SINDHI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

AT A GLANCE










Dr. Ghulam Ali Allana














Sindhi Language Authority
Hyderabad, Sindh.
2009



Sindhi Language Authority's book number 119
All Rights Reserved



First Edition 2009 Copies1000















Sindhi Language and Literature at a Glance

Written by: Dr. Ghulam Ali Allana
Edition: First, 2009
Quantity: 1000
Price: Rs. 200/=
Composed by: Muhammad Ramzan & Asadullah Bhutto
Published by: Taj Joyo, Secretary Sindhi Language Authority,
National Highway, Hyderabad, Sindh,
71000, Pakistan
Tel: 022-9240050-3
Fax: 022-9240051
E mail: [email protected]
Website: www.sindhila.org
Printer: M/s Pakeeza Printers, Hyderabad, Sindh.

Catalogue Reference

Allana, Ghulam Ali, Dr.
Sindhi Language & Literature
Sindhi Language
Sindhi Language Authority
ISBN 969-8194-78-9




PUBLISHERS NOTE

History of Sindhi Language and Literature at a
Glance presents important sequence of linguistic and
literary endeavours spread aver a period of a millennium
from the 10
th
Century to the 20
th
Century AD. The author
has tried to be objectively selective for the sake of writing a
brief and concise version of the history of the two subjects.
Written with an explicit intent of introducing Sindhi
Language and Literature to the non-Sindhi speaking readers
at home and abroad, the present book fulfils the important
need of the present times.
Dr. Ghulam Ali Allanas contribution in the fields of
Sindhi Language, Linguistics and Literature spans over the
last sixty years. In this book he has painstakingly
documented and archived the wealth of Sindhi writings in
the shape of a book for quick reference.
It is our sincere hope that our effort to present a
birds eye view of the history of Sindhi Language and
Literature, will be appreciated by common readers,
researchers and scholars alike.

Dr. Fahmida Hussain
Chairperson
Hyderabad, Sindh
18 March, 2009












DADICATED

To
International Scholar
Dr. N.A. Baloch
Who has devoted his whole life to the service of
Sindh and Sindhi Langauge.
Dr. G.A. Allana


Contents
Publishers Note
Preface
Part-1: Sindhi Language
History of Sindhi Language at a Glance
Who were the Aryans? Where did they come from?
Did they come as one group and spoke one and the
same language?
Sindhi Language; Its Roots in the Indus Valley
Civilization
Ancient Races and Tribes of Indus Valley
Grammatical Relationship and Features between
Sindhi, Saraiki, Dravidian and other Local
Languages.
Continuity of Names of Objects
Some Examples of Survival of Linguistic
Elements: Phonetical and Grammatical Features
Similarity in Persian and Sindhi Grammar
Conclusion
Part-II: Sindhi Literature
History of Sindhi Literature at a Glance
Sindhi Poetry
New Trends in Sindhi Poetry after partition.
Sindhi Prose.
Sindhi Prose of early British Period
Qaleech Beg Period
Evolution and Development of New Trends in
Sindhi Literature (1914-1930 AD)
Essay Writing.
Period of National Awakening and Independence
Movement (1936-1947 AD)
Sindhi Literature after Independence and Partition
of India.
Conclusion
Bibliography
7
9

13


19

61



77

91

100
114
137

141
184
191
198
201
209

213
226

228

231
249
251



PREFACE

It is not an easy task to write about the history
of anything, particularly the history of language and
literature of Sindhi Language, which has a very
glorious past and a bright future. I am fully aware of
the risk when I write these words. I leave it, therefore,
to the readers to decide whether I have been
successful in drawing a vivid picture of the history of
Sindhi language and its literature; whether I have
done justice to the subject or not. Although I am sure
that this book does not contain the detailed history of
Sindhi language and literature, even then by putting a
glance over the given material, readers can definitely
be aware of an outline of the history of Sindhi
language and literature. For a detailed study, the
readers should inevitably read other histories written
in Sindhi.
As a student of Sindhi Linguistics and
Literature, I feel myself constrained for not
contributing much in the field of the history of Sindhi
language and literature.
The men of letters of Sindhi have particularly
been witness to the fact that comprehensive histories
of Sindhi literature have been written by only a few
literary historians. We do get some books on the
history of Sindhi literature in Sindhi, English and
Urdu, written by M/s K.B. Siddique Memon, Dr.
Abdul Jabbar Junejo, Dr. Memon Abdul Majid Sindhi,
Mr. Mazhar Jameel and also by some Indian Sindhi
writers but Sindhi language demands more from us.
I preferred to write a small book like this one
for persons who can not read and understand Sindhi
language. I am fully conscious that this is just a glance


at the history of Sindhi language and literature which
I have been able to write, as desired by my old friend
Dr Tanvir Abbasi. He desired in one of the meetings
of the Board of Governors of Sindhi Language
Authority that I should write a book in this field.
I am really indebted to the Sindhi Language
Authority, particularly Dr. Fahmida Hussain who
took keen interest in getting this book published, the
manuscript of which was finalized by me in 2000.
This is an humble effort, and labour of my love
for my mother tongue Sindhi. I have every hope that
my efforts will be appreciated by the readers.
I have mentioned earlier that it is not a complete
comprehensive history but just an outline for those non-
Sindhi readers who want to know about the history of
Sindhi language and literature and its various forms etc.
I am grateful to Mr. Taj Joyo, Secretary Sindhi
Language Authority, Mr. Ameen Muhammad
Laghari, Director Bureau of Publication and
Production, and Mr Khalid Azad, Publication Officer,
Sindhi Language Authority for their interest in
getting this book published. I shall be grateful if any
suggestion, observation and opinions are conveyed to
me by the readers.
May Allah, the Almighty help and guide us all
to serve the cause of Sindhi Language, its Literature
and Culture. Aameen.

Hyderabad, Sindh Dr. G.A. Allana
15.1.2009
















Part-I
SINDHI LANGUAGE



History of Sindhi Language at a Glance

Introduction:
1. Sindhi is one of the ancient languages of the
world. Scholars, both native and non-native, have
always taken keen interest in the study of its ethno-
archaeological aspect. They have spent most of their
time in the research on the origin, genesis and growth
of Sindhi language, and its use by various people in
the lower Indus valley and outside. Inspite of that, the
final opinion about its origin has remained as an
unsolved problem for the students of Archaeology,
Linguistics and Ethno-linguists, and until now it has
remained a controversial and unsolved issue.
Dr. Parso Gidwani, an Indian Sindhi scholar in
the field of Sindhi Linguistics, is of the opinion that:
Historically, Sindh was the seat of one of
the most advanced urban civilizations of the
world, better known as Indus Civilization
(Mohen-jo-Daro). The language of this period is
still a mystery, although several scholars
throughout the world have attempted to
decipher it, but they hardly agree to each others
view point (Gidwani Parso, Dr., 1996:1).
2. Whatever has been stated so far, by the
scholars about the origin and ancestry of Sindhi
language, can be divided into five opinions; viz:
(i) Sindhi is derived from Sanskrit language
through Vrachada Apabhrams'a (Trumpp E.
1872: Introduction).
(ii) Sindhi is an ancient pre-Sanskrit Indo-Aryan
Indus Valley language (Baloch N.A. Dr:1960: 19).


(iii) Sanskrit is derived from Sindhi and thus it
(Sanskrit) is the genuine daughter of Sindhi
language (Sirajul Haq Memon 1964: 4).
(iv) Sindhi language has its roots in the Indus
Valley Civilization and is not an offshoot of
any other language. Thus it is an original
and native language of Indus Valley people
(Allana G.A. Dr., 2002: 169).
(v) Sindhi language originated from some old
Indo-Aryan dialect, spoken in the region of
lower Indus Valley, at the time of
compilation of the Vedas or perhaps some
centuries before that (Jetley M.K. 1991:
Introduction IX).
M.H. Panhwar has also given his opinion in
this connection but in my view, it is not a new theory.
He (M.H. Panhwar) considers Scythian as an early
and ancient pre-Aryan race, and the Scythian
language as original language of Sindh. This theory
(of Mr. Panhwar) is not a new one, as even the earliest
scholars like Dr. Caldwell and Dr. E. Trumpp had
also narrated the same story, and made a claim that
Sindhi language had some peculiarities of Scythian
and Tatarian languages (Trumpp E.Dr., 1872: 1)
3. (a) The scholars who claim that Sindhi is
derived from Sanskrit, are of the view that Sanskrit
had first changed into Prakrit. The Prakrit was then
changed into Pali, which in turn changed into
Shauraseni that later on became Apabhrams'a which
was divided into two branches: namely Vrachada
Apabhramsa and Nagara Apabhramsa. Sindhi,
according to them had sprung from Vrachada


Apabhramsa by about 1100 A.D. Dr. Ernest Trumpp
was the first scholar who pointed out that, Sindhi is
derived from Sanskrit (Trumpp E.Dr. 1872:1) He and
his disciples are of the opinion that Sindhi language
came into the present form in the eleventh century
A.D. Besides him, Prof: Bherumal Advani (Bherumal
Advani 1956: 69), Mirza Qaleech Beg (Qaleech Beg
Mirza, 1960:19) and Dr. Gurbuxani (Gurbuxani H.M.
1950:114), were the main supporters of this theory. All
of them agreed that Sindhi is a genuine daughter of
Sanskrit. They argue that there are plenty of Sindhi
words, (Tatasama [similar] & Tadbhava [derived]),
which show affinity with Sanskrit words. Sanskrit
scholars are of the opinion that phonetic and
morphological resemblances between Sindhi and
Sanskrit indicate that Sindhi is derived from Sanskrit.
(b) Dr. N.A. Baloch, the most renowned
scholar of Sindhology, is the pioneer of a new theory.
According to him:
Sindhi is an ancient Indo-Aryan
language, probably having its origin in pre-
Sanskrit Indo-Aryan Indus Valley languages.
The Lahnda and Kashmeri appear to be its
cognate sisters with a common Dardic element
in all of them. Sindhi in particular, may have
imbibed some influence of the ancient language
of Mohen-jo-Daro Civilization, having affinities
with the Sumerian and Babylonian tongues. In
the more historical times, influence of Iranian
languages on Sindhi appears to be a certainty.
This influence was followed by Sanskrit
influence through the Pali Prakrit, particularly
from the days of Kanishika (78-144 A.D.). In
more recent times, influence of Arabic, which


was the state language from 8
th
to 11
th
(possibly
13
th)
century A.D) and of Persian, which was the
state language for more than five centuries (14
th

to 19
th
A.D.), has been deep and permanent.
Thus with its long history and rich linguistic
background, the philological peculiarities and
structural complexities of Sindhi are so
challenging that, at present stage of our
knowledge, it is not possible to trace the origin
of many of its words (Baloch N.A.Dr,1960:19).
In another article Dr.N.A. Baloch writes:
The distinct nature of Sindhi, Lahnda
and the Dardic languages (of Kashmir, Kohistan
and Gilgit), rather suggest that they owe their
origin to the common stock of Aryan tongues
spoken at the time of early Aryan settlement all
along the Indus Valley. It has already been
accepted that Paishachi, the mother of Dardic
languages, was a very ancient language, a sister
and not a daughter of the former speech, which
ultimately developed as literary Sanskrit
(Baloch N.A. Dr. 1992)
(c) Sirajul Haq Memon doesnt agree with the
views of Sir Grierson, Dr. Ernest Trumpp and Dr. N.
A. Baloch. In his view:
Sindhi is not derived from Sanskrit, but
on the contrary Sanskrit seems to have evolved
from Sindhi and therefore is a genuine daughter
of Sindhi. (Sirajul Haq Memon 1964: 4)
In support of his theory, Siraj has tried to prove
that Indus Valley was a central and original place of
civilization and culture, for the people of the East and
West. He states that the people of ancient Sindh had
taken their language and culture with them at the time


of their migration to Mesopotamia and Babylonia; and
also spread their language along with their culture
within that part of Asia. According to Siraj:
The Aryan hypothesis is a myth, initiated
by the German scholars in support of their racial
superiority.
He further states;
There is no evidence of any influence of
Mesopotamian or Babylonian Civilization on the
Indus Valley Civilization, but on the contrary, the
civilization of Mesopotamia and Babylonia show
influence of Mohen-jo-Daro Civilization.
In his opinion the Indus Valley Civilization
reached there through immigrants and traders. He has
given references from Nooh Crammars books in support
of his theory. (Sirajul Haq Memon, 1964: 4 and 5).
(d) Dr. Murlidhar Jetley, in the preface of
Encyclopedia of Indian Literature Vol: VIII, (Sindhi),
compiled by Prof: Dr. Ganga Ram Garg, writes:
On the basis of the development of new
Indo-Aryan languages, as traced by philologists,
it can be said that the Sindhi language
originated from some old Indo-Aryan dialect
spoken in the region of lower Indus Valley at the
time of the compilation of the Vedas; or perhaps
some centuries before that. The structure of the
spoken dialect is not known, but most probably
it would have been nearer to the spoken dialect
of the Punjab, from which one dialect, in its
literary form, is represented in the Rig Veda. No
doubt, Sindhi like other new Indo-Aryan
languages, has passed through old Indo-Aryan
and middle Indo-Aryan stages, but there is no


written evidence to show the development of
the Sindhi language in detail, from the old Indo-
Aryan dialect spoken in the lower Indus Valley.
However, a new fact may be mentioned here
which throws some light on such a
development.
As regards the later phase of the middle
Indo-Aryan stage, present Sindhi shows
sufficient semblance with Nagara or Shauraseni
Apabhrams'a which was literary language of
India, during the period which immediately
precedes the existence of New Indo-Aryan
languages. But there are no written records that
would enable us to study the distinguished
features of a local dialect of Nagara
Apabhrams'a spoken in the lower Indus Valley
from which Sindhi as a New-Indo-Aryan
language is presumed to have developed round
about 1000 A.D.
Markendeya (17
th
Century A.D.), in his
Prakrit-Sarvasya, states that Vrachada
Apabhramsa was spoken in Sindhu-Desa which
illustrated some distinguishing features of
Vrachada. Unfortunately, those examples do not
fully match with the linguistic peculiarities of
the Sindhi language, neither is there any literary
work in Vrachada which may help us in
knowing its structure.
To illustrate the resemblances of Sindhi
with Nagara, the literary Apabhrams'a, two
verses from Hemchandras work (12
th
century
A.D.) are compared with Sindhi:



Dol sanvel dhana camp varann

!, .|. ! : . , | _:
J a n s o na r e h a k a s a v a t i a d a nn

_:: |,.. , |.. |,
(The man has a dark complexion and the fair one
has the complexion of a Champaka flower, she
seems to be a streak of gold on the (black) assay).
Dol mun to vryo, ma karu igo d

mn,
|. :; , . . !,
Ninda ganvi rtr, jhat pat hoi vihnu |> > c, c . _,.: ,..
(Beloved, I warn you not to pretend for long, as
the night would pass away in sleep and it will
dawn quickly) (Jetley M.K. Dr; 1991: preface IX)

Who were the Aryans? Where did they come
from? Did they come as one group and spoke
one and the same language?

1. Every scholar now agrees with this theory that
Mohenjo-Daro Civilization (Indus Valley Civilization)
is pre- Aryan civilization and that before Aryans came
to India, the Indus Valley people used a language
which was both spoken and written. The scholars such
as John Beames, Rawlison, John welsh Mackey, Piggot,
Hunter, Wheeler, Prof: Dr. Basham, Sew D.K. Bowles,
Krishana Rao and others have given their viewpoints
on this issue. Let us study the viewpoints of some of
these scholars about the Aryans, who come to the
Indian sub-continent and were proud of its glorious
civilization.
(a) Mr. Krishna Rao and some other Indian
scholars and archaeologists are of the view that the
Indus Valley had been the original seat of civilization
and that the original inhabitants of Mohen-jo-Daro
were Aryans. (Krishna Rao M.V.N 1992, Preface). It


means that the Aryans had not come from outside but
they were the original people of Indus valley.
(b) But most of the scholars, native as well
as foreigners, are of two opinions: (i) the Aryans were
outsiders and that Indus Valley civilization is a pre-
Aryan civilization, (ii) the people of this civilization
spoke a language which was a pre-Aryan language
having its roots in the civilization of the Indus Valley.
(c) Sir Grierson and some other scholars were
of the opinion that Aryans came to the Indus Valley and
brought their language and culture with them.
(d) Some other scholars are of the opinion
that the Aryans did not come to the Indus Valley in
one group but in different groups from different
places at different times, one after another, with
intervals. Some of them crossed the passes of
Hindukush Mountains and entered this valley
through its north-western tracts and others came by
the sea, into the southern part of the Indus Valley
(Grierson, Vol: I part I, 1927 P-99).
(e) Another Indian scholar, Shrimati Akshaya
Kumari Devi supports Sir Grierson and says:
Aryans did not enter India in one group,
but they entered the Indus Valley in different
groups, one after another with intervals. Thus
they were divided into five clans(Akshaya
Kumari Devi 1938: ?).
2. From the study of these viewpoints, two points
need to be discussed: (i) The ancient Iranian land was
occupied by a group of pre-Aryan people, who spoke
a pre-Aryan language before the arrival of the Aryans
in the land of ancient Iran. (ii) The Aryans did not
enter into the Indus Valley in one group, and each


group, which came after another group, did not speak
the same language. In other words the group of
Aryans that came from Hindukush Mountains spoke
a language which was quite different from the
language of the group of Aryans that came either by
the sea or through the Makran region, ie through
south-west region of ancient Iranian land.
There is also disagreement among the scholars
about the period of arrival of the Aryans into the
Indus Valley. Dr. Suniti Kumar Chattarji is of the
view that the Aryans entered the Indus Valley by
about 1500 to 1000 B.C (Chatterji S.K. 1942: 95-98).
3. Professor Bherumal Advani, who advocated that
Sindhi language is derived from Sanskrit, but having
found some special peculiarities of pronominal suffixes
in Sindhi language, he argued that Sindhi is a link
language between Indian vernaculars and Iranian
language (Bherumal Advani 1956: 88).
3.1 Professor Bherumal further writes:
Pronominal suffixes are most commonly used
only in Sindhi, Lahnda, Kashmeri and Saraiki
languages.
Since the pronominal suffixes are also very
common in Persian language, he expressed
that: "It can be said that Sindhi is the only
language which can be called the link language
between Indian vernaculars and Iranian
languages" (Bherumal Advani 1956: 88).
4. Now the question arises that if Sindhi is a pre-
Aryan language, having its roots in the Indus Valley
Civilization and if the Aryans come in different
groups, one after another, and each group spoke a
different language, then why this linguistic similarity


in Sindhi and Persian languages? (Professor Bherumal
1956).
5. The group of scholars who claim that Sindhi is
derived from Sanskrit language, through Vrachada
Apabhramsa also believe that when the Aryans
entered into the Indus Valley, the natives of the
territory were so terrified that they fled towards the
south, south-east and towards the western mountains
for refuge.
But this hypothesis can not be accepted for the
reasons that it seems impossible that every native of
this land, being afraid of the invaders (Aryans or
others who came after them) fled or migrated towards
other neighboring areas for refuge and safety. On the
contrary, it seems possible that some of them might
have shifted towards the neighboring states to save
the lives of their families, but the majority of them
stayed back and surrendered before the conquerors.
Even at present Bgris, Jats, Rabris, Panis, Odds,
Kohla, Bhila, Muhn, Parhyar, and many other
aboriginal tribes and races, as referred by Dr.
Caldwell, Professor Bherumal Advani, Dr. Hiremath,
Shaikh Khurshid Hassan, H.T Lambrick, Dr. Parso
Gidvani, Taj Mohammad Sahrai and others, live in
Sindh and Lahnda areas in great number. All these
races have been recognised as the aboriginal tribes of
the pre-historic Indus Valley.
According to the statement recorded by Sir
Grierson in Vol: I, Part 1 of his most popular book:
'Linguistic Survey of India (first edition was


published in 1927), the Sindhi language belongs,
together with Lahnda of Western Punjab, to the
North- West group of Outer Circle of the Indo Aryan
Vernaculars. The two tongues (Sindhi and Lahnda),
in his opinion, show strong connection with the
Dardic languages further to the North, especially
with Kashmiri. Sir Griersons viewpoint may be
studied in detail with the help of the chart
reproduced on next page which has been given by
Dr. Massica, in his book (Massica C.P. 1991: 449 &
456)




Indo Aryan Languages















Outer
Circle
Inner
Circle
Central
Circle
Eastern
Circle
North- Western
group
Sindhi Punjabi
Eastern Western
Punjabi Dogri
Lahnda
Western
group
Mountainous
group
Khandeshi Rajasthani Punjabi Western
Hindi
Gujrati



As mentioned earlier, the scholars like Dr.
Trumpp and Sir Grierson were of the opinion that the
inhabitants of Indus Valley, being afraid of the
invasion of the Aryans, left their native places and
fled to the nearby jungles, forests and mountains etc,
to take refuge and save the lives of their family
members. But it has been clarified in pervious pages
that most of the population remained at the places
wherever they were already settled, and they
surrendered before the invaders (Aryans), as they
did, afterwards when the Iranians, Greeks, Scythians
Parthians, white Huns and Arabs etc. attacked their
cities, towns and native places.
Had Sir Grierson and Dr. E. Trumpp known
the results of the reports of the excavations of
archaeological sites of Mohen-jo-Daro and other places,
published by Sir John Marshall, they would,
definitely, have changed, not only their viewpoints
about the origin and ancestry of the languages of
Indus Valley- Sindhi, Saraiki, Dardi, Punjabi,
Rajasthani, Kohistani, Gujrati, Bhili, Bagri and Haroti
etc.- but they would have amended their tree-diagram
showing relationship of these languages with the
main language of the Indus Valley.
Whether Sindhi, Lahandi, Punjabi and Dardi,
(which, in the opinion of Sir. Grierson, are the
branches of North-Western group of Outer Circle of
the Indo-Aryan languages) along with other
languages of the Indus Valley be recongnised as Pre-
Aryan languages, having their roots in the
Civilization of Indus Valley, or they have sprung


from the original and native language Sindhui is a
question which invites the attention of the scholars of
History and Archaeology.
5.1 How can one believe that the languages which
have been languages of the neighboring states from
time immemorial, and which have remained under
the same dominion of Indus Valley kings for
thousands of years, are not the branches of one and
the same language? The people of these neighboring
states, the poets, singers, folk-lorists, saints, religious
missionaries, animal breeders, artisans, artists and
common people used to shift and migrate; or
caravans used to travel or visit these regions,
regularly and very frequently, Social contacts and
marriages were commonly arranged between the
same ethnic groups, castes and tribes etc, because
they spoke the same language or the dialects of the
same language.
6. It is explained above that `Sindhui is the
original and native language of Indus Valley people,
which was being spoken by the people in different
regions of the Indus Valley. It has also been said that
the civilization and culture of Indus Valley had
penetrated in every direction, in the entire Valley
towards the East of the Mahi and Nirmada rivers in
the present Gujrat state of India, and towards South-
East, up to the sea-port of Surat. Similarly it (Sindhui
Language) had crossed the borders of Kalibangan
region in the present Hariana state in the North-East
of the Indus Valley. It also penetrated its influence in
the Dardistan region including Kashmir in the


North-West and North in the Indus-Kohistan and
Sawat Kohistan regions. Its influence has also been
traced by the scholars and Archaeologists in the
Khozistan (now Nooristion) region in the Eastern
region of Iran.
6.1 A critical and detailed study of Vol: VIII of the
`Linguistic Survey of India by the scholars and
experts reveals that Sir Grierson has not been
consistent in his opinion about the origin of the
languages of Rajasthan and Gujrat. On one hand he
has stated that Rajasthani and Gujrati languages are
branches of the Central Group of Inner Circle of Indo-
Aryan languages, but on the other hand, having
observed lot of similarities between Sindhi and the
dialects of Rajasthani languages, particularly Marwari
and Jaisalmeri languages, he decided to state that
Marwari and Jaisalmeri are closely related to Sindhi
language. His statement under the title of Mixed
Marwari and Sindhi is reproduced below from his
book. He states:
The word Dhat means desert, and it is applied
specifically to the desert tract of Sindh, in the district
of Thar and Parker as well as to the adjoining portion
of the State of Jaisalmer. Native authorities say that it
includes the following towns:

In the Thar and Parkar In Jaisalmer
Umarkot Chelar Mayajlar
Chhor Parno Khuri of Samkhabba
Pargana
Gadhra Naursar
Mithi Gundra


Rangdar
Chhachhra
Jaisinghdar

The district of Thar and Parker consists of
three tracts: (1) the Pat or plain of the Eastern
Nara, in the North-West and Centre-West of the
district; (2) the Parker tract to the South-East, and
(3) the Thar or desert (corresponding to the
Dhat). The language of the Pat region is Sindhi,
that of the Parker tract is Sindhi, and in the
extreme south, Gujrati. To the East of the district
of Thar and Parkar lies the Marwar State of
Mallani. The main language of Mallani is
Marwari but along the common frontier there is a
narrow tract in which the language is said to be
Sindhi; no specimen have been received from this
tract, but we may safely conclude that it is a
mixture of Marwari and Sindhi in which Sindhi
predominates. To the North-East of this tract
there is an acknowledged mixture of the two
languages. North of Mallani, up to the frontier of
Jaisalmer, the language is described by the
Marwar officials as a mixture of Thali and Sindhi.
This tract is really a continuation of the Dhat and
the language in no way differs from Dhtki.
Dhtki, or the language spoken in the
Dhat, is simply Thali with a stronger infusion of
Sindhi forms, than elsewhere. It is a mixed
dialect and necessarily varies from place to
place. In Thar and Parkar, the influence of
Sindhi is naturally strong than in Jaisalmer. To
sum up, we have in South-West Marwar-
Mallani, and in the Dhat of Jaisalmer a number
of forms of speech, all of which are mixture of
Standard Marwari or of Thali with Sindhi in
varying proportions. It is unnecessary to


consider them separately.(Grierson, G., 1919:
122).
Thus how can Sindhi, Lahndi, Rajasthani,
Punjabi, Kashmiri, Bagri, Haroti, Gujrati and Dardi
languages be considered as separate languages, and
that they have sprung from different groups of
languages of neighboring or frontier states, when all
those states where these languages are still being
commonly spoken, have remained under the same
dominion for thousands and thousands of years?
These languages are so related with each other and
exhibit similarities in phonetical, phonological,
morphological and syntactical structures to such an
extent that even a common man would never hesitate
to say that these languages are not only related with
each other but they belong to a common origin.
6.2 When Sindhi, Lahndi and Dardic languages
show strong connection, as stated by Sir Grierson,
why it should not be admitted that Sindhi and
Marwari, Sindhi and Gujrati, Sindhi and Bhili, Sindhi
and Bagri, Sindhi and Haroti, and Sindhi and
Jaisalmeri also exhibit common relationship and
similarities because of their common origin, i.e. the
Sindhui language, which was the original language of
the Indus Valley Civilization.
7. Hence a tree diagram of Sindhui language
along with its branches (dialects and sub-dialects) has
been prepared and is given on the next pages which
invites the attention of scholars and intellectuals for
thorough study and comments, on this new theory
floated with the help of the tree- diagram of origin
and ancestry of the language spoken in the region
which grew up within the perspective of Indus
Valley.









7.1 The tree-diagram given above helps every
student of linguistic study to know about the
'Sindhui' language and its branches, which are being
spoken very commonly in different regions of the
Indus Valley even at present. It has been mentioned at
the bottom of the tree-diagram that languages, which
are now considered the dialects of Punjabi language,
are, as a matter of fact, branches of the Sindhui
language. 'Majhi', Do-abi Bangro and Bhatyali
languages exhibit common similarities which are
generally found in Sindhi, Lahndi, Dardi & Rajasthani
etc.
Archaeological map of Indus Valley drawn by
scholars, given below, demarcates the regions where
Indus Valley Civilization has penetrated. These maps
help us to study the areas where the Indus Valley
Civilization has reached in every direction.
The study of these maps reveals that different
dialects of Sindhui language used to be spoken very
commonly by the aboriginal inhabitants who lived
there before the advent of Aryans.
7.2 The most recent linguistic study in this regard
has been brought to light by Dr. Colin Massica in his
book: The Indo-Aryan language on pages from 447
to page 458. He states that the scholars like Heesnel,
Dr. S.K. Chatterji and Dr. J.D Smith have supported
Sir Grierson in his viewpoint. But he (Dr. Massica) has
compared their models with the help of diagrams
prepared by Dr. Turner and other scholars, and
proved that even they (the scholars) are not united in
their opinion with regard to the relationship of the
languages of the Indus Valley.
The Map diagram drawn by Dr. Massica, given
on page 454 under figure 11.6 in his book, is


reproduced below for the perusal of the readers:















8. Massica has compared the models of Sir
Grierson with the models of Dr. S.K. Chatterji, Dr.
Turner and others. The conclusion drawn by Dr.
Massica on pages 454, 455 & 456 of his book invites
the attention of scholars. He writes:
There have been, to be sure, a few
constant, the core if not the boundaries of
peripheral Eastern and North-Western groups,
which have remained stable in all the
classification, that is, Bengali-Assamese- Oriya
and Sindhi-Lahnda. The problem has been with
literally everything in between. It should be
recalled that Griersons controversial Inner-
Outer hypothesis (which has by no means been
abandoned by all scholars) rested in trying to
link precisely these two extremes (Massica C.P.
1991: 456).
8.1 Dr. Massica has compared phonetical &

Kashmiri

Western
Pahari

Lahnda

Punjabi

Sindhi

Central
Pahari

Nepali


Western
Hindi

Eastern
Hindi

Bihari


Rajasthani


Gujrati
?


Sinhalese
?


Masahti
?


Assamese


Bengali


Oriya



phonological structures of Sindhi with those of other
I.A. languages, but the study of the comparison laid
down by him proves that all these features are those
which have been retained and these features have
survived in all these languages from time
immemorial. These similarities in Sindhi, Saraiki,
Dardi, Jaisalmeri, Marwari, Mewari, Gujrati, and
other vernaculars of Indus Valley exist from ancient
times. I would invite the attention of all scholars
including Dr. Massica to this pertinent point that why
it should not be assumed that the original features
and peculiarities of Sindhui language of Indus
Valley have survived and still prevail upon the
languages of the sub-continent, particularly on the
languages of those regions which were very
commonly being used as the dialects or sub-dialects
of the ancient language-Sindhui-as shown in the map
given in the previous pages.
9. The most important point, which has been
emphasised in the last pages of this book, is that there
has been continuity of many aspects of cultural
heritage of the Indus Valley. It has been said that
there is every possibility that the continuity of the
Sindhui language, inspite of the influence of Prakrit,
Sanskrit, Pali, Iranian, Arabic and other languages, on
the language of Indus Valley people, due to which
thousands of words of these languages were
borrowed by the people of Indus Valley, was never
hampered. Borrowing of some words could not affect
the phonetical, phonological, morphological and
syntactical structures of the language of the original
inhabitants of this land. The language of Indus Valley
Civilization, as already stated, was perhaps known as
Sindhui language, which, in my opinion originated


from the local soil, and that language never came
from outside, but it was the original and indigenous
language of the Indus Valley.
9.1 Thus the existence of the indigenous language
and culture is witness to the fact that the local people
of Indus Valley, as a whole, did not leave their land
but they accepted the Aryans and other invaders as
their new rulers and masters, and remained at the
places wherever they were settled. They accepted the
rules and regulations, customs and traditions of their
new masters, but did not abandon their own customs,
traditions, ceremonies, culture, language, faith,
religion and rituals etc. They borrowed words from
the language of their new rulers, but at the same time
their new rulers also borrowed many words of
culture, daily life and religion etc. from the rich
culture, civilization and language of the people of the
land conquered by them.
Dr. Asko Parpola supports this theory and states:
The Aryans, although in all probability
fewer in number, by their military force subdued
the Dravidians. They inter-married, and the
Dravidians took over the language of the
conquerors by which their political power
became the medium of culture. Their own
substant language, however, deeply influenced
the Sanskrit language, and the marked difference
between the complicated consonant clusters of
the Sanskrit and the simple clusters of the
Dravidians, already, reflected in `Mr. Dhravacs
the Rig Vedic epithet of the Dasyus, resulted in
the coming into being of the Prakrit language.
The Aryans on the other hand took over
much from religion and civilization of the


Dravidians (Asko Parpola 1970: 12).
From this argument it is evident that most of
the peculiarities of culture, religion and language of
the Indus Valley people were retained and preserved
by the native people and those elements are
discernible even today.
9.2 Sirajul Haq Memon also supports the theory of
languages in contact. He says:
The reason of different hypotheses about
the origin of the Sindhi language is that no
scholar has compared it with Dravidian
languages. Sindhi has no doubt, remained in
contact with Aryan languages, but the influence
of these languages is just social and cultural, like
that of the Semitic languages on Arabic. Due to
the religious contacts, this influence has
increased more (Sirajul Haq 1972: 5).
9.3 Waqas Ahmed Khawaja, writing about the
aborigines of the Punjab, states in his article that:
There are traditions attesting that it
existed at the time the Aryans over-ran the
country; descendents of the ancient Dravidian
tribes of Bhat, Jhonju and Gharru are still to be
found as despised menial workers inside the old
city (Waqas Ahmed 1992: 108)
9.4 N.A. Dr. Baloch, a renowned scholar, as a
matter of fact, is the pioneer of the idea of re-thinking
about the origin of the language of Indus Valley and
particularly the aborigines of this land. He says:
According to historical record, we get the
names of three ancient races who lived in Sindh.
They were Momed, Takiya and Pa

nyas. Momed
are Med or Meha, in other words Muhanas; the


Takiya probably left Sindh during the 6
th
or 7
th

century A.D. It is not known who were Pa

nyas.
(Baloch N.A. 1992:174).
Writing about Panis, Mr. Dames is of the view:
Fanis may be Panis and the word Panis has
been changed as Bani/ Bania and then Vanya
(Dames M.L. 1904: 24).
10. Taj Mohammad Sahrai, a very prominent
Sindhologist, has written in detail about Pa

nyasor Pa

ns,
in his recent book, entitled: Lake Manchar. He states:
Sindh, Sapta Sindhu, may be the home-
land of Pa

ns. Khirthar Range, Sindhu or a

branch or tributary of Sindh and Lake Manchar
might have been under the command of Pa

ns.
The Pa

ns were indigenous people of Sindh.

They belonged to Dravidian race or a section or
a branch of the Dravidians of Mohen-jo-Daro, the
authors of Indus Civilization 6500 to 1500 B.C.
The Dravidians had trade representatives in
Babylonia.
The Pa

ns were excellent weavers, dyers,

carpenters, boat- makers, navigators and traders
of their time (Sahrai Taj Mohammad 1997: 170
and 171).
Phoenicians, who were also known as Fanis,
were actually Panis of Indus Valley. They were sea-
faring people and traders also.
Writing about Pa

nis Dr. Hiremath states:

The Indus culture was agro-based urban
culture, dependent on riverine agriculture and
over-seas trade. Socially it consisted of


agriculturists, fishermen, sailors- a sea faring
community and the trading class, known as
Fanis, (Hiremath R.C. 1984: 53).
`Fanis may have been the Pa

nis and the word

Pa

ni may have been changed to `banya. It is also

possible that b has been changed into v sound as
there are many other words in which recurrence of v
in place of b is available. Thus the word banya was
pronounced as vny (|,:) as a common word in
Sindhi language which in modern Sindhi means
trading class. There is indeed a need of ethnological
study of these aboriginal groups of people or races,
who are still found in various places of the Indus
Valley, and who have been able to retain their ancient
culture, habits, rituals and their language/ languages,
throughout the historical changes in the sub-continent.
11. The point of discussion here is whether the
ancient inhabitants of Indus Valley had come from
outside or they were local people. Dr. Hiremath is of
the view that:
Indus Civilization, though urban in
character, has its roots in the villages of the
region itself. Harappa, Kot-Dijji, Kalibangan,
Lothal, Danue Sadat and a number of sites in
Afghanistan and Balochistan clearly indicate the
existence of a local civilization prior to the
Harappan culture. (Hiremath R.C. 1984: 53).
11.1 Dr. Mahar Abdul Haq, a great scholar and
historian from Multan, has supported this hypothesis.
He is of the opinion that Indus people did not come
from outside but it was the local civilization and
culture, that was attacked by the invaders from out
side. He says:


The previous thinking that Indus
Culture was based on borrowing from outside,
stands superseded. There may have been local
developments from 7000 B.C. onwards. It is safe
to presume that canal- irrigation was known and
practiced at the time when people had settled at
Amri (Mahar Abdul Haq Soomro 1992: 30).
11.2 Dr. M. Rafique Mughal, another scholar of
repute, has recently solved this problem in his
interview. He said:
I disproved with actual evidence that
Indus Civilization came from other areas of the
world, like Mesopotamia or Iran. I proved that it
was an indigenous growth which originated in
the Indus Valley and developed and declined
here (Rafique M. Mughal 1996).
11.3 Dr. J. Marek Kenoyer, an American scholar of
anthropology at the University of Wisconson, put
forward his views in a Seminar on Ancient Cities of
Indus Valley at the American Center at Karachi, in
June 1997. He said:
Indigenous people and not the outsiders built
the cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, because
there is no evidence that any people came from
outside the area to settle (Kenoyer J.Marek 1997).
12. The point of argument is that, as stated by the
scholars, the people of Indus Valley who migrated
from this land, and went to South India or Western
and Eastern countries, were of proto-Dravidian
origin, whom I prefer to call the Sindhui People.
They spoke the language which was perhaps called
the Sindhui language, the language which has been
accepted by the ethnoarchaeologists as Proto


Dravidian language, - the parent language of the
Proto-Dravidian languages of South India. Thus it has
been stated that the language of the Sindhui people
and those of Proto- Dravidian group, have sprung
from the Sindhui language of the Indus Valley
Civilization. Quotations and examples in detail have
been given in the book Origin & Growth of Sindhi
language where the similarity between Sindhi &
Lahndi, Sindhi and Dravidian languages, and Lahndi
& Dravidian languages has been emphasised. The
similarities as such have been identified in their
phonetical, phonological, morphological, syntactical
structure and semantics etc.
12.1 As stated earlier, after the Aryans had settled
down in this land, not only their culture and religion
came in contact with those of the Indus Valley people
but, the Aryan culture, religion and language was
also influenced by those of the indigenous people of
the Indus Valley. Many phonetic sounds, phonemes,
morphemes, words and phrases of the language
spoken by the people of this land, were borrowed by
the Aryan settlers. (Mari- Walla L.C., Mohen-jo-Daro
1965: 7). The indigenous stock of words borrowed by
the Aryans languages, have been termed by the
Prakrit Grammarians as, the Deshya words (Pischel
R. 1965: 7).
Dr. Trumpp, having found the stock of Deshya
words in Sindhi language, seemed to be doubtful
about his viewpoint (that Sindhi is derived from
Sanskrit through Vrachada Apabhramsa) and later
on made amendments in his theory, expressed by him
in his Grammar of the Sindhi language. In support
of his revised theory, Dr. Trumpp states:


The Sindhi has remained steady in the
first stage of decomposition after the old Prakrit,
where all the other cognate dialects have sunk
some degree deeper, we shall see in the course
of our introductory remarks that rules which the
Prakrit grammarian, Kramadishvara has laid
down in the reference to the Apabhramsa are
still recognisable in the present Sindhi, which by
no means can be stated for other dialects. The
Sindhi has thus become an independent
language, which, though sharing a common
origin with its sister tongues, is very materially
different from them (Trumpp. E. 1872: 1 and 11)
12.2 Dr. S.R. Rao in his book Dawn and Development
of the Indus Civilization, states:
The theory of Aryan invasion had an
adverse effect on the approach of the scholars to
the deciphering of the Indus script. The
assumption that the Indus people were non-
Aryan whom the Aryans destroyed and drove
southward, induced most scholars to read a
Dravidian language in Indus seals. Even those
who have taken aid of computers to analyze the
Indus writing are reluctant to concede that
Indus language could be old-Indo-Aryan and
old-Iranian. This has solved some of the
mysteries of the religion of the Harappans
(Rao. S.S. Dr. 1991: 3).
13. It is not an easy task to give the final opinion
about the origin and ancestry of Sindhi language
without comparing it with Prakrit, Sanskrit and other
languages of the sub-continent. Some scholars, just after
having collected a number of words of Sanskrit origin,


which are commonly used by the Sindhi speakers, have
given their opinion. But from the stock of cognate
words of Sindhi and Sanskrit, and from the
resemblances of morphological and syntactical structure
of these languages why it should not be assumed that
both Sindhi and Sanskrit have sprung from a common
origin? For this theory it can be observed that before the
research of Sir William Jones, the scholars of the sub-
continent, having found the words of Sanskrit, Greek
and Latin, resembling with each other, and having
observed similarities in phonetic system, morphology
and syntax of these languages, expressed their opinion
that Greek, Latin and Zend have been derived from
Sanskrit (Bloom- field 1961: 12). In other words, in the
view of the Indian scholars, Sanskrit was the mother of
the Indo-European languages.
Sir William Jones, after having compared
Sanskrit, Greek, Latin and Zend languages, stated
that all of them had been derived from a common
origin (Bloomfield 1961:12). Hence in the comparative
study of Sindhi, Sanskrit and Lahnda, one should take
guidance and assistance from the arguments
advanced by Sir William Jones.
14. So far as the comparative study of two or more
than two languages is concerned, one has to take help
from the principle of Historical Linguistics. A
language is said to have been related with another
language when different features of these languages
exhibit certain similarities or resemblances. Such
features are: phonetics, phonology, phonemes
morphemes, words & their roots, sentence
constructions, formation of participles and


substitution types etc. (Bloomfield L. 1961:12).
If two or more than two languages resemble
each other in all the above mentioned features, it can
be said that either one language in derived from the
other language, or both these languages have sprung
from a common origin. Sanskrit and Sindhi do exhibit
some similarities in some respect. Despite these
resemblances, having words with the same semantic
meaning, same phonetic correspondence and shape of
some of the feature of phonetic system, there is very
little similarity in phonological, morphological and
syntactical systems of Sindhi and Sanskrit.
As already stated in the beginning, the first
scholar who expressed a definite opinion about the
theory of the ancestry of Sindhi language, and who
tried to prove that Sindhi is derived from Sanskrit,
was Dr. Earnest Trumpp. Although he had stated that
Sindhi was an offspring of Sanskrit, but after a
thorough comparative study of Sindhi language, he
had to reconsider his theory, and had to change his
view point and said:
The Sindhi is pure Sanskritical language,
more free from foreign elements than any other
language of the North-Indian vernacular. The
old Prakrit grammarians may have their good
reason to designate the Apabhrams'a dialects
from which the modern Sindhi is immediately
derived, as the lowest of all the Prakrit dialects,
but if we compare now the Sindhi with its sister
tongues, we must assign to it, in a grammatical
point of view, the first place among them.
14.1 It is much more closely related to the Old
Prakrit, than Marathi, Hindi, Punjabi and
Bengali of our days, and it has preserved an
exuberance of grammatical forms, for which all


its sisters may envy it. For, while all the modern
vernaculars of India, are already in a state of
complete decomposition, the old vernacular
mother-tongue being hereby recognisable in her
degenerated daughters, the Sindhi has, on the
contrary, preserved most important fragments
of it and erected for itself a grammatical
structure, which surpasses in beauty of
execution and internal harmony by far the losses
and leveling construction of its sisters (Trumpp
E. 1872: 2).
14.2 Dr. Trumpp seems to be doubtful about his
theory in which he had stated that Sindhi is derived
from Sanskrit. He has corrected himself, and in
support of his changed theory he states that:
The Sindhi has remained steady in the
first state of decomposition after the old Prakrit,
where all the other cognate dialects have sunk
some degree deeper; we shall see in the course
of our introductory remarks that rules which the
Prakrit grammarian, Kramad ishvara has laid
down in the reference to the Apabhrams'a are
still recognisable in the present Sindhi, which by
no means can be stated for other dialects. The
Sindhi has thus become an independent
language, which, though sharing a common
origin with its sister tongues, is very materially
differing from them (Trumpp 1872:1 and 11).
14.3 From the above statement of Dr. Trumpp it is
clear that the so called Apabhrams'a from which,
according to him (Dr.Trumpp) Sindhi was supposed
to have been derived, was an ancient and
independent language, and which was much older
than the language from which other vernaculars of


the sub-continent were derived, and the Apabhrams'a
from which Sindhi is supposed to have been derived,
was much closer to old Prakrit than that Apabhrams'a
from which other vernaculars were derived. The
scholar has given certain examples of similar
peculiarities of Sindhi and old Prakrit grammars, viz:
(i) In Prakrit-ijja is inflected to active verbal
root for passive voice (Dines Chandra Sircar 1943:20).
The same morpheme- ijj is inflected in Sindhi active
verbal root for passive voice, viz: Likh + ijj = likhijj e.g
Khatu likhijje tho, 'the letter is being written.
Professor Bherumal Advani wrote in his
famous book, entitled Sindhi Boli-a-ji Tarikha to prove
that Sindhi is derived from Sanskrit. As a matter of
fact the contents of his book are mostly translations of
the pieces, paragraphs and chapters from Griersons
work Linguistic Survey of India, Vol: VIII, part I &
II. He explains his theory in the form as follows:
Sanskrit Prakrit Shauraseni
Apabhrams'a Vrachada Sindhi.
But after having observed some special
peculiarities in Sindhi language, he stated that:
Sindhi is link language between Indian
vernaculars and Iranian language (Bherumal
Advani 1956: 88).
He further states that pronominal suffixes are
used most commonly only in Sindhi, Lahndi,
Kashmiri and Saraiki, viz:
Sindhi Saraiki Kashmiri
mryum mryim morim
15. Professor Bherumal further states that these
pronominal suffixes can not be found in any other
language of India except in Sindhi, Lahnda, Kashmiri
and Saraiki. These pronominal suffixes are also very


common in Persian language. For this reason, he
explains that Sindhi can be called the link language
between Indian vernaculars and Iranian language.
15.1 Jairamdas Daulatram, Dr. A.H. Dani and other
scholars opine that Sindhu Desa of Ancient Indus
Valley was around the region which is now called
Salt-range region in Pakistan. The language of the
Salt-rang region has not been accepted by these
scholars to be the origin of present Sindhi. But from
the study of the examples given by Dr. Jetley, it can be
claimed that Nagara Apabhrams'a and Sindhi are one
and the same language. The region where Nagara
Apabhrams'a was spoken was South-Eastern region
of the lower Indus Valley.
16. These are the main points which have created
many questions in the minds of the students of Sindhi
linguistics. If the theory that Sindhi is derived from
Sanskrit through Shauraseni is accepted, then how
could Sindhi, (which in view of professor Bherumal
and others, was derived as the latest of all other
vernaculars of India by 1000 A.D. (Bherumal Advani
1956: 20) be more closely related to the old Prakrit and
Sanskrit more than those Indian vernaculars (Gujrati,
Hindi, Marathi, Rajasthani, and Punjabi) which
according to Dr. Trumpp and Sir Grierson, have been
derived from Shauraseni or other Prakrits? On the
contrary Gujrati, Marathi, Hindi, Rajasthani and other
Indian vernaculars, which according to professor
Bherumal took their modern form much earlier than
that of Sindhi, should have been more closely related
to Sanskrit. The countless phonetic affinities in Sindhi,
Lahnda and Sanskrit prove that either they are
cognate languages or they have influenced each other,
or they have been derived from a common origin.
It is said earlier that for the study of origin and


ancestry of Sindhi language, it is advisable to study
and compare phonetical, phonological, morphological
and syntactical structural patterns of Sindhi, Lahndi
and Dravidian languages. After comparing the
peculiarities of these languages, one can find no
structural relationship whatsoever, between Sindhi
and Sanskrit, except only word stock borrowed by
Sindhi language from Prakrit, Pali and Sanskrit due to
their co-existence in the Indus Valley for a very long
time. But on the other hand when the above said
peculiarities of Sindhi are compared with those of
Punjabi, Saraiki, Dardic, Rajasthani, Gujrati, Haroti
and Dravidian languages (Tamail, Telegu, Kanar and
so on), it will be found that there is a great
resemblance and affinity among these languages,
supporting the opinion that Sindhi- Lahndi group of
tongues, Dravidian and other languages of Indus
Valley are closely related with each other.
16.1 Dr. Asko Parpola has mentioned about the
importance of astronomy and religious ideas of the
Indus Valley people in an other paper (Asko Parpola,
Dr. 1985: 123). In this connection Al-Beruni, one of the
greatest Sindhologists, in his masterpiece work,
Kitab-al- Hind, has given the details of sciences such
as mathematics, medicine, geometry, astronomy and
astrology etc. and their relationship with religion (al-
Beruni 1910: 173). Indus Valley people have retained
their scholarship and knowledge in these sciences,
which they have inherited from the time immemorial
from their past generations.
When we study the sciences mentioned by Al-
Beruni and compare them with the conclusion drawn
by Dr. Asko Parpola we are amazed! I venture to


suggest that the scholars should study the culture,
religion, anthropology and language of the Indus
Valley people thoroughly and in detail, for the
reasons that they have survived and there has been
continuity in language and culture, way of life and
occupations of the people. Whether, it is the bullock-
cart for transportation, potters wheel for preparing
utensils from clay, jewellry, art work, motifs or
designs on various arts, commerce, agriculture and
various other occupations of the people. They all
show continuity of existence.
17. The meaning of the words Sanskrit and
Prakrit can also help the students of Linguistics in
finding out the origin and ancestry of the vernaculars
of the sub-continent. Professor Bherumal in his above
referred book 'Sindhi Bolia ji Tarikha' explains the
meaning of the word Prakrit. He says:
Prakrit means:
(a) natural language
(b) an original language
The antonym of Prakrit is Vikrit which means
corrupted form (Bherumal 1956: 38).
For the meaning of the word Sanskrit, he
writes:
The root of the word Sanskrit is /krah/
which means to do. The past-participle of
/krah/ is /krit/ which means done. Thus
the word/ sam/is a prefix which means good.
sam-krit (Sanskrit) means polished or
refined. Hence Sanskrit language means
polished or refined language. (Bherumal
Advani 1956: 24).
After comparing the meaning and definition of


the words Sanskrit and Prakrit, one can ask as to how
is it possible that a natural or original language could
have been derived from a polished or a refined
language (Sanskrit)? But on the contrary a polished or
a refined language must have sprung from an original
or natural language (Prakrit). In other words it can be
said that Sanskrit is not the origin of Prakrit language,
but Sanskrit, on the contrary, is a refined or polished
form of a dialect of Prakrit; hence Prakrit language is
the original source of Sanskrit language.
17.1 Many linguists and philologists of the world
are of the opinion that all the Indo-Aryan Vernaculars
of India are dialects of Prakrit languages. In their
opinion all these dialects have sprung from different
Prakrits which were being used as spoken languages
during that time. In other words it can be said that
Sanskrit is not the mother of the Indo-Aryan
Vernaculars. Instead, they (Indo-Aryan Vernaculars)
are daughters of an old Prakrit or Prakrits. In view of
Pischel:
So the Prakrit languages are said to be
artificial dialects in so far as they are considerably
altered from literary view-points by poets. But these
are not artificial dialects, if thereby it is meant that
they are the result of the efforts of the poets. What is
true with these dialects is equally true with Sanskrit,
which has never been the commonly spoken language
of the cultured Indians. This Sanskrit was not the
basis of the Prakrit dialects, which indeed goes back
to a certain popular spoken dialect- raised to the
status of a literary medium on political and religious
grounds.
But the difficulty is that it does not seem


probable that all the Prakrit dialects sprung out form
one and the same source. At least they could not have
developed out of Sanskrit as is generally held by
Hoefer, Lassen, Bhandarkar, Jacob and some Indian
Scholars. All the Prakrit languages have the series of
common grammatical and lexical characteristics with
the Vedic language, and such are significantly
missing from Sanskrit (Grierson H.,1927: 121)
17.2 Sir Grierson also treats Sanskrit as a derived
form of Prakrit. In his view:
The earliest specimen of the actual
Aryan Vernacular of India are to be found in the
hymns of the Rig Veda. Most of these hymns
were undoubtedly originally composed in the
actual spoken language of their authors, a
natural, unartificial language, as compared with
more artificial languages subsequently
developed in Brahmanical School and called
Classical Sanskrit. From the inscription of Asoka
(250 B.C.) and from the writings of the
grammarian Patanjali (150 B.C.), we learn that
by the third century before our era, an Aryan
speech (in several dialects) was employed in the
north of India, and having gradually developed
from the ancient vernaculars spoken during the
period in which the Vedic hymns were
composed, was the ordinary language of mutual
intercourse. Parallel, the so-called classical
Sanskrit had developed, from one of these
dialects, under the influence of Brahmans as a
secondary language, and had achieved a
position much the same as that of Latin of the
middle Ages. For centuries the Aryan-
Vernacular languages of India have been called


Prakrit, i.e. the natural, unartificial language, as
opposed to Sanskrit, the polished, artificial
language. From this definition of the term
Prakrit, it follows that the vernacular dialects
of the period of the Vedic Hymns, as compared
to the comparatively artificial Sanskrit,
(a language of these hymns as they have been
preserved by the Brahmans who compiled
them), were essentially Prakrits and as such they
may be called the Primary Prakrits of India. The
Vernaculars which developed from them and
which continued developing alongside Sanskrit,
whose growth was arrested by the grammarians
of the Brahmanical School, until they became the
modern Sanskrits Indo-Aryan Vernaculars, may
be called secondary Prakrits (Grierson H. 1927:
127).
Sir Grierson further states that Sanskrit is
derived from Primary Prakrit: He says:
Concurrent with this long development
of modern Vernaculars, we have the classical
Sanskrit, also derived from one of the Primary
Prakrit dialects (Grierson H.1927:127).
17.3 Another Indian scholar K.A. Nilakanta is also
of the opinion that Sanskrit is not an original or
parent language of Indian vernaculars. He points out:
There were, at the first stage, atleast
three dialects: Northern or North-Western
(Udichya) which still retained many of the
archaism of the Vedic as it was spoken in the
land of the Vedic culture; Mid-Indian which was
the language of the Madhyadesha and the
Eastern which was the language of the Prachya
countries. The language of the Vedic poetry


(Chandasa) had grown absolete and was
cultivated only by the priests. A new form of it,
however, had come into existence, by the way of
compromise, by the incorporation of dialect
elements which had already crept into the
language. This is Sanskrit, described by Panini
as Bhasha which, though an artificial vehicle of
expression, became the polished language of
intercourse and instructions in the Brahmanical
school. It was certainly not the spoken language
of the Udichya country where Panini was born.
The language thus regularised by Panini was
gradually accepted by the whole Brahmanical
world as the language of culture and became a
powerful instrument of expression. Thus a
language already absolete in form, became a
living language for all time among the elite,
(Nilakanta K.A. 1957: 627and 628).
17.4 The editor of the Imperial Gazetteer on India,
records his opinion that Sanskrit is a polished form of
a dialect of Udichya Prakrit. In his view:
It also received literary culture from the
most ancient times, and became fixed, in the
form of Sanskrit (literary and purified
language), by the labours of grammarians which
may be said to have culminated in the work of
Panini about the year 300 B.C. Sanskrit thus
presents a polished form of an archaic tongue,
which by Paninis time was no longer a
vernacular, but which, owing to political reason,
and to the fact that it was the vehicle of
literature, became a second language,
understood and used by the educated in
addition to their mother tongue, and has so


continued with a fluctuating popularity down to
the present day (Imperial Gazetteer of India
1907- 09: 1931: 357).
He further writes:
Just as the spoken dialects of Italy existed
side by side with Latin, and while the evolution
of Latin was arrested by its writers, ultimately
developed into the modern Roman languages, so
the ancient Vedic form of speech developed first
into that stage of language known as Prakrit, and
then into one or more modern Indo-Aryan
Vernaculars. It is thus a mistake to say that any
modern Indian-language is derived from
Sanskrit. The most that can be said is that it and
Sanskrit have a common origin (Imperial
Gazetteer of India 1907-09, 1931:358)
17.5 An other Indian scholar Mr. Bhattacharya also
agrees with M/S Pichell and Grierson. He states.
Sanskrit means things reformed,
remodeled, adapted to the environment or made
once for all (Bhattacharya H.K. 1959: 2).
He further writes:
Sanskrit is corrected Prakrit, and so is
the opinion of Hema Chandra in his Sabdanus
Assana Vritti (1814). This latter word has been
derived from Prakrit (natural) (Bhattacharya
H.K. 1959: 5).
He further mentions:
Sanskrit means made chaste and decent
for use in the educated circles. The word was
necessitated from the time when Prakrit had to
be made Sanskrit. Sanskrit and Prakrit are the


same language and guided almost by the same
grammatical rules.
17.6 Then the question arises, asks Bhattacharya,
which is older, Sanskrit or Prakrit?
From the above discussion it appears that
Prakrit came from Sanskrit, but this appears rather
unnatural, for the dictum of psychology is that
knowledge goes from simple to complex. The well
organised Sanskrit must have come after the dialects
of the people had fairly been well adapted to express
ideas easily.
Moreover people in the earlier state of society
were backward intellectually in so far as the power of
analysis is concerned, as this develops only with
experience of different types acquired from life in the
world. Prakrit thus appears to have been the earlier
form of the language of the Vedas.
17.7 Thus the name Sanskrit was given to this
language of the enlightened people who used
the Prakrit language with correct annotation and
with a standard and uniform mode of
use(Bhattachrya H.K. 1959: 6).
From the above example it is clear that Sanskrit
is not the origin of the Indo-Aryan Vernaculars of the
sub-continent, on the contrary it is a refined and
polished form of a local dialect of Primary Prakrit
language. In other words the origin of Sanskrit is a
dialect of Primary Prakrit.
17.8 From the above examples it is also concluded
that in those days Prakrit was not one language but it
was divided into different dialects, which were
spoken in different areas. One of those dialects was
used by Brahmans for education and literary
purposes, which was, afterwards refined and called


Sanskrit or Bhasha.
18. Now the question arises as to which dialect
was refined and taking the shape of Sanskrit
language, and that in which part of the sub-continent,
that particular dialect was being spoken? Pischell has
answered this question. He states:
Sanskrit forms the chief constituent of
individual Prakrit dialects, especially of
Maharastri artificial poetry, such as Ganava ho
and Ravana ho that are composed according to
the model of Sanskrit (Pischell R. 1965: 7).
18.1 The editor of Imperial Gazetteer of India
mentions:
We may take the language of the Rig-
Veda as representing the archaic dialect of the
Upper Doab of which Sanskrit became polished
form (Imperial Gazetteer of India 1931:7& 357).
18.2 In the opinion of Sir Grierson, the dialects
spoken on the banks of the Indus took the form of
Sanskrit. He says:
On the other hand, in the extreme
North-West of India, bordering on the Iranian
speech, whose existence vouched for by the next
stage of Prakrit to be presently described, and
which was a development of the particular
dialect of old Sanskrit spoken on the banks of
Indus (Grierson H. Vol: I, part I, 1927: 123).
18.3 According to Professor Dr. Suniti Kumar
Chatterji, Sanskrit took its shape from a sub-dialect of
Udichya, N.W. dialect of Prakrit. He states:
In his (Paninis) grammar he finally, as if
for all the time, regulated Classical Sanskrit, the


third in line of succession from the Vedic
Kunstsprache as in the Rig Veda, through the
language of Brahmans. It was based evidently
on the spoken dialect of Udichya, and it was
adopted with zeal by the entire Brahmanical
world in the Midland, in the East, also in the
South (Chatterji S.K. 1942: 60)
18.4 Nilakanta in this connection states:
The large portion of the Vedic (Udichya)
poetry (Chandasa) had grown obsolete and was
cultivated by the priests. A new form of it,
however, had come into existence by way of
comments which had already crept into the
language. This is Sanskrit, described by Panini
as Bhasha which, though an artificial vehicle of
expression, became the polished language of
intercourse and instructions in the Brahmanical
schools (Nilakanta K.A. 1957: 627 and 628).
19. From the points discussed above it is proved
that a sub-dialect of Udichya Prakrit, which was
spoken on the banks of Indus in the upper Doab, was
refined by Brahmans, taking the shape of Sanskrit. In
the days of Gotma Buddha, the tract of Udichya was
famous for education and learning. People from other
parts of the sub-continent had high opinion about this
part. In a book of Brahmans it is mentioned:
The dialect of Udichya tract corresponding
roughly to the present day North-West Frontier
Provinces and Northern Punjab, was highly
thought of, and it maintained a conservative
character, continuing to be nearest to the old
Indo-Aryan standard. A Brahman text (the
Kanitak Brahman) says that the Udichya speech
is uttered with greater discrimination; they go to


the Udichya people to learn speech; who ever
returns from there, people wish to hear him
(Chatterji S.K. 1942: 55)
19.1 In the days of Panini (500400 B.C.), Taxila
(Taksila) was a great seat of learning in Udichya
tract. Panini was educated in Taksila University. He
was one of the greatest scholars of this university. He
was the first person who wrote a book on Sanskrit
grammar. When he entered this university as a
student, there were many scholars. It can, therefore,
be said that Taxila University was a great seat of
learning, and Brahmans (Professors) of this university
were very popular for their knowledge. The dialect
which was very commonly spoken in this area (Taxila
tract) took a new shape (refined shape) under the
influence of Brahmans, and was called the language
of scholars.
20. Some native scholars, having found
resemblances in Sindhi and Dardic languages, have
stated that Sindhi has sprung from Paishachi, the
mother of the Dardic languages, but in the opinion of
Sir Grierson, Sindhi is not a daughter of Paishachi,
but there is an influence of Dardic languages on
Sindhi and Lahnda. He says:
Dardic, the present home of the Dardic
languages, includes the East-West Gilgit and
Kashmir, the Indus-Sawat Kohistan, Chitral and
Kafarstan. In early times, the Dardic languages
were much more widely extended. They once
covered Balochistan and West-Tibet-o-Burman
languages. Philology shows that they must have
covered nearly the whole Punjab, for Punjabi
and Lahnda, the present languages of that


province still show traces of the earlier Dardic
languages that they superseded. Still further
South, we find traces of Dardic in Sindhi
(Grierson H. 1919, Vol, I: Part I: 109-112,).
20.1 Sir Grierson, in his article, entitled Vrachada
and Sindhi, expressed that:
the Vrachada Apabhrams'a, a form of a
Prakrit was spoken in Sindh. (Grierson H. 1919: 27).
But Shri Jairamdas Daulatrama, a great
Sindhi scholar of India, did not agree with this
viewpoint of Grierson. In his article, he (Shri
Daulatram) quotes Markandeya and states:
Vrachada Apabhrams'a had originated
in the Sindhu Desha. The Sindhu Desha of the
early Sanskrit literature, has been generally
identified with parts of middle Indus Valley,
situated in the West Punjab and the Southern
portion of the old N.W. Frontier Province.
Sindhu and Sauvira have generally been held to
be contiguous regions, and are often mentioned
together some times as one composite state
(Jairamdas Daulatram 1957: 43)
He further states:
Sindh of the Mahabharata lay much to
the north of present Sindh of the lower Indus
Valley where none of the five rivers flows
(Jairamdas Daulatram 1957: 43).
Shri Jairamdas Daulatram states further that:
Vrachada had originated in the Sindhu Desha, and
Sindhu Desha has been described by him as the
country North-West upto Aror. Nagara, in his
opinion, prevailed in Gujrat, Rajasthan and nearby
regions. Vrachada must obviously, have belonged to
the region further to the West or North-West of


Southern Punjab, the region of upa-Nagara. This
would place the Sindhu Desha of Markendeya much
to the north of the present Sindh, the region of the
Sindhi language known as such. Shri Jairamdas
concludes his arguments and states that:
Vrachada was not the local language of
the people of the lower Indus Valley or that the
Sindhi language known as such, has been
derived from Vrachada (Jairamdas Daulatram
1957: 43).
He further states:
Sindhi was a local Prakrit, known as
Sindhi Prakrit. The Sindhi Parkrit of the lower
Indus Valley region comprising modern Sindh,
which had evolved and changed into a local
Sindhi Apabhrams'a, was in existence
concurrently, as the main local language of that
region (Jairamdas Daulatram 1957: 58)
He states still further:
An ancient variant of the pre-Vedic
Prakrit, spoken by the people of the lower Indus
Valley, has probably continued to evolve,
acquiring the form of old Sindhi in the phase of
Secondary Prakrit. Later on while Sanskrit was
in use by the learned in this region and the inter-
regional literary circles, it is then that Nagara
Apabhrams'a had also thrown out its variant in
the form of Vrachada, some where to the north
of present Sindh. The Sindhi Prakrit
simultaneously continued its independent
process of evolution and changes in the main
region of the lower Indus Valley and
crystallized into a distinctive spoken and literary
language which may be termed middle Sindhi


of the end of the first Millennium of the
Christian era, as contrasted with old Sindhi of
the earlier period and the Modern Sindhi of the
post Apabhrams'a period. Vrachada was not the
local language of the people of the present
Sindh, but due to proximity, it may have lent
some words or phonetic peculiarities to a
northern dialect which has coloured the language
of present Sindh, owing to the continued
political, social and cultural domination over it
for several centuries by the people coming from
regions to the North-West of Sindh (Jairamdas
Doulatram 1957: 69 and 70).
20.2 After having compared the view points of the
scholars of different schools of thought, it can be
concluded that:
(i) Sindhi has not sprung from Sanskrit.
(ii) No vernacular tongue of the sub-continent
has been derived from Sanskrit.
(iii) Sindhi is an independent and original
language which was being spoken by the
indigenous people of the Indus Valley.


Sindhi Language; Its Roots in the Indus Valley
Civilization

1. Every scholar now agrees with this theory that
Mohen-jo-Daro Civilization is pre-Aryan civilization
and that before Aryans came to the Indus Valley,
there was a language which was the spoken tongue of
the Indus Valley people.
After the Aryans had settled down in the Indus
Valley, not only their culture and religion came in
contact with those of Indus Valley people but it also
was influenced by the culture and religion of the
Indus Valley (Jairamdas Daulatram, 1957: 69 and 70).
Many phonetic sounds, phonemes. morphemes and
phrases of the pre-Aryan language of the Indus
Valley were borrowed by the Aryan settlers
(Mariwalla L.L. 1957: 52 & 7o). The indigenous stock
of words as such, borrowed by the Aryan languages
have been termed by the Prakrit grammarians as
Deshya words (Mariwalla L.L. 1957: 52 & 7o). The
grammarians classified the word stock into
Tatasama, Tadhbhava, Deshya and Videshya
kinds (Pischel R.1965: 7). The Stock of Deshya words
has been retained and is being spoken by the people
of the Indus Valley. The remaining elements of those
Deshya words are still found even today.
It is already pointed out that Dr. Trumpp, who
was the originator of the theory that Sindhi is derived
from Sanakrit, seemed to be doubtful about his
viewpoint and later on made some amendments in
his theory. In support of his new opinion he sates:
The Sindhi has remained steady in the
first stage of decomposition after the old Prakrit,
where all the other cognate dialects have sunk


some degree deeper, we shall see in the course
of our introductory remarks that rules which the
Prakrit grammarian, Kramadishvara has laid
down in the reference to the Apabhrams'a are
still recognisable in the present Sindhi, which by
no means can be stated for the other dialects.
The Sindhi has thus become an independent
language, which though sharing a common
origin with its sister tongues, is very materially
different form them (Trumpp, E. 1872: Vol 11 ).
2. The language of Indus Valley Civilization
which was known as Sindhui language, is the parent
language of the present Sindhi language.
For the final opinion about the origin and
ancestry of Sindhi, Saraiki, Dardic, Gujrati,
Rajasthani, Punjabi, and Haroti languages, one has to
study and compare the viewpoints of all the scholars.
Most of the scholars have tried to solve this problem
by keeping in mind the theory that Sindhi and all
other languages are Aryan languages. Recently some
scholars have given thought to the theory that Sindhi
and other languages of the ancient Indus Valley, upto
Lothal and Kalibangan regions belong to non-Aryan
group of languages.
2.1 The grammarians of the Prakrit language, as
stated earlier, having studied thoroughly the
characteristics of the Vernaculars of the sub-continent,
have divided the word-stock of the local languages
into four kinds viz: Tatasama Tadhbhava Deshya
and Videshya(Pischell R. 1965: 74). The stock of
Deshya words has drawn the attention of scholars of
the sub-continent in general and that of Sindh and
other regions of the Indus Valley in particulars, for


the reason that these Deshya words are recognised as
the remaining stock of words of the language which
was commonly spoken by the people of the Indus
Valley, before the Aryans settlement in this land.
Professor Bherumal Advani has also supported
this opinion of the grammarians. He states:
Deshya or Desaj (Des = country + j = ja=
to give birth) means local or native. Deshya
words are those words which were commonly
in use in the country (Indus Valley country)
before arrival of the Aryans, and they have been
commonly used even after Aryan settlement in
this country. Sanskrit is not the origin of these
words but they had been borrowed by the
Aryans from the local languages of Kols, Bhils
Santhals, and Dravidians etc- the aboriginal
people of the Indus Valley at the time of arrival
of Aryans (Bherumal Advani 1956: 176 & 177).
2.2 As already stated, Dr. Trumpp had to reconsider
his first opinion (that Sindhi is derived form Sanskrit)
when he compared the stock of Deshya words with
those of Sanskrit. Perhaps compelled by his own
conscience he revised his first opinion. He said:
We shall, on the other hand, be able to
trace out of certain residuum of vocables which
we must allot to an old aboriginal language of
which neither name nor extent is now known to
us, but which in all probability was of the Tartar
stock of languages and spread through out the
length and the breadth of India before the
irruption of the Aryan race, as all other
Vernaculars contain a similar non-Aryan
residuum of words, which have been already


designated as Provincial by the old Prakrit
grammarians ( Trumpp, E. 1872: III).
2.3 Dr. Trumpps changed statement has greatly
supported the opinions of the native scholars, as well
as that of Dr. Caldwell, a well known scholar of
Dravidian languages, who has quoted him (Dr.
Trumpp) in support of his theory.
In the view of Dr. Caldwell:
the pre-Aryan languages of the sub-
continent were local (Deshya) languages
(Trumpp E. 1872: lll).
2.4 After having compared the view points of Dr.
Caldwell with modern methodology of research, and
after comparative study of phonetical, phonological,
morphological and syntactical systems of Sindhi and
those of major Dravidian languages: Tamil, Telegu and
Kanar etc, it can be said that Sindhi and Darvidian
languages are cognate languages and have sprung from
the same origin (Robert Caldwell 1875: 59 and 64).
2.5 Dr. Parpola and Simo Parpola, the scholars of
the Scandinavian Institute of Asian studies at
Copenhagen, have been of great help to study the
theory of late Dr. Caldwell. They have tried to
decipher the script of the Mohen-jo-Daro seals and
have claimed that:
The language (that of Mohen-jo-Daro) is
an early form of Dravidian called by us Proto-
Dravidian. It appears to be very close to the South-
Dravidian, especially Tamil, and decidedly
younger than the parent language of all Dravidian
tongues (Parpola, Asko Parpola 1970: 6).
When the opinion of Dr. Caldwell is compared
with the results of the decipherment of the seals of
Mohen-jo-Daro by Dr. Asko Parpola, Simo Parpola
and Dr. Fairservis, we get sufficient proofs in support


of his opinion and it can be claimed that Sindhi and
Dravidian languages are closely related with each other.
2.6 Almost all the historians, archaeologists and
anthropologists of the world are unanimously of the
opinion that before arrival of the Aryans in the Indus-
Valley, the territory was occupied by the speakers of
Dravidian tongues. (John Beames, 1872: 9 and 10).
3. Who were the Dravidians? Which place did
they come from? What was their original place? Was
it an Indigenous race of Indus Valley or they had also
come from outside? Different scholars have given
their different opinions about these questions.
3.1 According to Dr. Caldwell, Dravidians were
originally from Scythian race, and in his opinion, the
Dravidian languages were related to Turanian family
of languages (Rev. Robert Caldwell 1875: 57 & 59).
In view of Major Mockler, the Dravidian
languages have affinity with Scythian branch of
Turanian family of languages. He states:
Balochee is the name which has been
given to the languages spoken by all the peoples
(with exception of the Brahuees, who have a
language of their own called Kurdee or
Kurdgalee which probably belongs to the
Scythian group of languages), now inhabiting
the tract of country marked Balochistan in our
maps (Mockler E.A)
3.2 Sir William Jones was of the opinion
that there are some elements of Tartarean stock (i.e
Scythian languages) in shape of words in the North
Indian local languages. John Beames considers
Dravidian race as Turanian race and Dravidian


languages as branch of Turanian language.
3.3 Professor Gankovsky states:
The presence of indisputable relationship
between the Dravidian languages and the
languages of the ancient Western Asia warrants
the conclusion that in antiquity there was a
territorial contact between the speakers of these
languages. There are also indications that the
Dravidian languages were connected with Ugric
(Finno-Ugric) language family. These
connections may have come about in the epoch
antecedent to the expansion of I.E. tribes and
nationalities in Middle Asia i.e. not later than the
third millennium B.C. (Gankovsky Yu.V. :33)
3.4 The Scandinavian scholars, giving
examples of resemblance of Dravidian languages and
the language of Mohen-jo-Daro, state:
(i) In a combinatory analysis (A2 to 4), the
linguistic type of the language of the
Indus Inscriptions appears to be
agglutinative. Of the languages known
from the Indian sub-continent only the
Dravidian languages belong to this type.
(ii) The declension paradigm discovered, fits
to the declension of Dravidian.
(iii) The alternation of a zero suffix and the
genitive suffix which is attested in the
Indus inscriptions is a characteristic of
Dravidian (Asko Parpola Dr., 1970: 12)
But as stated earlier, the people of Indus Valley
did not come from outside but were aboriginal people
of the Valley. Thus it can be claimed that the
Dravidian people were not outsiders. They did not


come from any other part of the world but were
aboriginal population of Indus Valley.
From these arguments it is concluded that the
Dravidian languages have sprung from the language
of the Indus Valley.
4. In view of Sirajul Haque Memon, Sindhi
language has sprung from the language of Mohen-jo-
Daro. He writes:
The reason for different hypotheses
about the origin of Sindhi language is that no
scholar has compared it with Dravidian
languages. Sindhi has no doubt, remained in
contact with Aryan languages, but the influence
of these languages is just social and cultural like
that of the Semitic languages on Arabic. Due to
religious contact, this influence has further
increased (Sirajul Haque Memon, 1972: 2).
Siraj further states that Muha

nas and Malah

castes of Sindh are aboriginal tribes of Indus Valley.
(Sirajul Haque Memon, 1972: 2)
5. An attempt has also been made in this
regard by Shaikh Khurshid Hassan, former director of
the Department of Archaeology, Government of
Pakistan. He has thrown some light on this aspect of
the Indus Valley Studies. A detailed ethnological
study of the Muhana tribe of sailors and fishermen,
concentrated mainly along the Indus River as well as
in some eastern parts of Western Nara on the
Manchar Lake, in Sindh, has revealed that they had
come in contact with all the invaders of the Indus
Valley, such as Aryans, Iranians, Greeks, Scythians,
White Huns, Arabs and the British from time to time.


Shaikh Khurshid Hassan sates:
The Muha

nas are supposed to be one of

the oldest inhabitants of the Indus Valley. Their
dark complexion as well as their manners and
customs betray their Dravidian ancestry. They
generally live in boats, having no other
habitation.
The Muha

nas seem to be aboriginal to a

degree unlike any other Sindhi tribe. They could
claim that they descend directly, with
comparatively little admixture of other blood,
from the lake and river dweller of ancient times.
The Muhanas speak vernaculars of
Sindh. They are said to have a number of
peculiar words and some cultural traits which
set them apart from the rest of the rural
population.
A detailed ethnological study of this
community such as their traditional designs of
wood-carving to decorate the interior of their
house-boats may reveal other resemblances with
the sculptural art of the classic of the Indus
civilization" (Shaikh Khurshid Hassan).
He further writes:
Equally important can be the
philological study of the old words and phrases
current in their dialect in order to trace the
nature of their original language in the Indus
Valley script (Shaikh Khurshid Hassan).
5.1 Dr. Lambrick has also expressed the
same view point in his research work much earlier
than Shaikh Khurshid Hassan. The research work of


Dr. Lambrick was published by the Sindhi Adabi
Board in 1975. In view of Dr. Lambrick, the Muahnas
(fishermen) are also an aboriginal tribe of Sindh. He
states:
The Muhns ethnologically, are
descendents of the people of Mohen-jo-Daro. We
know from the skeletal remains found at Mohen-
jo-Daro that the inhabitants of that city were
themselves of several racial types. Still there is a
certain probability that the Muhanas (Fishermen)
of the Manchar Lake may be aboriginal in a
degree that no other Sindhi tribe would claim.
The Muhns (Fishermen and boatmen)
find their occupation and subsistence on the
river and on the lakes of Sindh (Lambrick H.T.
1975: 102).
5.2 For the ethnological study of the people
of Indus Valley and the language/ languages spoken
by them, the archaeologists and scholars of the
relevant fields (Anthropology and Linguistics)
should, therefore, now apply the methodology of
Ethno-archaeology, which is a new concept
developed in the United States, as proposed by
Shaikh Khurshid Hassan in his above referred
research paper.
They should also take help from the word-
stock of indigenous origin (Deshya words) and the
language being commonly used in Sindh even today.
5.3 After having studied some of the
Deshya or local words, Dr. NA Baloch in his paper
published in the research journal, Sindhi Boli,
published by the Sindhi language Authority, in 1994,
has claimed that those words are the remnants of
word- stock of the language which has its roots in the
soil of Indus Civilization. He (Dr. Baloch) further


states that the language of Indus Valley had never
come from outside, but has its roots in the soil of
Indus Valley. The list of the words given for example
by Dr. NA, Baloch may be referred from his above
mentioned article (Baloch N.A., Dr., 1994: 3-6).
5.4 The list of similar words of the ancient
language of Indus Valley and the races that have been
claimed to have continued to live in the Indus Valley,
have supported the scholars to study the culture and
language of Indus Valley people.
5.5 Dr. Kenoyer has done a great work in
this field. For the continuity of the Indus Valley
culture, Dr. Kenoyer has said:
Fish and various types of birds were often
used in Hinduism and Buddhism with the latter
being as symbol of fertility. The fish motifs could
be seen even on most trucks in Pakistan. There
are other common symbols or motifs: the bull
was a symbol of power, while the pipal tree was
a symbol of support. These were often found on
pottery, much of which was not made using any
wheels but by hand (Kenoyer J.M.Dr. 1997:)
He further said:
Some pottery had the motifs of a stork
with a net beneath its legs and a similar style
had been seen in the Banu area (Kenoyer J.M.
Dr.,1997)
He said further that:
Ornaments were used not only for
adornment but also as a symbol of identity.
Gold, bronze, lapis from what is made today in
North-Eastern Afghanistan and the northern
N.W.F.P. were used (Kenoyer J.M .DR. 1997 :)


He explained his view points with the help of
two slides and said:
One which showed a cache of ancient
jewelry dating back to the time of Mohen-jo-
Daro, that was found in the village of Allah
Dino in Malir on the outskirts of Karachi. The
other slide showed the jewelry made of gold
and jade in its polished restored form and looks
quite similar to some modern-day ornaments
(Kenoyer J.M. Dr. 1997:)
6. The opinion of a renowned scholar and
archaeologist of U.S.A, Dr. George F. Dales is worth
mentioning in this book. His opinion is reproduced
below which he gave in his interview, taken by Ms.
Perveen Talpur. His interview was published in the
Sindhological Studies a bi-annual Journal of the
Institute of Sindhology in winter issue, 1987. Ms:
Talpur asked him (Dr. George F. Dales) many
questions. The following questions pertain to the
language of Indus Valley people, which are
reproduced below:
Q. Ms: Talpur:
Until now, the origin of Indus language
and script are being searched in Dravidic,
Sanskrit and even Semitic languages. It has been
revealed that Sindhi language contains a
number of words which do not belong to either
of the languages mentioned. According to the
experts these words existed prior to the
emergence of Vedic Sanskrit and have survived
to this day, only the script kept on changing. Do
you think the study of such words and their
derivates will help understand Indus language


and script?
A.Dr.Dales:
I think eventually, it might help. We do
require the discovery of a library, a sort of clue
like the Rosetta stone to give us a real key into
the deciphering of the Indus script. But the
presence of strange words in Sindhi has a
parallel to that in Mesopotamia in Iraq and
Syria, where there is a sub-status of words, that
go further than Babylonia and Akkadian. Those
are indigenous words, they basically deal with
finance, trade and agriculture. Perhaps the
Sindhi words which you mentioned also deal
with agriculture, fishing and economic matters.
It will be interesting to see what they refer to
(Perveen Talpur 1987: 39).
6.1 The statement of late Dr. Dales, would, I
am sure, invite the attention of the archaeologists and
linguists to think over this point and try to study
Sindhi and Lahndi languages, and identify the signs
inscribed on the seals, unearthed from Mohen-jo-
Daro. They would search for equivalent lexemes from
Sindhi, Gujrati and Saraiki language and establish
values for these signs from Sindhi, Gujrati, Rajasthani
and Saraiki languages, as most of the values selected
from the Dravidian languages are similar to the
equivalents selected from the Sindhi and Saraiki
languages.
7. Recent research has proved the
continuity of Sindhian culture, its arts, motifs
and designs. It has shown the richness of Indus
Valley Civilization, revealing that the
civilization and culture of Indus Valley have


even earlier ancestry (Kenoyer J.M.1997).
The people of Sindh have possessed and have
also retained most of the peculiarities and
characteristics of their ancestors in their arts and
crafts inspite of the fact that Sindhian art and culture
has greatly been influenced by the culture of Iranians,
Greeks, Scythians, Parthians, Kushans, Arabs and the
Western people as well.
Scholars have advocated for the genesis, growth
and continuity of the legacy of Sindh right from its
emergence in the Indus Valley. Dr. Parpola, Dr. Kenoyer,
Dr. Fairservic and other scholars have also emphasised
this view point in their papers and works.
7.1 When the continuity in the arts, crafts,
motifs, designs and culture of Indus Valley people has
been described by the scholars and archaeologists,
why then it should not be claimed that the language of
the Indus Valley people has also survived and has
continued along with its daily life, culture and
occupations. There have, of course, been some changes
in the socio-cultural and socio-economic life and
behaviors of the people of Indus Valley, but we see
almost the same birds and animals, same plants and
trees, same occupations and their tools, such as the
tools being used for agriculture, for fishing, for arts
and crafts, for plain and glazed pottery, for printing on
fabric, for tie and dye work and for weaving and
embroidery etc. We see the same type of wheel which
potters use even today. We also see the same type of
bullock-carts and boats which are being used for the
purpose of transportation and communication.
7.2 Shaikh Khurshid has expressed his view
in this regard in his above referred paper. He states:


An amazing peculiarity of the Indus
Civilization is the long life of its traditions, some
of which continue to exist even to this day.
Potters in the adjoining village of Mohen-jo-
Daro still make the same type of pottery as their
counter parts used to make in the ancient time.
Heavy load bullock-carts are still seen
throughout upper Sindh, and present an
astonishing resemblance to those fashioned in
terracotta by Mohen-jo-Daro toy makers (Shaikh
Khurshid Hassan).
The result of arguments for the continuity of
culture and legacy of Sindh support the claim that the
people of the Indus Valley also have continued their
language in the regions where they were settled. They
have retained their language along with ancient arts,
crafts, legacy and culture.

Ancient Races and Tribes of Indus Valley

1. Shaikh Khurshid Hassan has stated in
his above referred paper (Ethno-archaeology as an
Aid to Interpret Indus Civilization) that:
It may be true that while many
communities appear to have retained their
identity since remote past, they have throughout
been consistently modifying their way of life.
Their present life style does not , therefore, in its
entirety apply to the past simply because certain
crafts, traditions, hunting and fishing methods
etc., have survived. The surviving cultural traits
and their continuity with the past should,
therefore, be probably evaluated, analysed and
tested (Shaikh Khurshid Hassan).


1.1 Some of the ancient races of Indus
Valley, who stayed back at the place of their
settlement, still live in various parts of the Sindh,
Punjab, Kutch, Gujrat, Rajasthan and Hariana regions
and other areas of Saraiki speaking belt, with some
phonetical and phonological changes in the names of
their castes and tribes.
Writing about the continuity in the dwellings,
huts and settlements of Indus Valley people, Dr.
Hiremath writes:
It appears that the Fishermen used to have
all their belongings in the boats, and moved on the
lakes, rivers and the sea in them. Just as Kashmir
lakes have moving boats with dwellings, similar
lakes were there in the Indus site particularly in
Sindh. (Hiremath R.C. Dr. 1984: 53).
1.2 Muha

nas still live on boats in Manchhar lake

and even on the river Sindhu (Indus) and on the sea.
It is stated in the book Sindhi Culture that:
The dwellings and huts of people of
Manchhar lake are very interesting. Thousands
of people inhabiting the Manchhar lake, live on
crudely built flat-bottomed house boats with all
their worldly belonging. Some of them live in
small settlements on the banks of the lakes and
river Sindhu. The Manchhar lake appears to be a
living colony of the floating bamboo-houses
(Allana G.A.Dr. 1986: 29).
1.3 Some relationship has even been claimed
by, Sir Grierson in his book Linguistic Survey of India
Part: II vol: I, despite the fact narrated by him that:
Sindhi, Rajasthani and Gujrati are not the branches of
one and the same groups of Indo-Aryans languages".


Grammatical Relationship and Features between
Sindhi, Saraiki, Dravidian and other Local
Languages

1. There are many examples of common
grammatical features which are still found in Sindhi,
Lahndi, Darvidian and all its dialects.
When the phonetical, phonological,
morphological and syntactical system of Sindhi
language is compared with that of Dravidian
languages: Tamil, Telegu, Kanar and other languages
like Lahndi, Gujrati, Rajasthani and Haroti etc, it is
found that there is a great resemblance in these
languages, and it can be claimed that Sindhi and all
these languages are closely related with each other.
In the following pages some instances and
examples of resemblance as such have been given for
the readers to enable them to decide whether Sindhi
still possesses all those characteristics which have
been underlined as 'pre-Aryan deshya characteristics;
i.e. the characteristics of local languages which have
survived throughout these changes. These
characteristics have been traced by the scholars and
have been pointed out by them in the inscription of
Indus Valley seals. Some of these examples indicate
the relationship between the dialects of Dravidian
languages, Lahndi and Sindhi languages which are,
as a matter of fact, the branches of the Sindhui
language of Indus Valley civilization. Some instances
of their resemblance are enlisted below:
(i) Most of the words, as understood to have
been deciphered by the Scandinavian & American
scholars, could be found in daily use by the speakers


of Sindhi and Saraiki languages of present day. Some
of these words are given for instance: (Asko Parpola
1970: 12)

Words deciphered
as
Sindhi & Saraiki
equivalents
pe
n

(ty)
-
woman

bhe
n

u
(_,, )
sister

pe
n

ti, pe
n

i -comb

pha
n

i (
_.:)

comb

ka
t

i
-
cot

kha
t

a(c:) cot

ka
t

ili
-
cot

kha
t

olo

(l.:)

cot

mu
t

i
-
earthen pot

ma
t

u

(
c.)

earthen
pot

Ko - mountain
ko () (Lari dialect)
mountain


jut

a
-
hair

ju
t

a(c)

hair

kal - black
karo(|) black
ko
t

- '
fort

ko
t

u

(c)

fort

(ii) Many words of indigenous origin (deshya)
are commonly used in modern Sindhi. These words
have been marked as of Dravidian origin. Some of
these words are given for example (Pischell 1965: 7)
Words Sindhi Dravi-
dian
Sindhi
sivvi
sui(_..) needle
kala
kala () - art
niru
niru (,.)water
amal
am, ama(. |.)
- mother
mn mna (_,.) fish
am
am (_.)- mother


ad ad () sister

trn tarun (|.)
palate
These words, as stated by the grammarians are
of course from the stock of the language which was
being spoken by the Indus Valley people before the
arrival of the Aryans in the Valley. List of more
words, recorded by various scholars in their research
works, is also given below (Res: Robert Caldwell,
1875: 59 and 64)
Word Sindhi
word

Word Sindhi
word
su - needle
( .

_. ) kala art (

)
nru - water
(,.

)
ama mother
(|.

)
mnu - fish
(_,.

) am mother (_.

)
tarun - palate
(|.

) ad sister (

)
kha

ta - cot
(c:) bhgu share (|,)
nr - water
(|.)

tando fire (,.|.)

gho

tu-
bride groom
(c:)

thn

th elbow (:..)
mn - bread
(_.|.)

dndu bull (..,)

rachu- utensil
(_

)
ghatufishermen
(.|:

)
bunbho-
gate of the house
(.,

)


ri

da- a sheep
(,

)



There are so many other words of this category


which are commonly used in Sindhi language.
Professor Bherumal Advani, quoting Dr. Caldwell,
has also given the list of the following words:

ka

rahi
(_>)
-ka

tra ( |. ) Ca

d (,|)
kotmr
(,..)
-pag

ri ( ,,) kotu (c)

kbr ( ) | |, etc.

Professor Bherumal states:
These are Dravidian words which are
used in every day Sindhi (Bherumal Advani,
1956: 20)
Dr. Caldwell is of the opinion:
There is probably almost as large as a
proportion of Dravidian words in Sanskrit, but
this probability has generally remained
unnoticed and whenever any word was found
to be the common property of Sanskrit and any
of the Dravidian tongues, it was at once
assumed to be Sanskrit derivative (Robert
Caldwell, Dr; 1875: 59 & 64).
Dr. Caldwell further states:
Sanskrit lexicographers and grammarians
were not always so discriminative as their
Dravidian brethren, and if any writer has
happened to make use of local or provincial word,
that is, a word belonging to the vernaculars of the
district in which he resided, every such word,
provided only it were found in written Sanskrit
character, was forthwith set down in the
Vocabularies of Sanskrit (Robert Caldwell Dr.,


1875: 64).
Sir M.Wheeler also considers many indigenous
words, having their roots in the aboriginal language
of the Indus Valley. He refers the word pura as used
by the Indus Valley people for fort or citadel; He is
of the view that:
The Vedic Pura

ns make it clear that

mobile city less invaders differed at every point
from long-static citizens whom they invaded. The
term used for the cities of aborigines pura
meaning fort or strong hold (Wheeler M., Sir)
1.1 In the book Sindhi Culture, mention
has been made about the dwellings and huts of
the people of Manchhar Lake, (Allana G.A., Dr.
1986:)
Dr. Hiremath, an Indian scholar of Dravidian
linguistics, goes further in this connection. He talks about
boat villages on Manchhar lake and uses the terms no
for boat and nagara for a village. He states:
It appears that the fishermen used to
have all their belonging in the boats and moved
on lakes, river and the sea. Just as the Kashmir
lakes have moving boats with dwellings, similar
lakes were there on the Indus side, particularly
in Sindh. Dr. Majumdar has discovered in lake
Manchhar many Harappan sites situated on the
small islands in the lake itself (Hiremath R.C.,
Dr. 1984: 53).
He sates further that:
Grma was a moving clan. So also were
moving nagaras. There are references to no-


nagaras (boat-dwellings or cities on the boats).
This presupposes a class of people who were
expert fishermen and sailors in the Indus Valley,
working on these boats. It was rather a sizeable
community with Shambhave as their leader.
They had many fortresses and huge ship
dwellings (Hiremath R.C., Dr: 19 84: 53)
2. Dr. Parso Gidwani, in support of this
theory, has given many examples of similarities in
Sindhi and Dravidian languages in his book referred
above. He gives, not only lexical data from Dravidian
languages, but also supports this hypotheses by
giving many examples of similarities in grammar,
kinship terms, body parts, personal names, place
names, house goods and some other unspecified
words (the term used by him) only. He states:
After working on various aspects of
Sindhi, I came to the conclusion that Sindhi has
a sub-stratum layer of some Dravidian
languages spoken in Sindh before they came
into contact with the speakers of old Indo-
Aryan. As a linguist I can only say that when a
language comes into contact with other
language, then it is influenced some times; even
both are influenced by each other (Parso
Gidvani 1996: vi).
Writing about personal names in Sindhi
language, he is of the view that:
The study of personal names of Hindu
speakers of Indo-Aryan languages of North-
India, and personal names of Hindu speakers of
Dravidian languages of the South, show


remarkable distinction. One of the peculiarity of
Dravidian personal names is their an (

)
suffix which is not found in the personal names
of India. Following comparison of the two will
make the picture clear (Parso Gidwani, Dr.
1996:)
For instance:
North Indian Dravidian Sindhi
Personal names personal names
personal names
Gopl Goplan
Gopal |,: ,
Rm Rman
Rman _.

,
Shiv Shivan
Shivan .

,
Rj Rjan
Rjan

_ ,
In his opinion:
The Study of Sindhi personal names and
Dravidian speakers personal names shows that
the -an (

) ending in Sindhi personal names

is very similar to Dravidian speakers personal
names (Parso Gidwani Dr: 1996:)
Dr. Gidwani states further:
The data presented here, shows that the
present standard Sindhi language written and
spoken in India and Pakistan has preserved
enough lexical and grammatical elements similar
to Dravidian languages which is not just the
result of Sindhi speakers contact with Brahui and


Oa

dki speakers (Parso Gidwani Dr. 1996: vi).

He (Dr. Gidwani) has given the list of the
words which are not spoken in Indo-Aryan languages
of Indo-Pakistan but are commonly used in Sindhi
language, for instance:
yala _, , mother
pisu ) _, , milk after delivery
changu ) c. , musical instrument
gha

ro ) : , (Tamil) ghatem
thiri ) >|. , sweet cooked
rice
cu

ri/cu

ro , bangle (cu

r)
vtu ) , mouth (Tamil vay mouth)
vi ) _. , sound, spoken words
3.1 The most recent work, published by Dr.
Fairservis, is very helpful in this regard, who has also
tried to fix the values of the signs inscribed on the seals,
un-earthed from Indus Valley, in the light of Dravidian
languages. My request to all the scholars is that they
may kindly keep before themselves the equivalents of
the words and lexemes of Sindhi language also.
3.2 As explained earlier and as supported
by Dr. Parso Gidwani, the legacy of Sindhi still
continues till today. All the words, identified by both
Dr. Parpola and Dr. Walter Fairservis, are being
spoken in present Sindhi and Saraiki. I would,
therefore, recommend that the scholars may kindly
refer etymological dictionaries of Sindhi and Saraiki
languages. They should also try to find out the words
from Sindhi and Saraiki languages, and fix the values


of the signs inscribed in the seals found from Indus
Valley. I would also suggest that the same principle
be applied on the basis of values of the signs fixed by
Dr. Fairservis, who writes:
In consideration of some of these
characteristics of Dravidian, can we relate the
Harappan script to the language? What method
can we use, which is testable, consistent and has
results which are meaningful in terms of the
Harappan civilization itself? (Perveen Talpur
1987: 39)
Dr Fairservis, states further:
The Dravidian Etymological Dictionary
and its supplement contains the basic
etymologies for all Dravidian languages. It
draws, on the field workers as well as the
literary sources, particularly that vast
compendium, the Tamil lexicon. In attempting
to assign Dravidian values to the signs of the
sign- list, one runs into a considerable number of
possibilities for each sign. For example there are
45 words listed for one item, basket in the
dictionary and its supplement, 13 words for
boat, 17 words for arrow etc. (Perveen
Talpur 1987: 39)
3.3 Dr. Fairservis has given the list of the
words for bow in his above referred book. When we
refer the verses of Shah Abdul Latif Bhi

tai and other

classical and folk poets of Sindhi language, we get
many words as such for bow, boat, camel, fish,
current of water, and quite a few botanical terms
etc. respectively. In addition to these words, there are
plenty of deshya words which are not even entered in
the Sindhi lexicons but they can only be found in


Sindhi classical and folk poetry which is remembered
by heart by the folk-lorists or Sughars.
Dr. Fairservis, after having given the details of
the signs and their values, states:
In sum, however, it is believed that the
whole is a proof that the Harappan language
was basically an early Dravidian language, and
that the script was logo- syllabic system, using
that language within the formal boundaries
created by the utilitarian need of the Harappan
Civilization (Perveen Talpur 1987: 39)
3.4 Had Dr. Fairservis studied the signs,
inscribed on the seals, found from Indus Valley
civilization, by searching their equivalent lexemes
form Sindhi and Saraiki languages, he would have, I
am sure, changed his opinion because 90% of the
values for the signs selected by me from Sindhi
language are almost the same which are used even in
present Sindhi, Saraiki and other languages of Indus
Valley.
In my book, Origin and Growth of Sindhi
Language, I have reproduced the charts, prepared by
Dr. Fairservis which he has given in his above referred
book, and I have added one column for the equivalents
from Sindhi language. The chart may be referred from
the said book and I would request the scholars and
ethno-archaeologists to consider the equivalent values
selected from Sindhi language on the basis of the
statement of Dr. George F. Dales, who had said:
Perhaps Sindhi words which you (Ms:
Perveen Talpur) mention also deal with
agriculture, fishing and economic matters. It will


be interesting to see what they refer to (Perveen
Talpur 1987:39).
4. From the comparative study of the
values of the signs, fixed by Dr. Asko Parpola and Dr.
Fairservis with those selected from Sindhi language, I
come to the conclusion that the Sindhi lexemes are
very close to the values of the signs selected by both
these scholars of Dravidian languages. In addition to
that there are many other examples which help a
researcher to find out the continuity of culture, in the
way of life, in the occupations of men and women,
arts and crafts, animals and birds, plants and trees
and so on. There is a minor change in their social-
cultural and socio- economic terms.
4.1 Hence when there is continuity in
culture and legacy, in arts and crafts, in occupation
and economic resources, why then values for the
signs and lexemes could not be identified from the
present Sindhi language to prove the continuity of the
language? Why are we trying to find out the
equivalent lexemes from a language or languages,
which is/ are at present being spoken at a distance of
thousands of miles away from Indus Valley, and
which have had no contacts or connections, what so
ever, for a very long time. Why it should not be
agreed that there is every possibility that people must
have continued the language, they used to speak
before the arrival of the Aryans, as there has been no
change in their social, cultural and economic life, as
mentioned by Dr. Fairservis. He (Dr. Fairservis)
states:


Thus sequence suggests that the
language spoken by the Harappans can not have
completely disappeared from the sub-continent
(Perveen Talpur 1987:39).
5. The scholars have emphasised on the
process of continuity in arts and crafts, occupations of
various kinds of people living in the Indus Valley.
They have given examples regarding the continuity in
the occupations such as: agriculture, glazed, painted
and simple pottery, textile (printing on fabric, tie and
dye work & weaving etc.), carvings on stone and
wood, jewelry making, iron work and music etc.
Similarly house hold utensils and pottery
prepared with the help of the wheel, terra-cotta dice
and chisel, copper weapons and implements of
various occupations, copper model of two-wheeled-
cart, gold and silver bangles, ear ornaments, necklaces
and other jewelry items are some of the artistic things
found at the ancient cities of Sindh.
The art of pottery has been an unchanged
tradition. The present day village potter appears to
have walked out of ages of ancient history, his tools--
the wheel and the rod--have continued through out
the ages, and some of the things produced by him
closely resemble thousands of years old prototype
(Perveen Talpur 1987:39).
All these traditional crafts of Indus Valley have
survived for the last 5000 to 7000 years upto the
present days.
5.1 Dr. Kenoyer in his report Living Legacy-- the
Indus Civilization lives on in Sindh, in customs,
architecture and jewelry, has further said:


The culture that flourished within the
ancient brick wall of Mohen-jo-Daro, still lives
through out the sub-continent, and especially in
the Indus basin. Innovation made by the Indus
people are still in use to day, often practically
unchanged. Mud brick walls of Sindhi houses,
Harappans open sewers running along side the
towns main street and even a Lahori beautys
sparkling bangles can even be traced to the
ancient Indus civilization. That 4500 year old
design and production techniques are still in use
today does not mean that technology has
stagnated (Kenoyer J.M.Dr. 1992).
5.2 Many decorative elements from pre-Indus
culture-period continue to appear during Indus
Valley culture period. Mrs. Bunting has stated in her
research work that:
Many carvings on stone represent the
same designs, seen in the jewelry and textile as
well as the wood work and pottery of today.
Some of these designs have persised from the
days of Indus Valley Civilization (Ethell-Jane,
W.Bunting: 58).
She (Mrs. Bunting) states further:
The interlocking circle found on a vase
at Mohen-jo-Daro is also found on a modern
Khais from Jacobabad, as well as on many
tombs. The circle, square, triangle diamond,
pyramids and other geometric patterns are
repeated on both tombs and textile in all their
varieties (Ethell-Jane, W.Bunting:58).
5.3 Shaikh Khurshid Hassan has also expressed his
view point about the continuity of ancient arts, crafts,


their motifs and designs. He states:
Many motifs on the textile have
persisted from the days of Indus Civilization
(Shaikh Khurshid Hassan, Chaukhandi Tombs).
He (Shaikh Khurshid Hassan) points out at
the opinion of Mrs. Bunting and reports:
Inter-locking circle found on a vase at
Mohen-jo-Daro are printed on Khais (bed
speared) prepared on hand-looms in Sindh.
There is thus unbroken link between some of the
designs/ motifs of the Indus Civilization and
the folk craft of the villages in Sindh (Shaikh
Khurshid Hassan).


Continuity of Names of Objects

1. Dr. Caldwell states:
There is probably almost as large a
proportion of Dravidian words in Sanskrit, as
British words in English, but this probability has
generally remained unnoticed, and wherever
any word was found to be the common property
of Sanskrit and any of the Dravidian tongue, it
was at once assumed to be Sanskrit derivative
(Rev. Caldwell R.Dr. 1875: 453).
2. From the study of signs, symbols, figures and
patterns of the objects, items and implements etc. and
various words used as lexemes and names of those
items by the Indus Valley people, there is no reason
why the same words and names for all those items
and objects, such as potters wheel, bullock cart, Pipal
tree, Tulsi plant, occupational tools and implements
etc. should not have been continued by the people of
Indus Valley Civilization throughout the ages. Of
course there might have been some phonetical and
phonological changes in the names and words, used
for these items and objects.
Hence there is every possibility that some words
and lexemes, with some phonetical and phonological
changes, for those objects, continued to be used by the
artisans, artists, agriculturists, fishermen and the
common people. When the research reports left by the
scholars like Dr. Asko Parpola, Dr. Simo Parpola , Dr.
Fairservis, Sir M. Wheeler, Dr. Hiremath , Dr. Parso
Gidwani, Prof: Bherumal Advani, Captain Shirt, John
Beames, Dr S.K. Chatterji, Mr. Sirajul Haque Memon,
Dr. N.A. Baloch and other scholars in the fields of


Archaeology, Sindhi Linguistics, Ethno-Archaeological
Linguistics and Cultural Anthropology are studied
thoroughly, we get plenty of words and lexemes,
identified by them, which According to them, were
being used by the people of Indus Valley, and which are
also at present, being commonly used by the people of
Sindh, Saraiki speaking belt, Kutch, Gujrat, Kathiawar,
west of Rajasthan, Haria

na and Kachhi-Gandhara
region of Balochistan.
2.1 Some of those words and lexemes, identified
by scholars are enlisted below. These words &
lexemes are used daily as common vocabulary by the
people of Indus Valley for their daily life; for instance:
(a) Names of Races & Tribes:
Pan

i
_., ,


Ashra .

,

Dsa ,


Shdra . ,

Od

a

, ,


Meha

,. ,
Muhn

|:|. ,


Sindh

... ,
Kohla

_>

,


Bhl

_,, ,
Bgr

i/Vgr

i

:|, : ,


Jangli _l>. ,

Brahui _>, ,

Knbhoj .| ,

Sat

hi
|,.. ,

Parhyr

a
|,>, ,

Pahalva
_l,_,

,

Shina _,. ,



Khara :

, etc.



(b) Words of Agriculture:
Chakara
l,

,
wheel, Persian wheel

Ur >

, , Ur (Or

a/
plough share
me t

/ mut

hu

.

: ,
handle of plough, tail

phut

i

:

_. ,
cotton

plant, pu
., , /cotton
Pipal _,, , ,
Kotmir/( ,..- Coriander

niru . , , /water,
river, stream,
p n

i/ _:|,)
mhu _.,. , ) rain

nr |. /water

(c) Words for Trade, Commerce and
Mathematics:
(i) Transportation
no .|. , boat
(d) Measuring devices & measures:

pan (kal)/ pi n

ki, pat

(
_.|,
)

_., , ) measuring

device


tuga/ tuka ,
weight

takkadi/tak
n

/takan

) _.
. _.. , weighing scale

pati/ payah ( |,
_., , division of
four units



noro . , /quantity of an
amount

t

/ a
t

ma
t

a
(|.|.|.) cross

cukka (

) mistake
oka
t

u/ vaka
t

u
(c

) one
mu/mu (n) .

, ) three

nl |.|. , )/four
ett c

, ) eight

karri/kor

i
(

) collection
of twenty)
(e) Household words and Place names:
Katti/ kha
t

a (c:

)/ cot


atta/ a
d

a ,

, )/ on
a platform
kha
t

ili l.: _ , ) bedstead

sui _.. , ) needle

bakro/ baki |, , ) gate
or door way to a house
bumbhoo
.,., , ) gate of
the house
agand _: .., , )
courtyard

tun (a) tuna _:. , )
pillar, pole
kuti _. , )/ store
house, work area,
enclousure divided into
apartments
mettu/mel/meda
|.|. , ) (stair
way, stairs)

padu (yil) .,

, )
open area

mane/manru ..

, )/large

tando ,.|. , ) fire



open square or enclosure

(f) Kinship terms:
am/ am/

amar

_.|..

, ) mother


sister, (_,,)
women

ad

, ) sister


yal _, , ) mother

(g) Parts of human body and clothes:
t

hu
t

hu :.. , )elbow


trun |. , ) palate

vtu , ) mouth


jutta

, ) coil hair

cu
t

a c . , )
coil of hair

pagr

i
,, , )
turban

kan

:| , ) one eyed.



(h) Utensils & Meals:
Cha

d
i ,| , ) vessel for
milking cow or buffalo


rachu _

, ), vessel
gha
r

ro
: , )
picher

mati/ mata c.c.

, ) long
earthen pot


mani _.|. , )
bread

pisu _, , ) first milk after
delivery

Thiri . >| , )
sweet cooked rice




ka
r

ahi (_>)

a vessel




(i) Occupational terms & implements:


Ghtu .|: , ) fishermen


Pa
n

i _., , )trader,
sailor

kar

ai

, , ) pole
fastened to a load by

which it is carried on
shoulders
ka (va) al/ kavan
) _.| _.|

| ,
a pole or yoke on
shoulders

dandi (y) ,., ,., ,
staff, an eminent

vl , , ) valiant,
warrior

ar , ) a point, or a spear,

ad

ana

, , ,

)

a
shield

kon
t

,. , hook
(fishermans)

kattara |. ,
sword, kala

, ) art

(j) Geographical terms:
Koh/ko
> , mountain



pa
t

u/ podu
, c|, , to set
forms of action to
rise
(k) Nouns & Adjectives:
Karri ) >| , hot rays of
the sun


chor , )cattle
lifting)

vala _, , ) strong authority


melukku l. , )
good, excellent,
fine, beautiful)



bhgu |, , share
kbr
|,| , accounts

(l) Animals, Birds & Fishes etc:
D

ndu
, . . , ) bull,
ri d

ha

,

, ) sheep

mn _,. , ) fish,
light)

kor

, ) a
hen, a chiken

cuc , )pea-
cock

kr , )a
dog


(m) Music & Musical instruments, amusements:
changu c. , harp


tampa (tas) |.: , a
rare form of drum

damara |.: , big drum
beaten either before the
princes or in the
courtyard of shrines of
saints

Tandava
, . ,, , dance,
leaping and jumping

par

ai

>, , ,

publicly announced



(n) Adornment & Jewelry:
cur

i/cur

o

, bangle

penney/ pentika/
pen

ti _.: , comb,
woman.

(o) Superstitions:


Co (n) ku . ,. ,
evel spirit.


Besides above mentioned words and lexemes
identified by Dr. Asko Parpola, Dr. Fairservis & other
scholars, the place names such as kot

a, kot

ala,
shora & pura etc. have been mentioned by Dr.
Hiremath. These words are commonly used in
southern Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and other parts
of the Indus Valley. For instance kot r

i, Ko
t

a,
Shorko
t

Kandhako
t

, and Mirpur etc. are the

names still used for places. Nagara is an ancient word
which is used for settlement, for instance: Nagar
parkar, Nagar Thatto.
Similarly, the figures of birds and animals
such as swan, buffalo, tiger, deer, monkey, goat,
elephant and bull etc. have been pointed out by the
scholars in their research reports.
2.2 Music also constitutes a very integral
part of cultural heritage of Indus Valley. This Valley
is very rich in music and amusements. Its music has
occupied a distinct and unique position amongst
various cultures of this part of the sub-continent.
Despite adaptations, innovation and the influence of
the Iranian, Arabic and Indian music, Sindhi music
has retained its original form and shape from time
immemorial. Dr.N.A. Baloch is of the view that:
The archaeological finds tend to confirm that
the tradition of music and dance in the lower
Indus Valley of Sindh goes back to the pre-
historic times, while the available historical
record indicates its continuity through out the
historical period to the present times (Baloch
N.A. Dr. 1992:)
Dr. Baloch states further:
Though no evidence of music in the


lower Indus Valley is available during the era
intervening the pre-historic and the early
historic, the discovery of the Scythian pottery
(2
nd
/3
rd
century A.D.) with the motif of a
dancing couple from the site of the ancient city
of Debal (Bhambore) suggests the continuity of
music and dance tradition from pre-historic
times. From the 5
th
century A.D. onwards,
evidence from history, folk-lore and literature
confirms the continuity of the indigenous music
tradition to this day (Baloch N.A.Dr. 1984: 1-2).
2.3 Writing about the survival and
continuity of Indus Valley music, in his paper entitled
Music of Sindh Through the Centuries Dr.
Muhammad Ilyas Ishqui states:
In the scant material that has survived,
through the centuries, we find some earthen
balls of various sizes, hollow from within,
having one hole in the middle and two on the
side. These are oldest musical instruments
which were played by mouth and fingers like
flute. Like the bullock-cart of the Mohen-jo-
Daro Civilization, this instrument has survived
through the ages and has been in use in the
villages of Sindh. They call it Bo
r

indo
.,, . , (Ilyas Ishiqui, Dr. 1984: 41).
3. Now the question arises that when all
lexical terms and names of various items and objects
mentioned above are still in existence in the social and
cultural life of the people of Indus Valley, why it should
not be assumed that their linguistic heritage has also
survived and has continued to remain till present times,
inspite of the fact that the language and culture have
been influenced by the culture and civilization of the
invaders, such as: Aryans, Iranians, Greeks, Scythians,
Parthians, Kushans, White Huns and Arabs etc.



Some Examples of Survival of Linguistic Elements:
Phonetical and Grammatical Features

1. Some scholars have given examples of
words and lexemes and have identified similarities in
phonetical and grammatical features also; for
instance:
(a) Relationship between Phonetic
Systems:
Let us now study the phonetical relationship
between Sindhi and Dravidian languages. It will be
seen from the examples given below that there is a
considerable similarity in phonetic system of Sindhi
and Dravidian languages. For instance:
(i) Retroflex Sounds:
Both Sindhi and Dravidian languages have
almost the same phonetic system.
Retroflex sounds are main peculiarity of
Dravidian phonetics. Sanskrit has borrowed retroflex
sounds from Dravidian language (Rev. Caldwell R.,
1875: 453). Retroflex sounds are also one of the
characteristics of Sindhi phonetic system. In this
connection Dr. Trumpp states:
One of the most striking of these
provincial peculiarities is the fondness of the
Sindhi for cerebral. This language has preserved
the harder point of contact, and has not followed
itself to be weak and soft (Rev. Caldwell R.,
Dr.1875: 32-36).
Dr. Trumpp, in confirmation of his view points
says:


Nearly three fourth of the Sindhi words
which commence with a cerebral are taken from
some aboriginal non-Aryans idiom, which in
recent times has been termed Scythians, but
which I would prefer to call Tatar. And this
seems to be very strong proof that the cerebrals
have been borrowed from some idiom anterior
to the introduction of the Aryan languages
(Trumpp E.Dr. 1872: Introduction).
(ii) Nasal Sounds:
Sindhi phonetic system contains five nasal
sounds viz: bilabial, alveolar, retroflex, palatal and
velar. In both Sindhi and the Dravidian languages,
these sounds are articulated at the same place of
articulation. In Tamil and Telegu much use of nasal
sounds is made (Rev. Caldwell, R. Dr. 1875:12&65).
The nasal vowel sounds are peculiarity of
Sindhi phonetic system as explained in the book
Origin and Growth of Sindhi Language (Allana,
G.A., Dr. 2002: 247).
(iii) Unaspirated Sounds:
Another peculiarity of Dravidian languages is
unaspirated sounds. Tamil makes no use whatsoever
of aspirates and has not borrowed any of the
aspirated consonants of Sanskrit. (Rev Caldwell R.,
Dr.1875: 12).
The Sindhi language has retained this
peculiarity in its Lari, Lasi, Kutchi, Thari and
Kohistani dialects (Bherumal Adwani 1956:125 & 127)
(iv) Words ending in vowels:
Similarly in Sindhi every word must end in a
vowel (Rev Caldwell R., Dr.1875: 79).
(v) Consonantal Clusters:
(a) Initial and final consonantal clusters as well
as every word in Sindhi language ends in a vowel.


According to the phonetic system of Dravidian
languages, initial clusters of two or more than two
sounds are not possible in any Dravidian word. For
instance in English word strength a clusters of three
consonants/ str/ is possible, similarly clusters of three
consonants /skr/ in Sanskrit and krs/in /Krsna/ are
inadmissible in Dravidian language. (Rev Caldwell R.,
DR. 1875: 79).
Similarly in the final position of a word,
clusters of consonants are impossible in Dravidian
languages. (Rev Caldwell R., DR. 1875: 79).
Clusters of consonants as such (initial and final)
are also inadmissible in Sindhi, Saraiki and Dradic
languages.
There is possibility of a cluster /pr/in the
words like/premu/ ,, , ,/py/ in/ pyaru/ |,, , and
so on in Sindhi, but all such words have been
borrowed from Sanskrit. Clusters in this position
(initial position) are either assimilated (as ks _ ,
>kh/J/) or the consonants are separated by
insertion of short vowel i.
Similarly clusters of consonants in final
position also can not occur in Sindhi language.
(b) Similarity in Morphological System:
It will be seen in the following pages that
Sindhi and Dravidian languages resemble very much
in morphological system also; for instance:
(i) Categories of Number: Sindhi
and Dravidian languages recognise only two number


categories: the singular number and the plural
number. In Sanskrit language nouns decline in three
numbers; i.e., singular, dual and plural (Rev Caldwell
R. Dr. 1875: 79).
According to Dr. Caldwell, dual number is
unknown in Dravidian languages, and there is no
trace of its use at any previous period.
But it is found that Caldwell points out to
the existence of two pronouns of the first
person plural, one of which includes, the other
excludes, the party addressed is a peculiarity of
the Dravidian dialects as of many of the
Scythian languages, but is unknown to Sanskrit
and the language of the IE family. The only
thing at all resembling it in these languages is
their use of dual.(Caldwell R. Dr. 1875: 79)
Caldwell however states, this peculiarity is
restricted to the personal pronouns. When a person is
addressed with politeness and with honour, a second
person plural form is used instead of second person
singular form. (Caldwell R. Dr. 1875: 79).An example
from Sindhi is given for instance:
Second Person Singular:
Tu
~
likhu (.l .) you write
Se
t

ha vehu (, :,.) Seth sit down

Honorific form:
tawh i
~
likho (>l _,>.) you write
Se
t

hyao veho( ,.,.

, ) Seths please sit down

(ii) Categories of Cases:
(a) Nominative case: In Dravidian languages
the Nominative case is not provided with a case


termination. The nominative plural differs from the
nominative singular only by the addition to it of the
pluralising particle (Rev Caldwell R. Dr: 1575: 53
and 135).
Similarly in Sindhi, case-termination is not
inflected for Nominative case of the nouns in case of
Present and Future tenses. For instance see
Intransitive verbs:
Chokaru ache tho.
(. _ _)
The boy comes
Chokaru i
~
do.
(.., _)
The boy will come
Chokaru yo.
(, _)
The boy came
Chokr ache th.
(_. _ _)
The girl comes
Chokr i
~
d.
(.., _)
The girl will come.
Chokr .
(_. _)
The girl came.
Ghor

o d

or

e tho.

( : . ; )
The horse runs.
Ghor

o d

or

do.
( ; : .. )
The horse will run.
Ghor

o d

or

yo. ( ; : , )
The horse ran.
But the subject is Inflected when
transitive verb is used instead of Intransitive verb,
and it (verb) conjugates in past tense; viz:
Chokaru pn

pe tho.

) _

. _.,, _:|, (
The boy drinks
water.
Chokaru pn

pdo.

) _

_:|, ...,, (
The boy will drink
water.
Chokara

pn

pto.

) _

_:|, ,, . (
The boy drank
water.


Chokir pn

pe
th.

) _ _:|, _.,, _. (
The girl drinks
water.
Chokiri pn

pd.

) ...,, _:|, _ (
The girl will drink
water.
Chokir-a pn

pto.

) .,, _:|, _ (
The girl drank
water.
Ghor

o pn

pe
tho.

) . _.,, _:|, : (
The horse drinks
water.
Ghor

o pn

pdo.

) ...,, _:|, : (
The horse will
drink water.
Ghor

e pn

pto.
) .,, _:|, : (
The horse drank
water.
(b) Post-positional or Dative case: In the
opinion of Bopp, the post-positional case sign in the
Sanskrit and in Zend languages is e. According to him:
In Sanskrit and Zend/e/is the sign of the
dative, which, originally belongs to the
demonstrative base /e/, whence the Nom:
/ayam/ (from etam) meaning this, as it appears,
is itself only an extension of the base/a/, from
which arise in most of the cases of this pronoun
(a-sami,a-smat,a-smin); and regarding which it is
to be observed that the common/a/ base also in
Sanskrit in many cases extends this vowel by the
admixture of an /i/; for example:
Sanskrit
Zend


Masculine Feminine Masculine
Feminine


Singular Singular Plural Plural

bhratr-e duhitr-e bhratr-e dughdher-e

In Dravidian (Tamil) languages for dative case,
post-position ku is inflected to the nouns or dative
pronouns, or ki post-position is inflected. It depends
upon the nature of the preceding vowel. In old Kanar
-ge or ke or-kke is inflected (Caldwell, R.1875: 175).
Caldwell points out that:
In the primitive Indo-European tongues,
we discover no trace of any such Dative suffix or
casesign as Dravidian -ku, but-ko, the Dative
accusative of Hindi (in Bengali ke in Sindhi
khe) resembles the Dravidian ku so much
that it seemed to me highly probable that some
relationship existed-between them (Rev
Caldwell R., Dr.1875: 175).
Caldwell refers to Dr. Trumpp and states that:
In his Sindhi Grammar, Dr. Trumpp,
derives the Sindhi-post-position khe, and the
Bangali -ke, from the Sanskrit Locative -krte,
for the sake of, in regard to this form, become in
Prakrit, first kite, then kie. It was then
contracted into ke, which in Sindhi, by reason
of the elided became khe(Caldwell, L., Dr-
1875: 176)
He says further:
Hindi and Hindustani form of this post-
position ko by a similar process from the
Sanskrit krtam; is used adverbially with the
same signification as the Locative krte. Dr.


Trumpp also argues that the fact that the Aryan
Vernaculars, which border immediately with the
Dravidian idioms, have not adopted the use of
ko as a sign of Dative, showing that it is
improbable that the dialects more to the north
have been indebted for this form to the
Dravidian idioms. (Rev Caldwell R., Dr: 175:
Introduction 53 & 176)
(c) Possessive or Genitive case: In Dravidian
(Tamil) languages, Possessive case is formed in
various ways and by means of various suffixes, each
of which requires to be examined separately. One of
the inflection for this case is -du or adu for instance:
Noun Possessive case sign Declention
mara (tree) -du
maradu:= of
the tree
In Saraiki and Western Punjabi languages also
du sign is added for Possessive case. In Sindhi instead
of da, -du sign jo or ji is added for Possessive case. It
is also important to note that /d/and /j/ phonemes are
interchangeable in Sindhi and Lahndi.
The Possessive case signs in Sanskrit are: -s,-as,
and -sya (Rev Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 85). From the
comparative study of these case signs of Sanskrit and
Sindhi, it is observed that there is no resemblance of
these signs in both these languages. Dr. Trumpp states:-
The Sindhi employs for this purpose the
affix jo , and for feminine -j _ ,
corresponding to the common adjective affix
ko (Sanskrit-ka) with transition for the tenuis
(c=k), in the medial j is very likely to establish


thereby some distinction between these two
originally identical affixes (Trumpp E. Dr: 1872:
119).
Dr. Trumpp has not given thought to the
Possessive case sign of Punjabi and Saraiki languages.
In these languages Possessive case sign is /da/and
/di/ which is more nearer to those of Sindhi/jo/and
/-ji/. Sindhi Possessive case sign-jo and-ji do not
resemble to ko or ki at all, but they appear to be
more related to/da/-/-di/ and du/of Dravidian
languages.
(d) Vocative case: In Dravidian languages, there
is nothing which deserves to be styled a suffix or case
sign of the Vocative. The Vocative is formed merely by
affixing or suffixing some sign of emphasis (Rev
Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 202 & 207).
The most common Vocative in Tamil is the
emphatic e, which is simply appended to nouns
(Rev Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 201). Sometimes a is also
substituted for Vocative. Vocative is expressed by
prefixing one of the interjectional particle: e, are.
(Rev Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 201-202). Some
interjectional particles like o, e, a
r

e,
r

e, a t
r

, r, are
also prefixed for expressing vocative in Sindhi.
(Trumpp
E. Dr. 1872:121). In Lar

dialect of Sindhi,
Vocative sign
heda
~
h _>.,> , here is also appended.
This sign has relationship with that of here of
Dravidian era. (Trumpp, E Dr. 1872: 121).
(e) Adjectives:


(i) The agreement of adjective with the
substantive which they qualify in gender, number &
case forms is an invariable characteristic of the IE
languages, whilst in Scythian languages, adjectives do
not decline in gender, number and case (Trumpp E.,
Dr.1872: 202) but they are nearly nouns of relation or
quality which are prefixed without alteration to
substantive nouns. In Sindhi also Deshya adjectival
forms (c)/chatu (finished)and (c:)-ghatu (less)
etc. ending in short vowels /u/ and /i/ do not
decline with substantives in number, gender and case.
(ii) Dravidian adjectives are nouns of quality
or relation which acquire the signification of adjectives
merely by being prefixed to substantive nouns without
declension change (Rev Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 276-277).
In Sindhi also the adjectives are nouns of quality and
are prefixed to substantive nouns. Indigenous adjective
(c:) /gha
t

u/ and (c) /cha

t

u/ do not decline with

nouns in gender, number and case.
(f) Degrees of Adjectives:
(i) In all the Dravidian dialects, comparison
is affected not as in IE family by means of
comparative and superlative particles, suffixed to,
and combined with the positive form of the
adjectives, but by a method closely resembling that in
which adjectives are compared in the Semitic
languages (Rev Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 267-277).
When the first of these methods is adopted, the
noun of quality or adjective to be compared is placed
in the Nominative, and the noun or nouns with which
it is to be compared are put in the Locative and
prefixed. (Caldwell, L. Dr., 1875: 211).


Sindhi has also retained the native (non-Aryan)
system of forming degrees of comparison. Dr.
Trumpp mentions:
The Sindhi, as well as the cognate
idioms, has lost (Trumpp E. Dr. 1872: 156) the
power to form a comparative and Superlative
degree after the manner of Sanskrit (and Persian)
by means of adjective suffixes, and it is very
remarkable, that the Semitic way of making up
for the degree of comparison has been adopted.
In order to express the idea of the Comparative,
the object or objects, with which another is to be
compared, is put in the Ablative, or which is the
same, the post-position kha
~
|: , , khau
~
.: , ,
ma
~
|. , and majha
~
|,.. , ) and similar ones
are employed , the adjective itself remaining in
the same position (Trumpp E Dr. 1872: 189).
(ii) Superlative degree:
In Dravidian languages, the superlative degree
is generally expressed by means of:
(i) prefixing adverbs signifying much or
very
(ii) by the primitive plan of reduplicating
of the adjectives itself ,e.g.:
periyaperiya, very great, literally great
great
The same principle of Superlative degree is
applied in Sindhi language: viz:
(ii) by prefixing adverbs:


ghan

khiru much milk

ghan

ghan

khiru

,: .: , ) .: .:
,: ,
(ii) mi t

ho khiru sweet milk mi t

ho mi t

ho
khiru

,: .. ,
) ,: .. .. ,
(g) Pronouns:
(i) First Person Singular:
In the Tamil and Kanar dialects of Dravidian
languages, a
~
, and e
~
, _ , are used as First Person
Singular (Rev Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 276-277). Dr.
Cladwell compares Dravidian e
~
_, , with Sindhi
a
~
, and states: May we also compare- a
~
() in the
Lar

i, a Sindhian dialect. In Sindhi

a
~
(

)
is used as
First
Person Singular (Trumpp E. Dr. 1872: and 4,
189). () a
~
is used as First Person Singular pronoun in
Kanar also (Trumpp E Dr. 1872: 40).
In Dravidian languages, the ordinary plural of
the Dravidian first personal pronouns is constantly
used, not only as a plural, but also as an honorific
singular, precisely as the royal and the editorial we
is used in English, and the plural of every other
Dravidian pronoun may optionally be used as an
honorific singular in the same manner (Rev Caldwell
R. Dr: 1875: 308). Same characteristic is found in
Sindhi, for instance:-


(ii) First Person Plural form:
Honorific form
as i
~
ach u
~
tha . (|. _,.) I am coming .

as i
~
likh u
~
t ha . ( _,. >l |. )I am writing.

as i
~
ach u
~
tha . (|. _,.) We are coming.

as i
~
likhu
~
tha . ( _,. >l |. )We are writing.

In the opinion of Dr. Caldwell:
The existence of so remarkable an idiom
in the North Indian family, as well as in the
Southern, seems to demonstrate the existence in
the northern family of ancient under current of
Dravidian, or at least non-Aryan influences.
(Rev Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 318).
(iii) Personal Pronoun of Third Person:
The experts of grammar of Dravidian languages, state
that:
The Dravidian languages, like most
other primitive un-compounded tongues, are
destitute of the pronoun of the third person, and
instead use Demonstrative pronouns signifying
this hu _> , or that hu
~
(>

with addition
of suffixes of gender and number (Rev
Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 314).
In these languages, he, means literally that man,
she that woman, they those persons or things.


Dr. Trumpp agrees that:
In Sindhi language also there is no
personal pronoun of third person (singular and
plural). Its place is being generally supplied by
the demonstrative pronoun: hi _.> , hu, ) .> (
( > ) iho, (>

) uho. (Trumpp E Dr. 1872: 40)

(iv) Verbal form:
(a) In Dravidian languages Second Person Singular or
the Imperative is considered as a root of the verb (Rev
Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 359). There are two kinds of
verbs in Dravidian languages: the Intransitive verbs
and Transitive verbs (Rev Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 342).
The Intransitive and Transitive verbal forms of
Dravidians languages differ from those of the Sanskrit
language in their formation and conjugation (Rev
Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 343). In Dravidian languages the
Transitive verbs are formed from Transitive verbal
roots and therefore they are called causal verbs (Rev
Caldwell R. Dr: 1875: 343)
Similarly in Sindhi language, there are two
kinds of verbs: the Intransitive verbs and the
Transitive verbs. Most of the Transitive verbal roots
are derived from Intransitive verbal roots in Sindhi
(Grierson G., 1919, vol viii, part 1:48), for instance:
Intransitive verbal roots Transitive verbal
roots
sa

r . , burn s

r |. , to
cause to burn
mar . , die mr
|. , kill

tar . , get out

tar |. ,
make him go.


Similarity in Persian and Sindhi Grammar

1. I have used the term similarity, which
may not be confused with the topic Persian Influence
on Sindhi Language because it has been proved by the
scholars that Sindhi language has not borrowed the
peculiarities of pronominal suffixes from Persian
language but it(Sindhi) has retained these peculiarities
alongwith other things since time immemorial.
1.1 It has been emphasised in the book
Origin and Growth of Sindhi Language, that for the
comparative study of two or more than two
languages, the researchers have to take help from the
principles of historical and comparative Linguistics.
A language is said to have been related with
another language when different factors of those
languages exhibit certain similarities or resemblances.
Such features of resemblance are: phonetical,
Phonological, morphological and syntactical
structures, formation of various kinds of words,
participles and substitute types etc. (Bloomfield
1961:12)
1.2 Sindhi and Persian languages exhibit
their similarity only:
(i) In the use of single pronominal suffixes
(ii) To some extent, in the use of some
casual forms of verbs
(iii) Sindhi grammarians borrowed the
graphemes _ and (p, ch and g)
from Persian writing system.
Other resemblances of any kind are because of
the influence of Persian language on Sindhi language.
From the perusal of history of Indus Valley it has
been found that the land of Sindh has remained a part


of Iranian Empire for a very long period of time since
the days of Darius-I (519 B.C.- 486 BC) up to the rule
of Rai Sahasi II. After that Persian language had
remained the court language of Sindh till the days of
Samma dynasty (1351-1521 A.D) up to the rule of
Talpur dynasty (1782- 1843 A.D). During this period
of almost 500 years a great number of scholars,
intellectual, artists, artisans, poets, prose writers and
religious missionaries, migrated from Persian
speaking states of Central Asia to the big towns of
Sindh like Thatta, Sehwan, Rohri, Hyderabad
Khudabad and Shikarpur etc. Thus co-existence of
Persian and Sindhi continued for a very long time,
and Sindhi had to borrow thousands of words from
Persian language.
2. When we compare phonetical,
phonological, morphological and syntactical features
of both Persian and Sindhi languages, we come to the
conclusion as stated below:
(a) phonetical features of both Persian and Sindhi
languages do not exhibit any resemblances. for
example:
(i) The points of articulation of almost all classes
of sounds are not the same.
(ii) Sindhi language does not have labio-dental
voiced and voiceless and fricative [v and f]
sounds in its phonetic system. Sindhi has
borrowed these graphemes from Arabic
writing system (Allana G.A. 1963 M.A Thesis:
35 and 85).
(iiii) Sindhi language does not have Velar and
Uvular voiceless and voiced fricative sounds
[q, x and g] in its phonetic system. Sindhi has


only borrowed the graphemes such as q,kh and
gh ( and from Arabic in its writing
system.
(iv)
Persian language does not contain retroflex,
plosive, nasal and flapped sounds [t

,
t

h,

d

and

d

h.] in its phonetic system but these sounds

are considered as special features of Sindhi,
Saraiki, Punjabi, Hindko, Gujrati, Rajasthani,
and Dravidian languages.
(v) Persian language has no characteristic of
aspiration in its phonetic system, where as
Sindhi and other branches of Sindhui language
contain this characteristic in their phonetic
system.
(vi) In Sindhi phonetic system, the use of implosive
sounds [b , j, d

and g]

is very peculiar but these

sounds are also very common in Saraiki,
Gujrati, Kathiawari, and Marwari the branches
of Sindhui languages. The occurrence of
implosive sounds in Persian language is not
possible.
(vii)
Sindhi phonetic system has palatal and velar

nasal sounds, such as
(

n and

n )
.

These sounds
are never found in Persian phonetic system.
(viii) The peculiarity of nasalisation of vowels has
not been traced in Persian language.
Persian Sindhi


__
__
__

hi _> h i
~
_,>
s i _.

as i
~
_,.
kh |: kha
~
|:
(ix) Similarly the use of initial and final clusters of
sounds in Sindhi phonetic system is not
possible. Every cluster is broken by inserting a
short vowel, i as already stated.
(x) Every word of Sindhi language ends in a vowel.
3. Causal verbs:
In Dravidian languages, one kind of Transitive
verbs are called causal verbs (Rev Caldwell R. Dr:
1875: 374). These verbs are formed by suffixingvi to
the Transitive verbal roots, viz:
Transitive verbs Causal verbs
pannu to make pannu-vi to cause
to make
annupu to send annup-vi to cause to
send
In Sindhi language also, the causal verbs are
found in great number. They are formed by inflecting-
( ) to the transitive verbal roots, for instance:
Intransitive roots Transitive roots Causal
roots
sa

r . , burn s

r |. ,
s

r |. ,
to cause to to
cause to
burn
burn
mar . , die mr |. , kill


mr |. ,
to cause
to
kill
There is one more kind of causal verbs in
Sindhi. It is called double causal verbs. They are
formed by suffixing -r ) - ( to causal verbal roots, for
example:
Intransitive Transitive Causal
Double causal
roots roots roots roots
sa

r - . , s

r - |. , s

r
|. , s

rr |. ,
mar- . , mr- |. , mr |. ,
mrr |. ,
Caldwell sates:
Indo-European causals govern two
accusatives, of the persons and that of the object, eg:
I caused him (acc) to build the house
(acc). Whereas Dravidian causals generally
govern the object alone, and either they leave
the persons to be understood; e.g. in Tamil:
evittei (k) kattuvitten
=
I caused to build the
house
or as we should prefer to say
I caused the house to be built (Rev. Caldwell
R. Dr: 1875: 374).
3.1 It is important to point out here that a
few causal verbal roots (five or six) of Persian


language resemble with those of Sindhi language, viz:
Transitive causal to cause to do
rasdan .,. , to reach rasndan .,.|. , to cause
to reach
davdan ., , to run davndan .,. , to cause
to run
khrdan - , to eat khrndan .,.- , to cause to
eat
But by the study of the Persian grammar, it is
found that Persian Transitive verbs are not formed by
suffixation, as it is found in Sindhi. Similarly no
example of double causal verbs such as (kardan,
karandan, karrandan/ .,..,. etc.)
has been traced in the stock of Persian verbs. It is
possible that Persian language has retained this
peculiarity of the ancient Sindhui language of the
Indus Valley, as there has been the influence of
Sindhui language on the Eastern part of Iran from
time unmemorial. This point of view has been
supported by Professor Gankovsky of Russia. He
states:
The paleanthropological investigations
undertaken by Soviet scientists show that within
the fourth to the second millennia B.C.,
Dravidian types were in evidence among the
population of South Turkmenia and the areas of
South of Aral Sea. Ancient historians refer in
their works to the Asiatic Ethiopians, inhabiting
the South-Eastern part of Iran and Balochistan.
Being dark skinned, these Ethiopians seem to
belong to the Dravidian group of anthropological
types. There can, of course, be no direct


correspondence between anthropological types
and linguistic classification, but we can not
ignore the fact that early Persian Cuneiform
inscriptions are contemporaneous with the
evidence of antiquity. We have just referred to
the speakers of Akanfaciya, a people which can
be identified with the Kufich (Kufij or kuj) people
mentioned by medieval Muslim authors
(Gankovsky Yu V.1972: 33-35)
He further states:
The authors of the Hudud al-alam
pointed out that the Kufij were divided into
seven tribes and spoke a language of their own,
assumably related to Dravidians. In our days,
individual groups of the Dravidian speakers are
living in the area, and some scholars regard
them as aborigines related genetically to the
Akanfaciya- Kufich (Gankovsky Yu V.1972: 33-35).
He states still further:
In old Persian inscriptions (the Behistun
inscription, one of the Persepolitan inscriptions
of Darius- I, etc.), there are also references to the
country and people of Maka, a name which has
survived to the present day in the historical
province of Makran (Macuran or Macoran,
according to medieval authors) situated in the
South-eastern part of Iran and the Western part
of Pakistani Balochistan. Many scholars are
inclined to relate the Maka people to the
Dravidians.
Another evidence that Dravidian
speakers were once expanding far into the West


and North- west of the borders of the Indo-
Pakistan Sub-continent is the fact that part of the
population of Seistan spoke a Dravidian
language just a few centuries ago. Professor P.
Sykes supposes that this present day Persian
speaking ethnic group (Sarbandis), with genetic
relationship to Brahui, is the aborigine of
Seistan. It is possible that the unknown Khuzia
|,- , language, flourishing in Khuzistan in
the tenth century A.D., and which al- Istakhri
describes as un-Hebrew, un-Syric and un-
Persian, was also a Dravidian language
(Gankovsky yu V.1972: 33-35)
3.2 (a) The scholars have named the aboriginal
language used by the population of Seistan, Karman
and Makran, as a Dravidian language, but as already
stated Khuziya and other languages spoken in the
Eastern and South-eastern part of ancient Iran were
the branches of ancient Sindhui language of Indus
Valley civilization which had penetrated into this part
of ancient Iranian land. Sindhui, as shown in the tree-
diagram, was also the mother of proto- Dravidian
language. The language used by the people of this
part of Iran was a branch of Sindhui language.
(b) from these viewspoints of scholars, it may be
concluded that in Khuzistan, Seistan, Karman and
Makran regions of ancient Faras, the aboriginal
people used their indigenous language which was in
use there much before the Aryans came to this part of
Iran.
3.3 From the points discussed above it can
be concluded that the similarities between Persian and
Sindhi languages are not due to the borrowings of


these peculiarities by Sindhi language from Persian
language but because the two countries have remained
as the neighboring countries from time immemorial,
and that they have remained under the same dominion
of Indus Valley Kings for thousands and thousands of
years. They should be admitted as the branches or
family of one and the same language which was in use
much before the advent of Aryans in Iran.

Reduplication of Words
1. One of the most significant features of
both Dravidian and Sindhi language is reduplication
or repetition of words. Reduplication or repetition
may be in a word, phrase or in a sentence.
Reduplication is of two kinds: (i) Complete
reduplication and (ii) Partial reduplication.
Complete reduplication is that in which the
word itself is repeated. For instance in Sindhi:
Simple words Reduplicated words
hathu c> , hand hathu hathu ( c> c> every hand
palu _, , a moment palu palu _, _, , every moment
In Sindhi and Dravidian languages, the
reduplication has grammatical function. It exhibits a
comparison of degrees of adjectives as described under
the adjectives earlier (Rev Caldwell R. 1875: 427-428).
From the example of the Aryan languages it is
found that reduplication has no grammatical function
in Aryan languages. The examples such as
ding dong and humpty dumpty of English
language have no grammatical function at all.
In Sanskrit language, reduplication is possible
only in the following examples (Buck :255):


(i) A fuller form of reduplication appears in the
intensive as:
dar- dar- ti
car- kar- ti
(ii) Present reduplication, usually with /i/ vowel, eg:
pi- parti
ti- shati
with /e/ v-vowel, e.g
da- dhati
da- dati
(iii) In Sanskrit and Latin, the vowel of the
reduplication is partly replaced by that of the
root syllable.
(iv) In the present and perfect reduplication, if the
root begins with a single consonant, this is
replaced in the reduplication as:
da- darga
1.1 But as stated earlier, in Sindhi language, the
function of reduplication is grammatical. From the
examples given below, we get various instances of
comparison of adjectives e.g:
Single word Reduplicated word

br |, , child

br

br |, |, , every
child
paiso .., , pice paiso paiso .., .., , every paisa
There is a difference between grammatical
meaning of the single and reduplicated words. For
example:
Single word Reduplicated form
kr wra | , kr kr wra | | ,
black hair blackish hair
kr sr wra | . | ,
black
black hair


In Sindhi, the reduplication form is also
commonly found in syllables of words, but there is no
similarity in Sindhi and Sanskrit, so far as this
peculiarity is concerned. In Sindhi the reduplication
of syllable is called incomplete reduplication or partial
, , reduplication. In this type of reduplication in
Sindhi, the word remains in the same form in its first
part, but in the second part which follows
immediately the first and the original part, the
syllable is changed, for example:
Single word Reduplicated
form
ra
~
d .. , play ra
~
d ru
~
d .. .. ,
hala

n _l>

, to walk hala

n chala

n _l>
_l ,
Pronominal Suffixes
1. There are very prominent features, worth
mentioning in Sindhi and Dravidian languages. The
pronominal signs are suffixed in the Dravidian
languages not directly to the root, as in the Indo-
European family of languages, but to the temporal
participles. The first suffix to the root in the affirmative
voice is that of the sign of tense, then follows the suffix
of personality. (Rev Caldwell R. 1875: 324). Every pure
Dravidian affirmative verb is compounded of three
elements, which are thus arranged; viz:
(i) the root, (ii) the medial particle, i.e. the
sign of tense, and (iii) the pronominal termination
(Rev Caldwell R. 1875: 324). The same principle of
fixing the pronominal suffixes is applied in Sindhi,
Saraiki, Gujrati & Dardic languages. For instance:
Root + Sign of Tense + Pronominal suffix Verb
likh- .l , - yo (past tense) -m (First p.s.) likhyom/ (likhyum)
I


wrote
likh - yo (Second p.s) -s i
~
likhyos i
~
We
wrote
From the detailed comparative study of the
Sindhi, Saraiki, Dardi and Dravidian languages, it is
found that pronominal suffixes used in La

ri and other
dialects of Sindhi language resemble with those of
Dravidian languages. A chart is given below in
support of this argument:





















1.1 As a considerable period of time has passed
and as there has no longer been any link between
Sindhi and Dravidian languages, and as Sindhi has
accepted the influence of Iranian, Sanskrit, Pali,
Arabic and other languages, it (Sindhi) has borrowed
plenty of words from these languages. Therefore
there appears a considerable difference in the
vocabulary of modern Sindhi and that of other
Sindhui
languages.

But inspite of these
reasons,
pronouns and pronominal suffixes used in
the Lar

i
and other dialects of Sindhi language,
resemble to
those of Kashmiri, Dardi, Gujrati, Rajasthani and also
those of the dialects of Dravidian languages. For
instance: First Person Singular and Plural and Second
Person Singular and Plural of both Sindhi and
Dravidian languages exhibit similarity in the use of
Pronominal suffixes.
In Tamil, the Pronominal suffix, for First person
Singular is - e
~
_, , which has the same function in the
Lar

i dialect of Sindhi. Same suffix is also used fo

r
Second Person Singular in Sindhi, viz:
: au
~
hal e
~
to > l . _, , I am going
u
~
hale
~
to . _,.l> , I am going
tu
~
hl e
~
to . _,l> . , You are going
Similarly Telegu Pronominal suffix of First
Person Plural resembles to that which is used by Lari
speakers of Sindhi. For instance:
Lari Sindhi
likhanu
~
t |. .>l , They write
to us
chava nu
~
ta |. . , They tell us


Standard Sindhi
asa
~
khe likhan th _: |. >l |. _ ,
asa
~
khe chavan tha |. _: |. ,
Similarly in the following examples:

P
r
o
n
o
u
n

P
r
o
-
n
o
m
i
n
a
l

s
u
f
f
i
x
e
s

S
t
a
n
d
a
r
d

S
i
n
d
h
i

L
a
r
i

d
i
a
l
e
c
t

o
f

S
i
n
d
h
i



















T
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
-
o
n


F.P.S.

e
~

ma
~
tokhe
d

is a
~
tho
. |., _:. |. .
d

isae
~
to
, . _,.. .
I see
you

S.P.S.

e
~


t u
~
d

isi
~
tho
. _,., . .

d

is e
~
to
. _,., .

You see



ne

tokhe d

ise tho
. _., _:. .

d

isane
~
to
. _,.., .

He sees
you

ni
~


tokhe d

ise tho
. _., _:. .

d

isne
~
to
. _,.., .

-do-

ne
~


tokhe d

isdo
..., _:.

d

isdo ne
~

_....,

He will
see you

ne
~


tokhe d

isdo
hu
~
do
..> ..., _:. .

d

isd

h
u
~
do

ne
_...> ..., .











ne
~


acha
~
e
~
tho
. | .
acha
~
ne
~
to
. _. | .
I am
coming
to you


S.P.P

ne

huna thje le
kitabu a
~
do
! _,... _>
.. |. .

huna kitbu
a
~
done
~

|. _>
_...

He
brought a
book for
you

T.P.S.



hu tokhe dise
tho
. _., _:. > .

d

isa tho
. _..,

.

He is
seeing
you


T.P..P.

ne

huna tokhe
d

i
t

ho
., _:. _> .

huna d

i
t

hon
_.., _>

He saw
you
From these examples it is evident that there is a
great similarity of Pronominal suffixes between
Sindhi and Dravidian languages.
2. Past Participle:
In the Dravidian languages Preterite tense is
formed by annexing pronominal signs to the Preterite
verbal participle (Rev. Caldwell R, Dr. 1875: Int: 54).
In Sindhi language a past-participle is formed:
(i) by suffixing yo to the verbal roots, viz:
likh +yo= likhyo, wrote do

r+yo=do

ryoran
(ii) by suffixing al or yal to the verbal roots, for instance:
likh+yal=likhyal, written pa

rh+yal=pa

rhyal,
read
mr+yal=mryal killed
Similarly Past tense of Sindhi verbs is also


formed as in Dravidian languages, viz:
Past-participle +Pronominal sign=Past tense
likhyo+ -m= likhyom/ likhium
likhyo+i= likhyoi/ likhyui
likhyo+-va= likhyova/ likhyuva
3. Verbal Nouns:
Many Verbal Nouns of Sindhi and Dravidian
languages are formed by the same rules viz:
(a) In Dravidian languages Verbal Nouns are
derived from verbal roots by lengthening the vowel,
of monosyllabic verbs (Rev. Caldwell R, Dr. 1875: 55).
For instance in Dravidian languages:
Verbal Roots Verbal Nouns
pad-u to suffer pd-u suffering
nad-u to cultivate nd-u cultivation
min to glitter mn-a star
nakk-u to lick nakk- the
tongue
The following example of Sindhi Verbal Nouns
derived from verbal roots may be compared with the
above examples of Dravidian Verbal Nouns, viz:
Verbal Roots Verbal
Nouns
bu

du .,

, (to) drown bo

du ,, ,
flood
suku .

, (to) dry soku . ,

drought
likhu .l , (to) write lekhu .,l ,
article
vi

rhu > , (to) fight ve

rh ) >, , fight


bhaju _, , (to) run away bhju _|, , flight
kusu

_ , (to be) killed kosu ,

slaughter
(b) A vast number of verbal derivations in all
the Dravidian dialects are formed by suffixing to the
verbal themes favourite and multifariously used
formatives g, d and b, under various modification,
and with various vowel termination (Rev. Caldwell R,
Dr. 1875: 535)
The same principle is applicable with verbal
form of Sindhi language. For instance in Sindhi, ta
t,

n and pa etc. are suffixed, viz:

Verbal roots Suffixes Verbal
Nouns
hal- (_>) -at(

)
halati (cl>)
achu (au)- _

, , -at(

) vata ()
ma

nj . _ , - t(|.)
ma

nijt( ,. |. )
likh- .l , -

ni(_:) likh

ni (_.>l)

de- give , , - pa (

depa (,,)
(c) Certain Dravidian Verbal Nouns are
formed by suffixing formative particle (Rev. Caldwell
R, Dr. 1875: 55), viz:
Roots Suffixes
Nouns
mag- -a mag-a
a child
kar u black kar-i


charcoal
Many examples of this principle can be traced
in Sindhi, for example:
Roots Suffixes
Nouns
rakh-(J )keep -a/

-
rakha (J

)
dhak-(,) 'cover -a/ - dhaka
( ,

)
pokh-J, sow -a/ -
pokha (J,)
kah-(>|) (to) attack -a / kha
(>|)
(v) In Dravidian languages, certain verbal
nouns are absolutely indentical with verbal roots
(Rev. Caldwell R, Dr. 1875: 53), for instance:
Roots Suffixes
Nouns
nd to be long ______ ndu
length
Examples as such are commonly available in
Sindhi language also, viz:
Verbal roots Suffixes Nouns
va

thu c , take ____ va

thu c ,
attack
ph

tu c|: , tear ____ phatu

c|: , breach


phuru : , (to) loot ____ phuru
: , loot

diju , _; (to be) scared ____ diju _; ,

fear
kti c , (to) cut ____ kati c ,
cut
kapi , (to cut) ____ kapu ,
knife
4. Syntactical Resemblances:
(a) The word order in construction of a
simple sentence of Dravidian languages is as under:
(Rev. Caldwell R, Dr. 1875: 349).
(i) Nominative always takes first place in the
sentence.
(ii) Finite verb is placed in the last.
(iii) Adjective precedes the substantive.
(iv) Adverb precedes the verb.
(v) The substantive which is governed by a verb,
together with every word that depends upon it
or qualifies it, precedes the verb which is
governed.
(vi) The relative participle precedes the noun on
which it depends.
(vii) The Pre-position changes its place with the
noun and becomes a Post-position in virtue of
its governing a case.
(viii) The sentence is concluded by one, all-
governing, Finite verb.
Dr.Caldwell states:
In the particulars which are mentioned
above, the Dravidian languages evidently differ so


considerably from the languages of the Indo-
European family, and in particular from Sanskrit
(not withstanding the predominance for so many
ages of social and religious influence of the
Sanskrit speaking race), that it can scarcely be
doubted that they belong to a totally different
family of tongues (Rev. Caldwell R, Dr. 1875: 349).
4.1 When the Syntactical structure of
Dravidian languages (described above) is compared
with that of Sindhi language, it is found that there is
close similarity between Sindhi and Dravidian
languages, and that they have common syntactical
structure.
Dr.Caldwell claims:
The grammatical structure of the
Dravidian languages differs from Sanskrit, it
agrees with the structure of the Scythian
languages, or the languages of the Central and
Northern Asia (Rev. Caldwell R, Dr. 1875: 35).
4.2 When the syntactical structure of Sindhi is
studied very carefully, it is found that Sindhi and
Dravidian languages have common syntactical
structure; for instance:


i) The words and phrases which are governed with
subjects are always placed before the
Nominatives. In other words, the Nominatives
(subjects) always follow the congruent parts of
the subjects.
ii) In common and general speech, Finite verbs
always come at the end of a sentence.
iii) The Adjectives always precede the substantatives
with whom they qualify.
iv) The Adverbs always precede the verbs with
whom they modify.
v) The words and phrases which are governed with
the object are always placed before the objects.
vi) There is no use of Pre-position but the forms
which are used as Pre-positions in other
languages are used as Post-positions in Sindhi.
vii) The negative part of the sentence is always
placed before the affirmative part.
(b) Post- Position: In Indo-European languages, a
Preposition is placed before a Noun, Pronoun and an
Adjective, but Dravidian languages use Post- position
instead of Preposition. It is placed after the Noun,
Pronoun and an Adjective (Rev. Caldwell R, Dr. 1875:
56), For instance:
Sindhi Persian
maiza te _. ,. bar mz ,. , on the table
sabha te _. . bar hame _.>, above all
In these examples te is the example of post-
position and bar is the example of Pre-position.
Syntactically Prepositions and Post- positions
occupy different places. According to the syntactical
structure of Sindhi language te, khe, me
~
and jo


etc. behave as Post-positions. The occurrence of Post-
positions in Sindhi points out towards the Deshya
elements retained by the Sindhi language.
Dr. Caldwell states:
In those connections in which Pre-
positions are used in the IE languages, the
Dravidian languages and those of Scythian
group, use Post-position instead, where Post
positions do not continue as separate part of
speech but are simply nouns of relative or
quality adopted as auxiliaries.
5. Having found the resemblances and affinity
between, Sindhi and Lahndi (Saraiki, Hindko,
Pothwari, Shahpuri, Chachi and Mianwali) etc. and
the Dravidian languages, and having found plenty of
Deshya words and grammatical similarity between
these languages, why it should not be claimed that
the language or languages, spoken by the people of
Indus Valley has/ have not disappeared at all from
the land (Indus Valley), but has/ have been continued
by the people as stated earlier. The collective name of
the said language of the Indus Valley most probably,
was the Sindhui language at that time for the
reasons that the Indus Valley or the country was also
known with the name as Saindhva or Sindhui. Dr.
Mahar Abdul Haq writes in his book, The Soomras:
Crossing the Alburz ranges and Caucasus
hills, the Aryans reached the eastern province of
Iran. They stayed in Aryana for some time,
called themselves Arya or Aryans after the name
of that province, learnt fire-worship and many
other ways of religious system, taught by
Zoroaster (Zorathustra) or Zardaschat (663- 660


B.C.), and then marched on with their cattle-
herd towards Hindukush. After crossing the
high hills, they reached the mountain regions,
north of the river Indus. From there, they turned
downwards and entered the valley which they
called Sapta Sindhu, the Land of Seven Rivers.
(Mahar Abdul Haq, Dr., 1992: 199).
5.1 About the name of the land Dr. Walter
A. Fairservis states:
I have suggested elsewhere that the
name Sindh itself may have been
derived from the Proto- Dravidian
word (Walter A. Fairservis).
5.2 The correct word might have been Sindhu
and the languages spoken in this land must have been
known as Sindhui. Al-Beruni records that the name
of the script used for Sindhi language in Bahmanva
(al-Mansurah) was known as Saindhva. There are
many languages whose names are known after the
names of the countries, where they are being spoken.
After having considered overall these
arguments, it can be said that the name of the country
was Sindhu and the language spoken in the country
was called Sindhui which was not imported from
outside, but had its roots in the land of the Indus
Valley. In other words it was an original and
indigenous language of Indus Desha, i.e. sindhu The
Sindhui language was further divided into ten groups
which were known with the names as mentioned in
the chart on previous pages 17-19..
But whatever I have said may not be accepted
as the final opinion about the origin and ancestry of
our languages. It all depends upon the decipherment
of the Indus Valley seals. Let us hope for the best.



Conclusion

From the comparative study of the examples given
above it can be concluded that:
(i) Different dialects of Sindhui language were
commonly used as spoken tongues in the Indus
Valley before the advent of Aryans in this vast area as
indicated in the map given above. This language has
not been imported from outside but it has roots in the
Indus Valley Civilization.
(ii) The ancient civilization of the Indus
Valley and its language are the residue of Indus
Valley Civilization and the Sindhui language. Present
Dravidian languages, Sindhi, Saraiki, Dradic, Gujrati,
Rajasthani, Haroti and Kashmiri etc. exhibit their
ancestry with Sindhui language of Indus Valley
Sindhu: Civilization.
(iii) The phonetical, phonological,
morphological and syntactical structures of Sindhi
language resemble to those of Dravidian languages,
Saraiki, Dradic, Rajasthani and Gujrati languages.
(iv) In the opinions of Russian,
American and Scandinavian scholars, the language of
Mohen-jo-Daro and the Dravidian languages exhibit
relationship. According to them the language of
Mohen-jo-Daro is an early form of Dravidian
languages. They call it (the language of Mohen-jo-
Daro) as Proto- Dravidian language. It appears to be
very close to the Southern Dravidian, especially Tamil.
(v) Sindhi is a continuation of Sindhui
language. It has its roots in the civilization of Indus
Valley. It has been influenced first by Prakrit
languages and then by Sanskrit, and afterwards by
Iranian and Greek languages etc. During the days of
the Arab rule in Sindh, it borrowed much from Arabic


language. From the last days of the rule of Soomras-
the local dynasty- Sindhi language has been
influenced by Persian language, which became the
official language from 1351 AD onwards. Thus during
this long period of history, Sindhi borrowed plenty of
words from these languages, but the existence of
borrowed word- stock did not and could not
influence much of its phonetical phonological,
morphological and syntactical structures. That is why
it contains even today the peculiarities of its
indigenous origin.
From these arguments we come to the
conclusion that the theory regarding origin of
ancestry of Sindhi language as described by Dr.
Trumpp and Sir. George Grierson needs to be revised
in the light of arguments given above.




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Part-II
SINDHI LITERATURE




History of Sindhi Literature at a Glance

Introduction:
1. As stated in part I Sindhi is not only an old
language but it is also very rich in literature. It is a
living and a thriving language. Its writers have
contributed extensively in every field and in every
form of literature from the early days of the Muslim
rule in Sindh (93 A.H/712 AD), and even before that.
There is enough evidence that men of letters of
Sindhi had contributed in the field of literature even
before the conquest of Sindh by the Muslims in 93
A.H./712 AD. We get some examples of Sindhi poetry
of that period as stated in part I.
From the specimen of proto-Nagari Sindhi Script on
the pieces of pottery excavated form pre-Muslim era at
Bhanbore, (Khan F.A. Dr. 1963: 29 & 30) and from the
ruins of Brahmanabad (lately al-Mansurah) (Allana
G.A. Dr. 2002:), it is evident that Sindhi language was
not only a spoken language but it was also being used
by the traders for maintaining their accounts in written
forms. It was a written language and different forms of
scripts were being used by different classes of people as
recorded by Arab travelers-Jahiz, Al-Beruni, Ibne-
Nadim and others. For instance:
According to Jahiz (864 AD):
The people of Sindh are well advanced
in Mathematics and Astrology. They have got
their own script for their (Sindhi) language.
(Jahiz 1960: 4&7).
Al-Istakhri (951 AD) in his book states:
The people of al-Mansurah, Multan and
its surroundings speak Arabic and Sindhi (Al-


Istakhri 1960: 375).
Bashari-al Maqdisi (985 AD) writes :
The people of Debal are traders. They
speak Sindhi and Arabic (Bashari al Maqdisi
(1960: 285 & 286).
Ibne Nadim (after 955 AD) writes:
The people of Sindh speak various
languages and believe in different religions.
They write their language in many scripts. Out
of them 9 are very common (Ibne- Nadim 1960:
3 & 4).
Ibne- Haukal states:
The people of al Mansurah, Multan and
surrounding areas speak Arabic and Sindhi
(Elliot H. 1967: 39).
Lastly Al- Beruni (973- 1048 AD), the greatest
Indologist and Sindhologist who has contributed
much in this field, writes:
The alphabet used for Sindhi language
in Southern Sindh towards sea- coast, was
Malwari. In Bahmanva (al- Mansurah),
Saindhva Script was most commonly used.
Lari writing system was in use in Lar Desha,
whereas Ardhanagari Script was commonly
used by the people of Bhatia area and other
parts of Sindh (Edward C. Sachau 1910: 173).
2. The earliest references to Sindhi literature are
given by the Arab historians. It is an established fact
that Sindhi was the first and earliest language in
which the Holy Quran was translated in the eighth
or ninth century A.D. (Buzrug bin Shahiryar 1960:
193 & 202).


2.1 Sindhi poets have been mentioned reciting their
verses before the Arab Caliphs at Baghdad (Baloch
N.A. 1992:). It also is a recorded fact that the treatises
were written in Sindhi on Astronomy, Medicine,
Mathematics, Astrology and History during the
eighth and ninth centuries A.D.
3. It is a recognised fact that the Indus Valley is
comprised of the areas including the lands of present
Central and South Punjab, Kashmir, Dardistan region
and its Kohistan area, Western states of India, such as
Rajasthan, Gujarat including Kutch and Kathiawar
upto Mahi River and Aravali mountains and
Hereyana state in the North-Western region of India.
The areas such as Rajasthan (Including Jaisalmir,
Marwar, Mewar Jodhpur and Bekanir etc.) and the
Eastern, region of Sindh, had Eastern dialect (branch)
of the Sindhui language of Indus Valley. These areas
had common forms and themes of literature, i.e. folk
poetry as well as folk prose. Hence all the writers and
reciters of various forms, poets, folk- lorits- as well as
Sufis, Vedantic and the Nath Panthi and Bhakti saints
composed their verses in the forms and used the
themes which were very common from that period of
history. They expressed social & cultural themes in
their literary forms. They used local dialects which
were being spoken in the areas, as their medium of
expression.
3.1 Writing about the literary language of these
areas in early days, Dr. S.K. Chatterji is of the view
that:
After Sauraseni comes Western


Apabhramsa, a great literary language used in
the courts of the Rajput princes of Northern
India for some centuries immediately before
Turke conquest of North India, which was in
general employed from Mharashtra to Bangal.
Verses composed by Bengali poets and poets
from practically the whole of Northern India in
this speech, have been discovered. Western
Apabrhamsa, therefore, is the immediate
predecessor, and partly the ancestor of Braj-
bakha and Hindustani (Chatterji, S.K., Dr.,
1942:164).
In the 10-12
th
centuries, the Western
Apabrhamsa speech was in full vigour, and was the
common language of literature (apart form Sanskrit
and the Prakrit), and undoubtedly also of general
communication. (Chatterji. S.K. 1992: 164).
Scholars are also of the view that Southern,
South- Eastern and Eastern parts of Indus Valley,
comprising the areas of Kutch, Gujarat, Kathiawar and
former states of Rajasthan, had very close and common
political, social, commercial and literary relationship.
These relationships & contacts encouraged common
people, traders, poets & sughars (reciters) from the
races such as Charanas, Bhats, Bhans & Jajaks etc. to
travel and shift off and on for various ceremonies and
functions. They used almost the same language in their
communication.
Professor Jhamatmal Vaswani is of the opinion
that:
From the Apabhramas, a long period of
time, generations of sughars came from the races
such as Charanas, Bhans, Bhats and Jajaks. Most


of them were poets, sughars and singers of the
courts of Rajput rulers (Jhamatmal Vaswani:
1956: 77).
Sir Grierson has also given his viewpoint about
the language spoken in the areas as stated above. He
states:
Nagar Apabhramasa was medium of
literature in Gujarat, Rajasthan and its Western
areas and this language (Nagar Apabhramasa)
was dominating language in the whole area.
(Grierson .G 1927 Vol: I part I: 124).
4. Dr. S.K. Chatterji, Dr Muhammad Hassan and
Dr. Murlidhar Jetley have given some specimen of the
poetry of the language spoken in that area which they
call Western Apabhramasa.
Dr. Chatterji considers these specimen as
examples of popular literature, which have been
preserved, for instance, in the Prakrit grammar of the
great Jain scholar, Hemchandra, who lived in Gujarat
during 1088-1172. It would be clear to what extent the
language of that time was approaching Hindustani
(Chatterji S.K. 1942: 164).
In my opinion the language of the specimen
quoted by Dr. Chetterji is very clear example of
Sindhi language which was being spoken during
those days in the areas mentioned by Dr. Chatterji
and others. The specimen quoted by Dr.Chatterji are:
A Rajput woman says:
(i) bhalla hua ju maria bahini, mahara kantu
lajjejam tu vaassiahu, jai bagga garu entu
This verse, as a matter of fact is a gatha. (Chatterj: S.K.
1942:164)
This version of the gatha has also been given


by Dr. Muhammad Hassan in his Book Hindi Adab ki
Tarikh; published by Anjuman Taraqi- Urdu. The
version given by Dr. Muhammad Hassan is
reproduced below: (Muhammad Hassan 1951:
16&17):
bhalla hua ju maria bhenu maharo kant
lasjjenj tu ve

nse ju bhagga ghar ant

The Sindhi version of this gatha would be as
recorded below:
> ,

. c. |. _,, ,|. |
. _.,,l : |,, _,. _,

c.

To English rendering of this gatha is also
given: It was well, O sister, that my beloved was
killed. If he came home defeated (or fleeing), I would
have felt ashamed).
The linguistic study of this doha (couplet)
helps us to conclude that most of the words used in
this doha are still commonly spoken in Sindhi
language with some minor phonetic change, such as
kant c. , is spoken as kdh ..| , and so on. In the
opinion of the author this doha is composed in
Eastern dialects of Sindhi. It was actually the dialect
(Apabhramasa) of Sindhui language of Indus Valley.
5. Professor Jhamtamal Vaswani considers this
gatha of eighth century A.D. and has referred it in his
book, Dhola Maroo, (Jhamtamal Vaswani, Prof: 1956:
77).
The same theme was common during the days
of Shah Abdul Latif who says in his Risalo:
, .. , . . . . . . . | . . ,| . . . . . . |


: _.. ..| |.. ..,,.
. _l _, .. :, _.> _

.
Other specimen of poetic verses quoted by Dr.
Chatterji are reproduced below:
(ii) jiviu kasu na balla hau dha

nu punu kas na itha?

do

ni vi avasari nivad

i i
%
tina sawa ga

nai vassithu
(Chatterji S.K. 1942: 164)
The Sindhi version of this doha could be:
_ ,

l, .. c .. _ _, : >

_. _. . .

_,.|, . . . :. _.,

The English rendering of this doha is:
(To whom is not life beloved? To whom, again is not
wealth a desired thing? When the two occasions are
fulfilled, the superior man considers these two as
straw).
(iii) Third specimen given by Dr. Chatterji in his book is:
jai na su vai dui gharu, k ho muhu tujjhu
va

nu ju kha

dai tau sahie, so piu hoe na mujju

The Sindhi version of this doha could be:
,. _.. > | : _. _. . .. _

,. .. > ,, . _,.|. . _.,.:

(If he does not come to your house, why art
thou with thy face cast down? If he breaks (his) word,
then, O friend, he can not be my beloved).
(iv) Dr. Chatterji has given fourth specimen of
earlier poetry in his book. For instance.
amhe thova, riu bahua, k
a
%
ara ewa bha

nant


mudhi, nihalai gagana alu, kai jana john karant
The Sindhi version of this doha could be:
|., . _.

..|

c.., ,

. |. l _>:

_ _,.| c. |:

(We are few, our enemies are many, and
cowards talk like that. O foolish woman! Look at the
space of the sky, how many make moonlight?)
(v) Dr Chatterjio gives fifth specimen of
early poetry which is no doubt a Sindhi doha. For
instance:
Putt jae kavanu gu

nu?, avagunu kavanu muena?

Ja bappi ki bhumhadi campi jai avarena?
_.|, c,

_:

_.. _:

. ,
_ |, , _.| _,. .

(What is good if a son is born, what is the harm if he
is dead? if the fathers land is seized by others?)
The linguistic study of these dohas helps us to
conclude that not only the words but grammatical
structure of phrases used in these dohas and gathas
are exactly the same as used in present Sindhi. The
language was very common and perhaps it was the
same in the Eastern and South- Eastern regions of
Indus Valley. The name of the language used in these
regions was perhaps Apabhramas which was
common literary language and the sub-dialect of
Apabhramasa Pungala.
6. Dr. Murlidhar Jetley, a renowned Indian
Sindhi scholar, in the preface of the Encyclopedia of
Indian literature, Vol: VIII, (Sindhi), compiled by


Prof: Gangaram Garg writes:
As regards the later phase of the middle Indo-
Aryan stage, present Sindhi shows sufficient
resemblance with Nagar or Sauraseni Apabhramasa
which was literary language of India, during the
period which immediately precedes the existence of
new Indo-Aryan language. But we have no written
records that should enable us to study the
distinguished features of a local dialect of Nagra
Apabhramasa spoken in the lower Indus Valley
region from which Sindhi as a New-Indo Aryan
language is presumed to have developed round about
1000 A.D (Jetley M. Dr. Preface). Dr. Jetley has given
some examples of verses. He sates: To illustrate the
resemblances of Sindhi with Nagara, the literary
Apabhramasa, two verses of this Apabhramasa from
Hemchandras work (12
th
century AD) are compared
with Sindhi. For instance:

Dol sanvel dhana camp varann
!, .|. ! : . , | _:
Jan sona reha kasavatia dann
_:: |,.. , |.. |,
(The man has a dark complexion and the fair one
has the complexion of a Champaka flower, she
seems to be a streak of gold on the (black) assay).
Dol mun to vryo, ma karu igo d

mn,
|. :; , . . !,
Ninda ganvi rtr, jhat pat hoi vihnu
|> > c, c . _,.: ,..
(Beloved, I warn you not to pretend for long, as
the night would pass away in sleep and it will
dawn quickly) (Jetley M.K. Dr; 1991: preface IX)
6.1 Form the perusal of the examples of poetic
forms, illustrated above, it can be claimed that the
roots of history of Sindhi literature, particularly the


poetic from such as gathas, dohas, 'slokas and
sorthas etc. were very common forms of Sindhi
poetry which contained the themes such as Singr
ras, epic heroism, romanticism and social aspects
of daily life of the people of areas mentioned above.
7. Dr. Baldev Matlani, quoting a reference form
Mr. Scott James book: The Making of Literature, has
rightly narrated; how the oral literature was
transferred from one sughar to another in the
ancient days. He states:
Owing to the social conditions of ancient
Greece, the spoken word still held its own
flavours as against written words. The epic
poems had been handed over from one reciter to
another, and even in the fifth century, the
ordinary Athenian seldom read them, but heard
them interpreted orally, by rhapsodies.And
so, too, at the dionysiac festivals, the assembled
citizens heard and saw the plays of great
dramatists. They seldom read them, Poetry was
the rendering of the spoken word (Baldav
Matlani, Dr., 1998: 11).
Dr. Matlani has rightly depicted the picture of
recital of oral literature or telling of tales in other
parts of the world. Same way of expressing the
literature was being practiced in the southern and
South- Western parts of Indus Valley. Dr. Matlani
states:
It was same in India too. Listeners of the
literature were the people who attended public
gatherings and festivals. They used to narrate
these tales unto the masses. These stories were
the precursor of the literature which gave birth


to other forms of literature too (Baldev Matlani,
Dr., 1998:11)
The same way of story telling and composing
and reciting of verses was very common in the past in
Southern, South-Eastern parts of Indus Valley. We
come across the stories of kings, queens, princes and
princesses, fairy tales, tales of traders and warriors
etc. Similarly some songs and hymns composed and
sung in the ancient plays in praise and as odes to
deities also support the idea that Sindhi literature is
also very old.
8. Professor L.H. Ajwani has mentioned in his
book, about the hymns and songs which were sung in
praise of River god, Odero Lal

! ,, ,
According to him, these hymns, generally
known as Panjras , ,. , or five lined verses, were
followed by stirring chants of Jhule-Lal ! _l ,
Jhule-Lal ! _l , . In his opinion, these Panjras
were of the tenth century A.D. as Odero Lal is said to
have been born at Nasarpur (Sindh) on a Friday
evening, on the new Moon-day of the Sindhi (Hindu)
year, in the month of Chet c, , / Chetra in 1007
Sambat, i.e. in the year 950/951 A.D. (Ajwani L.H.
1970: 20 And 21).
9. Chachnamah and Al-Beruni record some
names of famous and prominent native scholars of
the eighth, ninth and tenth century A.D. (Ali Kufi,
1954: 77).
As mentioned earlier, in the beginning of the
Arab rule in Sindh, in 270 AH (883 AD), on the
request of a local non-Muslim ruler of Kashmir, the
ruler of al-Mansurah, Abdullah bin Umer Habari,


asked one of the Iraqi Muslim scholars, who was
brought up in Sindh, and was a poet of Sindhi
language as well of Arabic, to translate the Holy
Quran for the non-Muslim local ruler. But the,
specimen of the oldest translation and the first
instance of Sindhi literature and the translation of the
Holy Quran is not available (Buzurg bin Shahryar
1960: 193 & 202).
10. Islam added new dimension to the history of
Sindh. Scholars, intellectuals, traders, soldiers and
religious missionaries, accompanying or following
new rulers, came form many parts of the Muslim
world. This wave of migration in Sindh continued up
to 1593 A.D, even after the days of Arghuns and
Tarkhans (1521-1555 A.D) in Sindh. The most
important personalities, religious dais (preachers)
and intellectuals whose names are recorded in
history, are:
(i) Pir Nuruddin (d: 1079 A.D)
(ii) Pir Shams Sabzwari Multani (560-675 A-h/1165-
1276A.D)
(iii) Baba Farid Ganj Shakar (571-664 AH/ 1175- 1265 AD)
(iv) Qalandar Shahbaz (573-673 AH./1177-1274 A.D.)
(v) Hazrat Ghaus Bahauddin Zakria Multani (578-661
AH/1182-83- 1262 A.D).
(vi) Pir Sadruddin (689-808 A.H./1290-1409 A.D).
(vii) Sayid Jalal Shah Surkh Bukhari (707-785A.H./1307-
138-1384A.D).
All of them are also known as popular poets.
Qalandar Shahbaz is considered an early poet of Persian
(Sadarangani I.H. Dr., 1956: 7&10). Similarly, Pir
Nuruddin, Pir Shams Sabzwari Multani and Pir


Sadruddin were very learned Ismaili dais,
philosophers and poets of Sindhi, Siraiki, Hindi, Kutchi
and Gujarati languages. They were Sufis of high caliber
and are recognised as poets of Sufistic, Vedantic, Bhakti
and Nathpanthi philosophy. Their poetry is didactic
and conveys the messages of these philosophies.
(Allana G.A.1973:15-34 and 33-49). Thus surviving
Sindhi literature may be said to have begun with some
fragments of poetry dating beck to the eight and ninth
century AD, during the early days of Arab rule and
afterwards during the days of Soomras, the local rulers.
11. Many critics consider the Soomra rule, as the
darkest period of Sindhi literature (Lutufullah Badvi
Prof: 1963: 101-103). for the reasons that they could
not get any specimen of any form of Sindhi literature.
Perusal of the history of Sindh, however indicates that
this was actually the period in which the Sindhi
literature had flourished a lot. With this period, most
of the historical romances of Sindh, such as Sasui-
Punhun, Mumal- Rano, Leela- Chanesar, Umar-
Marui etc. are associated. Allaudins attack from
Dehli on Dodo Soomro, the ruler of Sindh created
national awakening and spirit of patriotism among
the Sindhi folk. Not only menfolk like Dodo and
Bhungar are adored for their patriotism and national
spirit, but the characters of fairer sex like Baghula
Bai; Hinda and Tari Bai are symbols of sacrifice of
women for their motherland, and they shall always be
remembered in history. Their characters, inspires
every historian, poet and men of letters even today.
This period, therefore, needs great amount of
rethinking, reconsideration and study, and one could
ask oneself as to how is it possible that such a


glorious age did not or could not inspire any creative
writer to compose and record something about such
great characters of our history. We, of course, do get
some ghun >|, , / gathas) in which folk poets have
paid tributes to the heroes and heroines of Sindh.
Few examples from among these gahun (gathas) are:
.: ..

_ _,>.

_, ,., ..

: .., _l: _ _,, _,, .. _, ..

(Water never finishes in the wells
Rajas dont break the word,
But if a maid is sent to them
They might think, she is DoDos sister)
.. _ _. . _

... . . ,. _.. ., _..

.

(The sky is the highest,
Nobody is higher than the sky
The head of a valiant soldier
Is the highest even after death)
(Fahmida Hussain, Dr, 2001: 84)
11.1 The earliest classical literature of this period, of
Sindhi language has been divided into the following
poetic forms:
(i) Romantic ballads
(ii) Devotional hymns
(iii) Pseudo-romantic ballads
(iv) Epic poetry, and
(v) Customary and ceremonial songs

12. We further get a good collection of poetry
composed in Sindhi and Saraiki languages during the
early period of Soomra rule (early eleventh century


AD) in Sindh. Pir Satgur Nur (d. 1079 AD) is the first
saint poet of Ismaili thought whose verses can be taken
as the specimen of early Sindhi poetry which has
survived in Khojki Sindhi and Gujarati scripts. His
poetry is an important specimen of Sindhi, Hindi and
Gujarati literature, and an interesting record of spoken
Sindhi language, commonly in practice during that
time. His language is conglomeration of many words
of Sindhi, Hindi, Kutchi, Marathi and Gujarati, which
was a common language at that time. He named his
verses as Ginans |.: , . Pir Nooruddin, commonly
known, as Pir Satgur Nur, . >.. ,,

, , is the poet of
Nizari Ismaili School of Thought whose verses are
considered as the specimen of early Sindhi devotional
hymns and mystic poetry. His poetic collection is
preserved with Ismaili families all over the globe,
particularly of Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan, and
Kutch, Gujarat and Kathiawar etc in India in general,
and with Ismailia Tariqa Boards in Pakistan, India,
Africa, Canada, Bangladesh, Burma and some of the
Far-East courtiers and USA in particular. Below are
given a few specimens from his ginans:
_, l . |. _,. _:.., _:.., _
- |.l > c c. ,

(He, who without Kalma, in worship will bend.
His wanderings in the wilderness, will ultimately
end) (Allana G. 1984: III).
Similarly in another ginan, he says:
,..|, _.,, . |,,

, .|. :|. _.
, _.., _.,:|. c., c.

_. .




>.. ,.. _.,l, .. _.,

_.
|.. . |,| , , |,|


.. _l,. |,| ,: ..: |,|
..: , |,| . .. _.: |,|

12.1 Other Ismaili Sufis, saints, preachers and
missionaries composed their verses, known as ginans
in local languages with a view to enable their new
Muslim followers (Nizari Ismaili Muslims) to grasp and
memories the principles and teachings of the new faith
which the Pirs introduced Sat- Panth . ,s...l l

,
/ c., c. i.e. the True Path. The Sat panth conveys the
message of Islamic mysticism, Vedantic ideas, Bhakti
teachings and Nath Panthi philosophy.
13. After Pir Nooruddin, we get the ginans of Pir
Shams Sabzwari Multani (650 AH-675 AH/ 1165 AD-
1276 AD), the great-great grandfather of Pir
Sadruddin. His verses are composed in Punjabi,
Saraiki, Hindi, Purbi, Kutchi and Gujarati languages.
Some instances from his Saraiki and Hindi ginans are
given below: (English translation is reproduced form
Allana G. 1984: 126):
|,|. .
|, _, |,. _, _:
|. _.. _: |,

... |,|.
(O fortunate one,
When into this world you took your birth


What did you bring with you to this earth?
What will you take? No home; no hearth;
O fortunate one ;)
|,|. .
. . >.|. _.. . >.|. ,

|,, _: _:

.... |,|.

(O fortunate one,
Naked into this world you came,
Naked you will leave, as you came.
While alive, do good deeds in Gods name
O fortunate one)
Some specimen of his Hindi ginan may also be seen:
_ .
_:! c,>. .|. _:! c,>. ,.
. _,. _. .,. ,>|. ,.
_:! c,>. ,. .
(Now, by your love I am struck,
My heart by your love is struck,
Let your eyes with mine have struck)
My Lord.
_ .
>, .... , l:
,>|. ,. : .. _> _>

_:! c,>. ,.
(Remove the veil; look on me with Grace;
Smile, smile, and show me your face.
My lord,
Now by your love I am struck)
_ .


|.|,, _..,, | . ,.
,>|. ,. ! _.
_:! c,>. ,.
(For your vision Pir Shams is thirsty,
Let me see you; bestow this charity,
My lord, by your love I am struck.)
13.1 But the poet who draws our attention more
than any other poet before him is Pir Sadruddin (698-
808 AH/1290-1409 AD). There is every possibility to
this claim that he did not come from Iran, but he was
born in ancient Sindh (Uch Sharif) because his ginans
are full of renderings and instances of many aspects of
Sindhi society and Sindhi culture. He spent about 61
years of his life in Soomra rule (1010-1351 AD) and he
spent the rest of his life during Samma period (1351-
1521 AD). In Sindh he composed thousands of ginans
in Sindhi, Kutchi, Gujarati, Hindi, Saraiki, Punjabi and
Purbi, which are available in volumes with Ismailia
Tariqah Boards throughout the world.
13.2 He also modified the Lohanika script, which
was commonly used by Lohanas, Bhatias and other
castes of Sindh and Saraiki speaking belt before they
embraced Islam under his teachings.
13.3 The ginans were composed on the tunes and
rhythms of local music modes and are recited (sung)
daily in Jamaitkhanas, all over the world, by the
members of Ismailia community on local musical
tunes and rhythms. The ginans composed by
Ismailia Pirs and Syeds needs in depth, thorough and
careful study. They are full of philosophy and convey
the message of mysticism, Vedantic and Bhakti


thought and Nath- panthi teachings.
Each ginan contains at least five stanzas, and
some of the ginans are composed in six or eight
stanzas. Some ginans are very long. The ginans of
Pir Satgur Nur are composed on the local meter
known as Chhand .._ , and Kafi _:| , on the tunes
of local musical modes as stated above.
Dr. Schimmel is of the view:
It should be remembered, however, that
during the 14
th
century, new activity of Ismaili
missionaries set in. Thanks to their preachings,
Large groups of Hindus were converted to
Islam, and it is possible that their writings
contitute the oldest extant literary expression of
Sindhi. Although it is next to impossible to
construct the original text of their religious,
mystically tinged poetical sermons and prayers,
parts of the later Ismaili literature in Kutchi,
Gujarati, and a few pieces in Sindhi are of
archaic character and that we may accept them
as some of ancient evidence of the language of
the lower Indus Valley. Both the form and the
imagery of some of the oldest Ismaili texts now
available are closely connected with the
expression of Sindhi Sufis and they are
preserved in writing form the 16
th
century
onwards. (Annemarie Shimmel. Dr. 1974: 5).
13.4 Pir Sadruddin is a mystic poet and religious
philosopher and for communication with the
common masses, has used very simple language of
the people, choosing symbols, similes and metaphors
form local diction to enable common folk to


understand the message of Islam given to them
through their mother tongues. He has been much
influenced by local philosophy of mysticism which
was commonly practiced by the Sufis of the sub-
continent through their mother tongues.
He disseminated his views and ideas through
the indigenous and local material comprising of
religious beliefs, folklore, superstitions, myths and
legends by using allegorical language.
The ginans, although written in simple
language, contain deeper meaning. He says:
As smell is within flowers,
As butter is intermixed with milk,
So is my Creator and Master hidden in me
The philosophy of self- realisation and divine
union is expressed by all the Pirs and Syeds in their
ginans. As already said, Ismaili Pirs and Syeds were
great Sufis and Vedantic and Bhakti saints, educators
and philosophers, thus the ginans they composed
contain profound meaning. The poetry of Pir
Sadruddin is didactive. He says:
Oh! Seeker, beware and get up early in the
morning, as birds do, and remember your
Creator."
Some of his selected verses are quoted below:
_,. _,.. . .., _,: .. < _.

_ , |. |.|, , c|. .. .
_,| >,. _, _: _.. .,,. .>|. .
(O, you who do not awake, and to Allah pray,
who slept, and all the night in your bed lay,


O Servant of God, for your salvation no effort
you make,
Now with your good deeds for the hereafter
take).
Similarly some examples of his saraiki ginans
are given below:
_
|.l : _ _.: |.>. |, _.

.>|. |, ' |:,, |>,l |. _. _.
, ,.

.
(Even straw will be weighed in the scale,
you walk in life on a knife-edge trail,
My soul one day have to render
Account of deeds however slender)
(Translated by Allana, G. 1984: 59)
Although all the Pirs were influenced by
mysticism but in composing their ginans, they have
adopted local forms of meters and have composed
their ginans' on the prosody of Kafi _:| , . The
ginans of Pir Satgur Nur are in the meter of bait
c,, , . Thus prosody of ginans of all the Pirs and
Syeds need critical study. In view of Dr. Abdul
Jabbar Junejo:
The form in which ginans are composed
resemble with the form of Kafi _:| , (Junejo Abdul
Jabbar 1964: 78).
13.5 Another point mentioned above merits
attention of our scholars that all the ginans were
composed on the rhythm of the local music of Sindhi,
Punjabi and Kutchi. This viewpoint is supported by
the fact that the ginans are mostly sung in chorus in
different Ragas and Raganis of local music. This


point has been discussed in my book Ismaili
Movement in Sindh, Multan and Gujarat.
14. Another form of Sindhi poetry associated with
Soomra period is composition of ballads, narrating
folk historical and pseudo-historical tales such as
Dodo-Chanesar. Dr. Schimmel is of the view that:
Sindhi has always been rich in ballads. The
oldest traces of poetry proper are in fact some
fragments of the ballads of Dodo-Chanesar.
Some of the ancient ballads have survived in
folk poetry. (Annimarie Schimmel 1974: 9).
14.1 The ballads of this period are original in their
form and meter as they bear distinctive characteristics
of Sindhi nature. (Baloch N.A. 1980: 132-141).
14.2 The Soomra period, as a matter of fact,
demands more attention of research scholars to
explore the prose and poetry for further research.
15. The Sammas succeeded the Soomras and ruled
Sindh from 1351 upto 1521. They were also original
inhabitants of Sindh. In Samma period more
development has been observed in Sindhi poetry and
prose. Mamui Faqirs (seven sages, known as Mamui
Faqirs) riddles in versified form are associated with
this period. They are actually prophesies composed in
Doha |> , , Sortha |.. , and their mixed forms.
15.1 These verses of Mamui Faqirs also contain the
mention of the culture, history and geography of Sindh
of the time (Memon Muhammad Sadique). For Example:
..> |> .., ..,, |>
.. >l __. ,

:. .., _ .



15.2 We also get the names of some Sindhi poets
belonging to this period as mentioned in Tuhfatul-
kiram, a monumental work by Mir Ali Sher Qane, a
great annalist of Sindh. He mentions the name of
Shaikh Hamad Jamali (d.764 AH/1362 AD), a
resident of a place in the vicinity of Thatta. His Doha
has been quoted by Dr. N.A. Baloch (Baloch N.A.
1980: 182). Which is reproduced below:
_|.. |, : c. :

., _,.. _.,, |, _|,.

This Doha implies a gesture of good will and a
heraldic prediction for Jam Tamachi that his rule will
be re-established over Thatta.
15.3 Ishaq Ahingar (Blacksmith) was also a famous
poet of this period. Although only one Sortho has
been credited to him but it contains many
characteristic features of literature, sociology and
cultural history of Sindh. His Sortho is quoted below:
_. __ _ _,, |, |. |,.
_,. ||, _l, ; |.

.

16. The most important person, scholar, Sufi and
poet of this period is Qadi Qadan (d. 1551 AD) whose
verses were collected form a mathu (temple) in
Hariana state of India by Hiro Tha

kur, one of the

most popular Sindhi scholar of India. He compiled
and published them in a book form. Recently Dr. N.A.
Baloch has also compiled and edited more verses of
Qadi Qadan.


16.1 Qadi Qadan was a great theologian and scholar
of Arabic and Persian languages, and also the Chief
Judge in the Government of Jam Feroz Sama (1517-
1521 AD), and afterwards in the court of Mirza Shah
Beg and Shah Hassan Arghun (1525-1555 AD). A Sufi,
Syed Miran Mohammad Jonapuri, unveiled his eyes,
as Shams Tabrez did in case of Maulana Rumi. This
can be witnessed form his following Sortho:

,.. > .. ,|,| _,
,, |,, ... ,. , |.. .

(I was fast a sleep, a dervish came and awakened me,
after that I took the right path of my beloved.)
16.2 Qadi Qadan composed Doha, Sortha forms
of Chhand poetry and are very important landmark
in the history of Sindhi poetic literature. Although he
was a scholar of Persian and Arabic languages, his
choice of pure and common Sindhi words and
construction of sufistic ideas, reflect his viewpoint.
Some of his verses are:

_. |,>, |,. l,. _. _. , |:|
|, _. , , |,, :

.


,>, _, _ |,:|: .: .
,, _.|, . . .l _,, | .


_,. |,. |, _. . |.> ,..

: | ..,> .> _.,> _..,> .

Research scholars have been able to trace few
more names of poets of this period; such as Abdul Jalil
Chuhar Shah, Dervish Rajo Satiyo Dal, Sayyid Ali Sani
Shirazi, Shaikh Bhiryo (d. 903 AH/ 1497 AD), Nuh
Hothiyani, Shaikh Pirar and Dadu Dyal, However none
of them can be compared with Qadi Qadan.
(Muhammad Khan Ghani, Vol: V, 1962: 95-96).



As mentioned elsewhere, much could be found
by exploring some temples in Rajasthan, Haryana,
Gujarat, Kashmir, Kutch and Kathiawar in India, where
some Hindu scholars, traders, sughars and saints
migrated much earlier or at the time when Mehmood of
Gazna had invaded al Mansurah. Hiro Thakur was
able to find Qadi Qadans verses, and after wards Prof.
Jhamu Chugani collected and compiled the
Chaupayoon of Mahamati,
Pira

n Nath, a saint poet

who was born on 6th
October, 1618 A.D. at Nava Nagar
(Jam Nagar), in Kathiawar, India. Two of his
Chaupayoon are reproduced below for example:
_,>. _:: _,... , , |, .l|, |
_,.

_> , , |. _ , ,! .,.

.

, |, .l|, | _,>. _::
_,. _,> , , |. _ , ,! .,.

17. From the deep study of poetic forms of Sindhi
literature of Samma and Arghun period, one can
deduce that upto this period, Doha, Sortha and
other ancillary forms had developed a lot, and Bait
had reached its culmination, both in style and form.
(Abdul Ghaffar Soomro: 38). It can, therefore, be
concluded that the origin and development of Sindhi
Bait could be traced earlier than the Soomra period.
(1010-1351 A.D)
Doho had already undergone substantial
change. The form in which the earlier poets expressed
themselves is termed as the classical poetry.
Makhdoom Nuh (1506-1589 AD) of Hala, Shah Karim
of Bulri (1537- 1628 AD), Pir Muhammad Lakhvi (d.
1600 AD), Shah Lutufullah Qadri (1611-1679),


Khawaja Muhammad Zaman of Luwari (1713-1774
AD), Shah Inayat Rizvi (d.1717 AD), Shah Abdul Latif
Bhittai (1689 1752 AD), Sachal Sarmast (1739-1829)
and Sami (1750- 1848 AD) were the most renowned
poets who composed Dohas, Sorthas, Doha-
Sortha- mel (mixture) and vice versa with their
modified forms viz: Bait, Dohiro, Vai, Kafi and
Sloka with devotional thought manifesting yearning
love of human soul for the Divine.
18. Shah Karim lived during the Arghun period
(1521-1555 AD) in Sindh. He was the literary genius
of this age and a renowned Sufi. Dr. Daudpota calls
him the Chaucer of Sindhi poetry. He also calls him
the Morning Star of Sindhi literature, It was Shah
Karim whose poetry had inspired Shah Abdul Latif
Bhittai. (Memon Muhammad Sadique, Vol: I, 1963:
58). He is said to have set forth a mystic doctrine after
the style of Rumi, the great Persian poet, but in view
of Dr. Schimmel:
Yet it is not absolutely certain to which
mystical order he was affiliated (Annemarie
Schimmel, Dr., 1972: 72).
Shah Karim composed Dohas and Sorthas.
He also modified their forms and matter. The
biography, discourses and poetical works of Shah
Karim were collected by his disciple, Muhammad
Raza Abdul Wase, only six years after his death. His
book Bayanul- Arafin _,:|l |,, , was written in
Persian, along with 94 verses of Shah Karim. It
contains seven verses of Qadi Qadan and some verses
of other poets. In view of Dr. Daudpota:
The diction of Shah Karims poetry is
purely Sindhi. The thoughts and contents of his
poetry are essentially sufistic, spiritual and


didactic in nature. Another significant aspect of
Shah Karims poetry is that symbols from Sindhi
folk tales are used for the first time by him. We
find Sasui- Punhun, Umar- Marui, Leela-
Chanesar and so on in his poetry used as
symbols. Although he made very slight
references to these stories, yet the credit of
introducing this great tradition goes to him.
He says:
_,. |, |,. .. _. . ., .,
l _,. ,|,! _: _,,,. _.

.
(No body ever took with himself two traits from
Bhambore, yearning for the Beloved and attachment
with ones own people.)
Makhdoom Nuh Sarwar (d.1589 AD) of Hala,
in view of Dr. Schimmel, the leading mystic of
Suhrawardy and Awesi order, was a great poet of
Sindhi. The credit of Dahar form of Sindhi poetry
goes to Sarwari saint poet. Makhdoom Nuh is
founder of this form of poetry. In one of his Dahar
(Sortha form) he says:
, | _.,, |.:|. ,.|, .. |. |,
_.: _..,..:, _..:, . _. .
19. After Turkhans, Sindh came under direct
domination of Mughals, and Sindh was annexed to
Delhi by Emperor Akbar by invading Sindh during
the reign of Mirza Jani Beg, Turkhan. The Mughal
rule (1592-1717 AD) over Sindh paved an era of
difficulties for Sindhi masses. However, even during
this period Shah Lutufullah Qadri (1611-1679 AD)
carried forward great tradition of his predecessors.
His poetry has been compiled and edited by Dr. N.A.


Baloch and published by the Institute of Sindhology.
The poetry of Shah Lutufullah Qadri does not contain
stanzas of only two verses, but extends to even six or
seven stanzas. His poetry is of an intermediary link
between his great successors, Shah Inayat and Shah
Abdul Latif Bhittai. In his poetry we find the standard
form of Bait, which is consisted of more than three
or four lines, as invocationary which was followed by
his successors. His poetry is purely spiritual and
didactic in nature. Usman Ahsani and Miyoon Eso are
also associated with this period.
20. The age of Shah Abdul Latif (Kalhora period)
is most significant in the history of Sindhi literature. It
was during this age that the Sindhi language was
standardized. The main literary form that developed
in the poetry of this era, were the allegory and also
the Persianised forms and meters, religious literature
in Kabat form and ballads. The allegory became a
concrete and effective literary device for expanding
moral, mystic and religious lessons. This poetic form
appealed immensely on account of its communication
and realism because the people were not so far
accustomed to abstract expression. Shah Abdul Latif
was very successful in these forms.
20.1 The Sindhi classical poetry achieved its full
bloom in the poetical works of Shah Inat Rizvi and
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Shah Inat Rizvi was a great
senior contemporary of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and
introduced many traditions of Sindhi poetry. He
(Shah Inat) had listened to the musicians and the
minstrels and was also conversant with the spiritual
contents of the poetry of his predecessors. Shah Latif
was strongly influenced by the poetry of Shah Inat
and Shah Karim.


20.2 Another poetical growth of this period was the
rise of the ballad and other forms of Sindhi folklore.
The traditional ballads of Juman Charan and Miyan
Sarfraz Khan Abbasi (d.1775 AD) are very important.
The theme usually deals with love, local legends, feats
of local heroes, super natural happenings, and
religious offerings.
The third characteristic feature of this period
was the impact of Persianised forms and meter on
Sindhi poetry. Miyn Chatan, Noor Muhammad
Khastaha, and Hafiz ali of Tikhur were the first
poets who composed Ghazals in Persian meters in
Sindhi. (Asadullah Shah Hussaini, Dr. 1959: 118-119)
Moulood is another interesting form of this
age. Makhdoom Abdur- Rauf Bhatti is the pioneer of
this form of poetry. He composed them in Persian
meters. (Memon Muhammad Siddique, Vol: I,
1963 :169) They are in praise of the Prophet of Islam
(PBUH).
20.3 Another main feature of this period is the
literature written on Muslim theology composed in
native form Kabat. (Abdul Jabbar Junejo, Dr., 1974).
According to Dr. Schimmel, the year 1700 is a decisive
date for Sindhi literature. In her opinion:
It is the year in which Mian Abul
Hassan (d.1711 AD) for the first time dealt with
problems of ritual practice in simple Sindhi
verse. He used the device of filling the last word
of each line with a long (/alif al-ishba), and
this achieved rhyming effect similar to that of
the Arabic Qasida. (Annimerie Shimmel Dr.,
1974: 18)


Makhdoom Abul Hassans rhymed treatise,
called Muqaddimat-as-Salat, ushered in a new style in
didactic poetry which soon became popular among
the mystical theologians of Thatta. Makhdoom Abul
Hassan, who is known as the founder of modern
Sindhi writing system, Makhdoom Ziauddin and
Makhdoom Muhammd Hashim Thattavi (1662-1761
AD), were profound scholars and theologians of this
age.
21. Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai is the leading
personality of this age. The poetry of Shah Abdul
Latif reflects not only the culture and social life of
Sindh but it reveals the very soul of the people of
Sindh. Shahs poetry is like a diamond with many
facets, and it deals with all kinds of subjects viz:
mystical, spiritual, devotional, didactic, romantic and
lyrical. Shahs poetry has an implicit moral purpose. It
delights the mind by its melody. He says:
I slept and then with me grew,
The branching of my loved ones vine
Shah has selected the folk-tales of Sindh which
represent the character and culture of Sindh. His
characters are: Sassui- Punhu, Moomal- Ranu, Lela-
Chanesar, Umar- Marui, Suhni- Mehar, Noori-Jam
Tamachi, Sorath-Rai Diyach, Moriro Mir Bahar,
Mokhi and Matara and so as.
Dr. Schimmel states:
Shahs technique consists of beginning
each chapter with dramatic moment, since the
contents of the stories were known to every one.
The complete transformation of the folk tales
into symbols of mystical experiences stated by
his great-great grand father, Shah Karim, now


reaches perfection. Thus Sohni is introduced in
the moment of drowning in the Mehran; to
break the boat of the body means to find out
union with God in the ocean of the Soul, as the
Islamic mystical poets, headed by Attar and
Rumi have always preached. Similarly Sassui,
Mumal, Marui, Leela and so on. All the simple
Sindhi girls appear in Shahs Sindhi Sufi poetry
so completely different from the Persian and
Turkish Traditions where the love between the
Soul and God is generally expressed in terms of
love between two male beings. In Sindhi, a
searching and longing soul is always a woman
who yeans for her Divine bridegroom, for her
eternal husband. In order to find him, she takes
upon herself incredible hardship-swimming
through the waves of the ocean of this world,
crossing the desert with bleeding feet, she has
only one goal: to be re-united with God, the
Beloved has elected her at the day of the
Primordial Covenant. (Annimarie Shimmel Dr.,
1974: 14)
Some examples from Shahs poetry are given
below. He says:
_,.,. ... _: . > , _,l,
|. _>: _. _., ,: _> _.,.

|, _ |.> |,... c.|. _,.

|,. _: _.. |,, _.||, .

(Every moment a thousand pangs,
With which my heart to beloved bangs,
My eyes weep and shed copious tears,
As a woman, when bad news she hears.
Hope, O beloved, resurrect


And my lifes course correct
The loved one once again,
Has come with me to remain.)
.. _,... _l. _,, _., |,

c. _,: .. .> _.. . |.

_: ,>. _,l. .. . .l .. _,, ., .

(You wish to live, and the beloved to meet?
This as merely wishful thinking treat,
If before death you would know to die
Then, in infinites mystery you will fly
Living, the beloved you will not meet
Die and you the beloved will greet.)
|,. _. _ ., _ _l,
_: _.. _,,.> ..> |., . .

(Welcome, welcome, you buzz beas,
Who buzz and perfume squeeze,
The lotus gives them her face,
And in her heat finds them a place.)
Shah Abdul Latif and other Sufi poets of his
period were well aware of social problems and
happenings of the masses with which they lived. Dr.
Fahmida Hussain in the book Social Content in Shah
jo Risalo, compiled by Anwar Pirzado, edited by her
and published by Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Chair,
Karachi University, has said in the Foreword that:
By presenting Social Content in Shah jo
Risalo we intend to intimate a trend of
Sociological study with the conviction that his
poetrys relations to society are virtually
important and that the investigations of social
content in the poetry of Shah Latif or any other


poet for that matter, would strengthen the belief
that art is not created in a vacuum and it is the
work of an artist who is fixed in time and space,
committed to a community of which he is an
articulate part. (Fahmida Hussan, Dr., 1998:
Foreword)
Shah Latif was actually, the poet of a period in
which, the most popular Sufi and Vedantic poets,
Bhakti saints, Sufis and scholars lived. They
contributed in various fields in Sindhi, Arabic and
Persian literature.
Sindhi poetry of Shahs period would be
considered as the literature comprising modern
thoughts and ideas prevailing at that time. Shah Latif
and his Sufi contemporaries represented the feelings
of masses of their surroundings. They awakened the
spirit of nationhood, humanities and love for fellow
human beings. Muhammad Ibrahim Joyo, a
renowned scholar of Sindh has expressed his feelings
in his article that:
Indeed Sindh during Latifs times was
awakening to a sense of nationhood and had to
struggle for recognition and self-expression.
Nearly two and a quarter centuries (1520-1736
A.D) of foreign rule and tyranny of the savage
Mongols, the Arghuns and Tarkhans, and the
Mughul (who no doubt were all Muslims) was
just ending after a prolonged night of darkness
and suffering, and the incessant flow of blood of
her children was coming to a stop while Sindh
attained freedom and unity and her people their
independence and sovereignty.(M. Ibrahim
Joyo :1990 :139)
Shah Latif was, as a matter of fact, a real


inspirer of intellectuals. He inspired poets, scholars
and intellectuals, not only during his days, but he has
equally inspired the scholars, intellectuals and men of
letters of all times after him. Shah has been the source
of guidance of all his readers and disciples. He gave
real life to Sindhi language and literature.
These poets and Sufis were well aware of social
problems of masses with which they lived. They were
also aware of the happenings in the country.
The period of Shah Latif was really the period of
literary progress and development of various forms of
Sindhi language and literature, and socio-political
awareness of people of Sindh. Their poetry depicts
social, economic, commercial and agricultural problems
of their people. The people were against foreign rulers
and their interference in their local affairs.
Shah Latif was exponent of Sindhi society and
Culture. He was a great narrative artist, who has
painted the philosophy of life of his people through
his Risalo. He has made Sindh, its people, its
language and culture alive.
Dr. H.T. Sorley was the first scholar who
studied Shahs poetry critically for his Ph.D thesis.
His research work was published by Oxford
University Press in 1940. His research work is still
recoganised as masterpiece work ever done on Shah
Latif. Dr. Sorley states:
I have myself not the slightest doubt that
one great reason for the popular appeal of Shah
Abdul Latifs poetry is the fact that it was the
first great attempt to interpret the feelings of the
populace in the language that all-both Muslim &
Hindu, could understand, and that he was the


first successful poet who spoke a language that
every one could accept not merely as literature
or as a highly artificial construction of words but
as something that everyone felt. (Sorley H.T.
Dr., 1940:)
The Persianised poetical form Ghazal,
which, as stated above, was introduced during the
Kalhora period, was encouraged during the days of
Talpurs rule (1782- 1843 AD) (Girami Ghulam
Muhammad: 1964: 114)
21. During the very early days of Talpurs, Pir
Muhammad Baqa (1198 AH/1784 AD), the father of
Pir Muhammad Rashid (d.1818 AD), known as Pir
Pagaro the first, contributed much towards religious
literature in Arabic, Persian and Sindhi. Another poet
of this period was Ruhal Faqir (d.1198 AH/ 1783
AD). He was a follower of Shah Inayat of Jhok. He
was also a mystic poet.
21.1 Besides Gazal, the Persianised new forms were
also coming into fashion. Syed Sabit Ali Shah (1740-
1810 AD), Akhund Gul Muhammad Gul (1809- 1856
AD) of Halla and Sachal Sarmast (1739- 1829 AD) were
the greatest meterists among their contemporaries.
Sami (1750-1848 AD), the prominent vedantic poet
followed the same old style of Chhand.
21.2 Talpur rulers were themselves keenly interested
in literature. Some of them were poets of Persian and
Sindhi languages. Talpurs encouraged literature and
intellectuals. This provided impetus to the literary
activities in Sindh. Various forms of Persian Poetry such
as Ghazal, Mathnavi, Qasido, Marthio and RubaI were
frequently composed in Sindhi. Sayid Sabit Ali Shah,
one of the court poets of Talpurs, composed Marthias,


Nuhas and Salams in Persian, Urdu and Sindhi. He
was patronised by the Talpur rulers (Sadarangani I.H.,
Dr., 1956: 153). Persian words, phrases and idioms,
introduced by Sayid Sabit Ali Shah, were commonly
used by most of his contemporaries.
In view of Moulana Girami:
Not only Sindhi Ghazal developed its
matter, language and form during this era but
Urdu Ghazals were also composed for the first
time in Sindh, in Sindhi and Urdu languages.
Sachal Sarmast, was the first poet in Sindh to
have composed Ghazals in Urdu. (Ghulam
Muhammad Girami :1964: 114)
Sachal (1739-1829 AD) was the most influential
mystical poet of this period. Dr. Schimmel calls him
Attar of Sindh. According to her:
Whereas Shah Latif tried to conceal the secret
of mystical union under complicated symbols, Sachal,
not in vain adopted the pen-name Ashikar (Open)
for his Persian poetry and Sarmast (Intoxicated) for
his writings in general. His verses are fundamentally
nothing but a political commentary of the central
statement of later Persian Sufism, i.e. Hamah Ust
c. ..> , means everything is He (Annemarie
Schimmel Dr. 1974: 21)
22. The poets name Sachal, derived from Sach,
the truth, uttered by Hussain ibn Mansoor Hallaj,
the figure of this Baghdadian martyr-mystic (executed
in 922 AH), who, had visited Sindh in 905 AH, has
inspired almost all the mystics in that part of the sub-
continent who find in him the model of the suffering
lover. (Annemarie Schimmel 1904: 21)
22.1 Sachal was the lyric poet par excellence and a


poet of revolt. He exposed Mullahs and Akhunds etc.
who claimed to be spiritual leaders of Sindhi society.
He believed in no difference of caste, creed and
religion. Dr. Matlani states:
He is known as Sarmast i.e. intoxicated
one. He was more influenced by Mansoor al-
Halaj.
The poetry of Sachal is the result of Be-
Khudi a state in which he knew not, what he
was doing.
Sachal Sarmast composed Kafis, Ghazals,
Baits and Jhulnas. His Kafis have sweetness,
vigour and an ecstatic fervour which are class in
themselves. Like Vise of Shah Latif, the Kafis of
Sachal are sung by all classes of Sindhis.
22.2 Sachal had changed the content of Ghazal.
Instead of the description of love, he made Ghazal the
medium of mystic teachings, and thus he gave it a
new direction. He is deep as well as delicate in
expression. His description and appreciation of
beauty has given him a permanent place in the
history of Sindhi literature. He says:
. . . ,, > . .. |.
_,: _,.> . _,.|. _: .

.

(May I not beloved forget
Though all else let me forget
May he live in mine eyes
Until life in my body as companion lies.)
_,,. |,... _. . |. .

_. . l . _,: _: .

,: .

(O beloved, do not kill me


Listen, O beloved, listen me
It is you alone that I desire
Let others be annoyed with me O Sire)
|. |,> . . _,> .
_,,. _., _> |. |, _l,, .

(Within me in your blessed face,
Within you, truly, have I a place
As in the clouds resides lightening
Thus beloved, within you is my being)
22.3 Qadir Bux Bedil is also a very good Sufi poet.
He is mystic in expression and is very much
influenced by Rumi.
23. Sami, one of the prominent Vedantic poet,
adopted the same old indigenous style of Chhand.
His Slokas, are characterised by restfulness and the
Vedantic urge to cast out Avidya (Ignorance or
Illusion) so as to find illumination of the Spirit. The
central point in Shah, Sachal and Sami is The quest of
the Soul for the union, the journey of the ray back to
the Sun, the bursting of the bubbles and the oneness
of the drop and the Ocean. His belief is that:
I, you and He are but one entity. If A
hurts B, he is but hurting himself.
Sami says:
s .,.. _. ,. ,. .>|. _..
|.. _.. |. _..
|. _.. |..| |.|. _..
_. _.|. ., ... _l: J

.

(In his dream a slave,
In his dream an Emperor, brave


In his dream happiness
In his dream sorrowfulness
In his dream successful
In his dream sinful
All this happened, while in a dream
Awakened, near the Beloved he will seem)
23.1 Sami is one of the very prominent classical
poets of Sindhi language. His poetry is both Vedantic
as well as mystic. Dr Baldev Matlani is of the view
that:
Sami deals primarily with the field of
inner exploration and illumination, making our
hearts whole, transforming us into spiritual
supermen, by realising God within, and putting
us in tune with the infinite.
By initiation and inner striving Sami
found the way to this inner-most centre and
brought out jewels of Truth that met his
quickened insight.(Baldev Matlani Dr., 1998:36)
He was rewarded with the vision of Divinity
and gained perfect inner illumination and developed
poetic powers.
23.2 Sami has given emphasis to humanism,
development of self-realisation and belief in God.
Sami asserts that God is within ourselves,
and that we may, if we so desire, tune overselves
in, with the finite and into the infinite, and
transform the finite into the infinite. Sami says:
_,,. :. _.|. _,> _,,.. _>.
_,.|, |. J. .> ,> .,>
_,.,l ,.., _., |,
. _ ! _,.|.. _,.. .



(The beloved dwells in the palace within,
yet here and there do the unwise grope,
They beg at all doors, forgetful of their origin,
Few discern and seek the selfs repose (Baldev
Matlani Dr.1998:40)
24. Akhund Gul Muhammad Gul (1809- 1856
AD) was the first poet who completed his Diwan in
Sindhi and got it published in litho press from
Bombay. His poetry made Sindhi poets turn to
Persian prosody and Persian imagery until at last the
Sindhi poetry became interlanded with Persian
idioms and allusions the nightingale and the rose,
the moth and the candle, the ruby, wine and the cup-
bearer etc. Prof: Lalsing Ajwani says:
It is doubtful whether the turning or
twisting (and turning) of the Sindhi speech into
Persian prosodic forms brought any substantial
gains to the Sindhi language and that literature.
25. Sindh was subjugated by the British in 1843. To
keep close links with the native people, the foreign
rulers encouraged the local language. Thus Sindhi
language got importance and replaced Persian which
was the court language upto 1843. This change
encouraged many intellectuals and writers. This
change created very good poets of Sindhi and
brought them to light. In this period, the Persianised
forms of poetry- Ghazal, Qasido, Rubai, Marthio,
Mathnavi and Musadas were commonly composed
by the prominent poets, viz: Mir Hassan Ali Khan
Hassan (1824 1909 AD), Ghulam Muhammad Shah
Gada (1824 - 1900 AD), Akhund Muhammad Qasim
(1881-1806 AD), Mir Abdul Hussain Khan Sangi
(1851 1924 AD), Shamsuddin Bulbul (1857-1919


AD) and many others were composing all the
Persianised forms in Sindhi. Amongst them Sangi
excels in Ghazal and over upon this day, no one has
equaled him in this particular field in the entire
history of Sindhi literature. The following couplet,
from one of his Ghazals, is typical of his romantic
poems:
Like lightening the beloved flashes her eyes,
Her lips more sweet than sweetest honey,
Her parthing has eternal made my agony.
26. The language used by Sangi is very attractive
and full of Persian diction and phrases. He describes
nature in such a wonderful manner and in such a
diction and style that one can glance with his inner
eyes whatever the poet depicts. That is why this entire
period (1881 1915 AD), has been named after him
and is called The Sangi age. He is the leader of this
school The Sangi School of Poetry.
The poets of Sangi doctrine have many
characteristics in common. They are rich in
vocabulary, full of Persian and Arabic words, phrases,
similes & metaphors. They are deep in thinking and
very impressive in expression. Most of them
completed their Diwans and have enriched Sindhi
literature so much that it could be compared to that of
any language of Indo-Pakistan sub-continent.
26.1 Mirza Qaleech Begs (1852 1929 AD)
translation of Omar Khayams Rubaiyat, Masrur
and Abojos Musadas on the model of Musadas e-
Hali (a nationalist Urdu Poet) and Hyder Bux Jatois
famous address to the River Indus (Sindhu) are
probably the only poems on Persian models that have
survived.


Sindhi Poetry

1. The most remarkable phase of Sindhi poetry
took its rise when the New Sindh was rediscovered
with the discovery of Mohen-jo-Daro (1926) and the
building of the Sukkar Barrage (1933). The founding
of literary and cultural societies like Sindhi Sahit
Society and Sindh Muslim Adabi Society, and the
introduction of Sindhi in the Bombay University
Syllabi also gave impetus to contemporary literature.
It is a fact that the first world war had not only
influenced social, political and economic conditions of
the world, but alongwith the impact on society, it had
left its mark on literature also. Great changes were felt
in the literary fields of every country. Sindhi also
could not remain aloof from the world-wide change
and influences as such. An encouraging development
can be found in Sindhi literature.
Different Schools of Thought
By and by with the changing social
atmosphere, Sindhi poetry was divided into three
different Schools of Thought.
The first one is called Misri Shah School of
Poetry. It can also be called Tikhur School of Poetry.
This School is the exponent of earlier indigenous
Sindhi form and sufistic ideology, which further
flourished under the patronage of Makhdoom
Talibul-Moula, a great master of expression. Rakhial
Shah, Manthar Faqir Rajar, Hassan Bakhsh Shah,
Maulana Girami, Muhammad Khan Ghani, Arif-ul-
Moula, Maulvi Haji Ahmed Mallah, Sarshar Uqaili,
Hafiz Shah Hussaini, Bekhud Hussaini and Khadim


Sarwari are known as popular poets of this School.
Talibul-Moula wrote deeply personal poems,
revealing his traits, feeling and thought. The main
characteristics of his poetry are its wonderful style,
selection of words and use of words and phrases. He
chose incidents and situations from every day life.
Talibul-Moula is a realist. He appeals, directly to the
readers imagination by writing with great clarity. His
great poems are saturated with the very breath and
spirit of life. Some verses from Talibul- Moulas
poetry are given below for instance:
, _.|> ..> > _>.. |,. ._ .
, _.|> |: _ _., _: . .>|.


, _.|> |s. .> |. |. ,|. _>
, _.|> _. _ ! :,. .

_________
,l .l ,l _. .,
,l .l . _ _. |,, _ _.|s
. |> c,>. |.:: |: ..
,l .l ., c. |Ls .l
_.. |s. |. L. |. |,> .: !|.
,l .l >.s _,. _. s . .

2. The Second School of Sindhi poetry is called
The Thattavi School of poetry. Haji Mahmood
Khadim was the leader of this school in modern
times. He and his followers preferred Persianised
forms. Rose and nightingle, moth and lamp etc. are
the main similes and metaphors of the poetry of this
school. Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil, Hafiz Hayat
Shah, Sobhraj Nirmal Fani, Juma Khan Gharib,


Lekhraj Aziz, Abdullah Abd, Faiz Bakhshiapuri,
Nawaz Ali Niaz, Muzaffar Hussain Josh, Manzur
Naqvi, Ghulam Ahmed Nizami, Lutufullah Badvi,
Mughul Ghulam Sarwar, Abdullah Khuwab,
Abdul Qayoom Saib and others are main poets of
this school of poetry. In view of Shaikh Raz:
One cannot find anything new in their
ideas and expression. The same old style and the
description of the things which are not
commonly seen in Sindh are found in their
poetry (Shaikh Abdul ur- Razaq Raz 1946: 46),
But they, as a matter of fact, were masters in
the art of poetry. They were authority on Persian
prosody, and they were deep in ideas and thoughts.
Their service to the history of Sindhi literature is
commendable.
3. The third School of poetry is known as Bewas
School of Poetry. It is also known as Modern and
Progressive School of Poetry. This School, as a matter
of fact, took its rise about eighty years ago, when New
Sindh was born (1930- 1933 AD) as stated earlier.
Nationalism was beginning to make itself felt. Literary
and intellectual interests had affected literature
directly. The poor people of villages and the
inhabitants of slum areas in towns made the poets of
this School socially and economically discontented.
They preached for the equality of men, and for the
dignity of labour. It can be claimed that Mirza Qaleech
Beg was the pioneer of this School of Poetry. He
introduced new forms of poetry to Sindhi literature.
3.1 Bewas (1885 1947 AD), was a school teacher.


He not only described beauties of nature, and penned
simple songs and lyrics for children, but he also wrote
about the sufferings of the poor. In view of Prof:
Lalsing Ajwani:
Bewas is fresh, original and striking in
expression. He was essentially a realist. He
alongwith many other Sindhi poets, was
influenced by Allama Iqbal.
He was the first modern poet who revealed the
truth about life as he saw it. He had innate instinct to
catch within purview the soul of his generation. His
acquaintance with life was wide and comprehensive.
He was a man of the modern world, mixing freely
with all types of mankind, and he used these
opportunities to observe the peculiarities of human
nature. He had an observant eye, a retentive memory,
judgment to select and the capacity to expound. Thus
his descriptions are very real and brilliant. He says:
|,.. _>l _.! .|,, ._ _>.|_
|,.. _>l _.! .|,.. |.

|,.. _> _.| _ , .|,, ,|
. . _. |, _. .. _.s.
, _ ,,s |. <



3.2 The great achievement of Bewas was to found
a school of poetry. Hyder Bux Jatoi, Khialdas Fani,
Hari Dilgir, Hoondraj Dukhayal, Ram Panjwani,
Gobind Bhattia, Shaikh Ayaz, Shaikh Raz and
others continued their liberal tradition.
4. Hyder Bux Jatois Shikwahh (complaint to
God), written on the model of Allama Iqbal, roused a
storm at the hands of bigots, but his address to the


River Sindhu, and Azadi e- Qaum will continue to
be read when much of Ghazal is forgotten. (Lalsing
Ajwani 1959: 253-268). Jatoi began as a follower of
Sangi School, and then became a revolutionary in
politics as well as in literature, so much so that he
takes the second place with Bewas in the history of
New Sindhi (modern) Poetry. (Lalsing Ajwani 1959:
253-268).
4.1 Another poet of the new era, worth mentioning
is Dewands Azad, whose adoption of Arnolds Light
of Asia under the title Poorab Sandesh (1937) is a
popular reading of Sindhi Verses.
4.2 The influence of this School of Poetry has
continued with certain changes until modern days.
After the independence in 1947, the Sindhi Hindu
intellectuals, prose writers and all the educated
persons had to shift to India, but those who decided
to stay back at their places, particularly the poets of
traditional type, continued to contribute. They
adopted the same diction of Gul i.e. of Sangi period;
same similes and the same old style of nearly a
century, with the exception of a few of them. Most of
them did not want to modify their themes, language
and style; of course, some of them have been
influenced by present changes.
5. The young and progressive poets of this age,
after the independence, under the influence of
Bewas had also done a great service, not only to the
Sindhi literature but also to the Sindhi language. They
created many new words and phrases to express the
depth and delicacy of their thought. In their verses,
one can find a great variety of subjects. The poets of
this School have sung for national awakening,


nationalism, national renaissance, freedom and
internationalism. Sindh, Sindhi people and their
problems are the main features of their theme.
In view of the poets of this School, the
Persianised forms (of Sindhi poetry) are alien, non-
native and non-Sindhi forms, but a study of their
works, reveals that they also could not save
themselves from another foreign (European, French
and Russian) influence. They were being attracted
and are still being attracted by the new imported
ideas, new thoughts and new approach of Western,
Chinese and Russian literature, which are considered
by this group as modern trends, but as Professor
Ajwani puts, this tendency was originated long ago
by the person (probably Sigma Dayaram Gidumal)
whose name is the greatest in the history of Sindhi
Culture and Literature (Lalsing Ajwani 1959:253-268).
5.1 It is a fact that modern Sindhi poetry has been
influenced very much by Western literature. Free
verse is one of the Western forms of literature, which
was introduced in Sindhi literature long ago i.e.
during British days. Diwan Dayaram Gidumal (1857
1927 AD), Savant and Saint, published about more
than hundred years ago, a massive volume of
philosophic verse, Mana ja- Chahbuka, (whips of
the mind). The free form of these verses and their
content had caused a revolution in the taste of more
thoughtful and aspiring Sindhi youth, before
Independence. In his view:
Another influence in popularising free
verse in Sindhi is by a variety of writers in all
kinds of verse and prose, notable among these
translators being: Lalchand Amardinomal (Sada


Gulab), Arjan Israni and Hariram Mariwala
(Phala Chunda) translation of Tagores (Fruit
Gathering). Sadhu T.L. Waswani translated Gita
in free verse. (Lalsing Ajwani 1959: 253-268).
Professor M.U. Malkani translated Tagores
Gitanjali and Gardener in poetic prose. Prof: D.K.
Mansharamani translated Nazrul-Islams Baghi. All
these books brought revolutionary changes in Sindhi
poetry, both in content and form. In view of Dr.
Schimmel:
Qaleech Beg was a good craftsman,
capable to apply every rhetorical device to his
verses, and sincere in his attempt to enrich his
beloved Sindhi with as many forms as possible.
(Annemarie Schimmel 1974: 31).


New Trends in Sindhi Poetry after Partition

1. Just after the partition of India and creation of
Pakistan, a new country for the Muslims of the sub-
continent in 1947, a considerable number of Hindu
poets, prose writers, scholars and intellectuals
migrated to India, and thus a vacuume was created
for sometime. But this condition did not last long.
Many literary societies were reformed for the
encouragement and progress of Sindhi literature.
Prominent amongst them were:
(i) Bazm e- Nizami, Karachi
(ii) Bazm e- Latif, Karachi
(iii) Bazm e- Khalil, Hyderabad
(iv) Bazm e- Bismil, Tando Muhammad Khan
There was a general body of poets and prose
writers of Sindh called Jamiatu- Shora e- Sindh
... .l c,. , which existed under the
presidentship of Makhdoom Muhammad Zaman
Talibul- Moula. This organisation used to arrange
annual literary conferences every year at different
towns of Sindh and brought out a literary monthly
magazine entitled Adab e- Sindh, which proved to
be very advantageous for the beginners as well as for
senior literary persons. This was really an institution
which initiated and infused spirit among many young
and immature youngsters to compose poems.
(Channa Mehboob Ali 1971: 31).
This era of modernism gave birth to new
renaissance in 1946, when Sindhi Adabi Sangat was
founded by Gobid Malhi, Shaikh Ayaz, Ayaz Qadiri,
Shaikh Abdul Razaq Raz and others. Shaikh Ayaz
became the torch bearer of this new renaissance. This
new renaissance, radical in content, was
manifestation and aspiration of people confronting


social problems, particularly the problems of middle
and oppressed classes were rationally discussed. Even
their love poetry was revolt against the feudal
concept of romance.
This trend has continued upto this day. Troll,
Free-verse, Sonnet and all other European forms of
poetry composed by the young poets of Bewas
School, afterwards followers of Progressive School of
Poetry, occupy a very prominent place in modern
Sindhi literature. Besides this, in the present times,
Nazm, Geet, Doho, Sortho, Kafi, Vai and Bait
are also very popular forms of modern and
progressive Sindhi poetry.
2. Shaikh Ayaz was the leading poet after
partition and contributed much towards the modern
and Progressive School of Poetry. He, in view of Mr.
Saleem Memon:
Is supreme among the writers (poets) of
today. He is the first and foremost protagonist of
Western literature, ideologies and social system.
He has created new forms, invented new words
and phrases for Sindhi language. He has given
new life to Sindhi literature, and inspired many
young writers of Sindhi language. He is sung by
the singers. He is alive for ever. (Saleem
Memon 1981:)
But in view of Nabi Bux Khoso,
Ayaz is not the last word in Sindhi
poetry. Sindhi poets have made new experience,
found new diction and expressed new themes.
The important among them, who have also
influenced todays poetry, are: Dr. Tanvir
Abbasi, Shamser al-Hyderi, Niaz Humayuni,
Imdad Hussaini, Anwar Pirzado, Fatah Malik


and so on. (Nabi Bux Khoso).
Ghulam Rabbani Agro, a prominent Sindhi short-
story writer says:
Shaikh Ayaz and other modern poets
have been acknowledged as the great poets of
the present times. A mystical devotion to the
earth and its inhabitants, messages of love and
peace to the war torn world, humanistic
approach to the problems of the modern man,
are some of the distinct aspects of their poetry.
(Ghulam Rabani Agro: 10)
Tanvir Abbasi was another leading poet of this
modern School of Poetry. He has three collections of his
poetry to his credit. He is the best in Nazm and Geet.
Shamsher and Imdad are prolific writers, who have
maintained their artistic fineness. They have been
recognished as masters of Free verse. Anwar Pirzado
and Fatah Malik have written less, but have really
added some masterpieces of art to Sindhi poetry.
3. Fatah, who started as short story writer, has, as
Nabi Bux Khoso explains, imitated rhythmic patterns
of Shaikh Ayaz but he has also preserved his
individuality in diction and content. He is in no way a
romantic poet.
According to Nabi Bux Khoso,
Fatah wrote poetry in the midst of one
most important political movement of Sindhs
History. It was a movement for cultural
renaissance. The movement, naturally, demanded
commitment from literature in clear and
unambiguous terms. Fatah responded to the
demand of time. His poetry is the poetry of
allegiance to the cause of the renaissance of Sindhi
culture. His poetry, however, cannot be termed as
the poetry of sheer propaganda. He, in his


foreword to the collection of his poetry, has himself
expressed his difference with the propagandist
politicians. He believes that the poets are the
conscience of the society; therefore, they look ahead
of the politicians. (Nabi Bux Khoso).
4. The poets of modern and Progressive School
are masters of simplicity, lucidity, rhythm and
versification. They use very simple and sweet similes,
metaphors and other figures of speech, commonly
understood by every class of people. Most of them are
famous for their progressive and socialistic ideas and
thinking. The most prominent poets of progressive
school, after the partition are: Shaikh Ayaz, Abdul
Karim Gadai, Shamsher-al-Hydari, Tanvir Abbasi,
Ustad Bukhari, Shaikh Raz, Imdad Hussaini,
Maulana Girami, Niaz Humayooni, Inayat Baloch,
Bashir Moriyani, Bardo Sindhi, Hidayat Baloch,
Muhammad Khan Majidi, Ibrahim Munshi, Taj
Baloch, Taj Joyo, Khakhi Joyo, Parvano Bhatti, Fatah
Malik, Akash Ansari, Sarvech Sujawali, Anwar
Pirzado, Qamar Shahbaz, Ahmed Solangi, Ahmed
Khan Madhosh, Saroopchand Shad and many
others. They are all known as progressive poets.
4.1 Besides the male poets, many female poets of
both these schools are very well known. Some of the
names are enlisted below:
(a) Ghazal School
(1) Noor Shahin.
(b) Progressive School
Roshan Mughal, Maryam Majidi, Sultana
Wakasi, Sahar Imdad, Suraya Sauz Diplai, Pushpa
Walab, Nazir Naz, Shabnam Moti, Atiya Daud,


Gauri Walab and Zeb Nizamani etc.
Their great vitality in style and in writing, in
expression and delicacy, their vast range of subjects
from patriotism to love, Their forms from Ghazal to
Doho, Geet, Free-verses and Sonnet, have made
them outstanding. Their language is free from all the
non-native elements, and they are fully aware of the
national temperament.
4.2 It does not mean that Ghazal and other
Persianised forms were totally abandoned. This trend
has continued till present days. Not only prominent
poets have continued this trend but the new comers
have also followed them. Some of the names worth
mentioning are:
Dr. Atta Muhammad Hami, Saleem Hallai,
Rashid Ahmed Lashari, Ahmed Khan Asif, Ali
Muhammad Khalidi, Ali Muhammad Majrooh,
Sayid Sardar Ali Shah Zakir, Rahim Bux Qamar,
Qalandar Shah Lakyari and many others.
5. As it has already been mentioned that Sindh
has also remained a centre for Islamic teachings from
the days of the advent of Islam in Sindh. This trend
has continued till today. The poets and writers have
conveyed their message of Islam during every period.
After the influence of European literature,
particularly after the introduction of progressive
literature, and the influence of socialistic ideology, the
young Nationalist poets were also affected by this
ideology. This influence on Sindhi literature
compelled some religious minded writers and poets
to check the anti-Islamic influence on Sindhi
literature. Sayid Sardar Ali Shah was the first person


who came forward and wrote, against these trends in
his newspaper, daily Mehran. Afterwards Rashid
Ahmed Lashari, Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Khalil,
Abdul Qayoom Saib, Mamoor Yousifani, Abdul
Karim Laghari, Karim Bux Nizamani and others
wrote against all the progressive trends. These writers
called themselves rightists group. Muhammad Bin
Qasim Adabi Society was formed to counter the
progressive/ socialistic ideology in Sindhi literature.
This society encouraged publication of Islamic
literature in Sindhi language and has rendered a great
service towards Islamic literature in Sindhi.
Simultaneously another literary and cultural society
called the Tanzeem Fikro o- Nazar was formed
under the leadership of Prof. Asadullah Bhutto. This
society has brought all like minded writers and poets
on one platform against the Progressive writers.
Besides Professor Asadullah Bhutto, Prof. Bashir
Ahmed Shad, Nadeem Ansari, Qalandar Shah
Lakiari, Abdul Karim Taban, Makhdoom Ghulam
Muhammad, Abid Laghri and others were main
workers and writers of this society. This society had
started with a mission of doing a great service to
Islamic literature in Sindhi language. Due to its
Islamist approach this society got tremendous
support, patronage and encouragement from Martial
law Government, particularly from General Zia-ul-
Haq.
6. Thus in conclusion it can be said that Sindhi
poetry is rich in all respects.


Sindhi Prose

1. Like poetry, Sindhi language is also very rich
in prose. But it is not an easy task to find out the
oldest specimen of Sindhi prose of pre- Muslim
period in Sindh. As mentioned earlier, during the
beginning of Habarid rule in Sindh, in the year 270
AH (883 AD), on the request of a native local non-
Muslim ruler of Kashmir, Abdullah bin Umer Habari,
the ruler of al-Mansurah, asked one of the Iraqi
Muslim scholars of Sindh to translate the Holy Quran
and prepare the laws of Fiqh and Sunnah for the non-
Muslim ruler of Kashmir. The Iraqi scholar who was
assigned this job was brought up in Sindh and was a
poet of Sindhi language (Buzrug bin Shahryar
1960:193 and 202).
2. Another important feature of Sindhi literature
is the traces of Sindhi prose of thirteenth or
fourteenth century AD, the specimen of which have
been produced very recently before the researchers.
The first and foremost specimen of Sindhi prose
which have been found are some prayers in Sindhi
prose written by the Ismaili dais and Sufis for the
new converted Ismaili Muslims in Sindh (Allana
G.A. 1977: 4) The instances and specimen of Sindhi
prose as such have been found in poetic prose _ss. :.
style. The purpose of this style of Sindhi prose was
that the followers of Ismaili doctrine could easily
understand and remember them by heart. Some
examples of the prose writings as such are
mentioned below:
.>|. |, ' |, . _> , . |. . >|l . - . . |.,


. c|, . c: . |., . .,, . _l|, . ... _l ,
.>|. |, ' ., _.: , .
,: | ,:|: | ,., | ,., |

., | , | ,l | |. |

.... _l ,
3. Besides these examples, some sayings and
proverbs of Soomra period have also been traced (Ali
Sher Qane, 1967: 69). For instance one of the saying
which is attributed to Shah Launqa son of Sayid
Jamial Shah Girnari, who died in the year 1244
AD/562 AH and is buried at Pir Patho, district Thatta,
Sindh. This saying or other sayings and proverbs can
be claimed as to be the specimen of oral prose style.
Some of these sayings are reproduced below for
instance:
|., | |,. _, .s.l .>|. |,
(Oh, Shah Launqa, the echo of the religion and
worldly affairs.)
Similarly, the following saying is attributed to the
Sheikh Pir Patho.
... > |.. > |., ,, ,

|
(Bravo! Pir Patha! one of the enemies is dead and
other one has fled away).
In view of Dr. N.A. Baloch it is a proverb and
its words are . > .. > ., _,. c, |, .. (Baloch
N.A. 1993: 129).
This is an example of poetic prose. There are
many other proverbs and sayings of thirteenth and
fourteenth century AD, which can also be considered
as the examples of early Sindhi prose. For instance,
Sayied Hussamuddin Shah Rashidi refers to one


saying attributed to Pir Murad Shah Shirazi (he is
buried at Makli) which, according to Sayid
Hussamuddin is in prose form. The Saying is:
|, ' |., , _.,,

(Oh! Brother may God give you long life.)
It is not out of place to quote one saying which
points out at the prosperity, agricultural development
and development of trade and commerce of the cities
of June , and Fateh Bagh |, _.: , during the
days of Mirza Shah Hassan Arghun (d.1555 AD/962
AH). The saying is:
|., _..: _.: ,... |.. _... .
|..., ... ...., c... ... , _...l> .

4. These examples have been quoted from the
oral history of Sindhi literature. But as mentioned
earlier, Sindhi was not only used as a spoken
language, during the pre-Muslims days, but it was
also written in difference scripts, in different areas of
Sindh. These scripts were devised on the pattern of
proto-Nagari or Ardh- Nagari Scripts of Indo-
Pakistan sub-continent. These types of old scripts
were being used by almost all the non-Muslim
communities in Sindh. Among the Muslim
communities, Khuwajas (Khojas) and Memons, were
also using these scripts and were also maintaining
their record for commercial ledgers and books in their
scripts. The Khojas have continued to use Khuwaj-
iki- Sindhi script or Chaliha Akhari or Khojki -
Akhara until now. There are many books written in
this script in which not only ginans (literature of
Ismali Pirs and Sayids) have been preserved but some


literature on religion, devotional hymns, history of
Imams, geography, arithmetic and education etc. is
also available. The books mentioned above have been
preserved by the Ismaili community every where and
also by Ismaili Tariqah Boards and the British Library
in London.
5. Mirza Qaleech Beg records some sentences
from the discourses and address in Sindhi prose by
Shah Abdul Karim of Bulri to his followers and
courtiers. The specimen quoted by Mirza Qaleech Beg
are given below:
_,.|. |,: _> ..|: > .>|., >
_s. |, .>|., _. _ ... _.|. . ,|,.
,|_ |,, > .- .. _, _.. , : .
|,,.! _.: _s.! : .. _> _: _.
_.: _: _,,. .. _, _.. , : _s. _.
, . |.> .s ..,. |_, _ _ _. _.
__ _. _,|. |.. ., _> .
5.1 Mirza Qaleech Beg has translated these
examples from the book written in Persian by Abdul
Raza, one of the disciples of Shah Karim. It, therefore,
cannot be said as to what was the actual syntactical
construction of the sentences spoken by Shah Karim.
It can only be claimed that he must have addressed to
his courtiers in Sindhi Prose.
6. We also perceive the traces of Sindhi prose in a
book written in Arabic by very well known
theologian and a scholar Makhdoom Jaffar Bubakai
(d.1589 AD/998 AH), a contemporary of Shah Abdul
Karim of Bulri. He (Makhdoom Jaffar) wrote a book
on the matters of divorce in Arabic. The title of the


book was ..l l _: sl _>. In this book he used
some Sindhi terms and words for Divorce and one
sentence in Sindhi Prose (Channa M-A 1971: 4).
7. But one example which is very important to
mention here, is the handwritten sale-deed (in Sindhi
Prose) called in Sindhi as kabaro. This sale-deed is
written in Nagari script. This manuscript was
identified by Sirajul Haque Memon in the stacks of
MSS preserved in the British Library, London, and
pointed out in one of his articles, published in
monthly Nain Zindagi in January 1971 (Sirajul Haq
Memon 1971: 23). The said ro' a b a K ' |,| , was
written in 1650 AD/1710 Sambat). The exact words of
the sale-deed are reproduced below:
c,.. 1710 . |. J |. , : ,. _,.- ,
|, : |>, . _:|>l _.|. ., .,, _..|. >..
|.l _:|,:, _. : |,.. _. _,.|, _.|. :: _:
|,, _. 101 ..,, _. . , . _,: _,>. .
_> > ..,, c,> , .. ..| . _. |. |. _., ,
,>l |,| . _. _,, _, _,>. , _. _>.
|, , _:|,.. _. _>.. ..: _:|,:, ,
.. .

.s , l|. , , .. .. . _> ..|. ,, |,|

_,.|,. : _>.

. _. _,>. ., ,,

.s , .. .. .
_:|,.. _. c. . |. _. , |,. . _. : . ., _,.,
. . |> |, , ., _, (The words in brackets
denote the present forms of those words)
7.1 Shri Jaramdas Daulatram found a book from a
temple mathu of Saurashtra. This book is written by
Sipra, the Minister of Raja Rawal. Abu Saleh, the


Arabic Scholar translated it from Sindhi into Arabic
and Abul-Hassan brought it in Persian in the year
1026 AH/A.D.
8. Similarly during Shah Latifs days (1689-1752
AD), all the scholars, theologians and religious
preachers might have written in Sindhi prose but the
specimen of the prose style as such is not traceable.
The important dialogue between Shah Latif and
Khawaja Mohammad Zaman of Luwari Sharif (1731-
1774 AD) would necessarily be in Sindhi prose but it
is recorded nowhere. Dr. Daudpota quotes some
sayings of Khawaja Mohammad Zaman in prose.
They were, as a matter of fact, translated and
recorded into Arabic language by Miyan Abdul
Rahim Girhori (d. 1778 AD). (Muhammad Siddique
Memon 1953: 206)
8.1 Miyoon Abdul Rahim Girhori himself was a
great scholar and a poet. His sayings quoted by Dr.
Daudpota are very important specimen of Sindhi
prose of that time. For instance:
,l , _l _..|, : _l> >., .
, _ _.|, , _ _,. _:
, | _.: .>.: | | |: s :|


, | , _>|, . > , c., l.
.> , _. _,. . . _. _ c., _., l.

, , : l. l. |, ,|,, ., |.: >:
, _. .,. _., _ , _.
8.2 During the same period, the name of Akhund
Azizullah (1746-1824 AD) of Matiari is also worth
mentioning. He translated the Holy Quran into Sindhi


prose. The composition of the sentences he has used
in his Sindhi prose, is based on that of the original
Arabic text which is termed as Mulaeen Sindhi (The
Sindhi prose style used by Mullas in Madrasahs). The
specimen from his translation is given below:
|.. ,. |. _,l.. .,.. . _>.> |...
_,s>. _ _. _L. .> .. ,. |. .-

.l, _,> .. _.. _ .- c .,.. |. _. _

|. _: |. ,|. _,> :|, |.. , _,> ., _>

_>, _:, .- |. _l. .
(Makhdoom Muhammad Zaman Talibul
Maula 1962: 15)
9. The Talpur period (1782-1843 AD) must also
have produced Sindhi prose writers. Burton mentions
some names of books written by Sindhi scholars in
Sindhi prose. The names of those books are: (Burton
R.F. 1851: 89).
(i) Saif al- Malook l.l ,,.
(ii) Hikayat al Salhin _,>l|.l |,|>
(iii) Sao- Masaila ... .
We also get the name of Khalifa Mahmood
Nizamani of Karhyo Gahnwar who, in his book
Majma alfayuzat |.,sl _.,. , , originally written
in Persian, has used some sentences and proverbs of
Sindhi languge. One of the proverbs he has used:
_,,, _. |, .. _,, .. > _,,, _, ,,

Sindhi Prose of Early British Period

1. The prose writing in Sindhi language, in real
sense, commenced from the last days of the Talpur
rule (1782-1843 AD) and early days of British rule
(1843-1947 AD) in Sindh.
1.1 In the beginning there are not so many works
which prove originality and artistic value of the
writers. The reason is quite obvious. However, the
best prose of the earlier period of British rule shows
that the writers gained a very good command over
their native tongue. Sindhi was made an official
language in 1854. This action on the part of British
officers promoted literature of Sindhi in general, and
Sindhi prose in particular.
2. The prose writing in early British days has
been divided in various ages as under:
(i) Nadiram age:
2.1 Most of the works of this age (Nandiram) were
translations and adaptations. The translation of
Tarikhe- Masoomi by Divan Nandiram, is an
example of Sindhi prose of early days of the British
period. It is written in vigorious and colloquial style.
(Muhammad Siddiq Memon 1959: ) The language was
extended and adorned by borrowing vocabulary from
Arabic, Persian and Hindi.
2.2 Another translation into Sindhi was that of the
translation of Gospel of Saint Mathews. It was
translated by the Missionaries of Searampore. Its new
translation was done by Captain George Stack, and


was printed in Devanagari script in 1850. Another
book of Gospel of Saint John was translated by Mr.
Burnes in 1853 and was printed in present Arabic-
Sindhi (Naskh) script. (The Principles of National
India 1896: 100)
An example of Burns written Sindhi prose
(and the script) is given below:
_. > ,.., , |,, > _: | .- .. |: |_
_.. .. c . _. .>|., _. .. , |., c, _..
_l ... ..,.> ., .
3. Other translators of this period were: Munshi
Udharam, Pribhdas, Sayid Miran Mohammad Shah
(the senior), Qazi Ghulam Ali, Miyan Ghulam
Hussain, Diwan Nawalrai and others. They translated
various prose works on history, geography, ethics,
philosophy, education and books on many other
aspects from Urdu, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and
Persian.
3.1 Official writing system for Sindhi language
was adopted under the orders of the Governor of East
India Company in 1854. The writers were encouraged
by the British Government by offering prizes for good
translations. Sir Bartle Frere himself took keen interest
in this work. This attitude promoted many new
writers to write in Sindhi prose. Thus the beginning
of the British period has been called The period of
Translations. (Allana G.A. 1977:9-12) The most
important books translated during this period were:
S.No. Title Translator/
Author
Year of
Publica
tion



1 Bbnamo.|. |,

Diwan
Nandiram
1853
2 Bhambhe
Zamindar ji Glh
.l|, _ ..,. _.,
Mian Ghulam
Hussain
1854
3 Tarikh e-
Masoomi
_... _,|.
Diwan
Nandiram
1854
4 Essapa jun
Akhnyun
,:|: .,
Diwan
Nandiram
1854
5 Sudhature ain
Kudhature ji Galh
.l|, _ . . . ..
Syed Miran
Mohammad Shah
(the senior)
1855
6 Mufid-us- Sabiyn
|,,.l .,s.
Syed Miran
Mohammad Shah
(the senior)

7 Sindhi Sarf o- Nahv
>. .. ...
Mian
Mohammad
1860
8 Tarikh-e- Sindh
... _,|.
Seth Aloomal 1862
9 Columbus ji
Tarikha
_,|. _ _,.l
Kauromal 1862
10 Bambai khate ji
Geography
_::| _ _.|: _.,.,
Guradinomal 1868
11 Raselas ,. Udharam 1868
4. Original writings, compilations and editing
work was also encouraged during the early British
days. Dr. Trumpp compiled Shah jo Risalo and got it


printed from Germany in 1866. Besides this work, he
also wrote a Grammar of the Sindhi language, which
was published in 1872. Both these works are
considered as monumental works in Sindhi.
4.1 Captain George Stack was another prominent
Sindhologist, who not only wrote a Grammar of
Sindhi Language but he also wrote five stories in
original Sindhi prose form and got them printed in
Devanagari script as an addenda with his Sindhi
Grammar. He also got published a Sindhi-English
Dictionary in 1879.
4.2 Afterwards a good number of books were
written not only in Sindhi poetry but on prosody,
criticism and lexicography etc. in Sindhi prose. Some
of these books were:
S. No.
Title Author Year
(1) Mizan-al-Shir
.l ,.
Sayid Fazil
Shah
1875
(2) Diwan-e-Fazil
_.|: ,
Sayid Fazil
Shah
1875
(3) Diwan-e-Qasim
.|: ,
Akhund
Mohammad
Qasim

1875
(4) Sindhi-English
Dictionary
... ..; _l>.
Mirza Sadiq Ali
Beg
1875
4.3 In 1890 a new edition of Bible was printed in
Sindhi from London. The specimen of prose style
used in this book is given below:
,,_ .,.. . ..l _,. ... .|..s .. . 1890


|: _.,.l. .|, _.,.l. |: |., , |: __ .l _,|,

.|, _,|, . .|, :|,l, |: ., .|, ., |: _,|, .

_:|> _ _> _>. .. ,. l .> _., _,.. .,

.. |.> |,. .. .: |, |_ , > ,. |. ,., .>. ,. |.

_> _. |. c,, |. .sl _> ,. ., .
5. The old Commissioner of Sindhs record at
Karachi had got the original correspondence in Sindhi
language since 1851. Perhaps this whole record has
been shifted to Sindh Archives, Karachi. The
specimen of the style of writing is given separately.
The most promising characteristics of the Sindhi
prose at the beginning of this period are directness,
vigour and simplicity. For instance:
_>.. ., _. |: |. ,. _ ,. _ _>.
_: _.. _> _ .. , _., | _.-

., _>|: _ . _.|, _.,, , _.

|: _, , _,.|,: _,>|,. .,. _,.|,._
_,.|,|.: . |: _. _.. _, ... _,,
,:, c, _,.., _: _: _. .
_:. : > _: _.. _s,l- |: ., .l|, _>
_.|_ ... .>|, _., , |. _ .,:
_: .,, _. >. _.|.: > ... , |, !

_.|.: : _ _,, ., |. __, _ :

.: _l .
5.1 Akhund Lutufullah is recognised as a master
in poetic prose style of Sindhi. Some instances from
his book are given below:
|. c>: ., _ ..|. |,- |.l c:, _.,, _..
|. , _ |,> _ll , |:


_.|> _ :, , s. _>. .,

_,l, >.- ! c. _,.., _, _. |...

,. ... .> _ |. . |.: _ _> .. .,.

|,>,, _. l|s |>. l| _ |, >: |,- _,..,

_ |.s _. _,.. |L.. |.. ..,.|.: |.
,|.: |. cs. |. |L- .
5.2 Alongwith local writers who were busy in
writing Sindhi prose, there were many European
officers and Missionaries who were also enriching the
literature of Sindhi language. Dr Trumpp, Mr.
Captian Shirt, Captain George Stack, Mr. Burnes, Mr
Wathen, and R.F Burton were amongst those foreign
scholars who compiled many books such as Shah Jo
Risalo. They also wrote books on Grammar of Sindhi
language and prepared Dictionaries (English-Sindhi
and Sindhi-English) respectively. Christian
Missionaries on the other hand were busy in
translating the Holy Bible in Sindhi. This whole
period, as stated, by Professor Mangaram Malkani,
can be called the Period of Amusements and
Learning. (Mangaram Malkani 1954: 14)


Qaleech Beg Period

1. Between 1864 and 1910 the Muslims of Sindh
alongwith those of other parts of Pak-o-Hind sub-
continent were influenced by Mohammadan
Association, a movement organised by Sir Sayid
Ahmed Khan. This movement resulted in the
awakening of the Muslims for learning. Many
newspapers and magazines were published as a
result of this movement. In Sindh, Sindh
Mohammadan Association, was formed by Hassan
Ali Effendi. Sindh Madrassatul-Islam was founded by
this Association. This association then started
publishing a newspaper under the title Muawin
|. , , and then it was followed by Muinul-Islam
.! _,. , in 1881.
The establishment of first printing press in
Sindh in 1885, also promoted Sindhi prose. Moreover
establishment of printing presses gave new impetus
to short story writing in prose. It played a
considerable role in the evolution of the same.
Because of cheap printing, prose writing became very
popular among the masses who usually took keen
interest in the literary form as such.
1.1 The promulgation of Education Act by the
British Government, opening of schools and the
decisions for imparting education in ones mother-
tongue, rapidly produced an enormous reading
public. The low cost of printing of books, availability
of magazines and newspapers, increased the demand
for books, containing short stories, essays and other
forms of literature. The result was that publication of
books was increased manifold.


1.2 In 1882 the Government of Sindh sponsored
Sindh Sudhar .. ... , , a newspaper in Sindhi,
under the editorship of Mirza Sadiq Ali Beg and
Sadhu Hiranand. Many articles and poems were
published in this newspaper, Publication of this
newspaper also promoted writing of Sindhi prose
considerably.
1.3 In 1884 Sadhu Hiranand, Sadhu Nawalrai,
Bulchand Kodumal and Rishi Dayaram Gidumal
jointly set up Sudhar Sabha |. .. , , a literary
society, and started a monthly magazine, Sarswati
_... , under its auspices. This magazine brought to
light most of the short story writers, essayists,
novelists, play-writers and poets. Many social, ethical,
educational, religious and informative articles and
essays were published in it. Rishi Dayaram Gidumal
(1875- 1927 AD), Diwan Kauromal (1844-1916 AD),
Mirza Qaleech Beg (1853-1929 AD) and others were
regular writers of Sarswati magazine.
1.4 By this time, the conditions of the world were
changing. New knowledge and old dogmas came into
fierce conflict. The systems and values of life were
shaken. Traditional landmarks were swept away.
Intelligent men and women of all classes were deeply
stirred by the spirit of speculation and unrest.
As already stated, the movement launched by
Sir Sayid Ahmed Khan also influenced the literary,
social and political activities in Sindh. This movement
gave birth to many magazines and newspapers, in
which almost all the forms of Sindhi literature were
being published. The most popular literary forms of
this period were novels, dramas, shor-stories and essays.
This period of Sindhi literature was, as a


matter of fact, the period of Promotion and
Development of Sindhi prose. Though, during this
period, great developments and achievements were
made on the side of poetry also, but Sindhi prose also
progressed tremendously. Novel as a form of Sindhi
prose had thrusted itself into the first rank.
2. Four prominent figures of this period need to
be mentioned as Four pillars of Sindhi literature on
which the edifice of Sindhi prose rests. They were:
Mirza Qaleech Beg, Diwan Kauromal Chandanmal,
Diwan Dayaram Gidumal and Diwan Parmanand
Mewaram (1865-1938 AD).
Mirza Qaleech Beg was the pioneer of many
forms of Sindhi prose. He was the versatile genius
and proficient writer - and who in term of Dr.
Daudpota is Doyen of modern Sindhi literature
(Channa Mehboob Ali 1971:10). He attempted on
every literary aspect and wrote about four hundred
books, original as well as adaptations and
translations. He contributed in almost all the branches
of Sindhi literature- prose as well as poetry.
Mirza Qaleech Beg began his voluminous and
encyclopaedic work with his translation of Bacans
Essays c.> !|s. , in 1877. He is the first Sindhi
writer who introduced Novels, Dramas and
Essays in Sindhi literature.
2.1 The first novel written in Sindhi language by
Mirza Qaleech Beg was Dilaram ! , and the first
drama in Sindhi language, he wrote was Laila-
Majnu .,. ,l , which was published in 1880. His
critical work on Shah Lateef may also be reckoned as


pioneer work of scholarship in Sindhi. He compiled
Dictionaries of Shah Latif. He wrote on religion,
philosophy, sociology, economics, agriculture,
medicine, ethics etc. Because of rendering such a
unique service to Sindhi literature, Mirza Qaleech Beg
may be called the Maker of Sindhi Literature in
general and of Sindhi prose' in particular. In view of
Dr. Schimmel:
His novel Zeenat, written in 1890,
contains some points which are far more
modern than most of the modernist approaches
made half a century later, and although the plot
of this novel in its second half is not very
convincing. Zeenat deserves a place of honour in
the history of Muslim educational literature.
(Annemerie Schimmel Dr., 1974: 31)
2.2 Qaleech Begs activities cover a period in
which the Indians, mainly the Muslims, became more
and more aware of their role in world politics.
(Annemarie Schimmal Dr. 1974: 31)
3. Another name that is worth mentioning
alongwith Mirza Qaleech Beg is that of Diwan
Kaurmal Chandanmal (1844-1915 AD). He was a
great reformer, a social worker, Brahmosamajist and
an educationist. He began his literary career with a
piece Pako-Paha ., , , which he wrote in 1865 in
favour of female education. He translated books mostly
for children. His popular books are:
(i) Columbus ji Tarikha _,|. _ _,.l
(ii) Arya Nari Charitra . |. |,
(iii) Radha Rani _: :
He also wrote dramas. His translated drama
Ratnawali _l|.. , occupies an important place in


Sindhi literature. Another valuable contribution to
Sindhi literature was his diction of Samia-ja-Sloka
l. | _.|. , , published in 1885 AD.
4. Rishi Dayaram Gidumal (1857-1927 AD) was
the third pillar of Sindhi prose. He, in collaboration
with Sadhu Nawalrai, Sadhu Hiranand and Diwan
Bulchand Kodumal established in 1890 AD, a literary
society, called Sudhr Sbha |. .. , . He was a
regular writer for Sarswati _... , magazine.
Diwan Dayaram was a great reformer, a social worker
and a Yogi. Like Diwan Kauromal, he worked for the
spread of female education, and emphasised it by
writing books on this subject. His introduction to
Mirza Qaleech Begs translation of Rubaiyat Umer
Khayam |,- .s |,s|, , and Kauromals Samia-ja-
Sloka l. | _.|. , is a master piece of prose style in
Sindhi language.
5. The fourth pillar was Diwan Parmanand
Mewaram (1865-1938 AD), known as Addison of
Sindh for his essays and moral apologies. He was a
successful translator, editor, lexicographer and an
essayist. He was the editor of Jot , , a literary
magazine, which was started at the end of twentieth
century, and which presented the Sindhi reading
public one of the two best collections of essays Gula
Phula _: _: , in 1882 in Sindhi. His translation of
Following of Christ ,, _ c. , is a masterly
work in prose. His lexicon of the Sindhi language
published in 1910 AD is still considered as the best
work on that subject. He brought to light another
essayist, Wadhumal Gangaram, who wrote essays on
special problems of Sindhi society.
Another writer whose name will be


remembered alongwith the name of Diwan Dayaram
Gidumal is Diwan Bulchand Kodumal. He was a
regular writer for Sarswati. Diwan Bherumal has
given some of his essays in the anthology of his
essays and has named it Heeray joon Kannyn
,. ,> , . This book was published in 1930.
6. Shamsuddin Bulbul (1857-1919 AD), the editor
of Muawin |. , newspaper, was also a prominent
writer of this period. Like Mirza Qaleech Beg, he also
adopted a new prose style, and inspired a new spirit
in Sindhi prose.
7. Folk-lore has remained integral part of Sindhi
literature from the fifth century A.D. as stated in the
beginning. Fables and fairy tales were also
appreciated by the readers during this period.
Akhund Lutufullah (1842-1902 AD) translated Gule-
Khandan ..- _: , from Fasanah-Ajaib
,.|,s ..|.: , and Diwan Sobhraj Daswani wrote
Sabha- jo Singhar |>.,. |. , in 1894 AD. Haji
Imam Bux Khadim (1861-1918 AD), a school teacher
and a poet, also contributed in this field. The style
they have used is rhythmic in construction and in
poetic- prose form.


Evolution and Development of New Trends
in Sindhi Literature (1914-1930 AD)

1. The last two decades of nineteenth century and
early three decades of twentieth century actually saw
a great development in Sindhi literature. Many
dramas and novels were written during this period.
Dramatic societies were formed for the
encouragement of Sindhi drama. D.J. Sindh College
Amateur Dramatic Society and the Rabindranath
Literary and Dramatic Club were formed. These
dramatic societies arranged for the translation of
plays of Shakespeare and other dramatists of Europe.
2. From the deep study of the available record, it
is obvious that from 1864 up to 1914 many novels,
dramas, essays and short stories were written in
Sindhi. Some of the most important titles are:

S. No.
Title of the Book Author Literary
form
(1) Laila Majnu
.,. _l,l
Mirza Qaleech Beg Drama
(2) Nal Damenti
_..,. _.
Master Jethanand - do -
(3) Khurshid .,.- Mirza Qaleech Beg - do -
(4) Ratnawali _l|.. Kauromal
Chandanmal

- do -
(5) Drupadi .,

Loksing - do -
(6) Mohan Tarika
||. _>.
Lilaramsing - do -
(7) Raja Harish - do - - do -


Chandra
.. > |
(8) Surjan Radha
: _.
- do - - do -
(9) Zeenat c., Mirza Qaleech Beg Novel
(10) Mahjoor ,. Chandanmal - do -
(11) Chandra .. Chandanmal Drama
3. During this period of history, many socio-
political and economic movements were started. The
partition of Bengal in 1905, and the Home Rule
Movement in 1916, gave birth to many Sindhi
magazines, newspapers and periodicals. Dr Schimmel
is of the view:
After the partitioning of Bengal in 1905,
the Sindhi too, began to take more
enthusiastically part in cultural activities on a
large scale. Muslims and Hindus both did their
best to elevate Sindhi cultural life- from among
the many authors who flourished from 1905 to
the beginning of World War-II, only a few can
be singled out. (Annemarie Schimmel 1974: 31)
3.1 As stated earlier, these movements sponsored
many magazines and newspapers. Pribhat |,, ,
(1891), Alhaq _>l , (1900), Musafir :|.. , (1901),
Mata |.|. , (1905), Bahar-eAkhlaq - |, , (1906)
and Jaffar Zitli _l. s , (1909) were the most
important from amongst them, in which short-stories,
essays and articles on social, ethical, educational,
religious and political problems were published.
These literary organs brought to light many poets and
prose writers of elegant diction. Prominent amongst
them were: Jethamal Parsram, Lalchand


Admardinomal, Lilaram Watanmal, Bherumal
Meharchand Advani, Mellaram Mangatram
Waswani, Mohammad Hashim Mukhilis, Sayid Kazi
Assadullah Shah Fida, Hakim Fateh Mohammad
Sehwani, Maulana Din Mohammad Wafai and Sheikh
Abdul Majid Sindhi.
The aftermath of the First World War gave
birth to different political and social movements and
various other activities which left their traces on
Sindhi literature. This period (From 1914 and
onwards) is very rich in lyrics, dramas, fiction and
narratives. The literature produced during this period
is full of national, social, political and other
aspirations of Sindh in particular and of Sindhi folk in
general. This era initiated many literary societies.
4. Later on in 1914, Diwan Jethmal Parsram (d.
1948 AD) and Lalchand Amardinomal (d. 1954 AD)
established a literary society with the name The
Sindhi Sahit Society >|. ... _..|.. c , . Both of them
were the most active personalities in the field of
Sindhi literature. The main function of this Society
was to publish novels and anthologies of those short-
stories in which various retrogressive customs of the
society were exposed and condemned. This society
was active upto 1920. A good number of novels,
dramas and short-stories were got translated and
published under the auspices of this society. Jethmal
Parsram translated into Sindhi Maeterlincks Mona
Vanna, Geothes Faust and Shakespeares Hamlet.
Besides these, he translated, the life of the Buddha
and many other books in Sindhi language.
4.1 Another renowned prose writer of modern
period was Prof. Naraindas Malkani. He was the


author of original books in various fields of Sindhi
prose. Following works are to his credit:
(i) Anardanah .. |.
(ii) Gothani Chahra _:|.,
(iii) Mirani Sindhri ... _:,.
His style is graceful, delicate and full of
proverbs and idioms of daily use.
5. Besides him other prominent writers of this
society were: Lalchand Amardinomal, Principal
Buluchand Dayaram, Parmanand Mewaram, Tejumal
Shahani, Leelaram Vilayatrai and Mirza Qaleech Beg.
Other prominent writers of this age were: Bherumal
Mahrchand Advani, Melaram Mangatram Waswani,
Mohammad Hashim Mukhlis, Hakim Fateh
Mohammad Sehwani and many others. The famous
novelists of this period were:
S. No.
Name of Novelist Title of Novel
(1) Lilaram Wilayatrai Dildar Dil Nigar
|>. .l
(2) Principal Shahani Taran jo Abhyas
|,, |.
(3) Hiranand Mirchand Rozan Rose

(4) Nanik Mirchandani Nazik Gulra
l: |.
(5) Guli Sadarangani Ithad
|>.
(6) Hari Hingorani Lahandar siju
_. ..l
(7) Prof. Bhambani

Pap ain Pakizagi
_:,|, |,


- do -
(8) - do - Malhan _l|.
(9) - do - Ghariban jo Warso
. _,,s
6. (a) Socio-political and economic movements
launched in wake of Second World War brought to
light many scholars, writers and intellectuals. For
example Khilafat Movement and Anne Besant
Movement led many Hindu and Muslim writers to
propagate their views through magazines and
newspapers which were published for this purpose.
Muhammad Hashim Mukhlis, Hakim Fateh
Muhammad Sehwani, Maulana Din Muhammad
Wafai, Shaikh Abdul Majid Sindhi and many
others were very successful editors of this time.
Hindwasi (1917), al-Amin (1918), Bharatwasi (1918).
Ruha Rihan (1924), al-Jame (1925) and al-Minar
(1930) were the famous newspapers and magazines of
Khilafat Movement era.
Nain- Sindhi Library ,.! ... _,.. , , a
literary organisation, founded in 1920 under the
guidance of Jethmal Parsram, published about fifty
books of a very high standard. He (Jethmal)
established another literary society and named it The
Sasto-Umdo Sahit Mala !|. c>|. ..s ..... , .
After 1923 many other literary and dramatic
societies and publishing companies were established.
Sundar Sahitya, Sikh Tract, Sindh Muslim Adabi
Society, Ratan, Kahani, Bharat Jivan, Kauromal
Sahitya Mandal and Rabindranath Dramatic and
Literary Society were very prominent among them.
Melaram Mangatram Waswani, Chuharmal, Parumal,
Jagat Advani, Muhammad Siddiqui Memon,


Mohammad Siddique Musafar, Hari Sundar and Dev
Sabhani were the main writers for these societies.
(b) The Second World War brought misery all
around. It destroyed many systems and values.
Europe had witnessed the war and had gone through
its horrors. The writers of the West could successfully
depict the crippled and confused human mind after
the Second World War (Professor Popati Hiranandani
1983: 198).
The writers of the sub-continent studied the
trends prevalent in the literature of the West and
were influenced much by them. Besides, the
discoveries in the fields of science and technology,
after the World War Second, introduced new concepts
about life, politics, religion, morality and society.
These changes affected the social life tremendously.
The writers of Sindhi language could not keep
themselves away from these changes (Professor
Popati Hiranandani 1983:198).
(c) This was the period in which every scholar,
poet, thinker and man of letters kept himself was very
busy in writing or doing some research work. Dr. Gur
Buxani was busy in working on his scholarly work of
Shah jo Risalo. Mirza Qaleech Beg, Professor
Bherumal, Rochiram, Prof. Ajwani and Assanand
Mamtora were interested in writing novels, dramas,
biographies and essays. Hakim Fateh Muhmmad
Sehwani, Maulana Din Muhammad Wafai and some
other Muslim scholar were contributing to Islamic
literature and Muslim Nationalism. Besides these
Jethmal Parsram, Lalchand Amardinomal, Ahmed
Chagla, Shamsuddin Bulbul, Dr. Daudpota,
Muhammad Saleh Bhatti, Khanchand Daryani,
Usman Ali Ansari, Professor Naraindas Bhambhani,


Hakim Agha, Naraindas Malkani, Professor
Mangharam Malkani, Muhammad Siddique
Musafar, Mirza Nadir Beg, Professor Ram Panjwani,
Manohardas Kauromal, Shewaram Lala and Ali Khan
Abro were the prominent scholars, critics, essayists,
novelists and play-writers of this period. They almost
made use of every form of Sindhi prose. Novels,
dramas, essays, short-stories and Islamic literature
written during this period is worth reading.
Most of these writers were original and
creative writers. Mirza Qaleech Beg, Shamsuddin
Bulbul and Naraindas Bhambhani were the pioneers
of the new school of diction and style. They discarded
the old style of poetic-prose _,.. _ss. :. , based on
Arabic and Persian prose pattern, and switched over
to the new and modern and natural style. They
modernised the sentences and made Sindhi prose
very popular.
(d) Dr. Gur Buxani and Dr. Daudpota
introduced the technique of modern research
methodology and critical appreciation of literature.
The monumental editions of Shah-jo-Risalo edited in
three volumes by Dr. Gur Buxani and Shah Karim
Bulria- jo- Risalo edited and printed by Dr. Daudpota
and Agha Sufis edition of Sachal, Nagranis edition
of Sami, Parmanands English to Sindhi and Sindhi
to English dictionaries are the most important works
of this period.
Jethamal Parsram was a social worker,
Sufi and Brahmosamajist. Shahjun- Akhanyun
,:|: .>|. , , Hamlet and Mona-Wana |. |.. , are
his very valuable works in Sindhi prose. Bherumal
(d.1950) was a philologist, a grammarian, a historian,
a novelist and a critic. He had a sound sense of


criticism, an enormous capability for work and love
for traveling. He edited Johar Nasr :. > , , the first
anthology of Sindhi essays. He wrote Latifi Sair
,. _s,Ll , on the travels conducted by Shah Lateef.
He translated a number of books including
detective stories. He wrote Sindhi Bolia- ji- Tarikha
_,|. _ _l, ... , , Qadeem Sindh ... ,.: , and
Sindhje- Hindun ji Tarikha _,|. _ ..> _ ... , .
These are his best works in Sindhi prose. Bherumal is
very famous for his elegant diction. He is quite simple
to be understood by all. His works are free from
artificial phraseology.
(e) Lalchand Amardinomal is regarded as the
great old man of Sindhi letters. He is a very successful
novelist, a dramatist and an essayist. He has written
mainly on the subjects concerning daily life of
common folk. He has used colloquial and idiomatic
language. His writings and style inspired many a
writers such as Assanand Mamtora, the author of
Shair s|. , , a romantic novel containing stirring
passages, Shewak Bhojraj, the author of Ashirwad
,. , , Dada Shyam |,. , , Ram Panjwani, the
author of Padma |.., , and Qaidi .,: , , and
Mangharam Malkani. (Lalsing Ajwani 1959: 265). His
influence is seen even on essayists like Naraindas
Malkani, the author of Anardanah .. |. , and Tirath
Vasant, the author of Chingun >.. , (Lalsing
Ajwani 1959: 265).
(f) Professor Naraindas Bhambhani, Khanchand
Daryani and Melaram Mangatram Waswani have
drawn vivid picture of the miseries of poor who had
nothing to eat, nothing to drink and nothing to wear or


no place for their shelter.
(g) Novel as a form of literature had emerged
foremost in the literary field in this period. Professor
Naraindas Bhambhani and Melaram Manmatram
Waswani are the best novelists of this age. Bhanbhani
was a social reformer. He tried much to bring a
change in the customs of the Sindhi society. He
depicts the life of the lower and middle classes with
imagination. As a satirist and an observer of manners,
he easily excels his contemporaries: Mirza Qaleech
Beg, Melaram Waswani, Dr. Gur Buxani, the author
of Noor Jehan |. , , and Khaliq Morai, the author
of Sundri ... , .
Bhambhanis characters are not mere types, but
they live too actively. They are drawn with a vivid
pen. Every sly line reveals some aspect of character.
The description of each man and woman, and the
atmosphere depicted reads like a page from a memoir.
He describes them in the most natural genius. His
characters are not puppets. They are alive and
specimen of the twentieth century men and women.
Bhambhani and his contemporary novelists
knew their characters, and drew them from personal
observation. They knew the people. Bhambhani drew
them for his readers with all their little tricks and
mannerism and external peculiarities.
Some of the famous novels written during this
period are:

S.No.
Title Publisher
(1) Azadia-ja- Upasika
.|, |

Ratan Sahitya
Mandhal
(2) Narveema Devi , |.,. - do -
(3) Amrata Jahira Mitha Bola - do -


, |.. .
(4) Chandar Shekar (Historical
Novel) ,. ..
- do -
(5) Tara Sundri ... |. Sundar
Sahitya
(6) Parastana jo Shahizado
. |..,
- do -
(7) Chambelia ji Sugand
..,. _ _l,,.
- do -
(8) Manorma |... - do -
(9) Har-jita c, |> - do -
(10) Sada Suhagan _,|. .. Ashtia Sahit
Mandli, Karachi
(11) Gora : - do -
(12) Jivan Kala , - do -
(13) Kumal Kamal _. _. - do -
(14) Jurtu Shahzado . . - do -
(15) Zindagia jo Pahriyun Safar
s. ,, _:..
- do -
Similarly the novels of Muhammad Usman
Diplai and others are worth mentioning.
(h) Drama is another form of Sindhi prose. In
Sindhi literature, like novel, modern drama came as a
non-native (foreign) form of prose. Mirza Qaleech Beg
was the pioneer of this form of Sindhi prose. Laila-
Majnu .,. _l,l , was his first drama which he
translated into Sindhi in 1880 AD. However, upto 1894
many dramas were written and published in Sindhi
language. Khurshid .,.- , , Raja Harish Chandr |
...> , , Nal Damenti _..,. _. , , Drupadi ., , , Mohan
Tarika ||. _>. , and Surjan-Radha : _. , were of


great merit but none of them was shown on the stage.
It is already mentioned that two dramatic
societies, D.J. Sindh College Amateur Dramatic
Society which started in 1913, and the Rabindranath
Literary and Dramatic Society established in 1923,
staged many Sindhi dramas. Some of them were:
Shah-Elia |,l, .>|. , , Husna-Dildar |..> .l , ,
Shahzado Bahram , . , , Farebi Fitnu
..: _,,: , , Nek Anjam |,. ,. , , Pati Shewa
,. _., , and Prem Bhagti _.,, ,, , . There was
another dramatic society under the name Nasarpur
Pardesi Sarswat Brahman Dramatic Society. This
society staged dramas as mentioned below:
(1) Durangi Dunya |,. _>.
(2) Premi Patang c.., _.,,
(3) Bewafa Qatil _.|: |:,,
(4) Kalajuga- ja- Kalura l | ,,l
(5) Kishor .
(6) Mohini _.>.
Rabindranath Tagore literary and Dramatic
Societys most successful production was Umar
Marui _.|. .s , , written by Lalchand Amardinomal.
The theme of poetical passage was taken from Shah
Lateefs verses. The main active worker of this club
was Khanchand Shamdas Daryani. He himself was
the author of many dramas. Some of them are: Mulka
ja Mudabara ,.. | l. , translated from Ibsens
Pillers of Society, Bukha jo Shikar |. ., , and
Jiaria te- Jiari ., _. ., , . Ahmed Chagla, the
author of Chandra .. , and Mahjur ,. , , Agha
Ghulam Nabi Pathan Sufi, Usman Ali Ansari,


Muhammad Ismail Ursani and Asanand Mamtora are
the popular drama writers of this period.
Most of the dramas were translated from
English, Urdu, Gujarati, Marathi and Hindi. There is a
long list of translations as such. Some important titles
are given below for reference:

S. No.
Title of the
Original
Title of
Translation
Name of
Translator
(1) King Lear Shah Eliya
|,l, .>|.
Mirza
Qaleech Beg
(2) Merchant of
Venice
Husna Dildar
.l |..>
- do -
(3) Sambline Shamshad
Marjana
. |... ..|
- do -
(4) Two Gentlemen
of Verona
Aziz Sharif
,,. ,s
- do -
(5) Romeo-Juliet Gulzar-Gulbaz
|.l: l:
- do -
(6) Hamlet Shahzado
Bahram
, .
- do -
(7) Morning and
Night
Feroz-Dilafroz
: ,:
- do -
(8) Cleopatra Malika .l. Tirath Wasant
(9) Post office Dak Ghar
: ;
Asanand
Mamtora
(10) Ghost Bhut
,
Ahmed
Chagla
(11) Pillars of
Society
Mulka -ja-
Madabra
Khanchand
Daryani


,.. | l.
(12) Meterlink Desha tan-
Sadqe
_:.. |. _,
- do -
(13) Sorrows of
Satan
Insan ki-
Shaitan
|L,. _ |..
- do -
(14) Eastlen Ghalat Fahmi
_.: lls
- do -
(15) Two gentlemen
of Verona
Ghumrah Dost
c. .>.:
Usman Ali
Ansari
Similarly King John was translated by
Bherumal Advani, and Othelo was translated by
Diwan Beghchand.
(i) The plays staged during this period are
dramas with moral message. In such plays the
characters are all personified obstructions. The story
is founded on the ethical conception of the struggle
between good and evil in the life of man. It is an
allegory dramatised. The plays mark an important
stage in the development of the drama. They are
sometimes lay and tedious, yet they have original
plots and clash of characters.
Moral values generally changed their
character. They ultimately passed into the didactic
interludes and other dramatic compositions.
(ii) Translations of Ibsens plays served as a
model on which the new drama was based. Ahmed
Chagla and Khanchand Daryanis dramas are Ibsens
translations. These two were the prominent
dramatists of Sindhi language, and their names still
continue to remain as the best stage drama writers.
Khanchand Daryani was the pioneer of the


dramatic revival. By his masterly craftsmanship and
that one of his associate, Ahmed Chagla, alongwith
their keen appreciation of stage effect, they did good
work in creating a lively illusion of reality. One can
find in their plays all elements viz: story,
characterisation, dialogue, conflict and setting.
Essay Writing
Essay was another form of Sindhi prose in
which many writers took part. This form was made
popular by Bulchand Kodumal, Dayaram Gidumal,
Parmanand Mewaram, Naraindas Malkani and Tirath
Wasant.
In 1929 the Sindh Muslim Adabi Soceity was
founded. This Society encouraged Muslim writers to
contribute on Islam and Muslim history. Among the
authors who wrote for this society were Maulvi Noor
Muhammad Nizamani, who was inspired by Allama
Iqbal and his poetry. He also wrote on History of
Sindh. Khan Bahadur Muhammad Sidique Memon
(1890-1958 AD) was the most prominent writer of this
society. His Sindh ji Adabi Tarikha ranks among the
foremost studies of Sindhi literature. Lutufullah
Badvi (d. 1968) was also inspired by Allama Iqbals
poetry. He was a poet and a critic. Besides him
Makhdoom Muhammad Saleh Bhatti, Muhammad
Sidique Musafar, Abdul Ghani Abdullah and others
were prominent writers of the society.



Period of National Awakening and
Independence Movement (1936-1947 AD)

In 1920 Muslim League was formed in Sindh.
All India Congress started Quit India Movement
after some time. Both the Muslim League and All
India Congress fought for the Independence, but
Congress worked for the Sauraj . , and Muslim
League demanded Pakistan, a separate state for the
Muslims of India. Many newspapers and magazines
were brought out in Sindh for propagation of both the
movements. Sansar Samachar ||.. |... , ,Hindoostan
|....> , , Hindu Sansar |... ..> , , Hindwasi ..>
_. , and Qurbani _.|,: , were propagating in favour
of All India Congress, and Alwahid .,>l , was an
organ of the Muslims for the propaganda of Pakistan.
These movements inspired many Hindu and
Muslim short-story writers, poets and novelists. In
view of Professor Popati Hiranandani,
The modern short-story, as we have
known, in the Western sense, made its debut in
Sindhi in the early thirties, when writers like
Mirza Nadir Beg, Usman Ali Ansari, Amarlal
Hingorani and Asanand Mamtora breaking a
way from the earlier reformist school, began to
experiment on new subjects. Influenced by the
writings of European literature, they carved a
new style of telling a story (Popati Hiranandani
Professor 1983: 85).
The theme of every short-story was non-
cooperation with the foreign government and fight
for freedom. The literature published during the
period of seven years from 1940 upto 1947 contains
the elements of national awakening, disagreement
with the retrogressive customs of society and many


other problems of common folk and miseries.
Professor Popti Hiranandani states:
The feudalistic values were breaking
against the new forces and the urbanisation of
certain sections brought a change in the life style
of some sections of society. With the national
struggle for freedom in the country, came an
awakening which gave rise to a new thought
wave finding expression in creative activity. The
beginning of forties saw Hitlers adventure and
his bloody path of over-running Europe. At
home, the movement of Independence assumed
a revolutionary thrust of Quit-India movement.
The writings of Tagore and other stalwarts
widened the horizons of the creative spirit of the
youngmen. This phase of national movement
threw many young writers in the forefront.
(Popati Hiranandani Professor: 1983: 85)
Among, Muslims, who contributed to the
development of Sindhi prose were, Maulana Din
Muhammad Wafai (1893-1950 AD) and other editors
of several Muslim magazines and newspapers among
which Al-Haq _>l , , Al-Wahid .,>l , and chiefly
Tauhid .,>. , , are reckoned for their efforts. They
propagated to a certain extent the religo-social ideas
of Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi in their magazines.
(Annemarie Schimmal 1974: 31) Besides Maulana Din
Muhammad Wafai, Hakim Fateh Muhammad
Sehwani (1882-1942 AD) was a leading Muslim writer
whose books were liked very much at that time and
are still widely read by readers.
As already stated many short-story writers
were contributing much for the change in society. The
prominent short-story writers were: Saindad Solangi,
Shaikh Abdul Sattar, Shaikh Ayaz, Ayaz Qadri,


Gobind Punjabi, Gobind Malhi, Annad Golani, Sugan
Ahuja, Dildar Hussain Shah Musavi, Tirath Wasant,
Kirat Babani, Krishin Khatwani and so on. They were
the main writers who depicted the miserable
conditions of the poor folks, in their short-stories.
Many literary societies were established. From
amongst those Baghi Sahit Mandal ,.. c>|. _s|, , ,
Zindagi Publications ..,,l,, _:.. , and Azad
Series ,,. , published many books and
magazines. Agite Qadm .: _., , , Nain Dunya _,..
|,. , and Mehran . , were the most important
literary magazines of this period. Almost all the
writings of Tolstoy and Gorkey alongwith the
writings of Munshi Premchand, Tagore and Savat
Chandra were translated into Sindhi. These writings
had a regenerating effect on the sensitive and
receptive minds of the young writers.
Art is a mirror of artists mind, and its
relationship to the world around him. Art seldom
remains stationary for a very long time. There is
always a change and development reflecting the
growth of mans knowledge, both of himself and of
the external world. During the period of the last
hundred years, there have been considerable changes
in beliefs and behaviours. There has been a wide
change in the political and social life. Beliefs, rituals,
superstitions and old customs and ceremonies have
tended to loose their grip upon the mind of men or
have been replaced by the new ideas and ideology.


Sindhi Literature after Independence and
Partition of India

Immediately after the independence in 1947, it
appeared as if Sindhi literature had been throttled.
Almost all the senior and young Sindhi Hindu writers
and intellectuals migrated to India, and all the literary
societies and literary organisations were almost closed
down. For some time there was a vacuume and
creative literary activities had come to a standstill.
(a) After a very short period of time the
younger generation of Sindhi Muslim writers, with
the assistance of experienced and senior writers
started literary activities. Literary societies were re-
established and publication of some journals was
restarted and some new organisations were formed.
The available names of such organisations are:
(i) Sindh Muslim Adabi Society, Hyderabad
(ii) Yousif Brothers, Hyderabad
(iii) R.H. Ahmed and Brothers, Hyderabad
(iv) Education Book Stall, Hyderabad
(v) Modern Sindh Publishing House, Karachi
(vi) Firdous Publications, Halla
(vii) Rafique Publications, Halla
(viii) Abbasi Book Depot, Karachi
(ix) Sindhi Adabi Society, Karachi
(x) Jamiat-al-Shorai Sindh
(xi) Mehran Publishing Company, Karachi
(xii) Anjuman Ilm-o-Adab, Halla
(xiii) Sindh Sudhar Society, Larkana
(xiv) Anjuman Imamya, Hyderabad, and
(xv) Habib Publications, Sukkur.
Similarly some lovers of Sindhi language and
literature established literary organsations in India.


Although the starting period and beginning of the
early years was just like a transitory period,
nevertheless Sindhi Literature flourished with good
speed, both in India and Pakistan. Books in every
field of literature were published in both the
countries.
(b) The main factors which had influenced
Sindhi prose, before and after the independence was a
wide-spread demand for social reforms, not slow and
orderly reforms, which were in progress, but immediate
and intemperate reforms, which breed a spirit of
rebellion and violent change and despair. The writers of
post-independence period have mostly critical attitude
towards morals of wealthy persons, land lards, religious
leaders, clergy and bureaucrats etc.
In modern Sindhi literature, the short-story has
remained dominant for the last five decades. Through
this form of literature, Sindhi writers in Sindh and in
India have dealt with every aspect of life in Sindhi
society.
The modern Sindhi short-story writers have
always been found very conscious of current
problems faced by Sindh and Sindhis. Everywhere,
the writers of Sindhi language believe in reality. They
have conveyed facts in their writings. They have
given their message through symbols. For instance
Mr. Jamal Abros Shah jo Phar : .>|. , ,
Badmaash |.., , and Mehrbani _.|,. , ; Rabanis
Shido Dharel _,: .,. , and Ayaz Qadris Biloo
Dada l, , are very good examples of such
writings. Ali Ahmed Brohi and Kirorpati are
humourous and satirical in their short-stories. They
convey their message through humour and satire.
Jamal Abro commands the position of a


leading modern short-story writer in Sindh. The
critics of Sindhi literature compare him with Maxim
Gorky. He has great sympathy with the poor folks of
Sindh. He criticises the rich people. He is against
many social customs and ceremonies. He depicts the
unbearable conditions of the masses which he feels
and observes with his inner eye. He has tried with his
elegant diction to reproduce the same picture and
wants his readers to feel as he had felt. His characters
are those miserable human beings who live under the
tyrannical fate of self-styled upper class and wealthy
persons. His characters are, although poor, but they
value their self-respect. They fight for their right and
never care or hesitate to face any trouble that they
may confront.
Muhammad Usman Diplai occupies a very
important place among the creative writers, novelists,
dramatists and play writers of modern literature.
Amar Jalil is influenced by Western
pragmatism and liberalism in his writings. He seems
to have also been influenced by Krishn Chandar and
Hemmingway (Saleem Memon 1981:). Rasool Bux
Palijo has contributed on peasants, problems. His
writings are considered as peasants literature. Agha
Saleem and Sirajul Haque Memon are known for their
own style. They have made extensive use of Western
fiction in their writings. Similarly Naseem Kharal, Ali
Baba, Abdul Qadir Junejo, Hamid Sindhi and others
have tremendous command over depiction and
analysis of Sindhi rural life and the problems of rural
Sindh.
All these modern short-story writers have,
however, kept some semblance of commitment in
their writings. Their commitments help them not only


to overcome pessimism but to inspire revolt against
sociological helplessness and misery (Saleem Memon
1981:21).
(c) Not only male members of the writers,
community have contributed much in this field of
literature but the women writers of Sindh have also
played a very successful role as short-story and
drama writers. They have also contributed towards
fiction and criticism before independence. Kamla
Keswani, Guli Sadarangani, Khairun-Nisa Abbasis
names are worth mentioning. Kamla wrote a book on
criticism; Guli was a novelist. She also translated
Tagores Gora. Khairun-Nisa Abbasi was an essayist.
After the partition, the Sindhi women have
also contributed much towards poetry but they have
proved to be successful prose- writers also. Their
main contribution is in the field of short-story. In
view of Dr Fahmida Hussain, they have depicted in
their short-stories particularly the peculiar problems
concerning women folk of Sindh (Fahmida Hussain
1981: 31). Fahmida says: Women writers, being part
of their gender have shown better understanding as
compared to men, so they have always been more
successful in approaching this subject (Fahmida
Hussain 1981:31). Fahmida gives some names of
women short-story writers.
In late fifties and early sixties, Begam Zeenat,
Abdullah Channa, published monthly magazine
Marui _.|. , . She herself wrote very good short
stories for this magazine. Her story Randiko ,.. ,
is the best of all. She encouraged other young lady-
writers to write for the Marui Magazine. During the
decade of sixties many female short-story writers
such as Sumera Zareen, Iqbal Parveen Soomro, Dr.


Rashida Hijab, Mahtab Mahboob, Surya Yasmin,
Jamila Tabassum, Zarina Baloch, Irshad Qamar,
Qamar Wahid, Z.A. Shaikh and others are worth
mentioning.
Sumera Zareen was considered a short-story
writer of high rank at that time. Watan _l , and
Sham a Barinde Shaba ,. ..,|, _.. , are her best
short stories. She had a style of her own.
Iqbal Parveen Soomro was also a very good
short-story writer. She wrote for monthly Nain
Zindagi. Sukoon . , and Pirha phuti _.: .>,

,
are her best short-stories.
Dr. Rashida Hijab, basically a scientist,
proved to be a very good romantic short story writer.
Her style and typical way of describing situations
were adored by her readers, particularly young girls.
(Dr. Fahmida Hussain 1981:31) This characteristic
made her popular. Her famous stories are:
Laila Milyus Kunwar . _,l. _l,l
Badsurat ..,
Chininga c..
Bewafa Keru? , |:,,
Zarina Baloch was basically a performing
artist. She was well known as TV and Radio artist,
and a Folk Singer. Her short-story Jiji _,, , is one of
the best stories. She has tried to write on facts for
which the society has always been condemned.
From the decade of seventies, the number of
women writers has increased and the most prominent
among them are: Khair-un-Nisa Jaffery, Tanvir
Junejo, Mehtab Rashdi, Noor-ul-Huda Shah, Mahtab
Mehboob, Akram Sultana Waqasi, Sahar Imdad,
Khadijah Shaikh, Mahtab Tabassum Qureshi, Salma


Siddiqui Qazi, Nilofer Joyo, Shabnam Moti, Razia
Siddiqui, Fahmida Hussain, Fahmida Baloch, Nasim
Thebo, Suraya Sauz Diplai, Nazir Naz, Dr. Noor
Afroz Khuwaja, Dr. Qamar Jehan Mirza, Tahmina
Sikandar, Shabana Sindhi and others.
Mahtab Mehboob has been recognised as one
of the best of all the short-story and novel writers in
Sindhi. She started writing in early sixties and has
been continuously writing to date (Fahmida Hussain
1981: 32). Three anthologies of her short-stories have
been published so far. Their titles are:
(i) Chandia-jun- Taroon |. ..|
(ii) Mithi Murada . _..
(iii) Priha Khan Pahrin _,, |: .>,
Her novel Khawab Khushbu Chokri
_ ,.- - , is one of the best of all novels in
Sindhi.
Besides these, a travelogue is also to her credit.
In view of Dr. Fahmida Hussain,
Mehtabs style has individuality. She
writes to relate stories of pain and hardships of
women and points out towards sociological
flaws and weaknesses in women which are to be
removed or reformed (Fahmida Hussain Dr.
1981: 32).
Her style is easy and her language is of every
day use, full of proverbs and idioms, mostly in use
among women. She has depicted her characters from
all the classes of Sindhi Society but these characters
successfully represent the middle class. Her best
short-stories are: Bhuri Wachha _ ,

, , Chandia
jun-Taroon |. ..| , and Naku .

, etc.
Tanveer Junejo is the product of seventies. She


has written many good short-stories. The theme of
her short-stories is the problems faced by Sindhi
women. There is one anthology of her short-stories to
her credit. The title of her book is: Amrata Manjhu
Karan .,.. . , . Dr. Fahmida Hussain
considers her as one of the prominent lady short-story
writers of today (Fahmida Hussain Dr. 1981: 32). She
depicts characters of girls neglected by their parents
and society. Her characters are common Sindhi girls
who face many problems only because they are
females.
Noor-ul-Huda Shah, is now-a-days a leading
short-story and drama writer. Her short-story Jala-
watan _l , is a very valuable contribution to
Sindhi literature. She has very boldly unveiled the
evils being practiced in Sindhi society in general and
in the high society and traditional families in
particular. In the name of society, culture and
religion, the sufferings of women of Haveli _l,> , is
the main topic of her stories.
Khairu-un-Nisa Jaffery, was a psychologist and
University Professor. So is Laila Bana. Both of them
have dealt with psychological problems of Sindhi
society. Khairu-un-Nisas stories have satire and some
painful humour too, which touches the heart of the
readers.
Professor Dr. Fahmida Hussain is not only a
short-story writer but she is also a journalist and a
research scholar, critic, linguist and an authority on
Shah Latif Studies. The stories and critical articles,
research papers and books written by her are of high
standard.
Similarly the names of Professor Dr. Noor
Afroz Khuwaja, Naeema Tejani, Suraya Sauz Diplai,


Nazir Naz, Fahmida Baloch and Professor Dr. Sahar
Imdad etc. are also worth mentioning.
(b) Progressive literature has been dominant
particularly on youth in the recent past. For
expressing their progressive ideas and for publishing
the short stories etc., the vehicles for them were Ruha
Rihan |> , edited by Hamid Sindhi, Nain
Zindagi _:.. _,.. , edited by Maulana Abdul Wahid
Sindhi, Quarterly Mehran . _>|.. , edited by
Maulana Girami, monthly Suhni _.. , edited by
Tariq Ashraf and Sojhro . , edited by Taj
Baloch.
The new technology, specialisation, conquest
of space and nuclear weapons have totally changed
the attitude of people towards life. According to
Professor Popati Hiranandani:
An ordinary man feels so insignificant,
so insecure and so helpless that he feels as if he
is a blade of grass which is compelled to bend
before the gust of breeze or like a little straw
which drifts with the waves.
The monotony of life has killed his spirit.
The advancement of scientific inventions has
confused him. The speed of progress has
brought a lot of tension for him. The demands of
the outer world have crushed him. He feels
helpless. He walks like a tiny particle in the vast
multitude of mankind. He feels like a stranger in
this mad rush of mankind (Popati Hiranandani
Professor: 1983: 183).
All these forms had begun to make themselves
felt earlier, but of late they have been a paramount
importance to the development of literary thought
and style, and thus thousands of books in every field
of Sindhi prose have been published. A few titles are
enlisted below for instance:


S. No.
Title Author
1 Panja _., Usman Ali Ansari
2 Belayan ja Bola
, | _,,,
Dr. N.A. Baloch
3 Islamic Tasawuf
... _..
Talib-ul-Maula


4 Imam Gazali ja Khata
l- | _ls |.
- do -
5 Kafi _:| - do -
6 Saire-Kohistan |..> ,.

Allah Bachayo
Samo
7 Saire-Registan |..>, ,. M. Ismail Ursani
8 Sairo-Safar s. ,. Sayid Ghulam
Mustafa Shah
Novels
S. No.
Title Author
(1) Karwan-e-Zindagi
_:.. |

Anjum Hallai
(2) Awarah - do -
(3) Sanghar >.|. Muhammad
Usman Diplai
(4) Amar (Translation) . - do -
(5) Zawal (Translation) Dr. Kazi Khadim
(6) Suhan ji Devi
(Translation) , _ _..
- do -
(7) Pyaru (Translation) |,, - do -
(8) Azra (Translation) .s Walliram Wallab
(9) Club ain Gharu
: ,l
Manzoor Ahmed
Ursani


(10) Mujahid (Translation)
.>|,.
- do -
(11) Suri a Singharu
|>.,. .

Dr. Abdul Jabbar
Junejo
(12) Darya-je- Kape te
_ |,

_.
Gul Nasara Puri
(13) Ashi (Translation) _.|s
Fazal Ahmed Bachani
(14) Roshnia ji- Talasha
. _ _..
Agha Saleem
(15) Shikastah Zindagi
_:.. ....
Badam Natwan
(16) Sham-o-Sahar >. |. Mansoor Weragi
(17) Aurata ain Samaju
|.. s
Mir Muhammad
Nizamani
(18) Jinsar |..
Kazi Faiz Muhammad
(19) Booli _l,

Shaikh Muhammad
Hussain
(20) Rani _: - do -
(21) Sultana Begum
>,, ..|Ll.

Sayid Hafiz Shah
(22) Lash ! Ghulam Ali Allana
(23) Orah .> Ghulam Nabi
Mughul
Drama
S. No.
Title Author
(1) Pachha ain Parlau
!, |_|,
Rasool Bux
Khumar
(2) Dulah Darya Khan
|-|, .l

Channa Shabir
Naz


(3) Wei Rat Vihami
_.|> _.,
- do -
(4) Dilyan Dipa jalaya
|, , _,l
- do -
(5) Macbeth (translation)
c,,..
Dr. Mirza
Habibullah
(6) Shakuntala ...

Rashid Ahmed
Lashari
(7) Ashika Zahira Piyaka
|,, > _.|s
Rashid Bhatti
(8) Jadahin Jhunagarh
Jhurando
. .. .>,|. _>
Zahoor Ansari
(9) Dozen Dialogue
,.; ;
Muhammad
Ismail Ursani
(10) Badnasib Thari
. ,,...,
- do -
(11) Shahidi .>|.

Muhammad
Usman Diplai
(12) Najoomi _.,.

- do -
(13) Cleopatra (translation)
..,l
Habib Bukhari
(14) Runja-ja-Rahi _> |

Ali Baba
(15) Gul Chino Girnar jo
(Radio drama) |.: ._ _:
Agha Saleem
(16) Darya To Te Danhan
_. _.. |,
Amar Jalil
(17) Tamo Pan_, ..

Ali Baba


(18) Ghazi Salahuddin
(Radio drama)_,.l . |s
- do -
(19) Gulan Jahira Ghawa
(Radio drama)|: _l:

Agha Saleem
(20) Nain Manzil .. _,..

Rashid Sabir
(21) Akhri Rat
(Radio drama) -
Mumtaz Mirza
(22) Dodo Chanesar .,.

Agha Saleem
(23) Dulah Darya Khan
l |- |, .
- do -
(24) Gungi Zala _>.:

Allah Bachayo
Leghari
(25) Sunhan ain Saudau
. _..
- do -
(26) Hoo
(Radio drama)>

Manzoor Naqvi
(27) Bhut
(Radio drama) ,

- do -
Besides these novels and dramas, anthologies
of short-stories were also published. The titles of
some of them are listed below:
S. No. Title Author
(1) Pishu Pasha |.|, .,

Jamal Abro
(2) Biloo Dada l, Ayaz Qadiri
(3) Dak Banglo l>., ; Shaikh Abdul
Razaq Raz
(4) Talash . Tabasum Mahtab
(5) Naun Ufaq _: ..

Ghulam Ali


Khokhar
(6) Dastan-e-ghamu
s |..

Hafiz Shah
Hussaini Tikhurai
(7) Karachia-jun-Ratyoon
,. _
Muhammad
Bukhsh Johar
(8) Chor Khuwaja Ghulam
Ali Allana Nashad
(9) Zindagia jo Raz
_:..
Ghulam Ali Allana
(10) Tabahi _>|,. - do -
(11) Gulbadan .,l:
(12) Bukha ain bekari
|,, .,

- do -
(13) Sukhri :. Abdul Jabbar
Junejo Sham
(14) Ajnabi _,. Bashir Moryani
(15) Zindagi-a-je- Raha te
_. .> _ _:..
- do -
(16) Pyara-ji-Ghuta
c: _ |,,

Altaf Shaikh
(17) Watoon-Ratyun ain Rola
,. .
Abdul Qadir
Junejo
(18) Abanu Gharu : :|,

Dr. Abdul Jabbar

Junejo Sham
(19) Aurata s - do -
(20) Seemi _.,. Hamid Sindhi
(21) Udas Vadyun,

- do -
(22) Hasrat Zadah Maut
. .>
- do -
(23) Kam Chor Amanullah Bugio


(24) Kirorpati _., Ibne-Hayat
Panhwar
(25) Abe-Hayat |,>
Ghulam Rabani Agro
(26) Shabnam Shabnam
Kanwal Kanwal
. . .,. .,.
Nasim Kharal
(27) Chotihun Daru ,.

- do -
(28) Dil ji Dunya |,. _

Amar Jalil
(29) Jadahin Man na Hundis
..> .. |. _>.
- do -
(30) Rat ja Nena _,. | Ghulam Nabi
Mughal
(31) Naun Shahr . .. - do -
(32) Pahriyn Qadam .: ,, Tariq Ashraf
(33) Biyo Qadam .: ,, - do -
(34) Toofana ji Tamana
|... _ |:l
Dr. Najim Abbasi
(35) Pathara te Liko
,l _. .,
- do -
(36) Gita Unjnayala Moran Ja
| . _,|_ c,:

Sumerah Zarin
(37) Chanida joon Taroon
|. ..|
Mahtab Mehboob
(38) Chanda ja Tamanai
_.|... | ,.

Agha Saleem
(39) Ibratkadah Sindh
... .>. ,s
Dr. Muhammad
Ibrahim Khalil
(40) Ghari Ghari Hiku Ghau
|: > : :
Rashid Bhatti
(41) Ae Darda Hali Au
_l>
Sirajul Haque
Memon


(42) Pirha Khan Pahrin
_,, |: .>,
Mahtab Mahboob
(43) Takhliqa-jo-Maut
. _,l>.
Khair-un-Nisa
Jafferi
(44) Amrata Manjh Karan
. .,..
Tanveer Junejo
(45) Zindagia-jo-Tanha
Musafar
:|.. |.. _:..
Tariq Ashraf
(46) Chamre-ja-Vapari
|, | .
Noor Abbasi
(d) Literary criticism is one of the most
effective medium of appreciation of literary forms
produced during these days. Dr. Gur Buxani and Dr.
Daudpota as already stated, laid the foundation of
literary criticism and research methodology in Sindhi
literature with their monumental works. Shah-jo-
Risalo in three volumes and Risalo of Shah Abdul
Karim Bulrai waro respectively. Gradually the writers
attempted writing critical appreciations.
Many writers before and after them have
devoted their lives towards this field of Sindhi
literature. Prominent amongst them are:
Sayid Hussamuddin Shah Rashdi (d. 1982), Dr.
Nabi Bakhsh Khan Baloch, Allama Ghulam Mustafa
Qasimi, Maulana Girami (d.1976), Maulana
Muhammad Usman Diplai (d.1958), Ghulam
Muhammad Shahwani, Prof. Mahboob Ali Channa
(d.1977), Dr. Abdul Karim Sandeelo (d.1990),
Muhammad Ibrahim Joyo, Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim
Khalil (d.1983), Dr. Abdul Majid Memon Sindhi
and many others.
(e) Formation of One Unit brought a new
change in Sindhi literature. There was a great


challenge for Sindhi language and literature. Many
magazines and books were banned. There was also
ban on some writers to write anything. Insipte of this
the writers who took the flag of Sindhi literature and
worked like revolutionaries were:
Allama I.I. Kazi, Dr. Daudpota, Makhdoom
Talibul Maula, Sayid Husamuddin Shah Rashidi,
Allama Ghulam Mustafa Qasimi, Makhdoom Amir
Ahmed, Alhaj Sayid Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Dr. Nabi
Bux Khan Baloch, Prof. Mehboob Ali Channa, Agha
Taj Muhammad, Muhammad Usman Diplai, Maulana
Ghulam Muhmmad Girami, Dr. Muhammad
Ibrahim Khalil, Atta Hussain Shah Musavi, Abdul
Hussain Shah Musavi, Muhammd Siddiq Musafar
Muhammad Ismail Ursani, Muhammad Siddique
Memon, Muhammd Ibrahim joyo, Shaikh Ayaz, Jamal
Abro, Siraj, Shamsher al-Hyderi, Dr. Tanvir Abbasi,
Niaz Humayuni, Shaikh Abdul Razaq Raz (d.1983),
Rasool Bux Palijo, Ghulam Rabani Agro, Bashir
Moriani, Begum Zeenat Abdullah Channa (d.1974),
Sumera Zareen (d.1977), Mahtab Mehboob, Dr. Abdul
Majid Memon Sindhi, Karim Bux Khalid, Hamid
Sindhi, Hamid Ali Khanai and others.
(e) Muhammad Siddique Memon (d.1958) had
a deep insight in Islamic history which resulted in his
publication such a Khalifo Abu Bakar ',, s,l- , ,
Umar Farooq '|: .s , , Futuhat-e-Islam
. |>.: , , Rabia Basri ., ., , , Mansoor al-
Halaj >l ... , and a monumental Islamic Novel
Uruse-Karballa , s , .
(f) Sayid Hussamuddins masterpiece and
uncomparable works in Sindhi language in various
volumes on History of Sindh. His work in this field
is commendable. His research papers on various
aspects of Sindhis history have inpired many young
writers.


Dr. Nabi Bakhsh Khan Baloch and Sayid
Hussamuddin Shah Rashidi are the most prominent
scholars of this period, so far as research work in Sindhi
language and literature of Sindh is concerned. They are
the pioneers of many new features and fields. They have
added many new technical terms in the vocabulary of
Sindhi language. Their influence on writers and their
writings have brought many young writers into
prominence. Dr. Balochs Volumes of the comprehensive
Dictionary of Sindhi language ... _.| |l , , numerous
volumes on Sindhi folk-lore and literature l , are
his very valuable contribution towards the field of
research in Sindhi language and literature.

Conclusion

To conclude the discussion, it can be said that
today Sindhi is the richest of all the Pakistani
languages, even in certain cases it has left Urdu, the
National language of Pakistan far behind. Sindhi
Adabi Board, Institute of Sindhology, Sindhi
Language Authority, Shah Latif Chair, Karachi
University, Sachal Chair, Shah Latif University
Khairpur, Sindhi literary societies such as Shah Latif
Cultural Centre, Sindhi Adabi Sangat, Government
Organisations such as Radio Pakistan, Hyderabad,
Khairpur, Larkana, and Karachi, and PTV Karachi
studios. KTN, Sindh TV, Mehran TV, and Dharti TV
Channels have played very important role in the
development of modern Sindhi language and
literature. The media have contributed towards the
development of dramas on historical, social, and
socio-economic problems of Sindh and popular


literature in Sindhi language, linguistics, lexicography
and teaching of Sindhi language. Abdul Qadir Junejo,
Noor-ul-Huda Shah, Ali Baba, Abdul Karim Baloch,
Manzoor Naqvi, Murad Ali Mirza, Amar Jaleel, Hafiz
Kunbhar, Mahmood Mughul and others are the most
prominent TV and Radio drama and play writers of
modern days.
As stated earlier Sindh has contributed much
towards Islamic literature in Sindhi. This state of
affairs has continued even upto modern times. But to
check socialistic influence on Sindhi literature in
general and on the Sindhi youth in particular, a team
of scholars under the guidance of Jamait-e-Islami in
general and other rightist groups in particular, have
tried their best to publish Islamic literature in Sindhi.
Mohammad bin Qasim Literary Society at Hyderabad
and Tanzeem Fikro-Nazar at Sukkur have played their
important role not only in bringing out the Islamic
literature in Sindhi but in organizing literary
conferences. Sayid Ali Mir Shah, Prof: Asadullah
Bhutto, late Qurban Ali Bugti, Late Mamoor Yousifani,
Muhammad Musa Bhutto, Qalandar Shah Lakiari, Dr.
Abid Laghari and others are the prominent writers of
these societies. They have done a good work in this
field and have tried to convey the message of Islam to
their readers in Sindhi language.
In conclusion it can be said that Sindhi language
is rich in classical literature consisting of Sufistic,
Vedantic and Bhakti ideas and Islamic message. Sindhi
is also very rich in modern and progressive literature
of which every young writer feels proud.