Category Archives: History

History, India, Pakistan, Sindh, Sindhi

Hindu

Leave a comment

Do you know from where the word HINDU comes from?

The term “Hindu” originates from the Sanskrit word “Sindhu,” which referred to the river Indus in the ancient Indian subcontinent. Over time, “Sindhu” became “Hindu” in Persian, and then “Hindu” was adopted by various cultures and languages to refer to the people living in the region around the river Indus.

Hindu is not a religion, first this word was used by Iranians for Sindhis; Then the word became Indos in Greek; The British read it Indus; From that the word India was formed.

Business, History, Pakistan, Sindh

Cotton from prehistoric Indus Valley found in 7,200 year old village in Israel

Leave a comment

Cotton fibers have been found in Tel Tsaf, a site in the Near East, dating back to around 7,000 years ago. The researchers believe that the cotton originated from the Indus Valley (present day Sindh, Pakistan), though they do not rule out the possibility of an African origin. The researchers suggest that the cotton may have been brought to Tel Tsaf through trading. The earliest known evidence of cotton’s use is from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period at the Mehrgarh burial site in Pakistan, where cotton threads were used to string copper beads around 8,500 to 7,500 years ago. The earliest known cotton fabric is a fragment of cloth found at Mohenjo-Daro, also in Sindh, Pakistan, dating back to around 5,000 to 4,750 years ago.

History, India, Religion, Sindh

Sanatan Dharma

Leave a comment

Sanatan Dharma, is a tradition or mathodology that originated from the banks of Sindhu (also known as Indus river). It is one of the oldest religions in the world, with roots that can be traced back to ancient Vedic times.
Sanatan Dharma is a diverse and complex methodology, with many different beliefs and practices. At its core, however, it is a spiritual tradition that focuses on the individual’s relationship with the divine. Sanatanies also believe in the concept of Karma.

History, Human Rights, Islamabad, Life, Pakistan, Politics, Punjab, Sindh, Sindhi

Destruction Of Indus Delta As A Result Of Dams On Rivers In Pakistan

Leave a comment

ذرا اس تباہی کو بھی دیکھ لیں

Sea incursion and intrusion has inundated & destroyed large areas of land in coastal areas of Thatho and Badin districts of Sindh. Historically prosperous indigenous people have become the poorest. They have lost their source of livelihood & many have been forced to leave their abode.

Indus Deltta jee tabaahi pahinjay akhhyun saan ddiso
انڊس ڊيلٽا جي تباهي پنهنجي اکين سان ڏسو

To watch special report on environmental and human disaster of Indus Delta, please click here
https://saveindusriver.com/2018/09/19/destruction-of-indus-delta-as-a-result-of-dams-on-rivers-in-pakistan-a-video-report/

History, India, News, Pakistan, Politics

Jinnah did not want Partition: Ayesha Jalal

Leave a comment

Since the publication of her first book, The Sole Spokesman, in 1985, Ayesha Jalal has been Pakistan’s leading historian. Educated at Wellesley College in the United States, and Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, she received the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 1998 for showing “extraordinary originality and dedication in [her] creative pursuits…”

Continue reading Jinnah did not want Partition: Ayesha Jalal →

History, International, Sindh

French team uncovers mysteries of Indus civilisation’s ‘industrial hub’

Leave a comment

KARACHI: Head of a French archaeologists’ team Dr Aurore Didier has said they have successfully completed the fresh season of excavation at Chanhon jo Daro in Benazirabad district and found it to be a busy industrial centre of the Indus Valley civilisation.

Indus Script
Continue reading French team uncovers mysteries of Indus civilisation’s ‘industrial hub’ →
History, India, International, Pakistan, Sindh, Sindhi

International Conference on Moenjodaro and Indus Valley Civilisation’

Leave a comment

LARKANO: Archaeolo­gists from the Unites States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Japan and Italy attending the three-day ‘International Conference on Moenjodaro and Indus Valley Civilisation’ at the ancient site read out their research papers on the second day on Friday.

The papers focused on technical aspects dealing with the discoveries made and research carried out hitherto, measures undertaken so far to protect and preserve the site for posterity, mid-term plans for the site’s preservation, promotion of tourism, the Indus script discovered so far, seals’ carving techniques etc.

Dr Ayumu Konasukawa, an archaeologist from Japan, presented his paper on ‘Chronological change and continuity of seal carving techniques from the early Harappan to the Harappan periods in the Ghaggar basin’. According to his research, the data for analyses comprises fired steatite seals discovered at Kunal, Banawali and Farmana. Through scanning electron microscope and 3D analysis, it has become evident that the seals found in the basin during the said periods are characterised in various carving techniques. Although the seals have a lot of difference in terms of manufacturing technique and design, such as the motif of the surface, they also have commonality as regards a part of carving techniques.

Read more » DAWN
See more >> http://www.dawn.com/news/1314054

History, India, News, Pakistan, Sindh, Sindhi

INDUS SCRIPT FONT

Leave a comment

Photo credits: Shabir Kumbhar

The Indus signs have been under constant analysis and study. These have been subjected to various examinations where these were identified as primary and composite signs.

Asko Parpola has made a continuing contribution to research on the Indus writing system. He collected and critically edited the Indus signs as he attempted at structural analysis. His objectives were to find out the number of graphemes, and the word length. His search for primary signs and identifying composite signs resulted in preparation of the sign list of the Indus script, with principle graphic variants, each with one reference.

The Indus signs have been largely used as drawing images in computational analysis and studies. Present effort is to create the Indus signs in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) based font for installing in computers.

National fund for Mohenjodaro has developed this font for installing on computers and embedding on websites by researchers and users around the world. This font is developed by Mr. Shabir Kumbhar, engineering / embedded and mapping by Mr. Amar Fayaz Buriro with the consultation of Dr. Kaleemullah Lashari.

Indus Script font is available to be downloaded for further studies, computational exercises and statistical analysis, free of charge; the only encumbrance is that user acknowledge our website.

Read more >> Mohen Jo Daro Online
See more >> https://www.mohenjodaroonline.net/index.php/indus-script/corpus-by-asko-parpola

History, India, Pakistan, Sindh, Sindhi

Dialects of Sindhi language

Leave a comment

These are the major dialects of Sindhi Language. The language is the same but their is a slight difference in words or way of speaking. Their are several other dialects of Sindhi language too (like Memoni) but they are not spoken by a big population.

Futher information about the Dialects:

1. Laasi – It is spoken by around 1 million people in Parts of Lasbela, Balochistan and Sindh.

2. Larri – It is spoken by over 2 million people, in Thatto, Sujawal and Tando.

3. Kutchhi, it is spoken by around 2 million people in Pakistan and 2 million in India too. Their is a hug Kutchhi population in Karachi, Sindh. The language bears more grammatical similarity with Sindhi and lexical similarity with Gujarati.

4. Thari or Thareli or (Ddaaddki): it is language of the people of Thar. Spoken on both side of border by over 6-7 million. It is a bit influenced by Rajasthani languages.

5. Vicholi: It is spoken by a huge population of Sindhis. It is spoken mostly in Hyderabad region. Over 11 million people speak this dialect.

6. Siroli: It is spoken by a large Number of people in Upper Sindh, Larkano and Sukkur region, but also in parts of Balochistan and RahimYarKhan (Punjab). It is influenced by Seraiki. It is spoke by over 11 million people. In Balochistan it is known as Firaqi Sindhi, with around 1 million speakers.

* In Karachi the situation is different and Sindhi is more influenced by Urdu, and all dialects mix up. While in rural Karachi people usually speak Laasi or Larri. The total number of Sindhi speakers worldwide is impossible to know as Census of Pakistan and India are politically influenced. According to famous Pakistani demographers the population of Sindh is usually 15-20% shown lesser than it actually is. The total number of Sindhis worldwide is over 40 million, out of which 80% live in Sindh, Pakistan. All the Memon’s and even those that came in 1947 are actually Sindhis by ancestry, their origin is from Thatto. Sindhis in India make up around 6-7 million of the population and while Sindhis in other countries make up around 1.5 million to 2 million, out of which 60% are Indian, and remaining Pakistani Diaspora, but the Pakistani Sindhi diaspora is growing at a faster rate*

Courtesy: Source of above material: Explore the Beauty of Sindh

– – – – –

Other than that there are some more branches of the Dialects of Sindhi language

1- Lahinda لهندا معنا اولهندي واري زبان
2- Saraiki/ Jatki سرائڪي يا جتڪي
3- Kaytranni ڪيتراڻي جا لهندا سان مشابهت رکي ٿي
4- Ubhee اُڀي
5- Thareli/ ddaddki ٿريلي يا ڍاڍڪي
6- Mokakee موڪاڪي
7- Lorree chienee لوڙي چيني
8- Jadghhalee جدغالي
Reference: Janat-ul-Sindh book ريفرينس جنت السنڌ ڪتاب
Source: https://iaob.wordpress.com/2016/05/02/dialects-of-sindhi-language/
History, India, News, Pakistan, Pakistan, Poetry, Sindh, Sindhi

Sindh: German philologist Ernest Trump gets Latif Award 150 years after compiling Shah jo Risalo

Leave a comment
Ernest Trump

HYDERABAD: For the first time since the inception of the country, the Sindh culture department has posthumously honoured with Latif Award, German philologist Ernest Trumpp who was the first to compile Shah jo Risalo in 1866 and write a book on Sindhi grammar.

Continue reading Sindh: German philologist Ernest Trump gets Latif Award 150 years after compiling Shah jo Risalo →
History, Pakistan, Sindh

Karachi, Sindh was known to the ancient Greeks

Leave a comment

The area of Karachi (ڪراچي) was known to the ancient Greeks by many names: ‘Krokola’ and ‘Morontobara’ port (probably the modern Manora Island near the Karachi harbour), from where Alexander the Great’s admiral Nearchus sailed for back home. The Arabs called it the port of Debal, from where Muhammad Bin Qasim led his conquering force into Sindh.

Continue reading Karachi, Sindh was known to the ancient Greeks →
Culture, History, News, Thoughts

Why Dead Languages Like Akkadian Still Matter

Leave a comment

By Aviya Kushner

I grew up hearing the Code of Hammurabi read out loud, in Akkadian, at the dining-room table. I did not know that my graduate-student mother was one of Akkadian’s few regular readers. The language of the ancient Akkad region, or modern-day Iraq, is considered a “dead language,” just like Ugaritic and Phoenician. All these dead tongues, however, fed into the Hebrew Bible, the most read book in history, and so they have a form of eternal life.

And so the language my mother read sounded familiar. Abum is like abba, the Hebrew word for father; imum like ima, or mother, and kalbum like kelev, or dog. For years I told myself that Akkadian, its strict legal code, and its dramatic descriptions of what would be done to losers in battle (hint: towering piles of body parts displayed for all to see) was my mother’s terrain, not mine. But the truth is that it is nearly impossible to avoid Akkadian’s influence on all of us.

Read more » Forward
See more » http://forward.com/culture/349357/why-dead-languages-like-akkadian-still-matter/

Culture, Entertainment, film, History, India, Movies, News, Pakistan, Sindh, Sindhi, Video

Movie on Ancient Indus Civilization, Mohenjo Daro | Official Trailer | Hrithik Roshan & Pooja Hegde

Leave a comment

UTV Motion Pictures and Ashutosh Gowariker Productions Present Mohenjo Daro starring Hrithik Roshan and Pooja Hegde The film is directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and releases on August 12, 2016.

Courtesy: UTV Motion

 

History, India, Pakistan, Sindh, Sindhi

History of Sindh

Leave a comment

In 1947 Sindh’s total population was more than 5.5 million out of which around 1.5 million were Hindus. Karachi’s population was around 525,000 in 1947 out of which more than 260,000 were Hindus. While Hyderabad had a population of over 170,000 out of which 90,000 were Hindus. Hindus made up more than 25% of Sindh while in the Urban areas they made up around 60% of the total population.
More than 750,000 Hindus left Sindh during the partition and now they number over 3 million in India. Karachi had more than 260,000 Hindus out of which almost all of them left for India.
Sindh was one of the most peaceful areas during the partition time, no riots or mass killings took place. Sindhi Muslims were also sad seeing their Sindhi brothers and sisters leaving Sindh forever.
There are still more than 4 million Hindus living in Sindh while 350,000 in Karachi.
Wish if these Hindus had not left for India, Karachi and Hyderabad would have been way ahead of Bombay, Dehli or Lahore.
When it comes to Demographics there are around 5 million Sindhis in India, out of which 1.5 to 2 million Sindhis are local Indian ones who have been living in Kutch and Bikaner since centuries. While in Pakistan there are around 33-35 million Sindhis.
There are also more than 2 million Sindhis living in Diapora, 60% Indian and 40% Pakistani. The growth rate of Pakistani Sindhis in the Diapora is very high.
*The figures given here are not 100% official but can have a fluctuation of 5-10%*
Written by Bilal Akber Mangi.

Courtesy: via Social media/Facebook (This piece of history is taken from Social media.)

History, India, Pakistan, Sindh

Indus Valley Civilisation much older than thought: report

Leave a comment

KOLKATA: It may be time to rewrite history textbooks. Scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have uncovered evidence that the Indus Valley Civilisation is at least 8,000 years old, and not just 5,500 years old. It took root well before the Egyptian (7,000 BC to 3,000 BC) and Mesopotamian (6,500 BC to 3,100 BC) civilisations. What’s more, the researchers have found evidence of a pre-Harappan civilisation that existed for at least 1,000 years before this.

The discovery, published in the prestigious Nature journal on May 25, may force a global rethink on the timelines of the so-called ‘cradles of civilisation’. The scientists believe they also know why the civilisation ended about 3,000 years ago: climate change.

“We have recovered perhaps the oldest pottery from the civilisation. We used a technique called ‘optically stimulated luminescence’ to date pottery shards of the Early Mature Harappan time to nearly 6,000 years ago and the cultural levels of pre-Harappan Hakra phase as far back as 8,000 years,” said Anindya Sarkar, head of the department of geology and geophysics at IIT-Kharagpur.

Read more » DAWN
See more » http://www.dawn.com/news/1261513

History, Sindh, Sindhi

What is the original script of the Sindhi language: Devanagari or Arabic?

Leave a comment

Today we write Sindhi in Arabic script, but is it true that the original script of Sindhi is Devanagari?

 

Answer:

By Arvind Iyengar, Professional Student in Linguistics

The short answer is: There is no clear answer to this question.

The answer to your question also depends on when you think the Sindhī language came into being, since languages change at a rapid rate.

The language of Shāh ʿAbdul Latīf Bhiṭṭāī (1689 – 1752 AD), the ‘national poet’ of Sindh, might be quite difficult to understand for a speaker of modern Sindhī. Therefore, can Shāh Latīf’s language be considered Sindhī?

That said, those driven by linguistic pride often claim (usually without proof) that the yet unknown language of the Indus Valley Civilisation was actually Sindhī, and therefore, the script used on the Indus Valley seals must be the original Sindhī script (even though no one knows what the symbols mean).

On similar lines, there might be those who claim that (depending on their ideology) either Arabic or Devanāgarī is the original script of Sindhī, again usually without proof.

A Sindhī translation of the Qurʾān and of the Mahābhārata are believed to have existed as far back as the 11th century (assuming of course that one can safely call this language Sindhī). Whether these were written in a Brāhmī-based script or an Arabic-based script is not clearly known (Brāhmī is the ancestor of the modern Devanāgarī script).

By the early 1800s, it has been attested by several authors, both Indian and European, that there were several different scripts in use for Sindhī, including Haṭavāṇikā (or Kẖudābādī), Gurmukhī and of course Devanāgarī and Arabic.

Continue reading What is the original script of the Sindhi language: Devanagari or Arabic? →

History, News, Sindh

Jaalis have their roots in the Indus Civilization: Prof Kenoyer at IITGN

Leave a comment

Gandhinagar: The Jaalis that are widely seen as a part of many architectural structures and including many homes, have their roots in the Indus Civilization. This information was shared by Prof Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Professor of Anthropology at University of Wisconsin, Madison, during his talk at IIT Gandhinagar on Tuesday. Prof Kenoyer was delivering the “First Indira Foundation Distinguished Lecture” of IIT Gandhinagar on “Scientific and Technological Contributions of the Indus Civilization: Their Relevance for the Present”.

Talking about various technologies that were developed during the Indus Civilization which are used until today, Prof Kenoyer said, “The Indus people living in cities developed the screens or Jaalis to allow fresh air and light to get into the house and at the same time keep privacy in crowded urban neighborhoods. They were also the first to develop the spinning wheel. Many of the contributions of the Indus set the foundation for later technologies in subsequent periods and the principles which still have their relevance today.”

Read more » Desh Gujarat
See more » http://deshgujarat.com/2016/01/12/jaalis-have-their-roots-in-the-indus-civilization-prof-kenoyer-at-iitgn/