Sindhis
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2008) |
   | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Pakistan: 39,842,000 [1] India: 1,890,000 [2]
| |
| Languages | |
| Sindhi, Urdu | |
| Religion | |
| Islam, Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Indo-Aryans: Khojas • Memons • Gujaratis • Seraikis • Biharis • Marathis • Punjabis • Sindhi Baloch |
Sindhis (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 when British India was divided in 1947. The Sindhi language is an Indo-Aryan tongue with an eclectic history like the Sindhis themselves. Sindhis are very festive and one of the most famous Sindhi Festivals is Cheti Chand.
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 arrival of tribes from Eastern Europe or the change in the path 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 migrants 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 South Asia.
Muslim travellers, specifically the great Iranian scholar Abū Rayhān al-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 Eastern and Central Asian empires such as the Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks and Afghans 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, Afghans, and Mughals, Sindh continued to evolve as a frontier state and by the time of British involvement was ruled by Balouchi kings.
Mass exodus of Hindu Sindhis
In 1947, India attained independence. The partition of India took place, and Pakistan (West Pakistan and East Pakistan, which is present day Bangladesh) was created. Hindu and Muslim Sindhis were considered as brothers, each had mutual respect for the other's religion. At the time of independence, Hindu Sindhis expected to stay in Sindh. However due to violence as a result of Muslims from other states of India, there resulted communal violence. The Hindu Sindhis were forced to leave Sindh. The Hindu Sindhis wanted to return to their motherland, once violence settled down, but it was not possible. Hindu Sindhis are scattered throughout the world. A Sindhi community lives in the city of Ulhasnagar, which was originally an army barrack used to settle the Hindu Sindhi refugees. Many Sindhis are successful due to struggle and hard work after loosing everything.
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
Hindu Sindhis
Today, Hindu Sindhis are predominantly found in India but also scattered throughout the world, communities can be found in Spain, Lagos, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Canada and United States. Some Hindus still remain in Sindh, but exact numbers not available. The geographic distribution of Hindu Sindhis strongly reflects historical and contemporary trade routes, as well as cultures open to Sindhi migration following the turmoil of the Partition of India in 1947.
A major moment in the history, as the Parition of India. The survivors fled to India where many had to began new lives as penniless refugees. Shaped by their history and the strong work ethic, the generation of Partition and many migrated overseas, seeking opportunities to rebuild their fortunes, and today they have set up businesses all over the world and are by and large entrepreneurs and professionals.
Hindu Sindhis are divided into 3 major sects that have certain different cultural nuances: the Amil, Shikarpuri and Bhaiband. Hindu Sindhis are a cosmopolitan community and transcend all caste, racial and national barriers. Historically, the Amils, or government servants, filled many appointments in the civil service. This conferred a status upon them which set them above others and was marked by a difference in attire.
During Muslim rule, Hindu Sindis worked for Muslim rulers who often gave gifts of land in return - thus they came to be small landowners known as Zamindars or Jageerdars. Under British rule these posts became administrative ones where they held positions as collectors and commissioners, highly respected by the British as well as the common man of Sind. The other large group of Sindhis were involved in trade and commerce of various types. Sindhuvarkis, or Bhaibands, established trading posts throughout the world and dealt in fabrics. Many early Sindhis, would take good made in Sind and set off on long voyages to sell goods overseas. And on return journeys bring back goods to sell in Sindh, thus contributing significantly to the economy of Sindh.
Shikarpuris were bankers who carried on business throughout the Middle East and the Vanya were shopkeepers of all types. Sindhis themselves had no untouchable caste which in other Indian societies did the menial work.
Like most communities in India who live a life full of color, festivity and hospitality, the Sindhis are no exception. Whether Hyderabadis or Shikarpuris, Sindhis enjoy food that are rich with the aromas of spices, ghee and exotic masalas. They are fond of wearing colorful and expensive clothing and jewellery.
Sindhi entrepreneurs have also been an important catalytic agent of economic development in many areas of India and have come up from a refugee history to a high standard of living all over the world. Today they are a well educated business community largely due to their hard work, relentless effort and famous business acumen. They bear an influence disproportionate to their numbers, much like another famous Indian community: the Parsis, who share several common cultural traits with the Sindhis. Conscious of their own struggles as a refugee community in 1947, Sindhis have since set up large educational institutes and major hospitals that are well known for supporting lower income students and patients, irrespective of background, and have thus been a strong positive force in Modern India.
Important Sindhi saints are Jhulelal (In Hindu literature known as 'Shree VarunDev', The Lord of the water), Satguru Sai Shree Jairamdas Saheb, Sri Asaramji Bapu, Sadhu Vaswani, Sajan Kasai, Bhagat Kanwar Ram Sahib, Sai Vasan Shah Sahib, and Swami Ananda Swaroop Maharaj.
Sindhi ethnic flag
The Sindhi ethnic flag is a plain goldenrod banner. [3]
References
- ^ Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan - Population by Mother Tongue
- ^ Ethnologue report for India
- ^ On page 303 of the book Flags: Through The Ages and Across the World by Whitney Smith (New York:1975 McGraw Hill), the ethnic flag of the Sindhis is shown as being a banner with no insignia whatsoever that is completely colored plain goldenrod.