Sindhi diaspora

Last updated
Sindhi diaspora
سنڌي ڊاسپورا
Regions with significant populations
India, America, Canada, Australia and Gibraltar
Languages
Sindhi
Religion
Predominately: Star and Crescent.svg Islam
Minority: Om.svg Hinduism and Khanda.svg Sikhism

The Sindhi diaspora consists of Sindhi people who have emigrated from the historical Sindh province of British India, [1] as well as the modern Sindh province of Pakistan, [2] to other countries and regions of the world, as well as their descendants.

Contents

Apart from the Indian subcontinent, there is a large and well-established community of Sindhis throughout different continents of the world including Malaysia, Oman, Singapore, UAE, USA and UK [3] where they have established themselves as a trade diaspora. [4] [5]

India

After the partition of India in 1947, about half of the Sindhi Hindu community had to migrate to the Dominion of India from the Dominion of Pakistan. As of the2011 census, there were about 2.7 million Sindhis living in the Republic of India settled mostly in Western states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. [6]

Sri Lanka

Earliest groups of Sindhis came to the island of British Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) estimated two centuries ago in hopes for business and trade. [7] A majority of them had migrated from Hyderabad city of Sindh via the Arabian Sea, [8] and most were Hindus who had come for business. [9] [10]

Foreign lands

Outside the subcontinent, it is estimated that around 24,000 Sindhi of Afghanistan are part of a much larger Sindhi people group. Almost all of the Sindhis in Afghanistan are Hanafite Muslim. [11]

There is also a sizeable overseas population of Sindhis in the United Kingdom and United States, other populations include in Australia and Canada.

Malta has a small, established Sindhi trading community of about 45 families (200 people) of shop-keepers from Hyderabad, Sindh (in present-day Pakistan) rooted in a migration which began around 1887.

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sindhi Hindus</span> Sindhi adherents of Hinduism

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References

  1. Markovits, Claude (22 June 2000). The Global World of Indian Merchants, 1750–1947: Traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama . Cambridge University Press. p.  277. ISBN   9781139431279. The partition of British India brought in its wake a large-scale exodus of non-Muslims from Sind to independent India.
  2. Rajpar, Mushtaq (10 August 2017). "The Sindhi diaspora". The News International . Retrieved 28 January 2018. Sindhis living abroad have attempted to have an organised one voice for decades. In many ways those who migrate from Sindh to North America remain connected to and deeply concerned about Sindh.
  3. Sindhi, people. "Sindhi diaspora" . Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  4. Service, Tribune News. "'The Sindhis — Selling Anything, Anywhere' is story of the quintessential Sindhi businessman". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  5. "For Sindhis, Partition Meant Loss of a Homeland, of a Culture and a Language". The Wire. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  6. "2011 Indian Census" (PDF).
  7. Nazim, Aisha. "Why the Partition of India was a tectonic event for Sri Lankan Sindhis". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
  8. "The story of the Lankan Sindhis". Hindustan Times. 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
  9. "Proud of their heritage; proud to be Lankans". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
  10. India, Ministry External Affairs. "India-Sri Lanka Relations" (PDF). MEA.gov.in. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
  11. People, Sindhi. "Sindhi diaspora" . Retrieved 16 October 2014.