CHAPTER 5—SINDHI* INTRODUCTORY. ACCORDING To THE GENEALOGY OF INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES Sindhi language could be regarded as a grand-daughter of Sanskrit and a daughter of Prakrit along with its other sister languages of Northern India. Early European Indologists like Sir George Grierson, Mr. John Beames and Dr. Ernest Trump have paid glowing tributes to the high status of Sindhi language. The latter scholar writes in his † Sindhi Grammar : " The Sindhi is a pure Sanskritical language, more free from foreign elements than any other of the North Indian Vernaculars. The old Prakrit grammarians may have had their good reasons to designate the Apabhransh dialect from which the modern Sindhi is immediately derived, as the lowest of all the Prakrit dialects ; but if we compare now the Sindhi with its sister-tongues, we must assign to it, in a grammatical point of view, the first place among them. It is much more closely related to the old Prakrit than the Marathi, Hindi, Punjabi, and Bengali of our days, and it has preserved an exuberance of grammatical forms, for which all its sisters may well envy it." Up to the seventh century A. D., when Sind was under Buddhist and Brahmin rulers, Sanskrit and later Prakrit were the languages used in Sind. From 711 A. D. onwards Arabs and Arghoons conquered and ruled over Sind, but the language of the people continued to be Prakrit and Apabhransh Prakrit. It was about 1100 A. D. that the present Sindhi language was derived from the Apabhransh like other Indian languages. Then during eight more centuries of Afghan and Moghal rule up to 19th century, the impact of Arabic and Persian languages was increasingly felt on the original Sindhi language, until it became a rich compound of three different great languages : Sanskrit, Arabic, and Persian. Sindhi literature produced in the latter part of this period was so rich that soon after the British conquest of Sind in 1843, Richard Burton wrote in his ‡History of Sind: "As regards the literature in the Sindhi tongue, it may be easily asserted that no vernacular dialect, at the time of our taking the country, possessed more, and few so much original * This chapter is contributed by Prof. M. U. Malkani. † Dr. Ernest Trump : " Grammar of the Sindhi Language ", London, Leipzig, 1872. ‡ Sir Richard Burton: " Sind and the Races that inhabit the Valley of Indus ", London, 1851. 412 MAHARASHTRA STATE GAZETTEER composition The poetical literature of Sind is much more various and valuable than the prose, and yields not in importance either to Marathi or original compositions in the Hindi and Brij dialects." POETRY. AS in literature of other languages, the beginning of Sindhi literature too was made with poetry. The earliest specimens of Sindhi poetry have been traced to the 14th century in the days of Soomra rulers who were Rajput converts to Islam. They consisted of the popular Sindhi folk-tales like Dodo Chanesar, Umar Marvi and Moamal Rano, composed for the first time by some unknown poets and sung by wandering minstrels. On account of the large-scale proselytization, Hindu poets who refused to be converted, migrated to other parts of India, and that is perhaps the reason why for a long lapse of years no Hindu poet could be discovered in Sind. The first Sindhi poet was Mahommed Isahak (14th-15th century) of whom only a single ba-it (couplet) has been discovered, written in the Sanskrit doha form, which is the oldest and most popular form of Sindhi poetry employed even by Muslim writers. It will be observed that from the very beginning, most of the Sindhi poetry was symbolic, in which physical objects were employed as symbols of spiritual aspirations, as in the single couplet of Isahak which reads : Thian man jhiriku, vihan pirian je chhaja te, Mana chavan dhiriku, boli bajharu moon sen. Translation : Would I become a sparrow, and sat upon the eaves of my Lover's door. That He might tell me : Enter, and sing a sweet song to me. About the same time a group of seven dervishes, called Mamooi Fakirs, left only seven couplets which they composed in anger against the same ruler, Jam Tamachi, as prognostications of evil, most of which are said to have come true. Of these only one example will suffice : Hak vahando hakaro, bhajandi banch Arore, Bih, machhi ain lorhe, Sam-e venda sookhri. Translation : The river will flow with fury, and the bund at Arore will be broken ; Only lotus-roots and tubes and fish shall be sent to the Sam-e as offerings. In the 16th century, the first poet of note was Kazi Khan whose only seven dohras have been discovered, of which the following will serve as an example : Kanz, kadoori, kafiyo, kee keen parhyome ; So paruee biyo, jitan pireen ladhome. Translation : Of all the books on theology I have read nothing at all; In quite a different way have I discovered my Lover. LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE 413 Shah Abdul Kareem (1536--1622) The first major Sindhi poet Shah Kareem of Bulri, who was a saint with a large following, also flourished in the 16th century. In those times, although the foreign rulers had brought the influence of Arabic and Persian on Sindhi language, it is significant to find that even Muslim poets still adhered to the Sindhi language of the soil, with leanings towards Hindu thought and diction, as is evident from the following bait of Shah Kareem :— Hika jo akhar vingro, guru tusi je de, Ta andhare ghar devra phir phir jote kare. Translation : If the guru out of his grace, gave the curving word of oneness, Then even in my dark house the lamp will shed its light evermore. the "curving word of oneness" evidently referring to "Om" as written in Sanskrit. Another dohra of Shah Kareem is also noteworthy for its imagery and symbolism : Paniareea sir a bahro, jar a te pakhee jeean ; Asan Sajan teean, rahyo ahe rooh men. Translation : The water-maid carries two jars on her head, like a bird floating on water ; So also our divine Lover lives poised upon our soul. In the 17th century, only one poet of note, Moulvi Abu-Al-Hasan, can be found, who, although writing on purely theological subjects, was the first to compile a complete book of poems called Mukadama-al-Salavat (Introduction to Prayers), written in an archaic style called after him, the Sindhi of Abu-al-Hasan. In the 18th century appeared another poet-saint named Shah Inayat Allah who wrote the poetry of Sufism: a highly tolerant combination of the common principles of Islam and Vedanta, which floulished on the soils of Sind and Punjab. Shah Inayat's spiritual following and popular influence were so great that the Kalhora ruler, fearing that the Shah might capture Sind, ordered his execution. Shah Inayat suffered death with fortitude and cheer fulness on account of which he is regarded as a martyr to Sufism in Sind where an annual fair is celebrated in his memory at his dargah in Jhoke. Here is an example of his doha enlarged from two into four lines : Adhar, nidhar, abhri, kojhi, kameenee, Tahin san barochal bajhoon kayoon, hote disee heenee, Aghaee Shah Inayat chave, tuhinje tukar san teenee, Jahuee var jee vaheenee, tahin khe muhib milyo muhayar men. Translation : I am helpless, destitute, feeble, ugly and down-trodden ; But my Master has shown me kindness just because of my weakness ; I've been accepted, Shah Inayat says, and thrice-blessed with his bounty ; She who was relying on her Lover, has found her bridegroom face to face. 414 MAHARASHTRA STATE GAZETTEER Shah Lateef the premier poet of Sind, was a contemporary and a close friend of Shah Inayat, and when the news of the latter's cruel execution reached his ears, he uttered the following ba-it: Shah Abdul Lateef (1689--1752). Ajuna otakun men talib tanvareen. Adesee uthee viya, marhiyoon moon mareen. Je jeea khe jiyareen, se lahootee lade viya. Translation : Now at our meeting places, the seekers sing no more ; The hermits have departed, and their shrines are painful to visit ; They who were our life and soul, those holy ones are gone for ever. Shah Lateef's main contributions are his symbolic renderings of the old popular folk-tales of Sind mentioned above. But Shah does not re-tell these tales in any detail or sequence of events ; he only picks out some principal incidents and elaborately derives from them some spiritual significance based on sufistic truths. The main symbolism he employs in these love-tales is that of the beloved standing for the human soul in quest of the divine lovers, the worldly obstacles in the path of their union being the physical senses. In these tales, Shah has created such a vast portrait- gallery of heroes and heroines, with their characters so varied and individualized, and with the heroines generally superior to the heroes, that it will not be an exaggeration to call him the myriad- minded Shakespeare of Sind. Although the vast body of Shah's poetry is mainly mystical, much of his earlier poetry is based on his minute observation of human life and nature, abounding in flights of imagination, and poetic similes and metaphors. Here are a few examples of how he derives moral lessons from the objects of the observation :— 1. Kana manjh karar, hua hehanda sanga men. Gahe gah firaq je, kaya dharo dhar, Najana behar, kadanh melo theendo sajanen. Translation : There were many a grain in the ear of corn, living happily together ; But on the threshing-floor they were separated one from the other ; I know not when I shall be united with beloved again.