ORIGIN OF
THE NAME
The province of Sindh has been designated
after the river Sindh (Indus) which literally created it and has been also its sole means
of sustenance. However, the importance of the river and close phonetical resemblance in
nomenclature would make one consider Sindhu as the probable origin of the name of Sindh.
Later phonetical changes transformed Sindhu into Hindu in Pahlavi and into Hoddu in
Hebrew. The Greeks (who conquered Sindh in 125 BC under the command of the Alexander the
great) rendered it into Indos, hence modern Indus.
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.
