History of Sindh

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The history of Sindh is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and surrounding regions. Sindh was at the center of the Indus Valley civilization, one of the cradle of civilization; and currently a province of modern-day Pakistan.


Pre-Islamic era

Indus Valley Civilisation

Mohenjo-Daro ruins

It is believed by most scholars that the earliest trace of human inhabitation in India traces to the Soan Sakaser Valley between the Indus and the Jhelum rivers. This period goes back to the first inter-glacial period in the Second Ice Age, and remnants of stone and flint tools have been found.

Sindh and surrounding areas contain the ruins of the Indus Valley Civilization. There are remnants of thousand year old cities and structures, with a notable example in Sindh being that of Mohenjo Daro. Hundreds of settlements have been found spanning an area of about a hundred miles. These ancient towns and cities had advanced features such as city-planning, brick-built houses, sewage and drainage systems, as well as public baths. The people of the Indus Valley also developed a writing system, that has to this day still not been fully deciphered. The people of the Indus Valley had domesticated bovines, sheep, elephants, and camels. The civilization also had knowledge of metallurgy. Gold, silver, copper, tin, and alloys were widely in use. Arts and crafts flourished during this time as well; the use of beads, seals, pottery, and bracelets are evident.

Vedic descriptions

Map of India during the Vedic period, including Sindh.

Literary evidence from the Vedic period suggests a transition from early small janas, or tribes, to many janapadas (territorial civilizations) and gana-samgha societies. The gana samgha societies are loosely translated to being oligarchies or republics. These political entities were represented from the Rigveda to the Astadhyayi by Pāṇini. Many Janapadas were mentioned from vedic texts and are confirmed by Ancient Greek historical sources. Most of the Janapadas that had exerted large territorial influence, or mahajanapadas, had been raised in the Indo-Gangetic Plain with the exception of Gandhara in what is now Afghanistan. There was a large level of contact between all the janapadas, with descriptions being given of trading caravans, movement of students from universities, and itineraries of princes.


Achaemenid Empire

Alexander the Great
Alexander conquered Sindh after Punjab. Alexander's death gave rise to Seleucid Empire which was defeated by Mauryan empire.


Mauryan Era

Chandragupta Maurya, with the aid of Kautilya, had established his empire around 320 BCE. The early life of Chandragupta Maurya is not clear. Kautilya took a young Chandragupta to the University at Taxila and enrolled him in order to educate him in the arts, sciences, logic, mathematics, warfare, and administration. Chankya's main task was to liberate India from Greek rule. With the help of the small Janapadas of Punjab and Sindh, he had went on to conquer much of the North West. He then defeated the Nanda rulers in Pataliputra to capture the throne. Chandragupta Maurya fought Alexander's successor in the east, Seleucus I Nicator, when the latter invaded. In a peace treaty, Seleucus ceded all territories west of the Indus River and offered a marriage, including a portion of Bactria, while Chandragupta granted Seleucus 500 elephants.

The Mauryan rule was advanced for its time, and foreign accounts of Indian cities mention many temples, libraries, universities, gardens, and parks. A notable account was that of the Greek ambassador Megasthenes, who had visited the Mauryan capital of Pataliputra. Chandragupta's rule was a very well organized one. The Mauryans had a strong centralized government with a competent bureaucracy. This bureaucracy had concerned itself with the affairs of tax collection, trade and commerce, industrial activities, mining, statistics and data, maintenance of public places, and upkeep of temples.

The Mauryan Empire was greatly weakened following the death of Ashoka. The dynasty lasted until c.184 B.C when the commander-in-chief captured the throne from Brihadratha. What remained under the power of the Mauryans was ruled by the subsequent Sunga dynasty.

Greco-Bactrians

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 Buddhist city of Siraj-ji-Takri is located along the western limestone terraces of the Rohri Hills in the Sukkur district of Upper Sindh, along the road that leads to Sorah. Its ruins are still visible on the top of three different mesas, in the form of stone and mud-brick walls and small mounds, whilst other architectural remains were observed along the slopes of the hills in the 1980s. This city is not mentioned from any text dealing with the history of the Buddhist period of Sindh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sindh

 

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Kushan Empire

Kushans ruled Sindh and called the land ''Scythia'' and in this period Buddhist developed in the region.Kahu-jo-Daro stupa at mirpurkhas exhibits presence of buddhist practices in Sindh.

Sassanian Empire

Sassanians overthrow Kushans in 3rd century controlled sindh until end of 5th century when they were overthrown by Gupta empire

Gupta Empire

Gupta empire controlled SIndh for a short period before they were defeated by Hephthalite or Hunas (Huns)

Rai Dynasty (c. 524–632 CE)



Buddha from the Kahu-jo-daro stupa



Thul Mir Rukan stupa near Dadu

was a dynasty that ruled on the Indian subcontinent during the Classical period. Originating in the region of Sindh, in modern Pakistan, the dynasty at its height of power ruled much of the Northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent. The influence of the Rais extended from Kashmir in the east, Makran and Debal port (modern Karachi) in the west, Surat port in the south, and the Kandahar, Sulaiman, Ferdan and Kikanan hills in the north. It ruled an area of over 600,000 square miles (1,553,993 km2), and the dynasty reigned a period of 143 years.


Brahman dynasty (c. 632 – c. 724 CE)



Brahman Chach dynasty 700 AD

It was a Hindu power on the Indian subcontinent which originated in the region of Sindh(present-day Pakistan). Most of the information about its existence comes from the Chach Nama, a historical account of the Chach-Brahman dynasty. The Brahman dynasty were successors of the Rai dynasty. Although under Hindu kingship, buddhism was the main religion of Sindh or at least in Southern parts of SIndh.

 

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Muslim era


The old Alamgir Mosque at Aror/Alore 8th century

Arab Conquests

After the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Arab expansion towards the east reached the Sindh region beyond Persia. An initial expedition in the region launched because of the Sindhi pirate attacks on Arabs in 711-12, failed.

The first clash with the Hindu kings of Sindh took place in 636 (15 A.H.) under Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab with the governor of Bahran, Uthman ibn Abu-al-Aas,
dispatching naval expeditions against Thane and Bharuch under the command of his brother, Hakam. Another brother of his, al-Mughira, was given the command of the expedition against Debal. Al-Baladhuri states they were victorious at Debal but doesn't mention the results of other two raids. However, the Chach Nama states that the raid of Debal was defeated and its governor killed the leader of the raids.

Reasons for these raids are thought it be either activity of pirates as seen from a later pirate attack on Umayyad ships leading to the Arab conquest of Sindh in 711-12 to being plundering raids. Al-Baladhuri doesn't mention any details of these expeditions. Uthman was warned by Umar against it who said "O brother of Thaqif, you have put the worm on the wood. I swear, by Allah that if they had been smitten, I would have taken the equivalent (in men) from your families." Baladhuri adds that this stopped any more incursions until the reign of Uthman.

In 712, when Mohammed Bin Qasim invaded Sindh with 8000 cavalry while also receiving reinforcements. Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf instructed him not to spare anyone in Debal. The historian al-Baladhuri stated that after conquest of Debal, Qasim kept slaughtering its inhabitants for three days. The custodians of the Buddhist stupa were killed and the temple was destroyed. Qasim gave a quarter of the city to Muslims and built a mosque there. According to the Chach Nama, after the Arabs scaled Debal's walls, the besieged denizens opened the gates and pleaded for mercy but Qasim stated he had no orders to spare anyone. No mercy was shown and the inhabitants were accordingly thus slaughtered for three days, with its temple desecrated and 700 women taking shelter there enslaved. At Roar, 6000 fighting men were massacred with their families enslaved. The massacre at Brahmanabad has various accounts of 6,000 to 26,000 inhabitants slaughtered.

60,000 slaves including 30 young royal women were sent to al-Hajjaj. During the capture of one of the forts of Sindh, the women committed the jauhar and burnt themselves to death according to the Chach Nama. S.A.A. Rizvi citing the Chach Nama, considers that conversion to Islam by political pressure began with Qasim's conquests. The Chach Nama has one instance of conversion, that of a slave from Debal converted at Qasim's hands. After executing Sindh's ruler, Raja Dahir, his two daughters were sent to the caliph and they accused Qasim of raping them. The caliph ordered Qasim to be sewn up in hide of a cow and died of suffocation.
14th to 18th century shows Gujarati, Persian and mughal architectural influences.

Ghaznavids

Some of the territory in Sindh found itself under raid from the Ghaznavid Empire. In 974 Pirin, the slave-governor of Ghazni, repulsed a force sent from India to seize that stronghold, then in 977 Sabuktigin, his successor, became virtually independent and founded the dynasty of the Ghaznavids. Sabuktagin's son Mahmud of Ghazni had pushed further into the subcontinent, including in Kannauj. Mahmud is viewed negatively in India for forcing Hindus and Buddhists to convert to Islam while destroying and looting Hindu temples. The primary motivation of his raids were the destruction and looting of Hindu temples, with examples being that of Somnath temple and the temples at Mathura.


Mughals


Administrative map of Sindh, 1608~1700

Dynasties came and went for several hundred years until 1520, when sindh was brought into the Mughal Empire by Akbar, himself born in Umerkot in Sindh. Mughal rule from their provincial capital of Thatta was to last in lower Sindh until the early 18th century. Upper Sindh was a different picture, however, with the indigenous Kalhora dynasty holding power, consolidating their rule until the mid-18th century, when the Persian sacking of the Mughal throne in Delhi allowed them to grab the rest of Sindh. Akbar unlike his predecessors, was renowned for his religious freedom.

Early in his reign in 1563, the emperor abolished taxes on Hindu pilgrims and allowed Hindu temples to be built and repaired. In 1564 he abolished the jizya, the tax paid by all dhimmis.

 

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Modern era



The St. Patrick's Cathedral and Monument to Christ the King in Karachi.


The British conquered Sindh in 1843. General Charles Napier is said to have reported victory to the Governor General with a one-word telegram, namely "Peccavi" – or "I have sinned" (Latin). In fact, this pun first appeared as a cartoon in Punch magazine. The British had two objectives in their rule of Sindh: the consolidation of British rule and the use of Sindh as a market for British products and a source of revenue and raw materials. With the appropriate infrastructure in place, the British hoped to utilise Sindh for its economic potential.

The British incorporated Sindh, some years later after annexing it, into the Bombay Presidency. Distance from the provincial capital, Bombay, led to grievances that Sindh was neglected in contrast to other parts of the Presidency. The merger of Sindh into Punjab province was considered time from time but was turned down because of British disagreement and Sindhi opposition, both from Muslims and Hindus, to being annexed to Punjab.

The British desired to increase their profitability from Sindh and carried out extensive work on the irrigation system in Sindh, for example the Jamrao Canal project. However, the local Sindhis were described as both eager and lazy and for this reason the British authorities encouraged the immigration of Punjabi peasants into Sindh as they were deemed more hard-working. Punjabi migrations to Sindh paralleled the further development of Sindh’s irrigation system in the early 20th century. Sindhi apprehension of a ‘Punjabi invasion’ grew.

In his backdrop, desire for a separate administrative status for Sindh grew. At the annual session of the Indian National Congress in 1913, a Sindhi Hindu put forward the demand for Sindh’s separation from the Bombay Presidency on the grounds of Sindh’s unique cultural character. This reflected the desire of Sindh’s predominantly Hindu commercial class to free itself from competing with the more powerful Bombay’s business interests. Meanwhile, Sindhi politics was characterised in the 1920s by the growing importance of Karachi and the Khilafat Movement. A number of Sindhi pirs, descendants of Sufi saints who had proselytize in Sindh, joined the Khilafat Movement, which propagated the protection of the Ottoman Caliphate, and those pirs who did not join the movement found a decline in their following. The pirs generated huge support for the Khilafat cause in Sindh. Sindh came to be at the forefront of the Khilafat Movement.

Although Sindh had a cleaner record of communal harmony than other parts of India, the province’s Muslim elite and emerging Muslim middle class demanded separation of Sindh from Bombay Presidency as a safeguard for their own interests. In this campaign local Sindhi Muslims identified ‘Hindu’ with Bombay instead of Sindh. Sindhi Hindus were seen as representing the interests of Bombay instead of the majority of Sindhi Muslims. Sindhi Hindus, for the most part, opposed the separation of Sindh from Bombay. Sindh’s Hindu and Muslim communities lived in close proximity to each other and extensively influenced each other’s culture. Scholars have discussed that it was found that Hindu practices in Sindh differed from orthodox Hinduism in the rest of India. Hinduism in Sindh was to a large extent influenced by Islam, Sikhism and Sufism. Sindh’s religious syncretism was a result of Sufism. Sufism was a vital component of Sindhi Muslim identity and Sindhi Hindus, more than Hindus in any other part of India, came under the influence of Sufi thought and practices and the majority of them were murids (followers) of Sufi Muslim saints.

However, both the Muslim landed elite, waderas, and the Hindu commercial elements, banias, collaborated in oppressing the predominantly Muslim peasantry of Sindh who were economically exploited. In Sindh’s first provincial election after its separation from Bombay in 1936, economic interests were an essential factor of politics informed by religious and cultural issues. Due to British policies, much land in Sindh was transferred from Muslim to Hindu hands over the decades. Religious tensions rose in Sindh over the Sukkur Manzilgah issue where Muslims and Hindus disputed over an abandoned mosque in proximity to an area sacred to Hindus. The Sindh Muslim League exploited the issue and agitated for the return of the mosque to Muslims. Consequentially, a thousand members of the Muslim League were imprisoned. Eventually, due to panic the government restored the mosque to Muslims.

The separation of Sindh from Bombay Presidency triggered Sindhi Muslim nationalists to support the Pakistan Movement. Even while the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province were ruled by parties hostile to the Muslim League, Sindh remained loyal to Jinnah. Although the prominent Sindhi Muslim nationalist G.M. Syed left the All India Muslim League in the mid-1940s and his relationship with Jinnah never improved, the overwhelming majority of Sindhi Muslims supported the creation of Pakistan, seeing in it their deliverance. Sindhi support for the Pakistan Movement arose from the desire of the Sindhi Muslim business class to drive out their Hindu competitors. The Muslims League’s rise to becoming the party with the strongest support in Sindh was in large part linked to its winning over of the religious pir families. Although the Muslim League had previously fared poorly in the 1937 elections in Sindh, when local Sindhi Muslim parties won more seats,the Muslim League’s cultivation of support from the pirs and sayyids of Sindh in 1946 helped it gain a foothold in the province.

In 1947, violence did not constitute a major part of the Sindhi partition experience, unlike in Punjab. There were very few incidents of violence on Sindh, in part due to the Sufi-influenced culture of religious tolerance and in part that Sindh was not divided and was instead made part of Pakistan in its entirety. Sindhi Hindus who left generally did so out of a fear of persecution, rather than persecution itself, because of the arrival of Muslim refugees from India. Sindhi Hindus differentiated between the local Sindhi Muslims and the migrant Muslims from India. A large number of Sindhi Hindus travelled to India by sea, to the ports of Bombay, Porbandar, Veraval and Okha.

 

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British explorer Charles Masson passed through Khairpur in 1829, while Mir Sohrab was still alive, and saw his court, Sohrab Manzil, from the outside. In his Narrative of Various Journeys, he notes that the Mir’s “palace” was located in the “the very centre of the bazaars,” that its boundary wall contained battlements, and that “from the exterior, the only prominent object is the cupola of the masjid , decorated with green and yellow painted tiles.” By the time Langley saw it, almost three decades later, “the ruinous old house,” which stood within “the crumbling walls of a mud fort,” had fallen into disuse and was completely empty. “As the place reminded Mir Ali Murad of his father’s death,” explains Mir Mehdi, “he avoided staying there altogether.” Instead, he would pitch tent in a garden called ‘Dobagh,’ on the outskirts of the town.

 

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SEHWAN THROUGH THE CENTURIES

By Late Prof. C. L. Mariwalla – recompiled by J. C. Mariwalla


It seems a strange irony of fate that like all material things cities must also rise and fall.

Sehwan in central Sindh has its own past and one worthy of recount. Today it may seem a haunt or a hamlet but the days of her glory are not unknown to the world. It had an enviable past since the Hindu Raj, long before the Macedonians invaded the country, till the time of Talpurs. “When our rule began the place declined in its scale of prosperity” so wrote Burton. Sehwan throughout these long centuries has enjoyed an importance of its own. It has been for a time the capital of the province. The well known ecstatic prince Raja Bharat Hari resided here. Along with Shikarpur and Thatta it has been the market place of Sindh. It also enjoyed strategic importance till the Indus forsook it in the last century. Its antiquity is unquestionable and unsurpassed. The Sindh Gazetteer says that there is not town in all Sindh still surviving which can be traced as far back as Sehwan. And Dr. Kennedy remarks in this connection, “The ruins of Sehwan form by far the most important relic of antiquity, the only spot worth visiting to satisfy curiosity of this kind in all Sindh.”

Sehwan has undergone many modifications in its name. It has been plausibly identified with Sindemona, so says the Gazetteer. Sehwan bears other names that have their justification. Todd identifies Sehwan with Shivistan or Siwistan meaning the abode of Lord Shiva, thus giving us a clue that it had existed in the Hindu period. Sehwan was the seat of Raja Bharat Hari during the reign of his brother Vikramaditya, Chandragupt II. Further the Fort of Sehwan is populary called Kafir Killa, meaning that it existed long before Mohammedan conquest of Sindh. All these facts show that Sehwan definitely belongs to the Hindu period.

Sehwan, in central Sindh, is situated on an eminence at the verge of a swamp. “Sehwan was almost surrounded by water commanding the Lakki pass. It was a place that every invader was bound to seize and to keep hold of, if he wished to be sure of his position.” The strategic importance of this place was recognized even by the British military officers, just before the conquest of Sindh. Strategically situated, Sehwan was well protected by soaring Lakki hills for a back drop and the Indus touched its feet and enriched the lands surrounding it with its rich alluvium. Sehwan is about eleven miles from 'Lakky' village and nearly twelve miles from Manchhar lake. While its commanding look beckoned the warriors of yore to occupy it, if they wished to be the masters of the valley, the green verdure of its extensive hinterland lured men of enterprise and ingenuity to it, to harness bountiful nature for their benefit. The Indus, flowing near by the town, made Sehwan an entrepot of commerce of an unfathomable magnitude. Because of its commanding position Sehwan became the capital city of the region from early Hindu times till the Muslim conquest of Sindh in 711 A.D. Thereafter too it invariably was the 'seat of government' right upto British times.

SOME OF THE FAMOUS LANDMARKS OF SEHWAN ARE :

Great Fort of Sehwan :

The early rulers had realized that Sehwan commanded a key position in the centre of Sindh and therefore they erected here a massive fort.

There is a tradition at Sehwan that the fort was built by Alexander the Great. But there is other evidence to show that the fort had existed before Alexander came to India and it may be conjectured correctly that he got it repaired to suit his army requirements. The considered opinion of Dr. Kennedy and Sir Burton is that the arches of the fort and other peculiarities are indisputably oriental and not Grecian. Burton says, “It cannot, I humbly opine, be of Grecian origin for two reasons, the arches are Asiatic and the broken bits of man's handwork scattered about in its entrails are purely oriental.” The fort is popularly known as “Kafir Killa” giving us a clue that “it was built by the infidels before Allah delivered them to the sword of the prophet.” Its massive brick-work like that of Kalankot near Thatta also points to the same conclusion. The Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey 1895-96 wrote “In the bottom of some of the gorges may be found a few of the very old style bricks which date back to the beginning of the Christian Era. Hence it may be asserted that the fort at Sehwan belongs to the days of the Hindu Rule”

History has many instances on record of the siege of this fort. Raja Chach, after usurping the throne of Sindh went on a tour of his dominions. He had to face acute opposition at the hands of Mattah, the Governor of Sehwan, but eventually Chach succeeded and the fort passed into his hands. Once again in the early years of the 8th century A.D. Md. Kasim invaded the country and laid siege to the fort of Sehwan. Bachera, the nephew of the ruling Monarch, Dahar, commanded the fort. The population was Budhistic and hence they were reluctant to fight and the fort of Sehwan was ceded to Islam without opposition.

During the Moghul rule Sehwan was the scene of offence several times. Humayun having lost India on the banks of the Ganges and ran for his life followed by Sher Shah. He came to Sindh in 1541 to consolidate his position. After leaving Charbagh near Bakhur, he came down to Pat and had his love affair. Thence “the fugitive emperor made a determined attempt to get the possession of Sehwan, but it was strongly fortified and defied him.” It was taken by Akbar after seven months investment and was dismantled. Once again it became the scene of action when Aurangzeb and Dara contested the throne of Delhi. Dara the beloved son of his father, having been defeated by his own brother Aurangzeb, near the capital had come down to Lahore to make a fresh and determined bid for the throne. But soon he had to flee from Lahore. Hot pursuit of his brother's blood-hounds did not afford Dara to think for a moment wither he was bound, till he was closed up by his enemies near Sehwan. Here his position became definitely disappointing and the final doom loomed large in the camp of his followers. In the small bed of the Indus near Sehwan he was surrounded by his blood thirsty enemies. On the left bank of Indus he was faced with heavy guns mounted on the bassions of the Sehwan fort, under the personal supervision of Md. Saleh Targhan, the Killadar; on the other side Shikan Khan was coming at the head of powerful and large army. It was not time for effecting a retreat since on the other side Shaikh Mir was coming in hot haste to blockade the fugitive prince. It seemed the flame of life was getting extinguished. It was pretty exhausted. At this time nature came to rescue. A storm broke out. It suddenly became dark and in that hour of trial Dara was saved. His fleet was carried away by the wind to a place of safety. Thus Dara was detained to witness further humiliation and pain before he was finally released from this mundane world. And thus Sehwan was saved (spared) from the sin of the murder of a pious Sufi like Dara.

As late as the 18th century Nadir Shah, after the ransack of Delhi, while on his way back to his native land, dropped in Sindh and during that time, Sehwan was ransacked by the invader's army and the well known Seth Naoomal Hotchand Bhojwani the first Indian C.S.I complains in his memoirs that their Kothi, then situated at Sehwan was completely destroyed and all their saved sovereigns, secretly concealed in the beams supporting the walls of their house were made good by the army.


Yak Thambhi :

A structure standing on a single pillar. It is really a cave in a rock, standing on a single pillar of that rocky stone. It is believed that Lal Shahbaz Kalandar, had first occupied this, as his abode, before he entered and earned himself a shrine that none has so far secured in all Sindh. The suggestion of Dr. Cousens that this cave is a relic of bygone stone age when no families had existed has no formidable argument to support it. The cave is pretty dark and warm. Above this spot is an octagonal stand of well baked bricks. On the four alternate sides stand four poles which seem to be like the holders of a Shamiana. This place has commanding view. It is said to have been used by the rulers for reviewing their troops.

Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Kalandar :

Sehwan had certainly declined from its earlier glory by the 13th century. But it rose to distinction, once again, by becoming the resting place of “one of the greatest of all saints who have bequeathed their bones to Sindh” namely, Lal Shahbaz Kalander. A Mausoleum stands in the heart of the town wherein lie the remains of the great one. He is so much venerated for his piety that the compiler of the Gazetteer of the province of Sindh is at a loss to find out as to who originally built the tomb of this holy man. He writes, “It would be difficult to say who built his tomb, for almost every pious ruler of Sindh or Sehwan has contributed something to it.” Burton writes about the tomb thus “This quadrangle with a dome and lantern is hounoured to Usman-i-Merwandi, popularly called Kalader Lal Shahbaz or the Red Falcon of Merwandi, his natal province. The mausoleum is one of the seven wonders of the Sindhian world for magnitude and magnificence.

The shrine is sacred to both Hindu and the Muslim. To the Muslims because he was “Lal Saeen” and to the Hindu because he believes him to be the reincarnation of Raja Bharat Hari and due to the tradition that Raja Bharat Hari's Samadhi was at the same spot.

A fair is annually held on the 18th, 19th and 20th of the month of Shabban, in honour of the saint. On each of the three days, offerings from the three corners of the town are carried on the head of the eldest of the family living in the quarter, including a costly brocade. A very big procession accompanies the offerings. The procession is usually headed by well known Sufi singers. They arrange themselves into groups called Taifas and go on singing in a frenzy till they arrive at the tomb. The presents are ceremoniously offered to the Saint. On the first day the Sayads take the honours. On the second and the best day, the great honour is conferred by tradition on the family of the Nawanis, who are Hindus. On this day the fair is in full swing, and the town presents a gala appearance. The last day's honour is conferred on the Kanuga Hindus living in the third end of the town.

At the extreme end of Shroff Bazar on the fort side stands the house of the Saint. Outside the house there is a lamppost of wood. The pole is thickly covered with datefibre ropes such as are used in Charpoys. It is a local tradition that those who suffer from lingering fever can be cured of their ailment, if they tie to the post a piece of rope from the Charpoy on which they sleep.


Lakky Tirath :

About eleven miles to the south of Sehwan is a small village of “Lakky” and about two miles from this village there are hot water springs which flow from the mountains. Since the flow was continuous it was also called “Dhara Tirath.” There were two Dharamshalas near the station and the springs, where the travelers and various patients stayed. The steaming hot water flowed from the mountains and at the foot of the mountains there flowed a cool water fountain. There were three springs of hot water : one steaming hot, another tolerably hot and the third lukewarm. There were special bathing arrangements for the ladies. There was so much sulpher in the water that the people suffering from skin eruptions were cured by just taking the bath once only.



SOCIAL STRUCTURE :

Though the people from Sehwan like others from all Sindh observe Hindu tenets in the performance of their religious rites they (all Sindhis) aren't cast ridden as their co-religionists elsewhere in India. The Brahmin class among the Sindhis was very limited, (which includes Sehwanis as well), and both the Saraswat and Pushkarna Brahmins had restricted their activities to the performance of religious rites, offering instructions to those who sought it, and practicing Astrology, thus exercising no particular influence on society as such. They were merely a professional class. Sindh did not boast of any Kshiataries and there was no trace of any Sudra class among the Sindhis as such Islam had easily absorbed them in its initial campaigns in the valley of the Indus in the 8th century A.D. Hence bulk of the Sindhis caste-wise are Vaish. Sehwanis like all Sindhis had taken to certain well marked activities and their social set up was entirely based on their vocations.

Sehwanis like rest of the Sindhi community were grouped conveniently under two broad heads : Amils and Bhaibunds. Both the groups had their separate panchayats. Both the groups, Amils and Bhaibunds later on merged with each other and formed once common panchayat, and then there were just Sehwanis only no Amil or Bhaibund (as explained by late Principal Motilal Butani in Sindhi weekly Hindwasi – 26 August 1990). The Panchayat looked after the social welfare of the members of the community, resolved social disputes and curbed undesirable tendencies. The Panchayat exercised considerable influence on its members. It could outcast a man if he was persistent in opposing its mandates. No one could afford to be thus socially boycotted. But after the partition the Panchayat gradually lost its former prestige and power and now serves only to keep the people socially together. This holds true for other Sindhi Panchayats also.

RELIGIOUS TENETS, BELIEFS AND PRACTICES :

Sindhis (including Sehwanis) generally speaking follow the Hindu Scriptural rites performed by the Brahmins. But due to Muslim bigotry prevalent in Sindh since the 8th century A.D. a strict and detailed adherence to the Hindu religion and practices was impossible. Particularly during the two centuries preceding the British annexation of Sindh in 1843, the Hindus were debarred ever from observing their religious festivals and festivities in public. Naturally therefore the Hindu practices greatly watered down in number and strict adherence; and yet their observance was enough to distinguish the follower to be a Hindu. The Sindhi could boast of worshipping at the shrines of Lords Vishnu and Shiva as also of Kali particularly, when he acquired freedom of worship under the British. The presence of ancient Shiva temple in Sehwan as shown in the map by late Principal Motilal Butani and the well established fact that the original name of Sehwan was Siwistan it can be safely said that Sehwanis worshipped Lord Shiva as their main deity, although worship of Shakti in the shape of Devi, Kali, Sitla Bhavani etc. was also in practice.

Apart from Hinduism the Sikh faith also exercised considerable influence among the Sindhi Hindus including the Sehwanis as well. But the actual following of the Sikh faith was very limited, though a general belief in the Sikh Gurus was considerable. For example on every new moon day invariably the Hindu families subscribed to the Sikh “Prasad,” but not all Hindus followed any other Sikh rites of birth, marriage or demise. A general faith in Sikhism was in addition to the main faith in Hinduism.



PEOPLE AND THEIR PROFESSION

Due to an extensive and fertile hinterland the town of Sehwan became the chief market place for all central Sindh. Industrial products and agricultural produce were brought to Sehwan from Boobak, Talti, Sann, Arazi, and other areas far and near, and gave rise not only to a brisk local trade, but also to extensive commerce by the Indus, the great waterway of Sindh. Beehive activity made the town more populous and the townsfolk rich and prosperous. This is attested by the large mendicant population sustained by Sehwan, as adduced earlier. As a result merchants and traders abounded in the town.

Being the seat of government Sehwan also provided substantial opportunity for government employ. At the top of the official class stood the Munshi, the confidant advisers to the Ruling Chief. Like Munshi Gidumal of Hyderabad, Sehwan boasts of a family of Munshis – the Nawanis. Late Shri Hiranand Bhojraj's ancestors were confidant advisers to the rulers during the Talpur period, prior to the British conquest of Sindh in 1843. Next in importance were the Kanugas – speakers of the law of rights – truly the keepers of record of Rights. They determined the quantum of land revenue that was payable to government by the land owners. Naturally, the Kanugas could not be numerically strong, but by their designation and nature of work they wielded considerable power and authority. The Kanugas never permitted their womenfolk to venture out of their houses during daytime; they could come out only after dark, presumably to avoid evil and cupid eyes! Further, the Kanugas married from other families of Sehwan, but without exception gave their daughters in marriage to rich merchant families of Nasarpur and Thatta, so that they would enjoy the wealth of their great in-laws and wield domineering influence over them since they had acquired it in their parental homes! More numerous than the Kanugas were the Amils, the actual collectors of revenue. There were varied grades of Amils, the highest of which were the Kardar.

Some Butani families of Sehwan, who accompanied the Kalhora Chief when he established his new capital at Hyderabad, became his Kardars. Similarly other families enjoyed employment in other caders. There were others who held other gainful employment under the government, and they were styled generically as Kamoras. These appellations have later changed in value and importance, so that Munshi is today virtually a term of reproach, the Amil has come to mean an educated person, and the term Diwan is being frequently used as a designation signifying respect mainly on account of age or position in state employment, having really nothing to do with finance, to which the term originally refers. Nobody in all Sindh ever was a Diwan in the literal and the official sense of the term.

Among the merchant and trading class the most well-known and the most numerous were the Samtanis. They lived in and around Sehwan in what was denominated as the Samtani Pargana (like Chandka Pargana around the town of Larakana) and were so enterprising and venturesome that on the setting-up of the new capital at Hyderabad by the Kalhoras, they accompanied the Butanis, and settled down in the new city. The Samtanis burnt a brilliant trail after establishing themselves at Hyderabad, by spreading out to south Asia, marketing Sindh goods and Indian products. They started in good company and prospered exceedingly well. Sehwani young men married Samtani daughters, being lured by the Dower they received, in addition to every and any other consideration, although the Dowry system as such had not become the vogue yet. The Samtanis ingrained themselves so well at Hyderabad that some of the younger generation have clean forgotten that they hail originally from Sehwan.

Next to the Samtanis were Bhojwanis. Seth Bhojoomal started his career in Sehwan, as is recorded by Seth Naoomal Hotchand Bhojwani, an illustrious scion of the family, in his Autobiography. In the loot of Sehwan by the soldiers of Nadir Shah, the Bhojwani 'Kothi' was razed to the ground, to secure gold coins, hoarded in the wall and pillars of the structures!! The Bhojwanis spread-out their wings fairly widely, to Khrak Bunder, Karachi and Hyderabad, etc. But for social considerations they claim to hail from Hyderabad, though they really belong to suburban Sehwan.

There are mainly two broad classes of merchants and traders – the small-shop tradesmen called the Banias, and the bulk traders and wholesale merchants styled as the Bhaibunds, who set the ball rolling in foreign trade like Samtanis.

And there were Thakurs – Bhundhai Thakurs from their ancestor, 'the Chief custodian of the Daryapanthi faith of Uderolal or Amarlal.' The Indus being the source of life of Sindh, the merchant, the trader and the land-holder alike worshipped the River God with unparalleled devotion, for survival and for prosperity, and when wealth came their way, they were not averse to sharing it with their God, through his custodians, the Thakurs. No wonder, therefore, that the water-worshippers from Sindh still continue to pay their homage sumptuously, and at least some of the Thakurs of Sehwan continue to be well off still although of late quite a number of them especially the younger generation who took to education, have taken to private and government employment.

After the British conquest of Sindh in 1843, whole pattern of life underwent a change. More and more people took to education and varied avocations hither to unimagined, and the Sehwanis did not lag behind. They took to education avidly and won laurels for themselves in varied fields of activity and employment.

Sehwan has produced many an illustrious son, chief among them being Abul Fazul and mula Faazi – two jewels of Mughal emperor Akbar's court.


http://www.sindhishaan.com/article/history/hist_08_02a.html

 

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SHIKARPUR - The Paris of Sindh
By Mamta Ahuja



Location :
Northwest of the Indus River, 18 miles (29 Kms) west of the Indus River and is connected by road and rail with Sukkur, (20 miles [32 Kms] southeast), Jacobabad, and Larkana

Terrain :
Flat alluvial deposits

Repute :
Major area for rice cultivation and for sheep and goat raising; other crops include wheat, gram, rapeseed, sugarcane, and cotton.



Shikarpur, the seat of civilization, culture, trade and commerce acquired political and economic importance because of its strategic location on the map of Sindh, being directly accessible to those who came from Central and West Asia through the Bolan Pass. . . . .

History dates back to the early 1617’s when this emerald city in the northern Sindh province of Pakistan became the nucleus of a historical trade centre on a caravan route through the Bolan Pass into Afghansitan. Shikarpur became the core of manufacturers including brass and metal goods, carpets, cotton cloth, and embroidery. Its great bazaar (covered because of the summer heat) is famous throughout Turkistan and southern Asia. The trade links of Shikarpuris were spread all over to Geneva, Rome, Iran, Iraq, Samarkand, Sumatra, Japan, Burma, Honolulu, etc. Because of this immense network of the trade links, Shikarpuris brought all their earnings to their own home town. Shikarpur once described by Taj Mohd. Sahrai as the Paris of Sindh in its heyday of glory.


Mystic Facts

Some people think that Kalhoras’ cousins Daudpotas founded the city and was named Shikarpur because The Talpur Mirs were fond of shikar (hunting). While others point out that Shikarpur was there before the Talpurs arrived on the scene; for yet another, Shikarpur had always been a trading hub, and never a hunting lodge. Experts think that Shikarpur as Shakaripur – the ‘city founded by the conqueror of the Shakas’, the Seythians. In this correlation they point out that “Quetta” is known in Persian records as “Shakari Kot” – “the (border) fort built by the conqueror of the Shakas.” Later on it was known as “Koita” or “Kot”, which the British renamed it as “Quetta”.



Flashback

Dawood Potan built a mud fort around Shikarpur in the early days. It had eight gates Lakhi Dar, Hazari Dar, Hathi Dar, Khanpuri Dar, Karani Dar, Novshahro Dar, Wagano Dar and Sevi Dar. It had deep channels around these gates, which was later filled up by the Britishers and a Circular road was built over it. The remnants of the mud fort could be seen till 1940. The city was clean and well cemented with bricks and surrounded by greenery.

Historically speaking, it is said that in the 17th century Shikarpur was in fact a land full of forests and a much-loved hunting ground (Shikar Gaah) of the Mirs. Because of its strategic location on the map of Sindh, Shikarpur developed trade and business with the world whose links extended to distant places. Seths of Shikarpur were all Hindus and their trade boomed with many countries; they were very clever and besides from Sindhi, they could easily converse in Pushtu, Balochi, Persian and other Indian languages.



People

The populace of Shikarpur, were well dressed, on form and enjoyed life to the full. They used to go to foreign countries and make loads of money, which they used to spend on themselves, their hometown and on charity and welfare projects as well. No doubt, therefore there were many schools, hospitals, charitable institutions and welfare trusts. Shikarpur was described as the PARIS of Sindhi in its heydays of glory. But in the presen day it is a past memorial to its old glory. It was a city of uniqueness, ethnicity and culture, which was very distinct.

The cheerful scenes around festivals, Sind canal, gardens with beautiful flowers, variety of food present had always people swarming all over with gaiety and glee. Sadly neither those people nor that vista can be seen today.


Music

Shikapuris were fond of classical music. Renowned and famous artistes from Sindh and India like Waman Rao, Patwardhan, Pandit Vyas, Omkarnath, Khan Sahib Mubarak Ali, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, and singers like – Kajari Inayat Bai and Mukhtiar Begum, were invited to sing and the people used to listen and enjoy them for days together. Thakrudas Nagrani, Sessions Judge, Aga Sufi, Maharaj Tejbhandas and others established the first dramatic society – Dharamupkars Amateurs Society.


Significant Places

There were numerous other places of significance. The important being ‘Dhak Bazar’ and ‘Shahi Baugh’. In fact, ‘Dhak Bazar’ was the architectural phenomenon. It was the longest marketplace covered with joinery (pure teak). ‘Shahi Baugh’ was the most beautiful garden with thousands of variety of flowers and the gazebo therein of Gothic lines of architecture.

Lakhi-Dar was another place where on the sundown people would flock together to ramble, leisurely walk, eat, drink and make merry. As they state, while in Shikarpur, if one does not see Lakhi Dar, one has not seen Shikarpur at all. In fact, it was the nerve centre of the city.


Religion

About religion Shikarpuris were devout and charitable by nature. There were various places of worship but Khatwari Darbar gained importance, as its originator was Baba Gurdas a Progeny of Sikhs, who had miraculous powers of turning sand into sugar. It is through the collective activities of mahants that it gained fame and recognition. These mahants daily distributed tons of grains to animals and birds and food to the underprivileged and disadvantaged of all religion alike. Even drinking water facilities were made available for animals at a lot of places in the city. Shikarpuris were therefore acknowledged to be bountiful and generous.



Litterateurs

In the field of literature also Shikarpur was in the vanguard. It produced vedantic titans like Saami, one of the three pillars, TRIMURTI – Shah, Sachal and Saami of Sindhi poetry. Shikarpur has produced the noteworthy contemporary poet of Sindh, Sheikh Ayaz whose role is also unmatched as it is exceptional. Pertaining to education, Shikarpuris were striding in front even in 1930. There were about 70 graduates in the city of Shikarpur in 1930; whereas, in the res of Sindh there were only 7 graduates then. The primary Sindhi college, Satramdas Chellasingh College, was also started in Shikarpur.