Hinduism in Sindh

Hindus in Sindh

Devotee at Karachi's Panchmukhi Hanuman Temple
Total population
4,901,407 (2023) 8.81% of the Sindh population
Scriptures
Bhagavad Gita, Vedas
Languages
Sanskrit (sacred) Sindhi, Dhatki (majority) Urdu and other languages (minority)

Hinduism is the second-largest religion in Sindh, numbering 4.9 million people and comprising 8.8 percent of the province's population in the 2023 Pakistani census. Sindh has the largest population and the highest percentage of Hindus in Pakistan. ^[1] Sindh has the Shri Ramapir Temple, whose annual festival is the country's second-largest Hindu festival ^[2] (after the Hinglaj Yatra). ^[3]

History

Excavation of a Brahma bronze from Mirpur Khas

The region and its rulers play an important role in the Hindu epic, Mahabharata. ^{[4] [5]} Hinduism and Buddhism were the predominant religions in Sindh before the arrival of Islam, ^[6] when a number of Hindu castes and communities occupied the region. Many ancient Hindu temples still exist; many Hindu dynasties, ^[7] including the Gupta, Pala, Kushan and Hindu Shahis, ruled the region before Muhammad ibn Qasim led the Umayyad army in the Islamic conquest of Sindh. ^[8] The region still had a Hindu majority, but repeated campaigns and persecution by the Delhi Sultanate led to a gradual decrease in the Hindu population and an increased number of Muslims. Hindus were a minority in the region at the time of the Mughal Empire. ^[9] After the formation of Pakistan, most of the remaining Hindus migrated to India. ^[6]

Demographics

Hinduism in Sindh (1872–2023)

Year	Number	Percent	Increase	Growth	Source(s)
1872	475,848	21.7%	-	-	[10]
1881	544,848	21.43%	-0.27%	+14.50%	[11]
1891	674,371	22.45%	+1.02%	+23.77%	[12]
1901	787,683	23.1%	+0.65%	+16.80%	[13]
1911	877,313	23.47%	+0.37%	+11.38%	[14]
1921	876,629	25.24%	+1.77%	-0.08%	[15]
1931	1,055,119	25.65%	+0.41%	+20.36%	[16]
1941	1,279,530	26.43%	+0.78%	+21.27%	[17]
1951	482,560	7.98%	-18.45%	-62.29%	[18] [19]
1961	568,530	6.64%	-1.34%	+17.82%	[20] [21]
1972	815,452	5.76%	-0.88%	+43.43%	[22] [23]
1981	1,221,961	6.42%	+0.66%	+49.85%	[24] [25] [26]
1998	2,280,842	7.49%	+1.07%	+86.65%	[27]
2017	4,176,986	8.73%	+1.24%	+83.13%	[28] [29]
2023	4,901,407	8.81%	+0.08%	+17.34%	[30]

Colonial era

Hindus in the administrative divisions that compose the contemporary Sindh region (1872–1941)

District or Princely State	1872 [10]		1881 [11]		1891 [12]		1901 [13]		1911 [14]		1921 [15]		1931 [16]		1941 [17]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hyderabad District	163,222	22.61%	159,515	21.14%	204,785	22.29%	242,692	24.54%	246,008	23.72%	160,211	27.94%	198,684	29.97%	245,849	32.4%
Shikarpur District/ Sukkur District [a]	147,224	18.97%	167,896	19.68%	185,813	20.3%	218,829	21.49%	155,156	27.03%	148,188	29.04%	177,467	28.45%	195,458	28.22%
Tharparkar District	84,112	46.53%	93,094	45.78%	132,468	44.42%	151,726	41.7%	196,793	43.08%	176,026	44.41%	218,850	46.76%	247,496	42.6%
Karachi District	72,513	17.12%	82,860	17.31%	103,589	18.34%	115,240	18.96%	111,748	21.42%	138,485	25.55%	162,111	24.93%	222,597	31.18%
Upper Sind Frontier District	8,777	9.75%	14,756	11.88%	18,816	10.78%	22,765	9.81%	26,495	10.07%	23,855	9.91%	29,174	10%	28,664	9.43%
Khairpur State	—	—	26,727	20.69%	28,900	21.9%	36,431	18.28%	39,426	17.62%	35,362	18.31%	39,894	17.56%	49,604	16.22%
Larkana District	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	101,687	15.39%	97,154	16.25%	113,040	16.29%	91,062	17.81%
Nawabshah District	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	97,348	23.25%	115,899	23.34%	140,428	24.04%
Dadu District	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	58,372	14.99%
Total Hindus	475,848	21.7%	544,848	21.43%	674,371	22.45%	787,683	23.1%	877,313	23.47%	876,629	25.24%	1,055,119	25.65%	1,279,530	26.43%
Total Population	2,192,415	100%	2,542,976	100%	3,003,711	100%	3,410,223	100%	3,737,223	100%	3,472,508	100%	4,114,253	100%	4,840,795	100%

Modern era

In the 2023 census, Sindh's 4.9 million Hindus were 8.8 percent of the province's population; this included 1,325,559 (2.38 percent) scheduled-caste Hindus. ^[1] However, the proportion of scheduled caste Hindus is actually higher as they categorize themselves as Hindus in the census rather than as Scheduled Caste Hindu. ^[31] According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, voters who said that they were Hindu were 49 percent of the total in Umerkot and 46 percent in Tharparkar. ^{[32] [33]} According to voter estimates, Hindus have a population of 50,000 or more in 11 districts. All are in Sindh, except for Punjab's Rahim Yar Khan District. ^[34]

Sindh also has Pakistan's highest percentage of Hindus overall, accounting for 8.8% of the population, roughly around 4.9 million people, and 13.3% of the province's rural population as per 2023 Pakistani census report. These numbers also include the scheduled caste population, which stands at 1.7% of the total in Sindh (or 3.1% in rural areas), and is believed to have been under-reported, with some community members instead counted under the main Hindu category. Although, Pakistan Hindu Council claimed that there are 6,842,526 Hindus living in Sindh Province covering around 14.29% of the region's population.

Umerkot District (54.66 percent), in Sindh, is Pakistan's only Hindu-majority district. The province's Tharparkar District has the highest district Hindu population. Four Sindh districts (Umerkot, Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar) account for more than half of the country's Hindu population. ^[35]

Hindus in the administrative divisions in Sindh (1951–2023)

District	1951 [18] [19]		2017 [28] [29]		2023 [30]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Tharparkar District	277,626	38.02%	714,698	43.39%	811,507	45.64%
Hyderabad District	79,566	8.92%	180,926	8.22%	202,368	8.32%
Sukkur District	32,324	4.42%	52,902	3.55%	59,032	3.63%
Nawabshah District Shaheed Benazirabad District [b]	30,066	4.38%	62,316	3.86%	82,817	4.49%
Karachi Federal Capital Territory	18,053	1.61%	—	—	—	—
Upper Sind Frontier District/ Jacobabad District [c]	16,595	4.81%	21,712	2.16%	22,203	1.89%
Khairpur State/ Khairpur District	10,382	3.25%	66,489	2.76%	75,407	2.9%
Larkana District	8,375	1.67%	22,116	1.45%	25,794	1.45%
Dadu District	4,863	1.17%	8,984	0.58%	11,199	0.64%
Thatta District	4,710	1.56%	29,832	3.04%	31,649	2.92%
Mirpur Khas District	—	—	582,879	38.74%	697,318	41.48%
Umerkot District	—	—	559,824	52.15%	633,114	54.66%
Sanghar District	—	—	446,737	21.79%	564,648	24.47%
Badin District	—	—	426,142	23.61%	488,523	25.11%
Tando Allahyar District	—	—	286,537	34.17%	337,403	36.59%
Tando Muhammad Khan District	—	—	150,653	22.25%	174,105	23.98%
Matiari District	—	—	128,267	16.66%	153,170	18.03%
Ghotki District	—	—	101,974	6.19%	111,770	6.35%
Karachi South District	—	—	71,031	4.01%	98,772	4.24%
Karachi East District	—	—	39,590	1.38%	61,590	1.57%
Jamshoro District	—	—	38,510	3.87%	53,129	4.76%
Kashmore District	—	—	35,122	3.22%	39,667	3.21%
Malir District	—	—	34,125	1.77%	40,190	1.66%
Naushahro Feroze District	—	—	26,464	1.64%	28,978	1.63%
Sujawal District	—	—	22,720	2.92%	22,247	2.65%
Shikarpur District	—	—	17,246	1.4%	20,885	1.51%
Karachi West District	—	—	15,392	0.39%	7,849	0.29%
Korangi District	—	—	12,144	0.47%	13,896	0.44%
Karachi Central District	—	—	11,691	0.39%	12,184	0.32%
Qambar Shahdadkot District	—	—	9,963	0.74%	9,785	0.65%
Keamari District	—	—	—	—	10,208	0.49%
Total Hindus	482,560	7.98%	4,176,986	8.73%	4,901,407	8.81%
Total responses	6,047,748	99.89%	47,854,510	100%	55,638,409	99.9%
Total population	6,054,474	100%	47,854,510	100%	55,696,147	100%

Community life

A Sindhi Hindu wedding

Many Hindus –especially in Sindh's rural areas –follow the teachings of 14th-century Ramdevji, whose main temple (Shri Ramdev Pir temple) is in Tando Allahyar. A growing number of urban Hindu youth in Pakistan associate themselves with ISKCON. ^[36] Other communities worship mother goddesses, their clan (or family) patrons. ^{[37] [38] [39]} Many Hindus in Sindh revere Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, along with the Hindu gods. A large percentage of Sindhi Hindus consider themselves Nanakpanthi. ^[40]

Sindhi Hindus who cannot afford travel to India to release their loved ones' remains into the Ganges go to Churrio Jabal Durga Mata Temple in Nagarparkar. ^[41] According to a study, most scheduled-caste Hindus (91.5 percent) in the province's Tharparkar and Umerkot Districts faced discrimination and believed that its political parties are ignoring them. ^[42] Forced conversion of Hindu girls is a major problem faced by Hindus in Sindh, with an increased number of cases in the southern districts of Tharparkar, Umerkot and Mirpur Khas. ^[43] Sindh is Pakistan's only province with a separate law governing Hindu marriages. ^[44]

Ten seats are reserved for minorities in the provincial assembly. ^[45] In 2018, the Sindhi Krishna Kumari Kohli was the first Hindu to win a women's reserved seat in the Senate. ^[46] In the 2018 general election, Mahesh Kumar Malani (representing Tharparkar-II) was the first Hindu candidate to win a general seat in the National Assembly of Pakistan. ^[47] In the 2018 provincial assembly election, Hari Ram Kishori Lal and Giyan Chand Essrani were the first non-Muslims to win a general seat (non-reserved) in a provincial-assembly election. ^[48]

Temples

• 
  Ramapir Temple, Tando Allahyar, whose annual pilgrimage is Pakistan's second-largest Hindu pilgrimage
• 
  Umarkot Shiv Mandir, whose annual Shivrathri festival is one of the country's largest religious festivals ^[49]
• 
  Guru Balpuri Ashram in Thana Bulla Khan
• 
  Sant Nenuram Ashram

See also

• Hinduism in Balochistan
• Hinduism in Punjab, Pakistan
• Hinduism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Notes

1. 1901: District headquarters shifted from Shikarpur to Sukkur, while district bifurcation created Larkana District.
2. 2008: District renamed from Nawabshah District to Shaheed Benazirabad District.
3. 1952: District renamed from Upper Sind Frontier District to Jacobabad District.

References

Citations

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Bibliography

• Avari, Burjor (2013). Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A history of Muslim power and presence in the Indian subcontinent. Routledge. ISBN   978-0-415-58061-8.
• Ispahani, Farahnaz (2017) [2015]. Purifying the Land of the Pure: Pakistan's Religious Minorities. HarperCollins. ISBN   978-0-190-62165-0. OCLC   1020480157.
• MacLean, Derryl N. (1989). Religion and Society in Arab Sind. BRILL. ISBN   978-90-04-08551-0.
• Kothari, Rita (2018j). Unbordered Memories: Sindhi Stories of Partition. India: Penguin Random House. ISBN   978-93-5305-345-1.
• Bhavnani, Nandita (2014). The Making of Exile: Sindhi Hindus and the Partition of India. Tranquebar Press. ISBN   978-93-84030-33-9.
• Abbasi, Reema (2014). Historic Temples in Pakistan: A Call to Conscience. Niyogi Books. ISBN   978-93-83098-49-1.
• Gordon, A. D. D.; Gordon, Sandy (2014). India's Rise as an Asian Power: Nation, Neighborhood, and Region. Georgetown University Press. ISBN   978-1-62616-074-3.
• Roy, Kumkum (2008l). Historical Dictionary of Ancient India. Scarecrow Press. ISBN   978-1-4616-5917-4.

External links

• "History of Hinduism in Sindh from ancient times". The Times of India . 13 March 2019.