PREHISTORIC PERIOD

The Indus valley civilization is the farthest visible outpost of archeology in the abyss of prehistoric times। The areas constituting Pakistan have had a historical individuality of their own and Sindh is the most important among such areas। The prehistoric site of Kot Diji in Sindh has furnished information of high significance for the reconstruction of a connected story which pushes back the history of Pakistan by at least another 300 years, from about 2,500 BC. Evidence of a new element of pre-Harappan culture has been traced here. When the primitive village communities in Baluchistan were still struggling against a difficult highland environment, a highly cultured people were trying to assert themselves at Kot Diji one of the most developed urban civilization of the ancient world that flourished between the year 25,00 BC and 1,500 BC in the Indus valley sites of Moenjodaro and Harappa. The people were endowed with a high standard of art and craftsmanship and well-developed system of quasi-pictographic writing which despite ceaseless efforts still remains un-deciphered. The remarkable ruins of the beautifully planned Moenjodaro and Harappa towns, the brick buildings of the common people, roads, public-baths and the covered drainage system envisage the life of a community living happily in an organized manner.

EARLY HISTORY

The earliest authentic history of Sindh dates from the time when Alexander the Great abandoned his scheme of conquest towards the Ganges, alarmed at the discontent of his soldiers. He embarked a portion of the army in boats, floated them down the Jhelum and the Chenab, and marched the remainder on the banks of the river till he came to the Indus. There he constructed a fleet, which sailed along the coast towards the Persian Gulf with part of his forces, under the command of Nearchus and Ptolemy, whilst Alexander himself marched through Southern Baluchistan and Persia to Seistan or Susa. At that time Sindh was in the possession of the Hindus, the last of whose rulers was Raja Sahasi, whose race, as is reported by native historians, governed the kingdom for over two thousand years. The Persian monarchs were probably alluded to, for in the sixth century BC Sindh was invaded by them, They defeated and slew the monarch in a pitched battle and plundered the province and then left. Eight years after his accession to the Persian throne, Darius I, son of Hystaspes extended his authority as far as the Indus. This was about 513 BC.

The Arab conquest of Sindh by Muhammad Bin Qasim in 712 AD gave the Muslims a firm foothold on the sub-continent. The description of Hiun Tsang, a Chinese historian, leaves no doubt that the social and economic restrictions inherent in the caste differentiations of Hindu society had however, gradually sapped the inner vitality of the social system and Sindh fell without much resistance before the Muslim armies. According to Al-Idreesi, the famous city of Al-Mansura was founded during the reign of Mansur (754-775 AD) the second Khalifa of the Abbasid dynasty. Khalifa Harun-al-Rashid (786-809 AD) was able to extend the frontiers of Sindh on its western side. For nearly two hundred years since its conquest by Muhammad Bin Qasim, Sindh remained an integral part of the Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates. The provincial governors were appointed directly by the central government. History has preserved a record of some 37 of them.

The Arab rule brought Sindh within the orbit of the Islamic civilization, Sindhi language was developed and written in the naskh script. Education became widely diffused and Sindhi scholars attained fame in the Muslim world. Agriculture and commerce progressed considerably. Ruins of Mansura, the medieval Arab capital of Sindh (11 kms south east of Shahdadpur) testify to the grandeur of the city and the development of urban life during this period.

In the 10th century, native people replaced the Arab rule in Sindh. Samma and Soomra dynasties ruled Sindh for long. These dynasties produced some rulers who obtained fame due to judicious dispensation and good administration.

Sindh was partially independent and the scene of great disorders till late in the sixteenth century when it failed into the hands of Emperor Akbar, and for a hundred and fifty years the chiefs paid tribute, but only as often as they were compelled to do so, to the Emperor at Delhi. Later the Kalhora clan claiming descent from the house of Abbas and long settled in Sindh produced religious leaders of whom Main Adam Shah attained prominence in the 16th century. His descendants continued to gather large following and this enabled them to capture political power in the north western Sindh under the leadership of Mian Nasir Muhammad. This happened in the 2nd half of the 17th century. By the turn of that century, foundations of the Kalhora power were firmly laid in the northern Sindh under the leadership of Mian Yar Mohammad. During the reign of his son, Mian Noor Muhammad, lower Sindh with Thatta as its capital came under the Kalhora administration (1150 A.H).

Under the banner of Mir Fateh Ali Khan Talpur, the Balochis defeated the last Kalhora ruler Mian Abdul Nabi in the battle of Halani in 1782 AD. Talpur Amirs regained the parts of Sindh (Karachi, Khairpur, Sabzal Kot and Umar Kot) which the last Kalhora chief had conceded to the neighboring rulers. By eliminating the foreign interference, which had plagued the Kalhora rule, and by their essentially democratic way of governance, the Talpurs were able to take the people into confidence and thus achieved

Great many things within a short period of 60 years. They built up an excellent system of forts and outposts guarding the frontiers, extended the irrigation system, encouraged scholarly pursuits and educational institutions, and promoted trade and commerce internally as well as with the neighboring countries.

The British who came to Sindh also as traders became so powerful in rest of the sub-continent that in 1843 Sindh lost its independence falling prey to the British imperialistic policy. The Talpurs were defeated on the battlefields of Miani, Dubba and Kunhera and taken prisoners. The conquerors behaved inhumanly with the vanquished as they did with the Muslim rulers in India. Charles Napier who commanded the troops subsequently became the first Governor of the province of Sindh.

The British had conquered Sindh from their bases in Bombay and Kutch and their supporters were Hindus. Therefore, Sindh was annexed to the Bombay Presidency in 1843 and a constant policy to subdue the Muslim majority and to lionize the Hindu minority in Sindh was followed. Trade and commerce, Services and education became monopolies in the hands of the minority whom with the support of the rulers wrought havoc on Muslims. Within a few years forty percent of the Muslim land holdings passed on to the Hindu creditors. It was after a long struggle that the cause of Sindh was supported by the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah when he brought in his famous 14-points the demand of Sindh's separation from Bombay Presidency. H.H. Sir Agh Khan, G.M. Syed, Sir Abdul Qayyum Khan (NWFP) and many other Indian Muslim leaders also played their pivotal rule that was why the Muslims of Sindh succeeded in getting Sindh separated from the Bombay Presidency in 1936

LOCATION AND AREA OF SINDH



Pakistan consists of four provinces. Its second largest province is known as Sindh with its capital in Karachi, which is not only the most populous metropolis of the country, but also, a commercial hub.
The province of Sindh has two gigantic seaports and both are located in Karachi. The biggest international airport of Pakistan is also situated in Karachi and is widely known as Qaid-e-Azam International airport.
The Province of Sindh forms the lower Indus basin and lies between 23 to 35 Degree and 28-30, north latitude and 66-42 and 71-1-degree east longitude. It is about 579 kms in length from north to south and nearly 442 kms in its extreme breadth (281 kms average). It covers 1,40,915 square kms and is about as large as England.
Sindh is also proud of having acquired fame as Bab-ul-Islam (Gateway to Islam in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent). At the time of the independence from the British occupation in August 1947, the population of Sindh was estimated at 5.5 million. Today, after the passage of fifty years the population of the province stands around 40 million souls, a half of whom now live in the urban centres like Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Tando Adam, Nawabshah, Larkana, Shikarpur, Khairpur, Badin and other smaller towns. It is basically an agrarian province. The Indus is by far the most important river of the province. The classical name of the river was Sindhu (Sanskrit for an ocean) and Sindh province was created and sustained by the river, without which it would have been a desert. Its length is about 2,880 kilometers and nearly a third of that (about 944 Kms) traverses the province. The striking resemblance of Sindh to Egypt was noticed long before the existence in it of a comparable great prehistoric civilization was even suspected; the idiosyncrasy of its people when compared with Indians, is very marked. There is an ancient saying "Just as Egypt is the gift of Nile, Sindh is the gift of the Indus".
Owing to its prevalent aridity and the absence of the monsoons, the climate of Sindh ranks among the hottest and is most variable. The average temperature of the summer months is 35 degrees centigrade and those of inter months 16. But the thermometer frequently rises in summer to 45 and occasionally to 50.In the northern part of Sindh the extremes of temperature are strongly marked. Jacobabad boasts of the highest temperature yet recorded at a Pakistani meteorological station i.e.52 degrees centigrade in June 1919. Sehwan is another hot place while Hyderabad is on the average pleasant due to cool breeze.
Cotton, rice, wheat and sugarcane are the main crops produced in Sindh. Rice is by far the most important crop cultivated here. It is the only crop that can be grown in the annually inundated lands within the delta of the Indus and a larger quantity and much finer quality is produced in the Larkana district. In Jacobabad, Sukkur, Badin, Thatta and Dadu, also, a great quantity of rice is cultivated. Cotton is produced mainly in Sanghar, Nawabshah, and Hyderabad, Sugarcane is another important crop which is chiefly grown in the Ghulam Mohammad Barrage zone in South. Sindh is proud of its bananas and mangoes also.
The waters around Karachi are rich with seafood and are considered to be some of the best fishing spots in the world. Surmai, pomphret, lobsters, shrimps, sharks, dolphins, crocodiles and other aquatic life especially Pallas exists in plenty in the sea as well as in the sweet waters of the Indus, Manchar, Keenjhar, Haleji and other lakes.
Within the last 45 years, three irrigation barrages have been constructed across the Indus in the province. The command areas of the three barrages are: Sukkur barrage 3.12 million hectares, Kotri barrage 1.12 million hectares, and Guddu barrage 1.172 million hectares.
The province of Sindh had traditionally been rich in wildlife heritage. Its Kirthar National Park, about 70 k.m. of North West of Karachi, is enlisted on World Heritage. Other side at Haleji Lake and Thar area are also of paramount importance.
Though chiefly an agricultural and pastoral province, Sindh has a reputation for textiles, pottery, leatherwork, carpets etc. The craftsmanship of the people of Sindh began during the period of Moenjodaro civilization. Their polished ornaments and articles of apparel made out of muslin and wooden lacquer work have won the praise in and outside the country

A BesT PoeM DeDicaTed To My MotheR Land SINDH


In the ruins in Sindh, here, there, all over the land, From Moenjodaro, Ranikot, Amri, Thatta, Amerkot, Bhambore, Nagar Parker, Is heard a melody, always in the silvery moon, In the soft silence of the silvery sands, In the ever so gentle teasing breeze, Rises that melody, like, The long single tinkle of a far-off silver bell, A melody it is, not a shriek, not a lament, Not a cry, not a moan, no, not a groan, but a melody, A whisper of hope, a promise of joy, A kiss of love, a touch of faith, A whisper? From me, your mother? I am your Sindh. Here in the ruins, but no ruin I, Witness to the glories gone by, But I am here, in you, "My sons, my daughters, in you I dwell", With you around "With your love for me, With your faith in me", With you hope in me and mine wholly in you, My sons and daughters, "How can I, Sindh, a ruin be, My children?", I am Sindh, I am Marvi, I am Saussi, and Sohni me, Round the globe you take my name, my children, You sing my songs, my name, my children, You sing my songs, my name my fame, "Mother Sindh" you say, as you cry for me, In your heart I am the song, in your ears I am the music, How can I then a ruin be? I am alive in you, I am the sparkle in your children's eyes, smile on their lips am I, In the ever so softly melting, melting, melting nights, A whisper ever so sweetly urging, urging, urging, Awake now, awake and arise and see my face in, The light, in the golden glory of the rising Sun. ..........

From "The Ruins in Sindh" by Prof. G.M. Mekri

What is Sindh?

Where is Sindh? These are some of the reactions one gets when he starts talking about Sindh, for rightly so, not many people know about this beautiful land of beautiful people, that once was an Empire and a cradle of all civilisations...click that existed about 6000 to 7000 years ago. This civilization - the Indus Valley Civilization - the authenticity and evidence of which is found at Moenjadaro...click (the Mound of the Dead), about 350 kilometres North of Karachi, near Larkana, birth place of another son of Sindh: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto...click, open the long and chequered history of mankind. Here civilised people lived in spacious houses with extraordinary drainage system, at a time when the rest of the world was in darkness and people still lived in the bush or on trees.
I am proud to be a son of that mother of civilisations - Sindh - and glad and honoured to be here to tell the story, in due humility, of this old, feeble, forlorn mother, victim of natural disasters, raped by the marauding, barbaric, uncivilised, and uncouth people of far and near, and abandoned by her very own children - the children that she loved, reared and raised, and protected in the warmth of her bosom. This mother gave to her children the most efficacious river, the Sindhu or the Mehran, on the banks of which flourished some of the most beautiful and richest cities and ports in the world, from where Sindhi merchants traded goods to and from other ancient civilsations - the Inca, Messopotamia, Sumeria, and the Great Chinese civilizations. It is here that international trade and maritime enterprise first originated and developed.
This mother Sindh, also gave her children the most irrigable alluvial soil on Earth, where all kinds of grain grew, providing abundant food for her children and rest of the world. Under the shade and protection of the warm bosom of mother Sindh, lived its energetic, resourceful, kind, humble and hospitable children, in peace, progress and harmony.
As I write this piece in the cosy comfort of my house in peaceful island-city of Singapore, I hear Naru Bhagat sing on my tape recorder : "Ka'at-u qariban-i jay aggian katium-i keenaki, cha'a budhaya'an?" (I weaved not the web before the Loved One, what am I to say?)
The mother Sindh provided everything in abundance - even love. So much love was oozing from her soul that having showered the torrents of love and adulation on her children, she still had a tremendous capacity and quantity of love left, which she progressively and regularly showered upon the children of other lands, other places, other worlds, and other cultures. They came to trouble her, torture her, and torment her. They trespassed into the peaceful lives of her children. They teased, tempted, trivialised and trode mercillesly over her children. Yet, this epitome of motherhood, this ocean of love, this graceful mother of mothers, this prologue of the history of civilizations, this land of mine - my mother land, my fatherland, Sindh - opened her warm heart and soul to all who came.
They came from everywhere - east, west, north, south, everywhere! From North came the Aryans, Alexander, Mongols, and Moghuls. From South came the British, the Portuguese, and the Arabs in boats, dhows and ships. From West came the Persians, the Greeks, Arghuns, and Targhuns. From East came the Mohajirs, the Biharis, the Delhiwalas, the beetlenut-chewing individuals of Hindustan - shirtless, shinless and shelterless. They ravaged, they plundered, they raped the grand old lady and tore her children...click apart from the warmth of her bosom. They manipulated, brainwashed and obscenely seduced her children - through beetlenut, Urdu (the language of the harems of Sultans, Rajas and Maharajas), and through the sari-clad belles - with naked stomach and belly, showing a pulsating midriff, a quivering belly-button, and an inviting gait with an open lascivious smile, and lustful twinkling of the eyes. They threw the grand old lady, the mother who mothered them just like she mothered her own children, who loved and opened her heart, mind and soul to them, just as she did for her own children. Yes, they threw her - knocked senseless, dazed and bewildered - in a dark bottomless dungeon of despair, drudgery and death. The love is stunned, the beauty is gone, warm bosom is warm no more, the mother is dead! Long live treachery, ingratitude, lust and infidelity!
During one of my regular visits to Sindh to see my folks, in December 1994, whilst driving down the Superhighway, from Karachi to Hyderabad, to visit my nephew and to attend the Parents' Day function at my old Alma Mater, the Cadet College, Petaro, I saw a body - wrapped in dust and smoke, generated by countless 'super' vehicles driven by the 'super' people - on the side of the Superhighway. I asked my brother, who was driving, to stop for a while. In scorching heat the body lay - no sound, no movement. An elederly lady, with dishevelled grey hair, eyes - a bottomless pit - deep, sunk, half-open. I can see years of toil, sacrifices, and love burried deep in there. Her bosom - open, cold, empty, and pathetic vaccum. She was in tatters. Her face - muddy, wrinkled, and yet, calm and serene. I can read countless questions and queries on that troubled, yet, beautiful face. Beside her, scattered all over was a crumpled heap of her only possesions - few old clothes, perhaps, the legacy of the past, and a murky, shrivelled photograph. There, beside her, was her 'kisto' (a begging-bowl) - empty, teasing and tormenting my vary soul! I looked at the photograph and saw a very beautiful lady - a typical Sindhi lady, dressed in Sindhi costume with a 'rao' (sindhi head covering) made of 'ajrak', white shirt with Sindhi 'burth' (designs and patterns) and the shalwar made of 'sussi' (the Sindhi home-spun cloth). Four handsome children - three boys and a pretty girl - fresh, smiling, innocent faces, oblivious of tomorrow, living only for that moment with their beloved parents. And a man - tall, robust, and handsome with proud moustache, a 'patko' (turban) wrapped around his head, and an 'ajrak' (a type of Sindhi shawl) hanging around his broad shoulders, and a Sindhi moccasin-like shoes in his feet - her husband.
A man from the adjacent road-side restaurant - there are countless such thatched restaurants, or hotels (as they call them) along the highway - came towards us, and started blurting out in half-Urdu (the national language of the country) and half-Pashtu (the language of the far, far away land of Pashtunistan), "Sahib," he used a filthy abusive word, "she is a Sindhi beggar woman. She is not yet dead. How can she die when I give her food to eat?" he said, giggling and slapping his chest. "Her husband is in Saudi Arabia and never comes back, her daughter is a 'rundi' (a prostitute) and a mistress of a Sindhi Vadera ( he told us his name as well), one of her sons is a pimp for his sister, another one was very pretty, so pretty that he was liked and fancied by a lorry driver and he took him along with him in his truck to Peshawar (the capital of that far, far away land of Pushtoonistan). He has not been seen since. The other son is a thief, robber, beggar and addict. He lives in some 'makan' with 'mawalees.' They have beaten her, took all her possesions and left her at my hotel to die. I have taken pity on this woman and provided her with some food. During daytime she sleeps by the roadside, begging from the passing-by cars of the rich Sindhi Vaderas, but none stops, and at night.....," he paused and took out a tiny receptacle, from the folds of his murky shalwar (loose baggy trousers). Looking at the mirror on the lid of the receptacle, he, scratched his moustache with his dirty long-nailed fingers, opened the lid and pinched out something that looked greenish, pale, pasty stuff and thrust his huge fingers into his mouth, planting the stuff somewhere between his filthy brownish-yellow teeth. My brother later told me that the stuff is known as 'naswar' - a drug, which is used by people from that far away land, for 'kicks', thrill and stimulation, keeping them 'high' under the euphoric effect caused by the drug. He continued with a sheepish grin, arrogant show of body gestures, and that obscene mock in his eyes, "At night, she entertains and comforts my brother truck and lorry drivers, you know what I mean." At this instance, somebody shouted for him from the hotel and he abruptly turned and started to walk back to his hotel.
Yes, I knew precisely what he meant. It is for that reason, that he gives her the crumbs and the left overs of the steady stream of the truck and lorry drivers from the far, far away lands of Pushtoonistan and Punjab - his brothers. Yes, he gives her food! How can she die?
As I stood there transfixed another noisy lorry trudged by, one of the hundreds that kept on zooming past with 'high' drivers from the far, far away lands, and young 'pretty' Sindhi boys as their 'kleanders' (as they call them), leaving behind a suffocating pall of dust and smoke, which was so unceremoniously and ignominiously enveloping the body lying in front of me.
Lying motionless in front of me was not just a frail, aged, sickly lady, but a mother. And that mother, looked like my own mother, like any other mother that I had ever known. As I stood there - mesmerised, frozen, paralysed, with a huge lump in my throat and tears in my eyes which refused to fall, I heard the deep resonant voice of Fakir Abdul Ghafoor's on my brother's car radio singing:
"Moonkh-e Doongar-u Dorind-a aayo, Kechi Kech wancgan." (Kechis leave for Kech, I am left alone to wander in the rocks).
Suddenly, that mother was transformed into mother Sindh. The love is stunned, the beauty is gone, warm bosom is warm no more, the mother is dead! Long live treachery, ingratitude and infidelity! Yes, long live treachery, ingratitude and infidelity!
I took out my wallet, touched a hundred rupee note (no, too little), then a five hundred note (no, too little), finally took out a thousand rupee note, and holding it in my shaking hands, I approached the body, put the money in her frail hand, and said, "Ammar-i, du'a kajain-i" (mother, wish me well and pray for me). As I bent, she opened her eyes, looked at me, and said, "Abba, Allah waddee umir-i ddiyya-ee" (My child, may Allah give you long life). There was love in her eyes and sincerity in her voice. The same love and sincerity that I used to find in my own mother. And I gave her only a thousand rupee note for that love and sincerity! As I started to walk back to my brother's car, I heard Shah Bhittai...click whispering in my ears, "Heff-u tanheen khey hoi, watun-u janheen wisariyo" (Shame on those, who forget and foresake their motherland!).