic Mahabharatha as being part of Bharatvarsha. Sindh was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the sixth century BC. In the late 300s BC, Sindh was conquered by a mixed army led by Macedonian Greeks under Alexander the Great. The region remained under control of Greek satraps for only a few decades. After Alexander's death, there was a brief period of Seleucid rule, before Sindh was traded to the Mauryan Empire led by Chandragupta in 305 BC. During the rule of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, the Buddhist religion spread to Sindh.
Mauryan rule ended in 185 BC with the overthrow of the last king by the Sunga Dynasty. In the disorder that followed, Greek rule returned when Demetrius I of Bactria led a Greco-Bactrian invasion of India and annexed most of northwestern lands, including Sindh. Demetrius was later defeated and killed by a usurper, but his descendants continued to rule Sindh and other lands as the Indo-Greek Kingdom. Under the reign of Menander I many Indo-Greeks followed his example and converted to Buddhism.
In the late 100s BC, Scythian tribes shattered the Greco-Bactrian empire and invaded the Indo-Greek lands. Unable to take the Punjab region, they seized Sistan and invaded South Asia through Sindh, where they became known as Indo-Scythians (later Western Satraps). By the first century AD, the Tocharian Kushan Empire annexed Sindh. Though the Kushans were Zoroastrian due to their former contacts with Persians, they were tolerant of the local Buddhist tradition and sponsored many building projects for local beliefs. Ahirs were also found in large numbers in Sindh.^[10] Abiria country of Abhira tribe was located in southern Sindh.^[11][12] The Kushan Empire was defeated in the mid 200s AD by the Sassanid Empire of Persia, who installed vassals known as the Kushanshahs. These rulers were defeated by the Kidarites in the late 300s. It then came under Gupta Empire after dealing with the Sassanids. By the late 400s, attacks by Hephthalite tribes known as the Indo-Hephthalites or Hunas (Huns) broke through the Gupta Empire's north-western borders and overran much of northern and western India. Later, Sindh came under the rule of Emperor Harshavardhan, then the Rai Dynasty around 478 AD. The Rais were overthrown by Chachar of Alor around 632. The Brahman dynasty ruled a vast territory that stretched from Multan in the north to the Rann of Kutch, Alor was their capital.

Arrival of Islam

A manuscript written during the Abbasid Era.

In 711 AD, Muhammad bin Qasim led an Umayyad force of 20,000 cavalry and 5 catapults. Muhammad bin Qasim defeated the Raja Dahir, and captured the cities of Alor, Multan and Debal. Sindh became the easternmost province of the Umayyad Caliphate and was referred to as "Al-Sindh" on Arab maps, with lands further east known as "Hind". Muhammad bin Qasim built the city of Mansura as his capital; the city then produced famous historical figures such as Abu Mashar Sindhi, Abu Ata al-Sindhi,^[13] Abu Raja Sindhi and Sind ibn Ali. At the port city of Debal most of the Bawarij embraced Islam and became known as Sindhi Sailors; they became famous due to their skills in navigation, geography and languages. After Bin Qasim left the Umayyads ruled Sindh through the Habbari dynasty.
By the year 750 AD, Debal was second only to Basra; Sindhi sailors from the port city of Debal voyaged to Basra, Bushehr, Musqat, Aden, Kilwa, Zanzibar, Sofala, Malabar, Sri Lanka and Java (where Sindhi merchants were known as the Santri). During the power struggle between the Umayyads and the Abbasids. The Habbari Dynasty became semi independent and was eliminated and Mansura was invaded by Mahmud Ghaznavi. Sindh then became an eastern most province of the Abbasid Caliphate ruled by the Soomro Dynasty until the Siege of Baghdad (1258). It should be noted that Mansura was the first capital of the "Soomra Dynasty" and the last of the "Habbari dynasty". Muslim geographers, historians and travelers such as al-Masudi, Ibn Hawqal, Istakhri, Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi, al-Tabari, Baladhuri, Nizami,^[14] al-Biruni, Saadi Shirazi, Ibn Battutah and Katip Çelebi^[15] wrote about or visited the region, sometimes using the name "Sindh" for the entire area from the Arabian Sea to the Hindu Kush.

Soomro period

When Sindh was under the Umayyad Caliphate, the Habbari dynasty was in control. The Umayyads appointed Aziz al Habbari as the governor of Sindh. Habbaris ruled Sindh until Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated the Habbaris in 1024. Mahmud Ghaznavi viewed the Abbasids to be the Caliphs thus he removed the remaining influence of the Umayyad Caliphate in the region and Sindh fell to Abbasid control following the defeat of the Habbaris. The Abbasid Caliphate then made Al Khafif from Samarra, the term 'Soomera' means 'of Samarra' in Sindhi. The new governor of Sindh was to a created a better, stronger and stable government. Once he became the governor he allotted several key positions to his family and friends, thus Al-Khafif or Sardar Khafif Soomro formed the Soomra Dynasty in Sindh and became its first king. Until the Siege of Baghdad (1258) the soomra dynasty was the Abbasid Caliphate's functionary in Sindh but after that it became independent. Since then some soomra's intermarried with local women and adopted some local customs as well. They were the first Muslims to translate the Quran into the Sindhi language.When the Soomra Dynasty lost ties with the Abbasid Caliphate after the Siege of Baghdad (1258) and the Soomro kings Soomar, Bhoongar and Dodo-1, established their rule from the shores of the Arabian Sea to Multan, Bahawalpur, Sadiqabad and Uch in the north and in the east to Rajistan and in the west to Balochistan. The Soomros were one of the first Muslims in Sindh. They created a chivalrous culture in Sindh which eventually facilitated their rule centered at Mansura. Puran was later abandoned due to changes in the course of the Puran River; they ruled for the next 95 years until 1351 AD. During this period, Kutch was ruled by the Samma Dynasty, who enjoyed good relations with the Soomras in Sindh. Since the Soomro Dynasty lost its support from the Abbasid Caliphate. The Sultans of Delhi wanted a piece of Sindh. The Soomro's Successfully defended their Kingdom for about 100 years but their Dynasties Soon fell to the Might of the massive armies Sultans of Delhi such as the Tughluks and the Khiljis

Kalhoro and Mughal period

In the year 1524, the few remaining Sindhi Amirs welcomed the Mughal Empire and Babur dispatched his forces to defeat the Arghuns and the Tarkhans, who had violated the liberties of the inhabitants of the province. In the coming centuries Sindh became a region fiercely loyal to the Mughals. A network of forts manned by cavalry and musketeers further extended Mughal power in Sindh.^[16][17] In 1540 a deadly mutiny by Sher Shah Suri forced the Mughal Emperor Humayun to withdraw to Sindh, where he joined the Sindhi Emir Hussein Umrani. In 1541 Humayun married Hamida Banu Begum. She gave birth to the infant Akbar at Umarkot in the year 1542. In 1556 the Ottoman Admiral Seydi Ali Reis visited Humayun; various regions of the South Asia including Sindh (Makran coast and the Mehran delta) are mentioned in his book Mirat ul Memalik. The Portuguese navigator Fernão Mendes Pinto claims that Sindhi sailors joined the Ottoman Admiral Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis on his expedetion to Aceh in 1565.^[16][18]
During the reign of Akbar, Sindh produced various scholars such as and others such as Mir Ahmed Nasrallah Thattvi, Tahir Muhammad Thattvi and Mir Ali Sir Thattvi and the Mughal chronicler Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak and his brother the poet Faizi was a descendant of a Sindhi Shaikh family from Rel, Siwistan in Sindh. Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak was the author of Akbarnama (an official biographical account of Akbar) and the Ain-i-Akbari (a detailed document recording the administration of the Mughal Empire). It was also during the Mughal period when Sindhi literature began to flourish and historical figures such as Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and Sachal Sarmast became prominent throughout the land. In the year 1603 Shah Jahan visited the province of Sindh; at Thatta he was generously welcomed by the locals after the death of his father Jahangir. Shah Jahan ordered the construction of the Shahjahan Mosque, which was completed during the early years of his rule under the supervision of Mirza Ghazi Beg. Also during his reign, in the year 1659 in the Mughal Empire, Muhammad Salih Tahtawi of Thatta created a seamless celestial globe with Arabic and Persian inscriptions using a wax casting method.^[19][20] Sindh was also home to very famous wealthy merchant-rulers such as Mir Bejar of Sindh, whose great wealth had attracted the alliance of Sultan bin Ahmad of Oman.^[21] After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire and its institutions began to decline. Various warring Nawabs took control of vast territories; they ruled independently of the Mughal Emperor.
In the year 1701 the Nawab Kalhora were authorized in a firman by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb to administer the province of Sindh. In 1739, Main Noor Mohammad Kalhoro challenged the invader Nadir Shah but failed according to legend. To avenge the massacre of his allies, the capture of Main Noor Mohammad Kalhoro and the abduction of his sons.Main Noor Mohammad Kalhoro sent a small force to assassinate Nadir Shah and turn events in favor of the Mughal Emperor during the Battle of Karnal in 1739, but remained unsuccessful. In 1762, Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro brought stability in Sindh, he reorganized the province and independently defeated the Marathas and their prominent vassal the Rao of Kuch in the Thar Desert and returned victoriously. After the Sikhs annexed Multan, the Kalhora Dynasty supported counterattacks against the Sikhs and defined their borders, however due to the lack of internal stability the Kalhoras could not continue further conquests.^[22] In the year 1783 Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II issued a firman, which designated Mir Fateh Ali Khan Talpur as the new Nawab of Sindh, and mediated peace particularly after the ferocious Battle of Halani and the defeat of the ruling Kalhora by the Talpur tribes.^[23]

British Raj

Mir Nasir Khan Talpur before the Battle of Miani.

Emir Hosh Muhammad Sheedi (Hoshu Sheedi) at Dubbo

Sindh became part of the Bombay Presidency in 1909.

In the year 1802 as Mir Ghulam Ali Khan Talpur succeeded as the Nawab internal tension broke out in the province and in the year 1803, prompting the Maratha Empire to declare a war of aggression against Sindh and Berar Subah, in which Arthur Wellesley took a leading role. Causing much early suspicion between the Emirs of Sindh and the British Empire.^[24] The British East India Company made its first contacts in the Sindhi port city of Thatta, which according to a report was: "a city as large as London containing 50,000 houses which were made of stone and mortar with large verandahs some three or four stories high ... the city has 3,000 looms ... the textiles of Sind were the flower of the whole produce of the East, the international commerce of Sind gave it a place among that of Nations, Thatta has 400 schools and 4,000 Dhows at its docks, the city is guarded by well armed Sepoys".
British and Bengal Presidency forces under General Charles James Napier arrived in Sindh in the nineteenth century and conquered Sindh in 1843. General Napier was famously supposed to have reported his conquest of the province to his superiors with the one-word message 'peccavi', a pun relying on the Latin word's meaning, "I have sinned." The Sindhi coalition led by Talpurs and other Sindhi tribes under Mir Nasir Khan Talpur were defeated in the Battle of Miani, during which 50,000 Sindhis were killed. Shortly afterward, Hoshu Sheedi commanded another army at the Battle of Dubbo, where 5,000 Sindhis were killed. The first Agha Khan helped the British in their conquest of Sindh, and as result he was granted a lifetime pension. A British Journal^[25] by Thomas Postans, mentions the captive Sindhi Amirs: "The Amirs as being the prisoners of "Her Majesty"... they are maintained in strict seclusion; they are described as Broken-Hearted and Miserable men, maintaining much of the dignity of fallen greatness, and without any querulous or angry complaining at this unlivable source of sorrow, refusing to be comforted"
Within weeks, Charles Napier and his forces occupied Sindh. After 1853, the British divided Sindh into districts. Sindh was forced to become a part of the Hindu dominated Bombay Presidency. In a highly controversial move, Sindh was later made part of British India's Bombay Presidency—much to the surprise of the local population, who found the decision highly offensive. A powerful unrest followed, after which Twelve Martial Laws were imposed by the British authorities. Finally the decision was reversed by the British administration and Sindh became a separate province in 1935. Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi pioneered the famous Sindhi Muslim, Hur Freedom Movement against colonialists for the freedom of Sindh. Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi was hanged on 20 March 1943 in Hyderabad, Sindh. His burial place is not known. During the British period, railways, printing presses and bridges were introduced in the province. Writers like Mirza Kalich Beg compiled and traced the literary history of Sindh.

Pakistan Resolution in the Sindh Assembly

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, spoke five languages including Sindhi, Kutchi, Urdu, Gujarati, and English

The Sindh assembly was the first British Indian legislature to pass the resolution in favour of Pakistan. Influential Sindhi activists under supervision of G.M. Syed and other important leaders at the forefront of the provincial autonomy movement, joined the Muslim League in 1938 and presented the Pakistan resolution in the Sindh Assembly. In 1890 Sindh acquired representation for the first time in the Bombay Legislative Assembly. Four members represented Sindh. Those leaders and many others from Sindh played an important role in ensuring the separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency, which finally took place on 1 April 1936. The newly created province, Sindh, secured a Legislative Assembly of its own, elected on the basis of communal and minorities' representation. Sir Lancelot Graham was appointed as the first Governor of Sindh by the British Government on 1 April 1936. He was also the Head of the Council, which comprised 25 Members, including two advisors from the Bombay Council to administer the affairs of Sindh until 1937. The British ruled the area for a century. According to Richard Burton^{[citation needed]}, Sindh was one of the most restive provinces during the British Raj and was at least original home to many prominent Muslim leaders such as Ubaidullah Sindhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (neither of whom were Sindhi) who strove for greater Muslim autonomy.

Creation of Pakistan

On 14 August 1947, Pakistan was created according to two nation theory. The province of Sindh attained self-rule for the first time since the defeat of Sindhi Talpur Amirs in the Battle of Miani on 17 February 1843. The first major challenge faced by the Government of Pakistan was the settlement of over 2 million Muhajirs from India who began migrating into newly created Pakistan. Although a small minority of Hindus remained, the overwhelming majority of Hindus felt compelled to flee and settled throughout Western India, many arriving as pathetic refugees who had to struggle to rebuild their lives in India. In 1947 Sindh joined Pakistan by vote of members of legislature. Ever since the independence of Pakistan, Sindh has produced some of the country's most influential personalities. More emphasis however needs to be placed on its rural areas and the status of education in the province.