A Chronicle of Sindh and the Sindhi

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Sindh, as of today, is one of the province of Pakistan. Sindh was home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley civilization which included the cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa at least 7,000 years old. The remains excavated in Mohenjo-Daro depict the state of affairs from civilisation point of view at that period. The region got it's name "Sindh" from the river sindhu (Indus) and the people living here are called as "Sindhi". Since the time of indus valley civilization this region is called as sindh and the people as sindhi. The term Hind and Hindi is derived from word Sindh and Sindhi as the ancient Persians pronunciate "s" as "h" e.g. sarasvati as harasvati, the same way they called the people of this region as Hindi people their language as Hindi language and the region as hind, the name which is used for this region since ancient times and later for whole northern part of Indian sub-continent even today India is also known as Hindustan the name which has nothing to do with hinduism, but related more to a people and their language named after the main river flowing through this region sindhu (Indus).
Indus valley civilization was one of the most developed and advanced city in South Asia, during its peak. The planning and engineering showed the importance of the city to the people of the Indus valley.

The Indus Valley Civilization encompassed most of Pakistan, extending from Balochistan to Sindh, and extending into modern day Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab as we know today. When the Aryans came to India and stood on the banks of the mighty river Indus, they exclaimed in sheer wonder, "Sindhu! Sindhu!" The word 'Sindhu' appears in a number of hymns in the oldest Scripture of humanity, the Rigveda. And India was originally called, "Sindhustan" the " Land of the Sindhu". These Aryans in Sindh virtually the Indus Valley are mentioned in history of having played role in the battle of Hastinapur when King Jaidrath took his army to support the Kurus. The Sindh time line:

• The Sindhis rule the Sindh : 3300 BC - 1700 BC.
• Achaemenid Empire : 522 BC
• Macedonian and Greeks under Alexander the great : 326 BC
• Mauryan empire led by Chandragupta : 305 BC 

And from that time onwards they played the role of refugees. My regret is that many Sindhis - scattered, as they are, all over India and the world, are unaware of rich heritage which belongs to them. In the recent past, after partition in 1947, we left our home and spread out in every part of the world. And we still continue to be refugees. Though we are refugees driven away from our home we are again with our own Aryans who had spread out in parts of the country. The brother Aryans kept the banner of Sindh alive by including our identity in the National Song and recognizing as a positive community whose future lies in recovering the land of our birth and supporting the country as we did in the battle of Hastinapur. For at that time, we learnt that we were part of the central government ruled by Duryodhana. After the partition of India, Sindhis were dispossessed of their lands and properties (as my grandparents told me), they did not give into despair. Leaving their properties and possessions in Sindh, they migrated to India, bringing with themselves their enterprising sprit, their faith in God and their many qualities of head and heart. In Sindh, "there was never a Sindhu beggar". When they came to India, "they resolved that they would starve rather than beg". Little boys attended school during the day and in the afternoon, kept themselves busy hawking on the streets or in railway trains. Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region and is spoken by the Sindhi people over the world. Sindhi has various dialects:

• Sireli : Spoken in upper Sindh
• Vicholi : Spoken in the Centre
• Lari : Spoken in delta of Indus (Sloping grounds)
• Tharri : Spoken in the Thar
• Lasi : Spoken in Baluchistan

Sindhi Surnames: 

Derived from place of origin, caste, title... 1) Many Sindhi's have their surname ending with "-ani" (like mine, "Lalwani") Famous Sindhi scholar Professor Bherumal Advani even claimed that "-ani" surname dates back to Rigveda, According to him, pronunciation of Sanskrit suffix ayan and ayani have changed to -ANI in Sindhi and its meaning is "a descendant of". This means a surname "Lalwani" will mean descendants of Lalchand. 2) Surnames based on place, like from "Aror" has "Arora" or from "Shikarpur" has "Shikarpuri".. 3) Surname based on caste: Thakur, Bhatia, khatri... 4)Surname based on title: Mukhi(head of panchayat), Choudhary(head of village) 5) Surnames based on Nukha (totem): Chawla, Kukreja... 6) Surnames suffixed with "PAL"(protector): Rajpal, Nagpal... Similarly most other surnames...