Hinduism in Sindh

Hinduism is the second-largest religion in Sindh, comprising 8.73% of its population. Sindh has the largest population and the highest percentage of Hindus in Pakistan. The Sindh hosts the Shri Ramapir Temple whose annual festival is the second largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan, after the Hinglaj Yatra (the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan).

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.
  • 1. 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 Chapter3

• 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.
  • 2. 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 Chapter3

• 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.
  • 3. Hindus in Sindh, Richard Burton quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV Chapter3

• 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 Chapter3

• 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 Chapter3

• Conversion of the Hindoos to Islam has sensibly diminished, as might be expected, since it ceased to be compulsory. Formerly it must have proceeded so rapidly as almost to threaten the very existence of Hinduism; at Mathara, Hala and other places, there are still whole streets full of Nau-Muslim [New Moslems], as the converted pagans are termed by the Faithful. The ceremony of conversion is as follows: The Hindoo is bathed from head to foot, dressed in pure garments, generally of a black colour, and taken to the Mosque to listen to a Maulud, of which he does not understand a word. He is then mounted upon a horse, or placed in a palanquin and carried round the town, accompanied by a crowd of people firing guns, performing on musical instruments, and displaying other signs of joy. When he dismounts, pieces of money are thrown upon his head, and are afterwards given to him as a present. He is then taken to the house of the Kazi, who chooses him a name. Finally, he mentions some caste into which he wishes to be received, and is circumcised with all due solemnity. This last measure is omitted in the initiation of females; in all other points the ceremony is the same. It is presumed and believed that the proselytes are afterwards instructed in the rules of the strange religion; generally speaking, however, they are left in almost utter ignorance of them. They frequently retain their aversion of beef and other equally unmistakable proofs of a heathen origin. The Moslems, here as elsewhere, honour new converts in theory and despise them in practice; for the advantage of their religion, however, they are careful not to make any display of contempt and seldom neglect to provide them with a wife and some kind of employment.
  The exigencies of their peculiar position have compelled the Sindh Hindoos to relax one of their strictest rules and re-admit members of their own body whom force or persuasion separated from them. This, however, is confined to those places where the Hindoos are not sufficiently numerous to be able to reject such persons. As has been before mentioned, in some towns they are much more strict than in others. For instance, at Kurrachee, where the Moslems are in the minority, one of the riches merchants was not permitted to return to his caste. He was a Tohryal; (circumcised), and had tasted impure meats; this was deemed a sufficient objection against him, and although he has for years conformed to the practice of his former faith, and has been most liberal in fees, donations and alms, he is still compelled to eat and drink alone. At Shikarpur, and other places, this would not have been the case.
  During the native rule any attempt at apostatising from the Moslem faith would infallibly have incurred condign punishment. Under our government the candidate applies for a written permission, directed to the Kardar, or revenue officer, and a circular to the Mahajans (merchants), advising them that they may re-admit the applicant. The apostate Shaykh then applies to the Brahmans, and spends some time and a considerable sum of money in cajolery and bribery. At last the priest yields and asks the candidate three times in a set phrase whether he be willing and ready to return to the faith of his forefathers. This being duly answered in the affirmative, the candidate is desired to name his terms, which are raised by infinite haggling and chaffering to the utmost of his means, and he solemnly promises to obey the Brahmans in every thing. His head is then shaved and he is directed to feed cows in the jungle for about a week, during which time he wears a skull cap and cloth round the waist. A staff is placed in his hand, but no slippers are allowed. After this he returns home, his head is again shaved, and the place where the Choti ought to be is left untouched by the razor.
  After the candidate’s house has been purified by cowdung, Brahmans repair to it for the purpose of praying and performing some minor ceremonies. Again the candidate is asked if he be willing to return to Hinduism, and receives from the priests certain rules of conduct, which he is ordered strictly to follow. Presents of money, clothes, grain, clarified butter and other edibles are given to those who officiate; the latter then name some particular place of pilgrimage which the candidate must visit. This is imperative, but the distance of the holy spot, the time to be spent there, and the alms to be distributed, are proportioned to the pilgrim’s means. When he returns, he must feast a number of Brahmans, and recommence a course of offerings; he is also expected to give small presents of sweetmeats to all his brotherhood. Thus concludes the ceremony; the candidate being now supposed to be restored to his former state of purity.
  • Burton, Richard F., Sindh and the races that inhabit the valley of the Indus, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1998, first published 1851.quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV Chapter12

• The Hindoo religion is not to be found in a state of purity in Sindh. To this general statement the only exceptions are a few Brahmans, who study their Scriptures in Sanscrit, and possibly have visited India, the fountain-head of their superstitions. As has been before said, Hinduism here is mixed up with the heterogeneous elements of Islam, and the faith of Nanak Shah. A Hindoo will often become the Murid (follower) of a Mussulman, and in some cases the contrary takes place. When we consider that the religion of Brahma was at one time established throughout the province, that as late as the seventeenth century, the Hindoos were reckoned to be ten times as numerous as their conquerors, and, finally, that all the great Pirs revered by the Moslems have classical Hindoo names, we must conclude that the spots accounted holy by the pagans were seized upon by the followers of Mohammed. Some of them bear indubitable signs of their Polytheistic origin, in Yonis (natural or artificial holes in solid rock), Lingams carved in stone and placed upon the margins of tanks or pools, together with many other equally unmistakable evidences. From the Sikhs, the Sindh Hindoo has learned to simplify his faith: to believe in one God, whom he calls Khuda, Thakur and Bhagwan, and to assent to the doctrine of a future state of rewards in Sarg (Paradise), and punishments in Narg (Hell). The male and female Avatar, such as Vishnu and Shiva, Lakshmi and Devi, are considered by them as intercessors with the Deity, and hold the same position as the Paighambar or prophets of the Moslems. The Pirs and holy men are revered as sub-intercessors, whose superogatory piety enables them to aid their fellow creatures in a spiritual way. These saints never die, but even their tombs can listen to and forward the prayers of their votaries….
  • Burton, Richard F., Sindh and the races that inhabit the valley of the Indus, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1998, first published 1851.quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV Chapter12

• Most Hindoos of any education in Sindh have a Pothi, or prayer-book for private devotion. The character used is Shikashtah of the worst description, written either by the devotee for his own benefit, or handed down from father to son. Such volumes are treated with the greatest respect, and covered with one or more clothes, lest profane hands should touch the binding: they are seldom shown to strangers. The following is a list of the usual contents of such books: A short poem in Persian called the Sri Kishan Namo, because after every fourth line come the words “Sri Kishan Gao, Sri Kishan Gao.” The Sri Ganes Namo, an address (poetical as usual) to Ganesha, praying for prosperity and the acquisition of wealth. Sri Gopal Hari, a prayer to that well known Avatar. Short extracts, in verse and prose, from the Bhagawat: these are generally in the Persian and sometimes in the Panjabi language.
  A number of Madah, Panjara and Munajat to the different Pirs, in Persian, Panjabi and Sindhi. Most Hindoos know several of these by heart and are in the habit of reciting them daily. They are believed to be peculiarly efficacious in a temporal, as well as a spiritual sense, if repeated at a time of need. A few prayers and hymns addressed to the Creator in the Shastri (Sanscrit), Persian, Panjabi and Sindhi tongues. Those composed in the dead language are rare, and seldom, if ever, understood by the reciters. Compositions in the three latter dialects very much resemble those of the Moslems in style and ideas. As a general rule the Creator is not nearly so often addressed as his creatures. Detached verses in praise of Krishna and the other Hindoo demigods, generally in Panjabi or Jatki, so composed that they may be sung to the different Rag and Ragini – musical modes. A few of these are in the form of a dialogue, as between Krishna and a worshipper; a mother and her son: suggesting the idea of rude beginnings of a drama. The Pothi concludes with a variety of astrological tables, simple computations for determining lucky and unlucky days, a Fal-Namo or two, prescriptions in medicine, and other such semi-religious compositions.
  • Burton, Richard F., Sindh and the races that inhabit the valley of the Indus, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1998, first published 1851.quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV Chapter12

• The Sarsat or Sarsudh (properly Sariswatiya, as derived from the vicinity of the Saraswati River), belongs to the Panja-Gaur race. Of this tribe there are about forty pure families in Sindh; they abstain from all irregular practices, and call the rest of the caste Sindhur, because they allege the others were originally Numryo Belochies made Brahmans by Rama Chandra, who when in want of a priest, applied a tilak of vermillion to the Mlenchha’s forehead. The Sarsat are supposed to have emigrated to Sindh about two centuries ago. They worship Mahes (Mahadeva or Shiva) and Bhawani his Sakti. The latter deity is known to them by many names and under a plurality of forms, as Devi, Durga, Kali, Parwati and Singhawani (the “rider of the lion”). She presides over most of the Hindoo sacred spots as Hinglaj, the Mekli Hills near Tatta, Dhara Tirth near Sehwan, &c., &c. The Sarsat abstains from certain impure meats, as beef and fowls: he eats fish, wild birds, onions and the flesh of the deer, kid and sheep, because ordered to do so by the Mountain Goddess in a time of famine. The meat is always bought, as the higher castes of Hindoos here as elsewhere will not kill animals themselves. Most of the Sarsat tribe drink wine and marry widows, though only those of the same caste. They shave the beard and wear the dress of a common Sahukar, namely, a white turban, Angarkha (long cotton coat), Dhoti (cloth round the waist instead of trowsers), Bochan (kerchief or shawl thrown over the shoulders), and cloth slippers: in the hand a Mala or rosary of sandal wood, with twenty-seven beads is usually carried. Sometimes a Sarsat will assume the dress of an Anil (revenue officer) whereas the Pokarna rarely, if ever, do. There are considerable numbers of the Sarsat class, settled at Hyderabad and Sehwan. They seldom learn Persian, or enter into the service of Government: their principal occupations being the study of Sanscrit and the Gurumukhi writings. The Sarsat, having but a modicum of astrological learning, make up for their deficiency in that kind of imposture by rather a rude invention. Their peculiar mode of prediction is called “Nashkan Karanu:” it is done by fixing the mind upon any question proposed, at the same time inhalation is stopped, and the nostrils tightly pressed with the fingers. After due meditation, the issue of an event is pronounced upon ex cathedra and a fee duly claimed.
  • Burton, Richard F., Sindh and the races that inhabit the valley of the Indus, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1998, first published 1851.quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV Chapter 13

• Iconoclastic activity is already in evidence in Sind and Afghanistan under the Arabs. Unfortunately, for a long time it has been all too common among Sindi archaeologists to explain almost every ruin as the result of Arab iconoclasm.loo The evidence, dating from this early period, is in fact still quite limited. At Debal, the budd temple was destroyed, and in the construction of a mosque, the earliest inscription of which goes back to 727-8 AD, Shaivite lingams were used as a step in front of the threshold. In other cities of Sind we know that mosques were built to replace 'idolhouses'. In the shrine of Zun, an Arab general broke off a hand from the idol and plucked out the rubies which were its eyes. Muhammad al-Qasim is reported to have hung a piece of cow's flesh on the neck of the great budd statue at the Sun-temple of Multan, while he confiscated its wealth and made captives of its custodians. Later Muslim governors always threatened to break the idol or mutilate it when they were confronting the hostility of neighbouring Hindu powers; until in the late tenth century the Isma'ilis finally did break it and killed its priests, erecting a mosque on its site. The Arab chiefs who ruled Sind in the ninth and tenth century, rather than transmitting revenue, on occasion sent cartloads of idols to Baghdad.106 This is about all we know. And it is in contrast to the general practice of the Arabs in Sind which allowed for old temples to be re-built, new ones erected, and Hindu/Buddhist practices to be continued.
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