Sindhi people

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This article is about the socio-ethnic group of South Asia. For other uses, see Sindhi.
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Sindhis
Benazir Bhutto, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Lal Krishna Advani
Total population

64.8 million
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Pakistan Pakistan: 39,842,000 [1]
Flag of India India: 1,890,000 [2]

Flag of the United States USA: 450,000
Languages
Sindhi, Urdu
Religion
Islam, Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
 Indo-Aryans: Khojas • Memons • Gujaratis • Seraikis • Biharis • Marathis • Punjabis • Sindhi Baloch

Sindhis (Sindhi: سنڌي ) are an Indo-Aryan language speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating in Sindh in Pakistan. Sindhis that live in Pakistan are predominantly Muslim but there are also smaller minorities of Parsis, Hindus and Christians. Many Sindhi Hindus imigrated to India at the time of independence in 1947. The Sindhi language is an Indo-Aryan tongue with an eclectic history like the Sindhis themselves.

Contents

History

The original inhabitants of ancient Sindh were believed to be aboriginal tribes speaking languages related to Munda languages. The Dravidian culture blossomed over the centuries and gave rise to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient Sindh (now in present-day Pakistan) around 3000 BC. The Indus Valley Civilization went into decline; historians cannot agree on the cause of the decline, but some theories include invasion of Indo-Aryan] tribes from Eastern Europe or the change in the course of the Indus River.

The ancient civilization of what came to be known as Mohenjodaro and Harappa both derive their modern location names from the Sindhi language as opposed to the language of the Indus Valley Civilization which remains undeciphered.

In Sindhi, Moen-Jo-Daro (Moen means "dead people", Jo means of "and", Daro means "mound"), so it means mound of the dead. Due to the geographical location of this city, it was prone to being flooded. One such calamity saw the entire city flooded and remained under water for a long time, buried under mountains of sand. A branch of the Aryan invadors called the Indo-Aryans are believed to have founded the Vedic Civilization that have existed between Sarasvati River and Ganges river around 1500 BC and also influenced Indus Valley Civilization. This civilization helped shape subsequent cultures in the South Asia.

Muslim travellers, specifically the great Persian scholar Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī in his book 'Kitab-ul-Hind', has declared that even before the advent of Islam into Sindh (711 A.D.), Sindhi was prevalent in Sindh. It was not only widely spoken but written too in different scripts. Al-Beruni has described many Sindhi words leading to the conclusion, that Sindhi was widely spoken and poor in vocabulary in his times.

Sindh was often the final stop for Middle Eastren and Central Asian empires such as the Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks and Pashtuns this gave Sindh a distinct and unique culture even before the arrival of Islam.

The site of historical activity, Sindh was at the crossroads of civilization sitting at the edge of South Asia. Sindh was also one of the regions to become predominantly Muslim and was part of the earliest Islamic empires of the Abbasids and Umayyids. The Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and Sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world to Islamic Sultanate in Sindh. The Muslim Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting the millions of native people 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.

In 1947, Pakistan and India attained independence. Nearly 7 million Muslims from India migrated to Pakistan while nearly equal number of Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan migrated to India. The [Muslim]] refugees (known as Muhajirs from India settled in most urban areas of Sindh. While the Hindu Sindhis settled in India and later migrated to other parts of the world. A Sindhi community lives in the city of Ulhasnagar, Maharashtra, India.

Culture and society of Sindh

Culture is a sense of ultimate values possessed by a particular society which it has expressed in its collective institutions, which its individual members express in their dispositions, feelings, attitudes and manners as well as in significant forms which they give to material objects.

This definition can also be taken up further. Given all that is explicitly laid out in the above definition, we can think of a group of people with the sense of common history - each successive wave of aggressions settling down to take up arms against the next wave. Common traditions as well as multiplication of common interests give rise to the flourishing of a civilization.

Culture and civilization require to be perfectly distinguished from each other. We have seen a lot of controversy over the demarcation between the two. It is not necessary that culture and civilization should go together. History is full of interesting situations to vouchsafe for this opinion. One of the major civilizations, considered to be highly virile and forward -looking has been accused by some of the world's eminent Kultrekritikers as being devoid of culture. This is the Roman civilization. Another good example, this time quite the reverse, is provided by Christianity which is said to have provided the distinct cultural norms but no civilization at all. This points out to the fact that a civilization, by having the clan vital of a culture in its muscles stands a good chance of flourishing if it manages to keep its distinguishing essence intact. It is quite difficult to trace the fundamentals of Sindhi culture in this short paper. But Sind, has its specific culture. Culture is, no doubt, quite an abstract term in spite of the veritability of the physical and mental existence.

Every society has to pass through the idealistic phase in its mental make-up and some shades of a cultural group's mental make-up defy any attempt at complete erasure. Together with this, it is also worthwhile to look into the ultimate standards or norms a people treat as Absolutes in their journey through time. It is so useful to enquire as to what the changes are which the idealistic contours of a given case undergo in the face of internal and external challenges

The Sindhis have thriving culture since independence of Pakistan in 1947.. The Sindhi politicians, scientists, scholars, soldiers, artists, and poets form major part of the country. The Sindhi language have produced many works by writers and poets. The 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 which served as President, Prime Minister and Senate chairman and major political n leaders of Pakistan.

Economy

Sindh has became the most industrialized and urbanized province of Pakistan. The head offices of Pakistani companies and regional offices international companies are located in Sindh. The Sindhis have been in forefront in economic development of the province. The new dams and canals have irrgated many areas that were barren. Sindh produces many agricultural product for export.

Politics

The founding father od Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was Sindhi. The 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 which served as President, Prime Minister and Senate chairman and major political n leaders of Pakistan. While in the province of Sindh. the Sindhi have always dominated the governments and its various departments.

Sindhi literature

Sindhi poetry

A few famous poets of today's Sindh are Makhdoom Talibul Mola, Ustaad Bukhari, Shaikh Ayaz, Darya Khan Rind, Makhdoom Amin Faheem, Imdad Hussani and others.

Sindhi writers

Some of the famous prominent contemprory Sindhi writers are Shaikh Ayaz, Abdur Razak Raaz, Dr Ayaz Qadri, Jamal Abro, Ghulam Rabbani Agro, Najam Abbasi, Hameed Sindhi, Amar Jalil, Agha Salim, Nasim Kharal, Tariq Ashraf, Ali Baba Siraj, Ghulam Nabi Mughal, and others.

Sindhi intellectuals

The some of the prominents Sindhi writers and intellectuals are: Rasool Bux Palijo, Mohammad Ibrahim Joyo, Noorul Huda Shah, Dr. Qazi Khadim, Gigi Zarina Baloch, Tajal Bewas, Khairunisa Jafry, Prof. Ameer Ali Qadri, Ayaz Latif Palijo, Inayat Baloch, Mahitab Mahboob, Hasan Mujtaba, Mahitab Rashdi, Hamid Sindhi, Bedal Masroor, and others.

Sindhi mass media

There are many Sindhi periodicals published in Sindh. There are Sindhi language radio stations, television stations and satellite channels.

Sindhi newspapers

The following are some of prominent Sindhi newspapers: Daily Kawish, Daily Ibrat, Daily Awami Awaz, Daily Hilal Pakistan, Daily Sindhu, Daily Alakh, Daily Tameer-e-Sindh, Daily Koshish, Daily Mehran, Daily Sach, Daily Sham, Daily Safeer, Daily Sindh, Daily Sobh, Daily Khabroon, Daily Halchal, and others.

Sindhi Magazines

Sindhi magazines have also been very popular medium among their readers. Not too many names of magazines are found in this language. All sorts of magazines including general interest, educational, fashion are found in this language. Children are also entertained through the special edition published for them.

Sindhi radio and television

There are Sindhi language radio stations, television stations and satellite channels. The most prominent is the Kawish Television Network.

Indian Hindu Sindhis

Today, Hindu Sindhis are predominantly found in India but are also scattered throughout the world. Communities can be found in Spain, Lagos, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila, London, Canada and the United States. The Hindus still remain in Sindh, but their exact numbers are not available. The geographic distribution of Hindu Sindhis strongly reflects historical and contemporary trade routes.

In India, the Sindhi poet Narain Shyam and fiction writer Mohan Kalpana has led the development of Sindhi literature in India has followed a separate track.

See also

References

  1. ^ Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan - Population by Mother Tongue
  2. ^ Ethnologue report for India

Related Websites

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sindhi_people"

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