Sindh Encyclopedia

Sindh Encyclopedia
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Not to be confused with Sindh River of Madhya Pradesh, India.
Sindhسنڌ


Country
Pakistan
Capital • Coordinates
Karachi • 24°31′N 67°02′E / 24.52°N 67.03°E / 24.52; 67.03
Largest city
Karachi
Population (2009 est.) • Density
35,470,648[1] • 270/km²
Area
140,914 km²
Time zone
PST (UTC+5)
Main language(s)
Sindhi (Provincial)Urdu (National)English (Official)
Other Languages Spoken:Balochi, Gujarati, Memoni, Saraiki.
Status
Province
• Districts
• 23
• Towns
• 160
• Union councils
• 1094[2]
Established • Governor/Commissioner • Chief Minister • Legislature (seats)
01 July, 1970 • Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan • Syed Qaim Ali Shah • Provincial Assembly (168[3])
Website
Government of Sindh
Sindh (Sindhī: سنڌ), is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhis. Different cultural and ethnic groups also reside in Sindh including Urdu-speaking Muslim refugees who migrated to Pakistan from India upon independence as well as the people migrated from other provinces after independence. The neighbouring regions of Sindh are Balochistan to the west and north, Punjab to the north, Gujarat and Rajasthan to the southeast and east, and the Arabian Sea to the south. The main language is Sindhi. The Assyrians (as early as the seventh century BCE) knew the region as Sinda. The Persians as Abisind, the Greeks as Sinthus, the Romans as Sindus, the Chinese as Sintow, in Sanskrit, the province was dubbed Sindhu meaning "Ocean" while the Arabs dubbed it Al-Sind.
Origin of the name
The province of Sindh and the people inhabiting the region had been designated after the river known in Ancient times as the Sindhus River, now also known by Indus River. In Sanskrit, síndhu means "river, stream". However, the importance of the river and close phonetical resemblance in nomenclature would make one consider síndhu as the probable origin of the name of Sindh. The Greeks who conquered Sindh in 325 BC under the command of Alexander the Great rendered it as Indós, hence the modern Indus, when the British conquered South Asia, they expanded the term and applied the name to the entire region of South Asia and called it India.
Facts
"Hindu/India" (derived from the word "Sindhu" in present day Pakistan, the people of Sindhu continue to call themselves "Sindhis" and not "Hindus/Indians") this was exclusively the foreign geographic term for Indus Valley (Pakistan region) in ancient times. It had nothing to do with the religion of Hinduism nor the region of present day Republic of India. Although it was many centuries later that the term "Hind/Indosycthia" was used by some foreigners to further encompass much of South Asia, again as a geographic term having no religious or national meaning. The broadening of this term's usage was no different than how the word "Farangi" (derived from the word "Franks/France") became the term for all Europeans used by Middle Easterners (and South Asians) during the Middle Ages due to French interaction (Crusaders) with them, because the term/word "Hind/Hindu/India" was foreign (for their own references), and had no religious or national meaning. It was no different than how the words "Africa" and "America" are used --- i.e. foreign geographic terms encompassing many different peoples and religions . Indus Valley is located at the entering point (from west) into South Asia, thus its geographic term was later used by a few foreign visitors and invaders for the whole region. However, others used 'Hind' for present day North India and 'Sindh' for present day Pakistan.
Prehistoric period
The Indus Valley civilization is the farthest visible outpost of archaeology in the abyss of prehistoric times. The prehistoric site of Kot Diji in Sindh has furnished information of high significance for the reconstruction of a connected story which pushes back the history of South Asia by at least another 300 years, from about 2500 BC. Evidence of a new element of pre-Harappan culture has been traced here. When the primitive village communities in Balochistan were still struggling against a difficult highland environment, a highly cultured people were trying to assert themselves at Kot Diji one of the most developed urban civilization of the ancient world that flourished between the year 25th century BC and 1500 BC in the Indus valley sites of Moenjodaro and Harappa. The people were endowed with a high standard of art and craftsmanship and well-developed system of quasi-pictographic writing which despite ceaseless efforts still remains un-deciphered. The remarkable ruins of the beautifully planned Moenjodaro and Harappa towns, the brick buildings of the common people, roads, public-baths and the covered drainage system envisage the life of a community living happily in an organized manner.
This civilisation is now identified as a possible pre-Aryan civilisation and most probably an indigenous civilization which was conquered by the invading Aryans.
Sindh is mention in Mahabharata as Sindhudesh and its ruler was Jayadratha. He was married with Duryodhana sister Dushala. He was killed by Arjun during war as the revenge of the death of Abhimanyu.
Geography
Sindh is located on the western corner of South Asia, bordering the Iranian plateau in the west. Geographically it is the third largest province of Pakistan, stretching about 579 km from north to south and 442 km (extreme) or 281 km (average) from east to west, with an area of 140,915 km² (54,407 mi²) of Pakistani territory. Sindh is bounded by the Thar Desert to the east, the Kirthar Mountains to the west, and the Arabian Sea in the south. In the centre is a fertile plain around the Indus river.
Climate
Climate of Sindh

Aerial view of Karachi
A subtropical region, Sindh is hot in the summer and cold in winter. Temperatures frequently rise above 46 °C (115 °F) between May and August, and the minimum average temperature of 2 °C (36 °F) occurs during December and January. The annual rainfall averages about seven inches, falling mainly during July and August. The southwest monsoon wind begins to blow in mid-February and continues until the end of September, whereas the cool northerly wind blows during the winter months from October to January.
Highest and lowest temperatures
The highest temperature throughout Pakistan are usually recorded in - Shaheed Benazeerabad District (Previously called Nawabshah District) and Sibbi from May to August each year which rises to above 48 degree centigrade. The climate is dry and hot but sometimes falls to 0 degrees Celsius and falls to lower than minus seven in December or January once in a quarter of the century.
Sindh lies between the two monsoons - the southwest monsoon from the Indian Ocean and the northeast or retreating monsoon, deflected towards it by Himalayan mountains — and escapes the influence of both. The average rainfall in Sindh is only 15 to 18 cm per year, but the loss during the two seasons is compensated by the Indus, in the form of inundation, caused twice a year by the spring and summer melting of Himalayan snow and by rainfall in the monsoon season. These natural patterns have changed somewhat with the construction of dams and barrages on the Indus.
Climatically, Sindh is divided in three sections - Siro (upper section centred on Jacobabad), Wicholo (middle section centred on Hyderabad), and Lar (lower section centred on Karachi). In Upper Sindh,[4] the thermal equator passes through Sindh. The highest temperature ever recorded was 53 °C (127 °F) in 1919. The air is generally very dry. In winter frost is common.
In Central Sindh, average monsoon wind speed is 18 km/hour in June. The temperature is lower than Upper Sindh but higher than Lower Sindh. Dry hot days and cool nights are summer characteristics. Maximum temperature reaches 43-44 °C (110-112 °F). Lower Sindh has a damper and humid maritime climate affected by the south-western winds in summer and north-eastern winds in winter and with lower rainfall than Central Sindh. The maximum temperature reaches about 35-38 °C (95-100 °F). In the Kirthar range at 1,800 m7 and higher on the Gorakh Hill and other peaks in Dadu District, temperatures near freezing have been recorded and brief snow fall is received in winters