Sindhis

Sindhis are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group

Quotes

• It is really difficult to conceive how any Hindoos should have continued to reside in this country; and the fact can only be accounted for by that attachment, which man shares with the vegetable, to the soil in which he is reared. The indignities they suffer are of the most exasperating description. They are even forced to adopt the Mahommedan dress, and to wear beards. Till lately, none of this class were permitted to ride on horse-back; and amongst the few who now enjoy the privilege, a small number only in the immediate service of government are allowed the comfort and honour, as it is esteemed, of a saddle. Merchants of wealth and respectability may be seen mounted on asses and mules; animals considered so unclean, that none but the vilest outcasts in other countries can touch them with impunity: and, even from this humble conveyance, they are obliged to descend and stand aside when any bloated Mussulman passes by. The Mahommedans are encouraged and exhorted to destroy all the emblems of idolatry they may see in Sinde. The degraded and unfortunate follower of Brahma, is denied the free exercise of his religion; the tom-tom is seldom heard, being only beat when permission is granted; and although there are a few temples without images in Hyderabad, the sound of music never echoes from their walls. It is in the power of any two “true believers,” by declaring that a Hindoo has repeated a verse from the Koran, or the words “Mahommed the Prophet,” to procure his immediate circumcision. This is the most common, and, by the persecuted class themselves, considered the most cruel of all their calamities; while, as it is resorted to on the slightest pretence, and always performed with a mockery of its being for the eternal happiness of the sufferer, mental agony is made to add its bitterness to bodily infliction… Of their summary mode of administering justice towards Hindoos, I had myself an opportunity of judging…On my remonstrating against this extremity, his Highness replied with a savage grin, “You do not know the Hindoos of Sinde; they are all blackguards and rascals”….” [Burnes found “the evils of intolerance” glaring and concluded it was scarcely possible for a stranger to be a week in Sindh without that “being obtruded on his notice;” he noted that] amongst the many who secretly pray for such a consummation, none seemed to have a more devout wish to see the British colours flying on the bastions of Hyderabad, than the Hindoos of respectability; who, uninvited, entered on the subject of their grievances, and discoursed largely of the cruelties and indignities to which they were subjected.
  • James Burnes, Residency doctor at Bhuj in Kutch, visited Sindh in 1827 at the invitation of the Talpur court. In a detailed account of his experiences, he noted the harsh treatment of the Hindus in the state quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV

• The Hindus, who, as in the neighbouring countries, carry on, nearly exclusively, the trade, led a far from enviable life, unless, indeed, their gains compensated from the contumely with which they were treated, for throughout Sind a Hindu cannot pass from one village to another without paying a fee to some Mahomedan for his protection.
  • Hindus do not lead enviable lives in Sindh, Charles Masso quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV

• The Hindoo portion of the community occupies, in Sindh, the same social position that the Mussulmans do in India. As in Arabia, Affghanistan and other parts of Central Asia, the Hindoo here is either employed in trade, or in ministering to the religious wants of his caste-brethren. We, therefore, find among them none of the properly speaking outcast tribes (as Parwari, Mang, Chandala and others) so numerous in their own country. It is probable that few or none of the Hindoo families that flourished in Sindh at the time of the first Moslem inroad have survived the persecution to which they were then subjected: most likely they either emigrated or were converted to Islam. The present race is of Punjabi origin, as their features and manners, ceremonies and religious opinions, as well as their names, sufficiently prove. It may be observed that they show a general tendency towards the faith of Nanak Shah, and that many castes have so intermingled the religion of the Sikh with their original Hinduism, that we can scarcely discern the line of demarcation. As usual among the Hindoo race, wherever it is settled, they have divided themselves into different tribes. The Satawarna, or seven castes of Indians, in Sindh, are as follows:- 1. Brahman; 2. Lohano; 3. Bhatio; 4. Sahto; 5. Waishya (including a number of trades as Wahun, grain-toaster; Khatti, dyer, &c.); 6. Punjabi; and 7. Sonaro. Five of these belong, properly speaking, to the Waishya (the third, or merchant) division of pure Indians. The seventh is a mixed caste, descended from a Brahman father and a Shudra mother. In Sindh he is usually considered as belonging to the servile tribe. Of the first, or Brahminical class, we find two great bodies, which are divided and subdivided as usual. These are – 1. Pokarno; 2. Sarsat or Sarsudh.
  • Hindus in Sindh, Richard Burton quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV

• The typical class of Hindoos in Sindh is the Lohano Amil (or officer in government employ); a short description of the different rites and ceremonies, as performed by that caste, will therefore suffice to give the reader a general view of Hindooism as now existing in the province. The Amil class was created by the exigencies of the native rulers, who could not collect or dispose of their revenues without the assistance of Hindoos. Throughout the east, the people least fitted for any business in which calculation is required, are the Moslems; and even the old Ameers, with all their hatred and contempt of Kafirs, were obliged to own the superiority of the Infidel over the Faithful in this one point. The princes that followed them lost a great portion of the ancient bigotry, and became very careless of caste; I have seen one of the chiefs of the present family embrace a Hindoo Diwan with as little repugnance as he would have shown to a Sayyid of the purest blood. When the Hindoo found that he was necessary to his lords, he made the best use of his acuteness and readiness, and soon succeeded in improving his political standing in the country. Thus, most probably arose the Kardar system, which, though of a totally different nature, is in Sindh what the Patell and his little republic are in India. After gaining a certain footing, the Amils began to abuse their powers. The native rulers had two great checks over their officers; capital punishment and torture. A Hindoo who went too far, was liable to be beaten to death with clubs and thorny sticks, or buried up to the neck in the ground; for minor offences a Tobra, or horse’s grain-bag, full of red pepper well pounded was put over his head; he might be hung up to a tree by his legs, with pots of sand fastened to his arms; have a few scorpions introduced into his pantaloons, or undergo the discipline of the Billi (she-cat), a peculiar instrument furnished with hooks to tear the flesh. Such extreme measures however were seldom resorted to, and the subjects of native governments generally are not terrified by the prospect of the severest penalties, because they may fairly calculate the chance of evading them. So it was in Sindh. No Ameer could consider himself safe from the most impudent frauds. …Though cowardly in action, they [the Amils] were brave in endurance, and the rulers have sometimes owned that they were fatigued with torturing them before the tortured seemed tired of the torture. The dexterity with which they forged documents, orders and seals, was acquired by long and diligent practice. Some were so skilful that they could copy the impression of a seal ring with pen and ink, and disguise the forgery by slightly rubbing it with the thumb. Another, but a less favourite way was, after procuring an old impression, to revive it, and then stamp it upon a bit of moist paper. This second impression was given touched up and stamped on the part of the deed where the seal is generally placed. The usual way of forging a seal was to take a little wet Met (clay), and, after cutting it into the requisite shape, to apply it to one of the best impressions that could be procured. A penknife (if much delicacy was required an instrument made on purpose) was then used to pick out the parts left white on the clay, and by this means they formed a seal which could safely be used ten or twelve time. Thus the finest and most complicated seals, cut in India and used by our politicals, were so successfully imitated that none but a professional graver could detect the fraud. Sometimes wax was substituted for the Met; but it never was so favourite a material on account of its being so liable to be spoiled. When all schemes failed, some Amils would go directly to the Wejhan-Waro (seal cutter) and bribe him to assist them. This, however, was a hazardous experiment, as all seal gravers were known to the officials, and detection would have led to a severe punishment. The skill of the Amil in forging documents was not inferior to his other acquirements. In simple cases, after the deed was written out, it was sufficient to lick the paper, place it between the ground and a dusty carpet or rug, and stamp upon the later till the ink lost the gloss. In appearance the Amils are more robust and better looking men than the common Sindhis. Some of them are remarkably athletic in form, and their features are frequently regular and agreeable. They were compelled by the Moslems to adopt the costume of the Faithful, such as the Sindhi cap and drawers, to cultivate long beards, and shave only the crown of the head. They do not, however, trim the mustachios according to the Sunnat; moreover, they affix the Tilak or sectarian mark, and wear shirts with the opening down the left breast, to distinguish them from the Mussulmans. They delight in rich dress, and indeed are, generally speaking, fond of show and expenditure, offering in this point a contrast to the parsimonious Hindoo of India. Their religious opinions are the same as those of the Lohana who are engaged in trade, and they use similar food. In consequence, however, of superior education, and perpetually mixing with members of another faith, not a few of these Amils are Dahri, or materialists.
  • The Amils in Sindh, Richard Burton quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV

• The inhabitants of Sinde are Mahometans and Hindoos; of the former, the Belooches belong to the caste of warriors, and the Juts to that of the peasants: and it may be assumed that the fifty part of the inhabitants of the cites are Hindoos. Though so greatly oppressed in their religious and civil relations, the wealth and commerce of the country are nevertheless chiefly in their hands; and they probably form a sixth part of the million of inhabitants said to reside in this country. They suffer their beard to grow, and wear the turban of the Mussulmans, whose manners and customs they have adopted; they have the submissiveness and servility of the Jews of Europe, and are as handsome, but even more dirty than the Juts. As bankers, they enjoy such confidence that their bills pass current throughout India.
  The Hindoos and the Juts are the only people on whom the British government can depend. The Juts, who are a tall, vigorous, and handsome race of people, were originally Hindoos, and, properly speaking, are the Aborigines of the country; the women are distinguished by their beauty and modesty, which cannot be said of the Mahometan females. As they form the agricultural class, they had a quiet and peaceful life. Besides the cultivation of the soil the Juts are occupied in the breed of buffaloes, goats, and camels. The camel is as valuable and useful to the Jut, as the horse is to the Arab.
  The Miani are employed in navigation and fishery; they live as much upon the rivers and lakes as on shore – nay, some of them have no other dwelling than their boat. The women are as vigorous, and muscular as the men, and share in their hard labours; and while the husband is mending his nets, or smoking his pipe, and the child is suspended in its network cradle to the mast, the wife guides the boat with a large oar.
  The Belooches, who form scarcely a tenth part of the population, are the freebooters of the desert, and originally came from the mountains and steppes in the north-west. Their manners, and many of their customs are conformable with the mosaic laws, and their oral and written traditions, as well as their general appearance, have so much resemblance with those of the Jews, that the Belooches have been looked upon as the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. Thus for instance, on the death of the husband, his brother is bound to marry his widow and the children are the heirs of the deceased; and again, a man may divorce his wife, according to the forms usual among the Jews. They consider themselves as the masters of the country, and devote themselves to arms, robbery, and the chase. Some few of them engage in agriculture, and all attend to the breeding of horses and camels. Their ignorance, and the uncivilised state in which they live, renders it difficult to reduce them to obedience and discipline: each tribe obeys only its chief; but if danger threatens any one tribe, messengers on camels and horses, are dispatched in every direction to summon all that can bear arms…
  The Belooches, in their capacity of executors of the commands of the Ameers, are the blood-suckers of the poor, oppressed peasant, who is obliged to deliver to the princes more than the half of his produce. The revenues of the country, which formerly amounted to 90 lacs, have now declined to between 40 and 50, but with good management his might be increased to three times that sum. The Ameers are as ignorant as the people: their time is spent in the harem, or in hunting, and the latter is pursued with such eagerness that the country is thereby daily more and more depopulated. In order to enlarge their preserves, which consist of Babul trees, a species of Mimosa Arabica, tamarinds and tamarisks, they have recourse to the most arbitrary measures. Thus Meer Futteh Ali expelled the inhabitants from one of the most fertile districts of the Indus, near Hyderabad, which produced a revenue of nearly two lacs, because it was the favourite haunt of the Babiroussa; and Meer Murad Ali caused a large village to be totally destroyed, in order that the lowing of the cattle and crowing of the cocks, might not disturb the game in an adjoining preserve belonging to his brother. In the middle of this preserve is a small isolated building with a pond in front of it; thither the game is driven and killed by the Ameers who are stationed behind the wall…
  • The inhabitants of Sindh, Captain Leopold von Orlic quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV