Sindhis of Balochistan

The Sindhis of Balochistan are an indigenous Sindhi population living in Balochistan, Pakistan. ^[1]

Most Sindhi tribes are Muslim, usually from Sammat, Jamote, Sindhi Jat, Jadgal, Lasi, Khetran, Bhatia, or Gurjar ^[2] origin. Some are Muhajirs, like the Khojas. A small minority of Hindu Sindhis in Balochistan also exist, usually from Lohana, Rabari, Bheel or Meghwar origin. Many Hindu Sindhi tribes chose to migrate to India after the Partition. ^[3]

History

Further information: Zutt and Baloch people § Medieval period

Map of Sindhi dialects, with clear spillover into Balochistan

Before the migration of the Baloch into the region now known as Balochistan, some Arab writers noted the presence of tribes such as the Meds and Zutts. Zutt was an Arabic exonym applied to the various tribes found across the lower Indus valley, ^[4] including those who inhabited parts of Makran and Kaikan. ^{[5] [ page needed ] [6] [ page needed ]}

Arab writers mentioned the Baloch living in the eastern regions of Iran in the 9th century. ^[7] They would then then be pushed further east into Pakistani Balochistan by Persian and Turkic dynasties like the Buyids, Ghaznavids, and Seljuqs. ^[8] Once settled, the Baloch would use the term "Jadgal" (lit. 'Jaṭṭ-speakers', ^[9] i.e. those who speak the language of the [Sindhi] Jats) ^[10] to identify all the native Sindhis they interacted with, regardless of their tribe.

The Jats of Balochistan are a group of Sindhi-origin (Jadgal, Jamote and Sindhi Jat) ^{[11] [12] [13]} tribes which live in the region, and they are generally accepted as Baloch. ^[14]

The Sindhi Hindu Brahman dynasty ruled Sindh and parts of Balochistan under Chach of Aror.^{[ citation needed ]} After their conversion to Islam, the Sindhi-origin Soomras,^{[ citation needed ]} Sammas,^{[ citation needed ]} Kalhoras,^{[ citation needed ]} and the princely rulers of Makran and Las Bela continued to rule over parts of Balochistan. The Arghuns and Talpurs,^{[ citation needed ]} though not being of Sindhi-origin, would also rule some parts from Sindh. ^[15]

See also

• Balochistan
• Sindhis

References

1. "Baloch and Sindhis share historic ties". dailytimes.com.
2. Tyagi, Vidya Prakash (2009). Martial races of undivided India. Gyan Publishing House. p. 225. ISBN   978-81-7835-775-1. The Jhalwan Gujjars speak both Balochi and Sindhi languages and claim to be natives of these regions without having ancestry of any foreign element in so far as their ethnic traditions are concerned. In the region the Zamindars (landlords) are called Baloch. The other Pakistani Blauch and adjoining Irani Bluches are of one ancestry but against this we hail from separate Gujjar community. As per one tradition they have come from Delhi to this area and speak Sindhi language. In Markan, near border of Iran, the Gujjars are Ziki by faith and claim to have come from Mewar during the time of Akbar, the elderly Gujjars added.
3. "Hindu Castes and Sects of Shahdadkot Sindh 2014 - (PDF)". vdocuments.mx. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
4. Zakeri, Mohsen (1995). Sāsānid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of ʻAyyārān and Futuwwa. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN   978-3-447-03652-8. Pg. 123, 195, 196.
5. Wink, André (2002). Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7Th-11th Centuries. Brill. ISBN   978-0-391-04173-8.
6. Biladuri, Ahmad Bin Yahya Bin Jabir Al (2011-03-01). The Origins of the Islamic State: Being a Translation from the Arabic Accompanied With Annotations, Geographic and Historic Notes of the Kitab Futuh Al-buldan. Cosimo. ISBN   978-1-61640-534-2.
7. Spooner, Brian (1988). Baluchistan: Geogr Baluchistan: Geography, History, and Ethnography.
8. Brian, Spooner. ""BALUCHISTAN i. Geography, History and Ethnography"". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
9. Brian J. Spooner; Jim G. Shaffer; Josef Elfenbein; Moḥammad-Taqī Masʿūdīya; Siawosch Azadi (23 March 2022). "Baluchistan". Brill Referenceworks. Brill. doi: 10.1163/2330-4804_eiro_com_6516 .
10. Delforooz, Behrooz Barjasteh (2008). A sociolinguistic survey among the Jagdal in Iranian Balochistan". In Jahani, Carina; Korn, Agnes; Titus, Paul Brian (eds.). The Baloch and others: linguistic, historical and socio-political perspectives on pluralism in Balochistan. Wiesbaden. Reichert Verlag. pp. 23–44. ISBN   978-3-89500-591-6.
11. "Oman's Diverse Society: Northern Oman" (PDF). JE Peterson.
12. 1998 District Census Report of Malir. Population Census Organisation, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 1999. p. 11. Among Sindhis the tribes are Syed, Jokhia, Khaskheli , Palari , Bareja , Bhabra , Dhars , Sirhindi , Jamot and Mohanas.
13. Khan, Sabir Badal (2013). Two Essays on Baloch History and Folklore: Two Essays on Baloch History and Folklore. Università di Napoli, "l'Orientale". p. 61.
14. Spooner, Brian (1975). "Nomadism in Baluchistan". In Leshnik, Lawrence S.; Sontheime, Günther-Dietz (eds.). Pastoralists and Nomads in South Asia. Wiesbaden, Germany: O. Harrassowitz. pp. 171–182. ISBN   3-447-01552-7.
15. Skutsch, Carl, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. New York: Routledge. p. 178. ISBN   1-57958-468-3.