History of Sindh

Indus valley civilization and Sind in particular was the cradle of world civilizations. The name Sind is derived from river Sindhu which is called Indus. Our ancient civilisation began here. It is a confirmed fact that Navigation started on the Indus river around 6OOO years ago. We must feel proud of the fact that we originate from such an ancient and cultured country with a recognized civilisation of 5OOO years. There was a Sindhi version of the Mahabharata in 3OO B.C during the Budhhist era of Sind. Vasdeva the Kusha king at that time ordered the listing of all sindhi literary works in 346 A.D . But today there is no trace of these writings But the definite assertion of the existence about these books proves that two thousand years ago , sindhi was already a written language.

Hinglaj Devi

Historical Look at Hingol:

Hinglaj Devi was last mother queen of Matriarchal era of Indus Valley Another name of Hinglaj Devi is Goddess Naina which is very akin to Goddess Nania of Sumerian Civilization by Jagdeesh Ahuja, Hyderabad, Sindh.

Originally Hinglaj has nothing to do with religion or nationalism. Hinglaj is the historical monument of Sindhu Civilization. Hingol was one of the great many kingdoms of Sapta Sindhva (Sindhu des of seven rivers) and Hinglaj Devi was last mother queen of matriarchal era of Indus Valley. Another name of Hinglaj Devi is Goddess Naina which is very akin to Goddess Nania of Sumerian Civilization. The great poet of Indus Valley, Shah Latif called her “Nani Ama(n)” and after then Hinglaj Temple became famous as Temple of Nani Ama(n) especially in the Muslim populace. And Hinglaj Yatra has now got a great new altitude beyond religious divide.

We are unfortunate people who disown our own history. Ironically people of India own our monuments of ancient civilization as their sacred religious shrines and we are ever ready to give up our past and destroy our future. What a great alienation and ignorance of our own history! How can one weigh the advantages of destruction of Harappa, Taxila or Mohen-jo-daro!? Hinglaj is even more ancient than these historical sites. Mehargarh and Hinglaj are the monuments of advent of civilization.

Legend of Shiva Parpati explains the transition of matriarchal era to patriarchal era. Shiva is the first male god of Sindhu Civilization whose whole Shakti (Power) was enshrined in his spouse Parpati (Hinglaj Devi) that is why she is also called Shakti Devi. It is well known fact that Shiva was the Lord of Indigenous Dravidian people of Indus Valley. When they were forced to migrate to Ganges Valley by Central Asian Aryan invaders, they continued to worship their Lord Shiva there. Long after the Aryans settled in Sapta Sindhva and owned Shiva along with their Lord Indra (God of Storm), people of Ganges valley started to visit the land of their ancestors. Hence the tradition of Hinglaj Yatra took place.

We must not forget the fact that the word Hindu itself is nothing but Sindhu. The Persians pronounced Sindhu as Hindu. And later Greek invaders pronounced Hindu as Indu, thence words Indus and India came into existence. Due to our ignorance we have lost sense of our history. Religious and nationalistic narrow mindedness has blurred our vision. Hinglaj doesn’t belong to any single religion or nation only, it is a great asset of Indus Valley and heritage of whole humankind, which should be put in the World Heritage list of UNESCO.

Sadhu Bela Temple, Sindh

Sadhu Bela is a temple on an island right in the midst of the Indus river in Sukkar .The view of the hills nearby is fantastic. Sadhu Bela means :A saint in a jungle.It was established in 1823 by a mystic Baba bankhandi .It is spread over 9 acres Community feast :Langar:Free food for all: is a regular feature along with other daily religious ceremonies Every year on the Urs of the Baba,thousands converge on this holy place to pay respects to him. Very recently,Sadhu Bela was affected by floods.But like Moen Jo Daro,there is a total apathy of the government as well as local people.

Quite a few went to countries outside India. Today’s statics :In Pakistan , there are 7O% Sindhis,17% in India and 13% overseas.

Simultaneuosly Maharao Shri of Kutch very gracefully allotted 15OOO acres to the Sindhis for resettlement What a noble gesture ! The entire project was handed over to Bhai Pratap to develop a self sufficient city with roads,and infrastructure, etc. rtc. This city was planned by a world reknown Italian architect. In due course housing projects, educational institutes and hospitals etc were built. The city is still growing

Meantime,the Sindhis have spread to all parts of the world .They are all prospering and very happy.Only saddest thing is: The use of Sindhi language is declining and may be extinct during the next century

Our language

Before the standardisation of Sindhi orthography, numerous forms of the Devanagari and Lunda (Laṇḍā) scripts were used for trading, universally by all Sindhis. For literary and religious purposes, a modified form of Persian alphabet known as Ab-ul-Hassan Sindhi and Gurmukhi (a subset of Laṇḍā) were used. Another two scripts, the Khudabadi alphabet and Shikarpuri were attempts to reform the Landa script.[9] During British rule in the late 19th century, an Arabic-based orthography was decreed standard, after much controversy, as the Devanagari script had also been considered. However, this script has since become accepted

Arabic script

During British rule in India, a variant of the Persian alphabet was adopted for Sindhi in the 19th century. The script is used in Pakistan today. It has a total of 52 letters, augmenting the Persian with digraphs and eighteen new letters (ڄ ٺ ٽ ٿ ڀ ٻ ڙ ڍ ڊ ڏ ڌ ڇ ڃ ڦ ڻ ڱ ڳ ڪ) for sounds particular to Sindhi and other Indo-Aryan languages. Some letters that are distinguished in Arabic or Persian are homophones in Sindhi.

Devanagari script

In India, the Devanagari script is also used to write Sindhi. A modern version was introduced by the government of India in 1948; however, it did not gain full acceptance, so both the Sindhi-Arabic and Devanagari scripts are used. In India a person may write a Sindhi language paper for a Civil Services Examination in either script [2]. Diacritical bars below the letter are used to mark implosive consonants, and dots called nukta are used to form other additional consonants.

In addition to a stock of native words inherited from Sanskrit, Sindhi has borrowed numerous words of Arabic and Persian origin. In addition, Sindhi has borrowed from English and [[sindhi ]]-Urdu. Today, Sindhi in Pakistan is heavily influenced by Urdu, with more borrowed Perso-Arabic elements, while Sindhi in India is influenced by Hindi, with more borrowed tatsam Sanskrit elements

List Of Sindhi Festivals

01
Cheti Chand

Celebration of the birth of Water god ( Varun Devta ) Sai Uderolal, popularly known as Shri JHULElLAL. So much has been said and written about it that it would be superfluous to repeat the event. In Sindh the beginning of the New Year was considered Cheti Chand . Some businessmen opened new account books; many however, did that on the eve of Diwali. On the full moon day, people used to go to a river or lake and offer ‘Akho’ with a pinch of rice mixed with milk and flour. If there was no river or ‘Darya’, the ritual was performed at a well. Even Sikhs went to temples or Gurdwara, because Guru Nanak’s birthday also took place on Purnima .

02
Sagra (Sacred thread)

Sindhi Bhaibands often lived in foreign countries; therefore, their wives were always worried about the good health of their husbands. For this purpose they performed pooja and fasted on four Mondays of Sawan month, after which they perform pooja, distribute sweet rice and then had the sacred thread tied on the wrist by the priest ( Bandhan ). Here in India, the priests have made a show business which costs nearly 500-800 rupees, a gimmick to knock out money.

03
Mahalakshmi's Sacred Thread (Mahalakshmi-a-jo-Sagro)

This sacred thread had 16 strips and 17 days. On the day when the sacred thread was to be untied, it was celebrated as an important day and special savouries like satpura and pakwan of Suji & Maida were made and distributed firstly to the priests and the poor and afterwards the remaining savouries were used by family members.

04
Fasts

In Sindhis, generally Mondays & Saturdays, Giyaras or Umaas were observed as fasts ( vrats ). During the fast of Satyanarayan and nine days of Ekaanaas, only one time meal was generally taken.

05
Teejri

This festival takes place in the month of Sawan when married women and girls paint their hands and feet with Mehndi, go on fast for the whole day, during which they used to play games, swing in Jhulas and sing love songs. Orthodox or strict Sindhi women do not even drink a sip of water until they break their fast. In the night after making an offering to the moon, they would break the fast. This is also referred to as the Sindhi version of Karwa Chauth

06
Akhan Teej

On this day new earthen pots of water(matkas) were kept and everyone was offered clean and cool water. The significance of this day was to offer water to the thirsty. Hence at every nook and corner, sharbat, with pieces of apple in it, was offered to passersby along with ‘prasad’ . On this day, it was also customary to send new earthen pots and fruits to priests and Gurdwara.

07
Aunn-Matyo

In the month of Sawan, on the Baaras of Krishna Paksha, cereals were changed in food, i.e. instead of wheat and rice, chapatis made of gram flour (Besan) were eaten.

08
Ban Badhri

During the month of ‘Bado’, during the Baaras of Shukla Paksha, god Varun had taken avtaar . In lieu of that small insects like ants etc. were fed Gur (jaggery) and Musti . Married daughters are invited by their parents for meals.

09
Somavati Umaas

During certain months Umaas takes place on a Monday. That day is considered important for having a “dumb dip’ in the waters; without talking to anyone early in the morning. It is also, called ‘Gungee Umaas” .

10
Nandhi and Vaddi Thadri

Both of these take place in the month of Sawan . On the day before Thadree day, people cook lola (sweet flour cakes) and rote (fried cakes) because there has to be no lighting of fire in the house on the Thadree day. The lolas and Rotes are eaten with curd or pickle. On that day drops of water are also sprinkled on the cooking fire to appease Sitladevi Mata.

11
Janamashtami, Ram Navmi and Shivratri

Since Krishna was born after midnight, on Janamashtami, bhajans and kirtan are held in temples till midnight. On Ram Navmi, Lord Rama’s birthday is celebrated. On Shivratri people drink ‘Thaadhal’ with some ‘bhang’ in it, after making offering of it in the Mahadev temple. In the villages and cities, big pots of ‘Taahri’ (sweet rice) are prepared and distributed among all.

12
Tirmoori

On this festive day parents send ladoos & chiki ( Laaee ) made of Tils to their married daughters. On the Makar Sankrant day the sun moves from south to north. It is therefore also called ‘utraan’ or ‘Tirmoori’ . In Mahabharat battle Bhisham Pitamah did not breathe his last till ‘ utraan’ since on this day there happens flush of light in Dev Lok .

13
Dassehra

Few days before Dassehra there used to be Ramlila program which was attended by throngs of people. On the Dassehra day colourful effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkarna and Meghnath were burnt.

14
Diyaaree

Two days before Diwali, Sindhis start lighting Diyaas (earthen lamps) from ‘Dhan Teras’ . The bazaars are full with prospective consumers. Friends and relatives meet one another with affection and extended pleasantries and sweetmeats. In the night, Laxmi Poojan takes place when all the members of the family pray with reverence and respect. In the night, people used to take in their hands a stick to which a rag dipped in oil was tied which was burnt. It was called ‘Mollawaro’ ; everyone shouted ‘Mollawaro….. Mollawaro’….

15
The Giyaras of Kati

Before partition, on this day people in Sindh used to be engaged in giving charity. The whole bazaar would be full with hundreds of beggars and the needy, who would spread a cloth before them, on which people, according to their mite, would throw money, Bhugra, fruits etc. The jugglers used to arrange their Tamashas on the road with monkeys and bears dancing on the tunes played by the jugglers. An atmosphere of gaiety and gay prevailed all through the day.

16
Navratra

During this days devotees of Devi ate one meal a day and did not even shave and cut hair. Ladies sang bhajans . In Nagarparkar they used to dance like Garba in Gujrat.

17
Lal Loi

Celebrated on the 13th of January every year, during Lal Loi kids used to bring wood sticks from their grand parents and aunties and like a fire camp burnt these sticks in the night with people enjoying, dancing and playing around fire. Some ladies whose wishes were fulfilled offered coconuts in the fire and distributed prasad ‘Sesa’ ; this continued till midnight.

18
Rakhri

During the Purnima of Sawan month sisters tied a Rakhi to their brothers. This day is called “Rakhree Bandhan’. Even the near cousin sisters used to put Rakhis on cousin brothers . Sisters used to come from far off places and towns to specially tie Rakhis to their brothers. There was so much affection and love. Those cities and places where there were rivers or sea, people used to offer coconuts and milk to the God of Waters ‘Varun Devta so that those who were traveling in ships and boats should have a safe and sound journey.

19
Shraadh

Just as in India the month of September ‘Bado’ was meant for Krishna Paksha as Pitar Pakhiya. Any member of the family who had died on particular (tithi) day and date, a Shraadh was offered for the solace of the deceased’s soul. The Brahmins were given food and Dakhshna. It is said that Arya Samaj carried out a strong movement against Shraadh, but the Shraadhs continued because of the faith of people since they felt that through this method the deceased members of the family are remembered and all the family members have a good gathering.

20
Nagapanchmi (Gogro)

During those days whenever the snake charmer brought snakes, they were given some Dakhshna and also milk for the snakes. Nagpanchami is also called Gogro . It is a folklore from Kutch and Gujarat.

21
Holi

The festival of colours in which all the young and old join together to express their joy at the change of season. Some people correlate Holi festival with Holika, the sister of Hirnakashyap, mythological father of Bhagat Prahlad.

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