Buddhism spread in the Gandhara kingdom through North (present day Afghanistan) and through Sindh in the South. Early Aryan settlers had moved East to the Ganges plains and helped evolve the caste system. Later migrants to the subcontinent were awkward to fit into the establishment of such closed order. Buddhism's rejection of caste system, found these "new" migrants, in the Indus region, most receptive to conversion, as did Islam...click later.
The ruling castes initially tolerated this faith. Later, it was actively propagated throughout the subcontinent, as nobility and a few emperors (Emperor Ashoka being the most prominent) themselves became Buddhists. So, it was then that Buddhism became the official religion of Sindh, although Hinduism had always been a dominant religion of Sindh through centuries...click.
As early as the reigns of Caliph Omar (634-644 AD) and Caliph Usman (644-656 AD), the Arabs made their first appearance on the the land of Indus Valley, but it was only in the Umayyad times that the country was completely conquered and made a Muslim province.
Sindhi Hindus
I am afraid I do not know any specific reference that would shed ample light
on the subject of Hindus in Sindh. You may find bits and pieces here and there
but at least I have not seen any works dealing with the subject in an exclusive manner.
I understand someone from Larkano has written a book "Larkano Sah-a Seebano". Although I have not seen this book but I have heard
that it deals with the history of people and places of Larkano.
As you are probably familiar that Larkano was a part of historic Chandka area of Sindh. Therefore, any historical accounts of Chandka may shed some light. There are numerous famous personalities from Larkano. Their biographies may contain some account.
I had seen a book long time ago written by a famous Sindhi author, which contained background of Sindhi Hindus in the historical context. I do not remember the name of the book or the author. I am just guessing the author may have been the famous Sindhi historian and scholar Kako Bherumal Advani, but I may be wrong.
Some account is also provided in "Sindh and the Races that Inhabit the Valley of the Indus", wrtitten by Burton and "Sind, A General Introduction", written by Lamberk. All of these books subscribe to the theory that Most Sindhi Hindus,other than the Aboriginal Hindus, are Lohanas and some Bhatias, Sahtas, and others. Also, the above sources agree that all of these are Rajput clans.
Considering the above, it would be safe to assume that Hindus of Larkano and Karachi also have the same ethnic background. I have not seen much information about the Hindus first coming to Larkano and their history. However, Karachi has a bit familiar history.
Karachi was a mere fishing village called Kollachi after an elderly fisherwoman during the Kalohra period. There were other important sea ports in Sindh so Kollachi was not too famous. Kollachi was however mentioned by Shah Latif Bhittai in his poetry in the Sur 'Ghattu' which narrates the story of MoriRo and his fishermen brothers and their fight with the big fish. Kalhoras had given away the village to Khan of Kalat as a gift. There were no Hindus living in Karachi at that time.
A young fellow named Bhojo Mal Lohano from Khudabad (Capital of Sindh during Kalhora period) took some money with him after having a fight with his parents and moved to Karachi in early part of the 18th Century. BTW, this Bhojo Mal is the founder of the Bhojwani clan. He started business in the fishing village and became quite prosperous.
He exploited the unique geographical location of Karachi and converted it into a prosperous trading post doing business within Sindh via Sindhu Darya and outside accross Indian Ocean to Indian, Indochinese and Persian Gulf ports. With the permission of the Khan of Kalat he practically became the defacto ruler of Karachi. He fought wars with Talpur rulers of Sindh over Karachi three times and won. Finally, Talpurs started annoying his relatives in Hyderabad. His relatives which included one of his daughters wrote him letters to give in which he did and Karachi was annexed to Sindh.
By this time, other Sindh ports were in a bad shape and Karachi emerged as a small town with few thousand people but an important port city. Bhojo's trade also picked up and his family established posts in many parts of Asia, Russia, Middle East and Africa. People started to move into this booming town. These included Hindus from different parts of Sindh mostly working for Bhojo Mal's decendents or doing their own trading. Since Bhojo Mal was humiliated into giving up Karachi, his family always hated Talpur rulers and became supporters of the British to defeat the Talpurs.
Infact, Seth NaoonMal (Grandson of BhojoMal) openly assissted British to capture Karachi in 1839. He loaned money to Britishers and provided provisions for the British Army in this and following expeditions that resulted in the fall of Sindh in 1843. Therfore, irrespective of his enimity with the Talpurs, Seth Naoon Mal Bhoojwani is considered a traitor to his country of Sindh.
For the account of Seth Naoon Mal's treacherous liaison with the British read his autobiography "Yadgeeriyoon" which was translatted into English by Rai Bahadur Alo Mal Teekamdas Bhojwani (Grandson of Seth Naoon Mal) and retranslated into Sindhi by Mohammad Hanif Siddiqui. After the British Raj was established, many Sehwani and Hyderabadi Amils also moved to Karachi. Also, Hindus from nearby localities such as Thatta, Lasbella, and Hyderabad moved to Karachi along with Muslims from these and other areas. In 1843, population of Karachi was 15.000. This poulation increased to 400,000 in 1947 before partition.
By some estimates about one third population at that time of Karachi were Hindus. These days the population of Karachi is over 10,000,000 people. Twenty percent population is Sindhi and I dare say Hindu population will be no more than one to two percent.
An interesting account of Hindus in many places of Sindh is provided by Pir Ali Mohammad Rashdi in his three volumes of "Uhay Deenhan Uhay Sheenhan."
[This write-up is taken from the SindhiNet. Author not known.]
I have often observed that the religion of urbanized Sindhis (in Sindh) and diaspora Sindhis is being influenced by outside forces into more orthodox and un-Sindhi trains.
It is always interesting to discover more historical evidence on the subject, so I was reading up the section on Sindh in Hastings (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (vol. 11, ca 1912). The section is written by a Prof. W. Crooke and is annotated by a number of citations and quotes. So what does an external, turn of the century, observer have to say?
"The province is distinguished from the other parts of India by the great predominance of Muhammadans, who, at the time of the census of 1911 amounted to 75.14%.. Hindus being 23.83% and the balance made up of animists, Christians, Parsis, Jews, and the so-called Hindu-Mohammadans, who follow both creeds." [I wonder what happened to the last group? Is this referring to the "Shaikhs" of Sindh?]
The ethnology section also makes clear the "weakness" of Brahaminism and the caste system:
"The Brahmans, consisting of Pokharnas from Rajputana are illiterate and depraved... The most important Hindu caste [sic] is that of the Lohanas of whom the Amil section are clerks and writers... There are few castes of the Sudra group those that exist wearing Brahmanincal cord.. the Sikhs include the Akali Khalsa, or pure Sikhs, and Lohanas... the local Hinduism is of the impure type, only a few Brahmans studying Sanskrit, while the popular faith is mixed up with Islam and Sikhism."
From the section entitled, "The Fusion of Islam and Hinduism"
"We find Islam and Hinduism amalgamated here in a way more remarkable way, perhaps, than in any other part of India. The Hindu will often become the disciple (murid) of a Muslim, and vice versa; not only are the same saints respected by members of both religions, but each faith uses a different name for the same holy man. The Hindus know the river-god under the name Jind Pir (zindah, 'the living one'), while Muhammadans call him Khwaja Khidr; in the same way Uddero Lal of the Hindus becomes the Musalman Shaikh Tahir and Lala Jasraj becomes Pir Mangho..."
[I think virtually everyone today, or at least all the fakirs at the place that I met as well as Sindhi scholars, use the name 'Uddero Lal', I don't know why or when this happened, but may be the popularity of the folk song "jeko chavando jhule laali, tahinjaa theenda BeRaa paari"..].
From the next section entitled "Worship of Saints":
"The distinguishing feature of Islam in Sind is the wide-spread worship [sic] of saints (pir, wali). This is largely due to the influence of Sufism (q.v.) and is opposed to the original form of the faith. But, though, they may have lost touch with the orthodoxy, the Musalmans are a religious people."
It quotes, D. Ross, "The Land of the Five Rivers and Sindh" (1983):
"The mass of Sindhi peasantry, though they may may be unacquainted with the cardinal articles of their faith, are careless or ignorant of its precepts; but, upon the whole, they strike a stranger as being more religious according to their lights than the Musalmans of almost any other part of India. They are also pre-eminent for abject devotion to Pirs and Sayads, living or dead."
The article goes on to discuss veneration of the river Indus and some
Sindhi saints, including Lal Shahbaz, Pir Mangho, Uddero Lal, etc. and
describes the method of veneration of saints at their respective
sepulchres (turbat's).
[Taken from SindhiNet]
There has always been a bond of mutual love, respect, admiration and understanding between the Sindhi adherents of Islam and Hinduism...click. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that neither Hindus nor Muslims were strictly orthodox in Sindh. It is also a fact that a number of Hindus, although remaining devout Hindus, became devoted disciples of Muslim saints, like Shah Bhitai, Qalandar Shahbaz of Sehwan, and others. At the same time and still in the 1920's there were numerous Hindus and Muslims, amongst which some of the best brains, who were Sufi's by faith.
So, if you ask me what is the religion of Sindhis. Without hesitation, I would say, "SUFISM." Bhitai says, "Nya-e Neen-a Niha'ar, To mein dero Dosta jo," which, translated into English means, "Look inside you, the friend lives there." The 'friend' here is God, Allah, Bhagwan, or whatever name He is known as in His Creation. Sindhis have always been, are and shall always continue to adhere to the universal values of brotherhood, and like the jogis, wander around in search of the truth.
According to the 1991 figures, taken from "Sindhis International Yearbook," edited by Mr Prakash Bharadwaj, and printed in Hong Kong, Sindhis all over the world can be categorised into following religious denominations:
- Muslim Sindhis 12,900,000
- Hindu Sindhis 3,400,000
- Sikh,Christian Sindhis 300,000
Song of Sindhu Hindu
Our desires have grown immeasurable. But they should be desire to give, not
merely to receive, to accept and not to reject; to honour and respect, not to deny or belittle.