Sindhi (سِنڌِي) may refer to:
In culture
Sindhi /ˈsɪndi/ (سنڌي, सिन्धी, ) is an Indo-Aryan language of the historical Sindh region, spoken by the Sindhi people. It is the official language of the Pakistani province of Sindh. In India, Sindhi is one of the scheduled languages officially recognized by the federal government. It has influences from Balochi spoken in the adjacent province of Balochistan.
Most Sindhi speakers are concentrated in Pakistan in the Sindh province, and in India in the Kutch region of the state of Gujarat and in Ulhasnagar region of the state of Maharashtra. The remaining speakers in India are composed of the Hindu Sindhis who migrated from Sindh, which became a part of Pakistan and settled in India after the independence of Pakistan in 1947 and the Sindhi diaspora worldwide. Sindhi language is spoken in Sindh, Pakistan and Kutch, India as well as immigrant communities in India, Hong Kong, Oman, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, UAE, UK, USA, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka.
There are 46 million Sindhis living in Pakistan, with 44 million in Sindh, and over 2 million living in other provinces, Mostly in Balochistan. About 16% of the population of Sindhis in Pakistan are Hindus. Most of them live in urban areas like Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpur Khas, Dadu, Larkana and Jacobabad. Hyderabad is the largest centre of Sindhi Hindus in Pakistan with 100,000-150,000 people.
The term Memon refers to a Muslim commercial community from the western part of South Asia, including Memons historically associated with Kathiawar. It also can refer to Kutchi Memons and Sindhi Memons. Their descendants-speakers of the Memon language. Many Memons migrated to Karachi after the partition of India into India & Pakistan in 1947.
Memon lineage traces back to Lohanas of Multan and Sindh. The origin of the name comes from Maumin, which means “believer” and later evolved to present name Memon. The memon community was founded in the 15th century by 700 families comprising 6,178 persons total. According to Anthovan, those Lohanas of Thatta who converted to Islam became Memons and were invited by Rao Khengarji Jadeja, ruler of Bhuj in the 16th century to settle in Bhuj. It is from there that Kutchi Memons migrated to Kathiawar and Gujarat. Surat in Gujarat was an important trading center from 1580 to 1680 and Memons made their bounty there. Memons became significantly affluent as a result of trading in Surat.
The ancestors of present-day Memons who settled a few centuries ago in various parts of the districts of India, particularly Kathiawar (now Saurashtra), commonly identified as simply Memons i.e. Kodinar, Bantva, Dhoraji, Halari, Jamnagar, Jetpur, Gondal, Kutyyana, Manavadar sardagadh, Okhai, Upleta, Vanthali, Verawal Patan. Kathiawadi Memons are further divided into sub-group which is generally refer to their ancestral village or town such as Jetpur Memons, Kodinar Memons, Bantva Memons, Dhoraji Memons etc.
The language of Kathiawadi Memons is Memon, sometimes called Memoni.
The South African Memon community is largely descended from Memons who emigrated from Kathiawar in the early twentieth century.