Sindh Observed
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SINDH OBSERVED Seleetion from the .Journal of Sindh mstorieal Soeiety Edited by Mubarak Ali FICTION f-IOUSE 18-Mozang Road, Lahore. L Phones: 042-7249218-7237430 Copyrights 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval, or transmitted any form of by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - without the prior written permission of the author and publisher. Published by: Zahoor Ahmed Khan Fiction House 18-Mozang Road, Lahore Title Design: Ghulam Abbas Printed by: TT<1jiHanifPrinters, Lahore Price Rs. 350.00 " To, Nadeern Orner, Bilal Ahmad, &. Muhamad Amjad CONTENTS Page No. 1. Sapta-Sindhu in the Rig Veda 11 By N.M. Billimoria 2. The Iranians in Ancient India 41 Especially in Sindh and the Punjab By N.M. Billimoria 3. Two Minor Invasions of Sindh 71 By AB.Advani, M.A, LLB. 4. The English Missions of 1808, 79 1809 & 1820 to Sindh By AB.Advani, M.A, LL.B. 5. Sindh in 1809: Extracts from 91 Henry Ellis' Account By B.D.Mirehandani,LC.S 6. Did the British Introduce 99 Christianity into Sindh By Rev. AchillesMcersman,O.F.M. 7. Commercial Navigation of the Indus, 101 1820-1832 AD. By c.i, Mariwalla,B.A 8. The Mirs and the Indus Tolls ]31 By. H.T. Lambriek,LC.S. 9. The Scinde Irregular Horse, in its 147 earliest days By H.T. Lambrick, I.C.S. 10. The Sindh Battles, 1843 165 By H.T. Lambrick, I.C.S. 11. The Lion's Last Roar 205 By AB. Advani M.A., LL.B. 12. The 50th Anniversary of Meanee 209 13. The Indian Navy--- A review of its 213 Activities in Sindh and on the Adjacent Coasts 1615-1863 By CommanderR.D. Merriman,R.I.N. 14. Sindh and the Indian Mutiny of 1857 225 By c.i, Mariwalla,B.A 15.. Two Great Occasions in British History 233 in Sindh By c.L. Mariwalla,B.A. 16. Karachi Town, its Trade and Taxation 245 in the First Half of the 19th Century By C.L. Mariwalla,B.A. 17. Historical Development of Education 255 in Sindh By Miss Sarla J. Narsian 18. The Mazaris of Sindh 275 By MuhammadYasin, M.A 19. The History of Dress 281 By Dr. Omar RolfBaron Ehrenfels INTRODUCTION _ The early political history of Sindh is shrouded in mystery and mostly. remains unknown. The excavation of Moenjo Daro brought . to light the existence of highly developed urban culture in Sindh (2500-200 Bq. The discovery of Moenjo Daro smashed the myth that the Indian subcontinent has no history and civilization. The discovery of highly urbanized and developed civilization refuted these charges and brought the ancient Indian civilization parallel to the Egyptian and Mesopotamian, II gave pride and confidence to the people of the Indian subcontinent and strengthened the freedom movement against the Britishcrs. The significant aspect of the history of Sindh is the constant invasions of the foreign powers and its occupation by them. In 520- 515 B.C, the Persians invaded Sindh and after the conquest incorporatcd it into !he Persian empire. Next was Alexander of Macedonia (326-25 BC). Then came Sakus and the Kushans (120 Be 200 AD). It was again conquered by the Sassanid Empire and Sindh hecame one of its province- .. Under The Rai dynasty Sindh attempted to become independent but the defeat of the Rai ruler by the Persians scaled the fate and Sindh remained occupied by the Persians.· When Chuch came into power; he made Sindh independent from the Persian empire. But the independence was short lived and during the reign of Raja Dahar, Sindh was invaded by the Arabs who, after the victory, made it a part of the Arab Empire. Nearly two hundred years (712-105R) the Arab ruled over Sindh. The later history of Sindh is the history of the ruling dynasties. The Sumras (I05H- 1:\71); the Sam mas (134IJ-f520); the Kalhoras (1700-1782): and the Talpurs (1782-IH43) ruled over Sindh successively. In 1843. it was conquered by the British and became a part of the Bombay presidency. In 1937, after a vigorous poliliral_ campaing, it was separated and became an independent provinl'c)- 7 ' The tragedy of the political history of Sindh is that mostly it was ruled hy the foreign dynasties unsympathetic to the locul people. They ruled over the country with force and military power and thus brought immense suffering» to the people andthe country. The foreign ruling classes throughout the history resided mn the cities which nourished al- the expense of the pcascrus and the workers, They kept the local people backward and ignorant. Consequently the local culture could not prosper and remained overshadowed hy the foreign urban culture. Their rule of the foreign dynasties, the constant invasions from the outside, and the civil wars between the claimants of the throne devastated the country and reduced the majority of people to poverty. this made them culturally bacbackward. Sindh":.\,as'visited by the different European nations in the 16th and the 17th cent pries for trade. The Portuguese wen: first. They , were followed by the English and the Dutch. The first English factory was established at Thatta in 1615, It appears from the. Factory records that during the 17th century Sindh was f.."lOUS for its textiles and Bhakkar, Rohri, Darbclo, Gambat, KanJiaro, Schwan. Sann. Dadu, Nasarpur, and Thalia were famous for cotton manufacturing industry. The chief articles which were exported Irom Sindh were rice, hides, Sharkfins, saltpetre, tmtash, assafoetida, colton. silk cloths, horses and indigo. Sindh was rich in agriculture products. Dates, mangoes. apples, pomegranates, oranges, mulberries, tamarinds, and melons were abundant. The common vegetables were onions, spinich, turnips, radishs. carrots, garlic, pumpkins, beans, peas and eggplants. The wheat and rice were produced in large quantity. Inspire of the fertility of soil, the condition of the peasants was miserable because the best lands were occupied by the foreign ruling classes and the local peasantry eitber cultivated the worst land or worked manual labours and lived in squalid and wretchcdnes. The burden of I.ltiserie~ was lessened by the common people in observing festivals, and engaging in dancing and singing. The partation of 1947 brought political. social and economic' change to Sindh. The urban Hindu population left Sindh in a frenzy of communal riots and the refugees from various parts (If India arrived and selllcd in cities. When the early cnthuusiasm cooled K down. the problems between Sindhi and refugees were multiplied. The political situation was further deteriorated when West Pakistan was declared One Unit. It was the beginning of nationalist I1W\,Cl11cntin Sindh in order to preserve their identity. Though one Unit was abolished in 1970 hut in the absence of democratic process the small nationalities felt exploited hy the majority province. Sindh is struggling very hard Ior betterment of its future socially, economically, culturally and also striding fur its FUTURE, to win the status it has always DESERVED. In order to understand the history of Sindh, the articles written hy eminent historians and Scholars arc selected from the journal of Sind Historical Society. These articles were written by prominent historians and scholars who. after painstaking research, brought to light the ancient as well a~ modern history IIf Sindh. As the journal ceased to publish: and its complete record is not available ill any library; it is decided to publish the collection Ill' best of articles and make them available 10 scholars and general readers. Mubaruk Ali I.II/um',Augus, /'N'>. Sapta-Sindhu in the Rig Veda By N. M. Billimoria (Read before tile Sindh Historical Society, Karachi, 011 l lth Dec. J938) I must first mention about the Sapta Sindhu and about the Rig Veda before I take up the proper subject of the paper. Arya signifying honourable, in ordinary speech, and derived from arya, which means lord in the Vedas, is the most ancient name of the Indian people. In Rig Veda I, 51, 8 we read "Distinguish between the Aryas ami those who are Dasyus; chastizing those who observe no sacred rites, subject to them to the sacrificer." The term "Malecha", an impure barbarian, is the opposite of Arya. The same is the case among the Persians. According to the Persian law of euphony, arya had to be changed airya, a name which the Persians long applied to themselves, and out of which the more modern Iran, has arisen; a name too with whict! Herodotus had become acquainted. Anairya, non-Iranic is opposed to the word airya. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy in his recently published book The Rig Veda as L~nd-Nama Bok says about Arya, Arya thus:- Arya, "noble" or "gentle" (as in "Gentleman") is form r, to go, rise up, reach, obtain; cognate forms are ariya, airya, Irna, Erin, and Germ. Ehrc; for the root, cf. Zend ir, Lith ir-ti (to row, of. Skr. aritra, "oar"), (ired' or-nu-rni, 'aro-o etc. and LaL or-ior, or-lens. Any connection with LaL ar, to plough, may be doubted. The root meanings give the sense of going forward ami taking possession. The root meaning of arya is that of "pioneer", in the American sense, where the first settlers arc most highly honoured (one might almost speak of an "ancestral cult" in this connection), and where it represents the height of social distinction to be descended from these first comers from the other side. From this point of view, there develops the secondary meaning of "noble" and that of "right", d. rta "law" and ari "loyal"; the procedure of the first settlers being thought of as an establishment of law and order where savagery (anrta) II Sindt, Observed had previously prevailed.