THE%20SINDH%20STORY

Most of the Sindhi Hindus had always been there. When Mohammed Bin Qasim
sacked Aror, the capital of Sindh, many of them migrated north to the Punjab.
They are still known as Aroras. For the rest, the Hindus shifted to Multan,
Jaisalmir, and Kutch for safety --- and many of them came back when conditions
improved. A good number of them returned during Mughal-Kalhora period.
And so we have Miss Vimla Sindhi, a Punjabi lady, who assists Mrs. Indira
Gandhi. And we had a Sindhi ICS man called K. L. Punjabi. The Advanis came
from Multan, the Malkanis, Thadhanis and Ramchandanis from Jaisalmir; the
Kripalanis from far-away Prayag, and the Bhagchandanis all the way from
Ayodhya. They are all known -after their great ancestor, a dozen generations
earlier. The only exception are the Shahanis, who are so called after Shah Baharo,
a chieftain of Larkana. He was so popular that his relations, friends and even
employees called themselves “Shahani”. The Bhag-naris were late arrivals in
Shikarpur from Baluchistan. Contrary to popular impression, the Amils and the
Bhaibunds come from the same group of families. Those who took to service
became known as Amils (for ‘amal’, to execute) and those who took to business
became Bhai-bandhus (Bhaibunds).
A sociological study by Bherumal Mehrchand shows that the Mukhis, the
Nagranis, the Sagranis, the Jethmalanis, the Lakhanis, the Lullas, the Mattas, and
the Chabrias are cousins. So, too, are the Advanis, the Sitlanis, the Sadhwanis
and the Shamdasanis. The Chandiramanis, the Bhambhanis, the Karnanis and
the Kripalanis are all “Chugh”. The Thadhanis, the Raisinghanis, and the
Gehanis are all “Khangar”. The Chainanis, the Hingoranis, and the Jhangianis
are “Pahuja”. The Keswanis, the Ambwanis, the Mulchandanis, and the
Bhagwananis are “Kukreja”. The Ajwanis, the Bhavnanis, the Gidwanis, and the
Jagtianis are kin. And so are the Mirchandanis, the Mahtanis, the Moorjanis, the
Sadaranganis and the Makhijas. The Balwanis, the Malkanis, the Ramchandanis,
and the Ramrakhianis are all “Darari”.
The Sindhi Muslim society is more varied than the Hindu society. The ancient
mass is Koli and Santhal. And so we still have some Munda words in Sindh. For
the same reason many Sindhis still have the vigesimal system of counting by
twenties. When a Sindhi boy plays gilli-danda, he does not count “hik-ba- tay”,
Sindhi for “one-two-three”; he counts by the South Indian numerals --- “vikat,
laine, moon, naar ‘!
Then came the Jats and the Medes. Later still, the Arabs, the Turks, and the
Afghans. Today the Syeds are the religious leaders. The Sheikhs are upper-caste
converts. The Sammats represent the Samma and Soomra Rajputs. There are
more Baluchis in Sindh than in all Baluchistan --- just as there are more Gurkhas
in India than in Nepal. And then there are the commoners --- Maru and Sanghar,
The Sindh Story; Copyright © www.panhwar.com
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