Total population | |
---|---|
c. 8 million | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 4,200,000[1][2] |
![]() | 3,810,000[a][3] |
Languages | |
Sindhi Additionally Hindi–Urdu, and English | |
Religion | |
![]() | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Indo-Aryan peoples |
Sindhi Hindus are ethnic-Sindhis who are adherents of the religion of Hinduism, whose origins lie in the Sindh region. Sindhi Hindus now live all across modern-day India and in the Sindh province of modern-day Pakistan. After the Partition of India in 1947, many Sindhi Hindus were among those who fled from Pakistan to the dominion of India, in what was a largescale exchange of Hindu and Muslim populations in some areas. Some later emigrated from the subcontinent and settled in other parts of the world.[4][5][6]
According to the 2017 census, there are 4.2 million Sindhi Hindus residing within the Sindh province of Pakistan, making upto 8.7% of the province's populace with major population centers being Mirpur Khas Division and Hyderabad Division that combined account for more than 2 million of them.[1] Meanwhile, the 2011 census listed 3.81 million Sindhis in India,[3] a number that does not include Sindhi Hindus who no longer speak the Sindhi language. The vast majority of Sindhi Hindus living in India belong to the Lohana jāti, which includes the sub-groups of Amil and Bhaiband.[7][8]
Hinduism in Sindh
Hinduism in the Sindh region, as in other areas of the Indian Subcontinent, was the dominant religion of the Sindhi people, with a considerable Buddhist minority.[9] In pre-Islamic Sindh, Hindus were mainly non-mercantile and the majority population in the rural regions, whereas Buddhists were mainly mercantile and the majority in urban areas.
The Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who visited Sindh in the years 630–644, said that Buddhism was declining in the region.[10] While Buddhism declined and ultimately disappeared after Arab conquest mainly due to conversion of almost all of the Buddhist population of Sindh to Islam, Hinduism managed to survive through the Muslim rule. Derryl Maclean explains what he calls "the persistence of Hinduism" on the basis of "the radical dissimilarity between the socio-economic bases of Hinduism and Buddhism in Sind" : Buddhism in this region was mainly urban and mercantile while Hinduism was rural and non-mercantile, thus the Arabs, themselves urban and mercantile, attracted and converted the Buddhist classes, but for the rural and non-mercantile parts, only interested by the taxes, they promoted a more decentralized authority and appointed Brahmins for the task, who often just continued the roles they had in the previous Hindu rule.[9]
After many unsuccessful raids in 712CE army of Umayyad Caliphate led by Muhammad Bin Qasim successfully invaded Sindh against the last Hindu king of Sindh, Raja Dahir. After Sindh came under control of Qasim, native religions like Hinduism and Buddhism started declining. In the reign of the Delhi Sultanate, Hinduism and Buddhism declined very much in this area and became minority religions. Today there are a little over 7 million Sindhi Hindus in the Sindh region.[11]
Partition of India
Prior to the Partition of India, around 73% of the population of Sindh was Muslim with almost 26% of the remaining being Hindu.[12][13]
Hindus in Sindh were concentrated in the urban areas before the Partition of India in 1947, during which most migrated to modern-day India according to Ahmad Hassan Dani. In the urban centres of Sindh, Hindus formed the majority of the population before the partition. The cities and towns of Sindh were dominated by the Hindus. In 1941, Hindus were 64% of the total urban population.[14] According to the 1941 Census of India, Hindus formed around 74% of the population of Hyderabad, 70% of Sukkur, 65% of Shikarpur and about half (50%) of Karachi.[15] By the 1951 Census of Pakistan, all of these cities had virtually been emptied of their Hindu population as a result of the partition.[16]
Hindus were also spread over the rural areas of Sindh province. Thari (a dialect of Sindhi) is spoken in Sindh in Pakistan and Rajasthan in India.
After the partition of India in 1947, an estimated half[citation needed] of Sindh's Hindus migrated to India, mainly forced by the religious-based persecution of the time. They settled primarily in neighbouring Kutch district of Gujarat, which bears linguistic and cultural similarities to Sindh, and the city of Bombay. As per Census of India 2011, there are around 1,741,662 Sindhi speakers living in India (not counting Kutchi speakers, who are sometimes seen as speaking a Sindhi dialect).[17] There are also sizable Sindhi Hindu communities elsewhere in the world, sometimes termed, the 'Sindhi diaspora'.
Family Names
Conventions
Most Sindhi Hindu family names are a modified form of a patronymic and typically end with the suffix "-ani", which is used to denote descent from a common male ancestor. One explanation states that the -ani suffix is a Sindhi variant of 'anshi', derived from the Sanskrit word 'ansh', which means 'descended from' (see: Devanshi). The first part of a Sindhi Hindu surname is usually derived from the name or location of an ancestor. In northern Sindh, surnames ending in 'ja' (meaning 'of') are also common. A person's surname would consist of the name of his or her native village, followed by 'ja'. The Sindhi Hindus generally add the suffix ‘-ani’ to the name of a great-grandfather and adopt the name as a family name.[18][19][self-published source][20]
Surnames
Notable Sindhi Hindus
- Raja Dahir, the last Hindu king of Sindh
- Jimmi Harkishin, British Asian actor
- Ajith Kumar, Indian film actor
- Aftab Shivdasani, Indian film actor.
- Asrani, Indian comedian and actor.
- Anant Balani, Indian film Director.
- Babita, Indian film actress
- Bherumal Meharchand Advani, Linguist, Historian, Novelist, Poet, Researcher
- Kiara Advani, Indian actress.
- Kalyan Bulchand Advani, Poet, Critique, Scholar
- L. K. Advani, former Deputy Prime Minister of India.
- Nikhil Advani, Indian movie director and screenwriter.
- Pankaj Advani, 23 times world champion in snooker and billiards from India.
- Suresh H. Advani, oncologist who pioneered Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in India.
- Dr Gurmukh Das Jagwani, former Member of Maharashtra Legislative Council
- Kirat Babani, freedom fighter, writer, journalist.
- Rana Bhagwandas, Judge on the Supreme Court of Pakistan
- Deepak Bhojwani, Ambassador at Indian foreign service
- Aarti Chabria, Actress
- Vishal Dadlani, Playback Singer
- Bhai Pratap Dialdas, freedom fighter, businessman, philanthropist
- Jairamdas Daulatram, political leader in the Indian independence movement, Governor of the Indian states of Bihar and later Assam.
- Harish Fabiani, Indian (NRI) businessman based in Madrid.
- Khialdas Fani, writer, poet, singer
- Sobhraj Nirmaldas Fani, writer and poet
- Sobho Gianchandani, Pakistani Sindhi social scientist, and revolutionary writer
- Hotchand Molchand Gurbakhshani, Educationist, Scholar and Writer
- Hari Harilela, Indian businessman based in Hong Kong
- Anita Hassanandani, Indian actress
- Gopichand Hinduja, British businessman, co-chairman of the Hinduja Group.
- Indira Hinduja, is an Indian gynecologist, obstetrician and infertility specialist who pioneered the Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) technique resulting in the birth of India's first GIFT baby.
- Niranjan Hiranandani, co-founder and managing director of Hiranandani Group
- Popati Hiranandani, writer
- Surendra Hiranandani, co-founder and managing director of Hiranandani Group
- Lakhumal Hiranand Hiranandani, Indian Otorhinolaryngologist.
- Rajkumar Hirani, popular Indian film director and editor.
- Micky Jagtiani, chairman and owner of Landmark Group.
- Kamna Jethmalani, Indian actress.
- Ram Jethmalani, Indian senior lawyer, former Law Minister of India.
- Motilal Jotwani, Indian writer, educator, follower of Gandhi, fellow of Harvard Divinity School.
- Hemu Kalani, freedom fighter.
- Atul Khatri, Stand-up comedian.
- Chanda Kochhar (née Advani), Former MD and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank.
- Krishna Kolhi, Senator, Pakistan Peoples Party.
- Rooplo Kolhi, freedom fighter.
- Jayant Kripalani, Film, Television and Stage actor
- J. B. Kripalani, freedom fighter and President of Indian National Congress
- Krishna Kripalani, freedom fighter, author and parliamentarian.
- Gulu Lalvani, chairman of Binatone.
- Kartar Lalvani, founder and chairman of Vitabiotics.
- Nikita Lalwani, Indian novelist based in London.
- Tej Lalvani, CEO of the UK's largest vitamin company Vitabiotics.
- Shankar Lalwani, Indian politician and Member of Parliament in the 17th Lok Sabha from Indore, madhya pradesh, India.
- Kishore Mahbubani, Singaporean diplomat
- K. R. Malkani, journalist, historian and politician.
- N. R. Malkani, freedom fighter and social worker.
- Rajeev Masand, Indian film critic.
- Rajesh Mirchandani, global communications leader and former British television journalist.
- Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani, Indian Navy officer who served as the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.
- Hansika Motwani, Indian actress.
- Rajeev Motwani, Computer Scientist, Professor at Stanford University. He was an early supporter and advisor of companies like Google and PayPal.
- Kabir Mulchandani, Indian businessman.
- Kala Prakash, Fiction writer
- Moti Prakash, Poet
- Lila Poonawalla (née Thadani), is an Indian industrialist, philanthropist, humanitarian and the founder of Lila Poonawalla Foundation.
- Chandru Raheja, property developer
- Gulabrai Ramchand, Indian cricketer.
- Ishwardas Rohani, Indian politician and former Speaker of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
- Bhagat Kanwar Ram, saint
- Bulo C Rani, Indian music director.
- G. S. Sainani, Indian general physician, medical researcher, medical writer and an Emeritus Professor of the National Academy of Medical Sciences.
- Meera Sanyal (née Hiranandani), was an Indian banker and politician. She served as CEO and chairperson of the Royal Bank of Scotland in India.
- Sadhana Shivdasani, Indian film actress.
- Sonu Shivdasani, founder and CEO of Soneva.
- Rana Chandra Singh, founder of Pakistan Hindu Party and Federal Minister; seven times member of Pakistan National Assembly.
- Ranveer Singh, Indian actor
- G. P. Sippy, Bollywood movie producer and director.
- Ramesh Sippy, Bollywood movie producer and director.
- Anjana Sukhani, Actress
- Tamannaah (tamannaah bhatia), Indian actress.
- Tarun Tahiliani, Indian fashion designer.
- Hiten Tejwani, Indian actor.
- Sundri Uttamchandani, noted Indian writer.
- Mangharam Udharam Malkani, Sindhi scholar, critic, writer, playwright, literary historian and professor.
- Sunil Vaswani, chairman of the Stallion Group.
- Harchandrai Vishandas, British Indian attorney, politician and former mayor of Karachi.
- Seth Vishandas Nihalchand, merchant and former member of Indian National Congress at the time of Independence.
- Romesh Wadhwani, chairman and CEO of Symphony Technology Group (STG), an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
- Narendra Hirwani, Indian cricketer
- Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani, Former Chief of the Naval Staff, India.
- Dalip Tahil Indian film, television and theatre actor.
- Brahma Chellaney Geostrategist and author
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b "Table 9: Population by Religion, Sex and Rural/Urban" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2017.
- ^ "Hindu Population (PK) – Pakistan Hindu Council". Archived from the original on 18 July 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b Data on Language and Mother Tongue. "Census of India 2011" (PDF). p. 7.
- ^ Rita Kothari, Burden of Refuge: Sindh, Gujarat, Partition, Orient Blackswan
- ^ Nil (4 June 2012). "Who orchestrated the exodus of Sindhi Hindus after Partition?". tribune.com.pk. The Express Tribune. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
- ^ Nandita bhavnani (2014). The making of exile: sindhi hindus and the partition of india. ISBN 978-93-84030-33-9. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ Ramey, S. (27 October 2008). Hindu, Sufi, or Sikh: Contested Practices and Identifications of Sindhi Hindus in India and Beyond. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-61622-6.
- ^ Schaflechner, Jürgen (2018). Hinglaj Devi: Identity, Change, and Solidification at a Hindu Temple in Pakistan. Oxford University Press. pp. 71–75.
- ^ a b MacLean, Derryl (1989). Religion and Society in Arab Sind. BRILL. pp. 12–14, 77–78. ISBN 978-90-040-8551-0.
- ^ Shu Hikosaka, G. John Samuel, Can̲ārttanam Pārttacārati (ed.), Buddhist themes in modern Indian literature, Inst. of Asian Studies, 1992, p. 268
- ^ "Hindus of Pakistan reject CAA, do not want Indian Prime Minister Modi's offer of citizenship". Gulf News. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
- ^ Mehtab Ali Shah (1997). The foreign policy of Pakistan: ethnic impacts on diplomacy, 1971–1994. London: I B Tauris and Co Ltd. p. 46.
- ^ Rahimdad Khan Molai Shedai; Janet ul Sindh; 3rd edition, 1993; Sindhi Adbi Board, Jamshoro; page no: 2.
- ^ Proceedings of the First Congress of Pakistan History & Culture held at the University of Islamabad, April 1973, Volume 1, University of Islamabad Press, 1975
- ^ "INDIA – Part I – Tables" (PDF). Census of India 1941. p. 90.
- ^ "Population According to Religion" (PDF). Census of Pakistan, 1951. p. 8,22.
- ^ "CENSUS OF INDIA 2011" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Govt of India. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
- ^ "Sindhishaan - Whats in Name".
- ^ "Sindhi Surnames".
- ^ Sakhrani, Tarun (4 January 2016). "The Sindhis of Sindh And Beyond". Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ^ U.T Thakur (1959). Sindhi Culture.
Sources
- Bherumal Mahirchand Advani, "Amilan-jo-Ahwal" - published in Sindhi, 1919
- Amilan-jo-Ahwal (1919) - translated into English in 2016 ("A History of the Amils") at sindhis