1.
Mughal Empire
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The dynasty, though ethnically Turco-Mongol, was Persianate in terms of culture. The Mughal empire extended over parts of the Indian subcontinent. The beginning of the empire is conventionally dated to the victory by its founder Babur over Ibrahim Lodi, the Mughal emperors were Central Asian Turco-Mongols belonging to the Timurid dynasty, who claimed direct descent from both Genghis Khan and Timur. During the reign of Humayun, the successor of Babur, the empire was briefly interrupted by the Sur Empire, the classic period of the Mughal Empire started in 1556 with the ascension of Akbar the Great to the throne. Under the rule of Akbar and his son Jahangir, the region enjoyed economic progress as well as harmony. Akbar was a warrior who also forged alliances with several Hindu Rajput kingdoms. Some Rajput kingdoms continued to pose a significant threat to the Mughal dominance of northwestern India, the reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor, between 1628 and 1658 was the golden age of Mughal architecture. He erected several monuments, the best known of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, as well as the Moti Masjid, Agra, the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid, Delhi. By the mid-18th century, the Marathas had routed Mughal armies, during the following century Mughal power had become severely limited, and the last emperor, Bahadur Shah II, had authority over only the city of Shahjahanabad. He issued a firman supporting the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and following the defeat was therefore tried by the British East India Company for treason, imprisoned and exiled to Rangoon. Contemporaries referred to the empire founded by Babur as the Timurid empire, which reflected the heritage of his dynasty, another name was Hindustan, which was documented in the Ain-i-Akbari, and which has been described as the closest to an official name for the empire. In the west, the term Mughal was used for the emperor, and by extension, the use of Mughal derived from the Arabic and Persian corruption of Mongol, and it emphasised the Mongol origins of the Timurid dynasty. The term gained currency during the 19th century, but remains disputed by Indologists, similar terms had been used to refer to the empire, including Mogul and Moghul. Nevertheless, Baburs ancestors were sharply distinguished from the classical Mongols insofar as they were oriented towards Persian rather than Turco-Mongol culture, ousted from his ancestral domains in Central Asia, Babur turned to India to satisfy his ambitions. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed steadily southward into India from Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass, Baburs forces occupied much of northern India after his victory at Panipat in 1526. The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India, the instability of the empire became evident under his son, Humayun, who was driven out of India and into Persia by rebels. Humayuns exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the Safavid and Mughal Courts, and led to increasing Persian cultural influence in the Mughal Empire, the restoration of Mughal rule began after Humayuns triumphant return from Persia in 1555, but he died from a fatal accident shortly afterwards. Humayuns son, Akbar, succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, through warfare and diplomacy, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions and controlled almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari River
2.
Bombay Presidency
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The Bombay Presidency, also known as Bombay and Sind from 1843 to 1936 and the Bombay Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India. The English East India Company transferred its Western India headquarters from Surat, its first colony in that region, the Presidency was brought under British Parliament control along with other parts of British India through Pitts India Act. Aden was annexed in 1839, while Sind was annexed by the Company in 1843 after defeating the Talpur dynasty in the Battle of Hyderabad and it was made a part of the Bombay Presidency. The districts and provinces of the presidency were directly under British rule, while the administration of the native or princely states was in the hands of local rulers. The presidency, however, managed the defence of princely states, the Bombay Presidency along with the Bengal Presidency and Madras Presidency were the three major centres of British power. In 1661 Bombay was ceded to the Kingdom of England as part of the dowry of the infanta Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II, as English trade in Bombay increased, Surat began its relative decline. In 1687, Bombay was made the headquarters of all the East India Companys possessions in India, however, in 1753 the governor of Bombay became subordinate to that of Calcutta. During the 18th century, the Hindu Maratha Empire expanded rapidly, claiming Konkan, in western Gujarat, including Kathiawar and Kutch, the loosening of Mughal control allowed numerous local rulers to create virtually independent states. The British annexed Surat in 1800, British territory was enlarged in the Second Anglo-Maratha War which ended in 1803. The East India Company received the districts of Bharuch, Kaira, etc. in 1803 the Bombay Presidency included only Salsette, the islands of the harbour, Surat and Bankot, but between this date and 1827 the framework of the presidency took shape. The Gujarat districts were taken over by the Bombay government in 1805, in 1858, under the terms of Queens Proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, the Bombay Presidency, along with the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the British crown. Henry Bartle Frere was the first Governor appointed by the Crown, under Sir Bartle Frere agricultural prosperity reached its highest point, as a result of the American Civil War and the consequent enormous demand for Indian cotton in Europe. The money thus poured into the country produced an epidemic of speculation known as the Share Mania, which ended in a commercial crisis, but the peasantry gained on the whole more than they lost, and the trade of Bombay was not permanently injured. However, the important portfolios like finance, police and irrigation were reserved with members of the Governors Executive Council, in 1932, Aden was separated from Bombay and made a separate province, and Sindh became a separate province on 1 April 1936. The Government of India Act 1935 made the Bombay Presidency into a regular province and it enlarged the elected provincial legislature and expanded provincial autonomy vis a vis the central government. In the 1937 elections, the Indian National Congress won the elections in Bombay, the Cooper ministry did not last long and a Congress ministry under B. G. Kher was sworn in. Council of Ministers in Khers Cabinet, In 1939, all of the Congress ministries in British Indian provinces resigned and Bombay was placed under the Governors rule. After the end of World War II, the Indian National Congress re-entered politics, the Bombay Presidency became the Bombay State when India was granted independence on 15 August 1947 and Kher continued as the Chief Minister of the state, serving until 1952
3.
Mir
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Mir was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, run by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. Mir was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996 and it had a greater mass than any previous spacecraft. At the time it was the largest artificial satellite in orbit and it holds the record for the longest single human spaceflight, with Valeri Polyakov spending 437 days and 18 hours on the station between 1994 and 1995. Mir was occupied for a total of twelve and a half out of its fifteen-year lifespan. Following the success of the Salyut programme, Mir represented the stage in the Soviet Unions space station programme. The first module of the station, known as the module or base block, was launched in 1986. Proton rockets were used to all of its components except for the docking module. When complete, the station consisted of seven pressurised modules and several unpressurised components, power was provided by several photovoltaic arrays attached directly to the modules. The station was maintained at an orbit between 296 km and 421 km altitude and traveled at an speed of 27,700 km/h. Mir was deorbited in March 2001 after funding was cut off, the cost of the Mir programme was estimated by former RKA General Director Yuri Koptev in 2001 as $4.2 billion over its lifetime. Mir was authorized on a 17 February 1976 decree, to design a model of the Salyut DOS-17K space stations. Four Salyut space stations had been launched since 1971, with three more being launched during Mirs development, by August 1978, this had evolved to the final configuration of one aft port and five ports in a spherical compartment at the forward end of the station. It was originally planned that the ports would connect to 7. 5-tonne modules derived from the Soyuz spacecraft and these modules would have used a Soyuz propulsion module, as in Soyuz and Progress, and the descent and orbital modules would have been replaced with a long laboratory module. However, following a February 1979 governmental resolution, the programme was consolidated with Vladimir Chelomeis manned Almaz military space station programme, the docking ports were reinforced to accommodate 20-tonne space station modules based on the TKS spacecraft. NPO Energia was responsible for the space station, with work subcontracted to KB Salyut, due to ongoing work on the Energia rocket and Salyut 7, Soyuz-T. KB Salyut began work in 1979, and drawings were released in 1982 and 1983, by early 1984, work on Mir had halted while all resources were being put into the Buran programme in order to prepare the Buran spacecraft for flight testing. Funding resumed in early 1984 when Valentin Glushko was ordered by the Central Committees Secretary for Space and Defence to orbit Mir by early 1986 and it was clear that the planned processing flow could not be followed and still meet the 1986 launch date. It was decided on Cosmonauts Day 1985 to ship the flight model of the block to the Baikonur cosmodrome and conduct the systems testing
4.
Pakistan
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Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a federal parliamentary republic in South Asia on the crossroads of Central Asia and Western Asia. It is the sixth-most populous country with a population exceeding 200 million people, in terms of area, it is the 33rd-largest country in the world with an area covering 881,913 square kilometres. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistans narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, Pakistan is unique among Muslim countries in that it is the only country to have been created in the name of Islam. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and it is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with a similarly diverse geography and wildlife. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic, an ethnic civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh. The new constitution stipulated that all laws were to conform to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran. Pakistan has an economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector. The Pakistani economy is the 24th-largest in the world in terms of purchasing power and it is ranked among the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world, and is backed by one of the worlds largest and fastest-growing middle classes. The post-independence history of Pakistan has been characterised by periods of military rule, the country continues to face challenging problems such as illiteracy, healthcare, and corruption, but has substantially reduced poverty and terrorism and expanded per capita income. It is also a member of CERN. Pakistan is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, the name Pakistan literally means land of the pure in Urdu and Persian. It is a play on the word pāk meaning pure in Persian and Pashto, the letter i was incorporated to ease pronunciation and form the linguistically correct and meaningful name. Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present-day Pakistan, the earliest known inhabitants in the region were Soanian during the Lower Paleolithic, of whom stone tools have been found in the Soan Valley of Punjab. The Vedic Civilization, characterised by Indo-Aryan culture, laid the foundations of Hinduism, Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, the Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander, prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region. Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of education in the world. At its zenith, the Rai Dynasty of Sindh ruled this region, the Pala Dynasty was the last Buddhist empire, which, under Dharampala and Devapala, stretched across South Asia from what is now Bangladesh through Northern India to Pakistan. The Arab conqueror Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the Indus valley from Sindh to Multan in southern Punjab in 711 AD, the Pakistan governments official chronology identifies this as the time when the foundation of Pakistan was laid
5.
Urdu
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Urdu is a persianized standard register of the Hindustani language. It is the language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 official languages recognized in the Constitution of India, hyderabad, Rampur, Bhopal and Lucknow are noted Urdu-speaking cities of India. Urdu is historically associated with the Muslims of the northern Indian subcontinent, apart from specialized vocabulary, Urdu is mutually intelligible with Standard Hindi, another recognized register of Hindustani. Urdu, like Hindi, is a form of Hindustani, Urdu developed under the influence of the Persian and Arabic languages, both of which have contributed a significant amount of vocabulary to formal speech. Around 99% of Urdu verbs have their roots in Sanskrit and Prakrit, Urdu words originating from Chagatai and Arabic were borrowed through Persian and hence are Persianized versions of the original words. For instance, the Arabic ta marbuta changes to he or te, nevertheless, contrary to popular belief, Urdu did not borrow from the Turkish language, but from Chagatai. Urdu and Turkish borrowed from Arabic and Persian, hence the similarity in pronunciation of many Urdu, Arabic influence in the region began with the late first-millennium Arab invasion of India in the 7th century. The Persian language was introduced into the subcontinent a few centuries later by various Persianized Central Asian Turkic and Afghan dynasties including that of the Delhi Sultanate. With the advent of the British Raj, Persian was no longer the language of administration but Hindustani, still written in the Persian script, the name Urdu was first used by the poet Ghulam Hamadani Mushafi around 1780. From the 13th century until the end of the 18th century Urdu was commonly known as Hindi, the language was also known by various other names such as Hindavi and Dehlavi. The communal nature of the language lasted until it replaced Persian as the language in 1837 and was made co-official. Urdu was promoted in British India by British policies to counter the previous emphasis on Persian and this triggered a Brahman backlash in northwestern India, which argued that the language should be written in the native Devanagari script. At independence, Pakistan established a highly Persianized literary form of Urdu as its national language, English has exerted a heavy influence on both as a co-official language. Owing to interaction with other languages, Urdu has become localized wherever it is spoken, similarly, the Urdu spoken in India can also be distinguished into many dialects like Dakhni of South India, and Khariboli of the Punjab region since recent times. Because of Urdus similarity to Hindi, speakers of the two languages can understand one another if both sides refrain from using specialized vocabulary. The syntax, morphology, and the vocabulary are essentially identical. Thus linguists usually count them as one language and contend that they are considered as two different languages for socio-political reasons
6.
Sindhi language
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Sindhi /ˈsɪndi/ is an Indo-Aryan language of the historical Sindh region, spoken by the Sindhi people. It is the language of the Pakistani province of Sindh. In India, Sindhi is one of the scheduled languages officially recognized by the federal government, most Sindhi speakers are concentrated in Pakistan in the Sindh province, and in India, the Kutch region of the state of Gujarat and in the Ulhasnagar region of the state of Maharashtra. The Sindhi language and other languages of Pakistan are struggling to be officially given the status of national language in Pakistan. Before the inception of Pakistan, Sindhi was the language of Sindh. There are many Sindhi language television channels broadcasting in Pakistan such as KTN, Sindh TV, Awaz Television Network, besides this, Indian television Doordarshan have been asked by the Indian court to start a news channel for Hindu Sindhis of India. Sindhi Computing is the used for the Software developed for the Sindhi language. Sindhi language software such as Sindhi language keyboards have been developed for the Windows OS, various other online websites provide Sindhi keyboard such as, M. B Sindhi keyboard by Majid Bhurgri. The name Sindhi is derived from Sindhu, the name of the Indus River. When Sindh was occupied by British army and was annexed with Bombay, Sir Bartle Frere, the then commissioner of Sindh, issued orders on August 29,1857 advising civil servants in Sindh to qualify examination in Sindhi. He also ordered Sindhi to be used in all official communication, seven-grade education system commonly known as Sindhi-Final was introduced in Sindh. Sindhi Final was made a prerequisite for employment in revenue, police, like other languages of this family, Sindhi has passed through Old Indo-Aryan and Middle Indo-Aryan stages of growth, and it entered the New Indo-Aryan stage around the 10th century CE. In the year 1868, the Bombay Presidency assigned Narayan Jagannath Vaidya to replace the Abjad used in Sindhi, the script was decreed a standard script by the Bombay Presidency thus inciting anarchy in the Muslim majority region. A powerful unrest followed, after which Twelve Martial Laws were imposed by the British authorities, according to Islamic Sindhi tradition, the first translation of the Quran into Sindhi was completed in the year 883 CE /270 AH in Mansura, Sindh. The first extensive Sindhi translation was done by Akhund Azaz Allah Muttalawi, the first to appear in print was by Muhammad Siddiq. Sindhi has a large inventory of both consonants and vowels compared to other languages. Sindhi has 46 consonant phonemes and 16 vowels, the consonant to vowel ratio is around average for worlds languages at 2.8. All plosives, affricates, nasals, the flap and the lateral approximant /l/ have aspirated or breathy voiced counterparts
7.
Talpur
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Talpur is a Sindhi speaking Baloch tribe settled in Sindh Punjab and Balochistan in Pakistan. The Talpur Baloch soon gained power and overthrew the Kalhora after the Battle of Halani and this brought an end to the ferocious fighting and the defeat of the ruling Kalhora by the Talpur tribes. The Talpur dynasty was a dynasty of the Talpur Baloch tribe that conquered and ruled Sindh, the Talpur dynasty was defeated by the British invaders in 1843 at the Battle of Miani
8.
Sindh
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Sindh /sɪnd/ is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, in the southeast of the country. Historically home to the Sindhi people, it is locally known as the Mehran. It was formerly known as Sind until 1956, Sindh is the third largest province of Pakistan by area, and second largest province by population after Punjab. Sindh is bordered by Balochistan province to the west, and Punjab province to the north, Sindh also borders the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan to the east, and Arabian Sea to the south. Sindhs climate is noted for hot summers and mild winters, the provincial capital of Sindh is Pakistans largest city and financial hub, Karachi. Sindh has Pakistans second largest economy with Karachi being its capital hosts the headquarters of several multinational banks. Sindh is home to a portion of Pakistans industrial sector. The remainder of Sindh has an agriculture based economy, and produces fruit, food consumer items, Sindh is also the centre of Pakistans pharmaceutical industry. Sindh is known for its culture which is strongly influenced by Sufism. Several important Sufi shrines are located throughout the province which attract millions of annual devotees, Sindh also has Pakistans highest percentage of Hindu residents. Karachi and other centres of Sindh have seen ethnic tensions between the native Sindhis and the Muhajirs boil over into violence on several occasions. Sindh is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites - the Historical Monuments at Makli, and the Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro, the word Sindh is derived from the Sanskrit language and is adapted from the Sanskrit term Sindhu which literally means river hence a reference to Indus River. Spelling of its name as Sind was discontinued in 1988 by an amendment passed in Sindh Assembly. The Greeks who conquered Sindh in 325 BC under the command of Alexander the Great rendered it as Indós, the ancient Iranians referred to everything east of the river Indus as hind from the word Sindh. When the British arrived in the 17th century in India, then ruled by the Maratha Empire, they applied the Greek version of the name Sindh to all of South Asia, calling it India. The name of Pakistan is actually an acronym in which the letter s is derived from the first letter in Sindh, Sindhs first known village settlements date as far back as 7000 BCE. Permanent settlements at Mehrgarh, currently in Balochistan, to the west expanded into Sindh and this culture blossomed over several millennia and gave rise to the Indus Valley Civilization around 3000 BCE. The primitive village communities in Balochistan were still struggling against a difficult highland environment and this was one of the most developed urban civilizations of the ancient world
9.
History of Sindh
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Sindh is one of the provinces of Pakistan. Sindh had one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley civilization, Sindh has been known by various names in the past, the name Sindh comes from the Indo-Aryans whose legends claimed that the Indus River flowed from the mouth of a lion or Sinh-ka-bab. In Sanskrit, the province was dubbed Sindhu meaning an ocean, the Assyrians knew the region as Sinda, the Persians Abisind, the Greeks Sinthus, the Romans Sindus, the Chinese Sintow, while the Arabs dubbed it Sind. The first known settlements date as far back as 7000 BCE. Permanent settlements at Mehrgarh to the west expanded into Sindh, the original inhabitants of ancient Sindh, and other regions of the Indian Subcontinent, were the aborigine tribes speaking languages related to Munda languages. The Dravidians migrated from the Iranian plateau and settled in the Indus valley around 4000 BCE, the Dravidian culture blossomed over the centuries and gave rise to the Indus Valley Civilization around 3000 BCE. Speculation remains as to how and why the civilization declined and may have been a combination of natural disasters such as flooding, the Indus Valley Civilization spanned much of what is today Pakistan and Northwestern India, but suddenly went into decline just prior to the rise of Indo-Iranians. A branch of these called the Indo-Aryans are believed to have founded the Vedic Civilization that have existed between Sarasvati River and Ganges river around 1500 BCE. This civilization helped shape subsequent cultures in the Indian subcontinent, Sindh was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE, and became part of the Persian satrapy of Hindush centred in the Punjab to the north. Persian speech had a tendency to replace S with an H resulting in Sindu being pronounced and they introduced the Kharoshti script and links to the west in the region. Later, during the reign of the Buddhist king Ashoka the region would become a Buddhist domain. The Buddhist city of Siraj-ji-Takri is located along the western limestone terraces of the Rohri Hills in the Khairpur district of Upper Sindh and this city is not mentioned from any text dealing with the history of the Buddhist period of Sindh. The Scythians shattered the Greco-Bactrians fledgling empire and then the Tocharian Kushan Empire annexed Sindh by the 1st century CE, the Kushans under Kanishka adopted Buddhism and sponsored many building projects for local beliefs. The Kushan Empire was defeated in the mid 3rd century AD by the Sassanid Empire of Persia and these rulers were defeated by the Kidarites in the late 4th century. It then came under the Gupta Empire after dealing with the Kidarites, by the late 5th century, attacks by Hephthalite tribes known as the Indo-Hephthalites or Hunas broke through the Gupta Empires northwestern borders and overran much of northwestern India. Concurrently, Ror dynasty ruled parts of the region for several centuries, afterwards, Sindh came under the rule of Emperor Harshavardhan, then the Rai Dynasty around 478. The Rais were overthrown by Chachar of Alor around 632, the Brahman dynasty ruled a vast territory that stretched from Multan in the north to the Rann of Kutch, Alor was their capital. Conquered by Syrian Arabs led by Muhammad bin Qasim, Sindh became the easternmost province of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Arab province of Sindh is modern Pakistan
10.
Samma dynasty
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The dynasty is mentioned in the works of Ibn Battuta. The Samma dynasty has left its mark in Sindh with magnificent structures including the necropolis of and royalties in Thatta. The Sindh is a valley with a sub-tropical climate watered by the Indus river. Always a prize possession, it has controlled by many different empires. The Sammas, a Rajput tribe, gained control of Thatta in the southern Sindh from the Sumras around 1335, in 1361-62, Firuz Shah Tughlaq of Delhi Sultanate, invaded Sindh and again brought Sammas under his suzerainty. Throughout the period of the Samma dynasty, Turkic groups were pushing down from the northwest, Sindh remained under control of Khizr Khan, founder of Sayyid dynasty, who was an who was an appointed governor of Sindh and Multan provinces by Timur on his behalf. Sammas remained under Sayyid dynasty till 1451, later Sammas were finally defeated by the Arghun dynasty, who had been displaced from Kandahar in Afghanistan by Babur, in 1519–1520 AD. Information about the years of the Samma dynasty is very sketchy. We know from Ibn Battuta that in 1333 AD the Sammas were in rebellion, led by the Rajput founder of the dynasty, Jam Tamachi Unar. The Sammas overthrew the Soomras soon after 1335 AD and the last Soomra ruler took shelter with the governor of Gujarat, under the protection of Muhammad bin Tughluq, the sultan of Delhi. Mohammad bin Tughlaq made an expedition against Sindh in 1351 AD and died at Sondha, with this, the Sammas became independent. The next sultan, Firuz Shah Tughlaq attacked Sindh in 1365 and 1367, unsuccessfully, the Samma dynasty overtook the Sumra dynasty and ruled Sindh during 1365–1521. Around that time, the Sindhi Swarankar community returned from Kutch to their towns in Sindh. By the end of year 1500 AD, nearly the entire Sindhi Swarankar community had returned to Sindh and this period marks the beginning of Sufistic thought and teachings in Sindh. For a period the Sammas were therefore subject to Delhi again, later, as the Sultanate of Delhi collapsed they became fully independent. During most of period of Samma rule, the Sindh was politically and economically tied to the Gujarat Sultanate, even the Chudasama Rajputs of Gujarat are also part of Samma tribe, who are still Hindu, and distributed in Junagadh District and Bhal Region of Gujarat. The Samma dynasty took the title Jam, the equivalent of King or Sultan, the main sources of information on the Samma dynasty are Nizammud-din, Abu-l-Fazl, Firishta and Mir Masum, all lacking in detail, and with conflicting information. A plausible reconstruction of the chronology is given in the History of Delhi Sultanate by M. H, Jam Unar was the founder of Samma dynasty mentioned by Ibn Battuta, the famous traveller from North Africa
11.
Debal
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Debal was an ancient port located near modern Karachi, Pakistan. It is adjacent to the nearby Manora Island and was administered by Mansura, in Arabic history books, most notably in the early eighth century accounts of the arrival of Islam in the Indian Sub-continent, it was documented as Daybul. One view is that the name was derived from Devalaya, meaning an abode of God in Sanskrit, according to modern archaeologists, Debal was founded in the 1st century CE, and soon became the most important trading city in Sindh. The port city was home to thousands of Sindhi sailors including the Bawarij, ibn Hawqal, a 10th-century writer, geographer and chronicler, mentions huts of the city and the dry arid land surrounding the city that supported little agriculture. He mentions how efficiently the inhabitants of the city maintained fishing vessels, the Abbasids were the first to build large stone structures including a city wall and a citadel. Debal and the Manora Island were visited by Ottoman Admiral Seydi Ali Reis, in 1568 Debal was attacked by the Portuguese Admiral Fernão Mendes Pinto in an attempt to capture or destroy the Ottoman vessels anchored there. Fernão Mendes Pinto also claims that Sindhi sailors joined the Ottoman Admiral Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis on his voyage to Aceh, Debal was also visited by the British travel writers such as Thomas Postans and John Elliott. According to Eliot, who is noted for his account on the city of Thatta, parts of city of Karachi. Kulanch Kulachi Kolachi jo Goth Krokola Karachi Mai Kolachi Kolachi Keti Bandar Malcolm Robert Haig, the Indus Delta Country, A Memoir, Chiefly on Its Ancient Geography and History. K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. p.42
12.
Aror
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Aror or Alor or Arorkot is the medieval name of the city of Rohri. In ancient India, Aror once served as the capital of Sindh, Aror is the ancestral town of the Arora caste. According to the Bhavishya Purana, Parshuram attacked the Kshatriyas but eventually met one who refused to oppose the Brahmins and this caused Parshuram to gain respect for him and as a result Parshuram asked this Kshatriya to settle in Sind, in Arorkot. This Kshatriyas descendants were named after the place, arab historians used the words Al-rur, Al-ruhr and Al Ror to describe Aror. The basic meaning being The Ror as Al is simply the English word The in Arabic, Aror was the ancient capital of Sindh, originally ruled by the Ror Dynasty, which was followed by Rai Dynasty and then the Brahman Dynasty. Modern Rohri is now situated close to Sukkur, Sindh, in 711, Aror was captured by the army of Muslim general Muhammad bin Qasim. In 962 it was hit by an earthquake that changed the course of the Indus River
13.
Banbhore
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Banbhore or Bhambore, is an ancient city dating to the 1st century BC located in Sindh, Pakistan. The city ruins lie on the N-5 National Highway, east of Karachi and it dates back to the Scytho-Parthian era and was later controlled by Muslims from 8th to 13th century after which it was abandoned. Remains of one of the earliest known mosques in the region dating back to 727 AD are still preserved in the city, in 2004, Department of Archaeology and Museums Pakistan submitted the site for UNESCO World Heritage Sites. On 23 April 2014, Sindh government announced to make a new division with the name Banbhore Division to highlight importance of site. Banbhore is situated on the bank of Gharo creek, about 65 km east of Karachi in the Thatta District of Sindh. The city ruins are located on the N-5 National Highway between Dhabeji and Gharo, the city of Banbhore dates from the 1st century BC to the 13th century AD. Archaeological records reveal remnants of three distinct periods on the site, Scytho-Parthian, Hindu-Buddhist, and early Islamic, the city was gradually deserted after the 13th century due to change in the course of the Indus. However, this identification has not yet confirmed, though numerous research. Preliminary excavations in the area were first done by Ramesh Chandra Majumdar in 1928, pakistani archaeologist Dr F. A. Khan conducted extensive studies and excavations in the site from 1958 to 1965. In March 2012, the Culture Department of Government of Sindh organised the first International Conference on Banbhore, Banbhore may also have been known as Barbari or Barbaricon through the centuries but it has not yet been proven that these historical cities are the same. Archaeological findings show that the city consisted of an area surrounded by a stone. The citadel was divided into eastern and western sections by a stone wall in the center. The remains of the mosque were discovered in 1960, remains of houses, streets, and other buildings have been found both within and outside the citadel. Contemporary stone buildings from the three periods are also uncovered in the area including a stone building with semi-circular shape, a Shiva temple from the Hindu period. Three gateways to the citadel were also uncovered during excavations, Banbhore was a medieval port city deriving its wealth from imported ceramic and metal goods, an industrial sector, and trade. The city was located at the mouth of the Indus, linking it with rest of the Scytho-Parthian empire. Archaeological findings show a half-submerged anchorage structure with stone foundation. However, the port was abandoned when the Indus river shifted its position, the Port of Banbhore was submitted for induction in World Heritage Sites by the Department of Archaeology and Museums of Pakistan in January 2004
14.
Mansura (Brahmanabad)
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Mansura was the historic capital of the Arab empire in Sindh, Pakistan during the eighth century under the Umayyad Caliphate. The city now lies in Sanghar District situated about 8 miles south-east of Shahdadpur, Sanghar District, the city was constructed by Khalid ibn Barmak, a member of the Persian Barmakids family. The city holds an important position in Muslim history as the first to be built by Arabs according to the principles of town-planning, seventeen years later, lessons learned in Mansura were applied in Baghdad where there were once numerous Sindhi inspired buildings and monuments. Mansuras history began under the Umayyad Caliphs, when Muslim Arabs attempted to conquer the kingdoms of India, Kabul, Zabul. In the early 8th Century, with the Kingdom of Sindh convulsed by internal strife, thereafter it was captured by Muhammad ibn Qasim, nephew of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the governor of Iraq and Khurasan. Qasims successors attempted to expand from Sindh into the Punjab and other regions, al-Masudi ascribed the foundation of the city to Governor Mansur ibn Jamhur, the last Umayyad governor of Sindh. Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, who belonged to the Banu Habar tribe, around the same time, his son Yahya ibn Khalid, was appointed governor of Adharbayjan. According to historians, Mansura was a town with vast orchards of mangoes and groves of date palms. Today the ruins of Mansura are spread over an area 4 miles in circumference near the city of Shahdadpur. Shaped like a boot with the sole facing north-west and the leg stretching south-east, apart from a considerable area towards the south-east end, the whole space is covered with billowing mounds of brick ruins. Nothing now stands above the surface, except in one place, there is a total absence of stone masonry of any kind, but lumps of charred wood dotted here and there indicate the former presence of woodwork. The cement used in the brickwork appears to have been mud which forms the greater mass of the present mounds, the name Brahmanabad too was a misnomer and is primarily based upon the assumption that it was the place where Brahmans were concentrated. It is a combination of Brahman and Abad, Abad means settled and is a Persian word. In fact the city was established earlier than the Brahman occupation of, and settlement in and this information is based on the historical works of Maj Raverti, a prominent historian on the North Western parts of India, particularly, Sindh. Islamic civilization in South Asia, A history of Muslim power, journal of the Pakistan Historical Society 46. Mansura Archaeological Site Photo Sindh Archaeology
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Umerkot
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Umerkot, formerly known as Amarkot, is a town in Umerkot District in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The city is connected with the other large cities like Karachi. The name of the city is said to be after the name of a ruler, Umer. The story also appears in Shah Jo Risalo and is one of the popular tragic romances from Sindh, the province was ruled by Sodha clan of Hindu Rajputs. The city held prominence during the Mughal Empire and the British Raj, Mughal Emperor Akbar was born in Umerkot 14 October 1542 when his father Humayun fled from the military defeat at the hands of Sher Shah Suri. Rana Prasad, the Sodha Rajput ruler of Umerkot, gave him refuge, later on, Akbar brought northwestern India, including modern day Pakistan under Mughal rule. Before 1947, the present day Umerkot was a state named Amarkot. It joined Pakistan due to being surrounded by Pakistan and the population of Sindh Valley, Umerkot has many sites of historical significance such as Akbars birthplace at Umarkot Fort. There is an ancient temple, Shiv Mandir, Umerkot, the story of Umar Marvi is that Marvi was a young Thari girl abducted by then-ruler, Umar, who wanted to marry her because of her beauty. Upon her refusal she was imprisoned in the historic Umerkot Fort for several years, because of her courage, Marvi is regarded as a symbol of love for ones soil and homeland. The city has more than 100 schools,20 colleges and one polytechnic college, islamkot District government Umerkot official website
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Thatta
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Thatta (Sindhi, ٺٽو, is a city and capital of Thatta District. It will be capital of the announced Banbhore Division and it is a historic town of 220,000 inhabitants in the Sindh province of Pakistan, near Lake Keenjhar, the largest freshwater lake in the country. Thattas major monument, the necropolis at Makli Hill, is listed among the World Heritage Sites, the Shah Jahan Mosque, Thatta is mentioned separately on the tentative list since 1993. Located 100 km east of the capital of Sindh, Karachi. Thatta may be the site of ancient Patala, the port on the Indus in the time of Alexander the Great. The site of Patala has been subject to much debate, ahmad Hasan Dani, director of the Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisations, Islamabad, concluded, “There has been a vain attempt to identify the city of Patala. The geographer Strabo recorded that, “The Indus falls into the sea by two mouths, encompassing the country of Patalênê, which resembles the Delta in Egypt”. In the late second century BC Agatharchides of Cnidus recorded merchants from Patala, or as he called it, “Potana”, the city, formerly commanding the delta of the Indus, was the capital of Lower Sindh from the 14th century onwards. Some suggested the name derived from the word Thab implying closeness of population, while others find its origin in the common word Thatta, the city was destroyed by Mirza Jani Beg in the 16th century. During the Samma dynasty, Thatta was the capital of Sindh for 95 years, between 1592 and 1739, it was governed in the name of the Mughal emperors of Delhi. In 1739, however, following the Battle of Karnal, the province was ceded to Nadir Shah of Persia, between 1652 and 1660, the Dutch East India Company had a small tradingpost in Thatta. This competed with the English one, which was established in 1635, a second British factory was set up during the Kalhora period, in 1758, which lasted until 1775. In the early 19th century Thatta had declined to a population of about 18,000, to the Arabs it was known as Dibal and the remnants of the brick wall from the Mirza Isa Tarkhan period were visible at that time. On 23 April 2014, the Peoples Party government announced to form Sindhs sixth division Banbhore Division with Thatta as capital and these sources reveal that this formation is made to improve governance in Thatta. Climate of Thatta, The average annual rainfall is 210mm, The average annual temperature in Thatta is 26.8 °C. Monthly rainfall, January, 5mm, February, 8mm, March 5mm, April, 3mm, May, 5mm, June, 17mm, July, 98mm, August, 50mm, September, 15mm, October, 1mm, November, 2mm, December 3mm
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Hyderabad, Sindh
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Hyderabad is a city located in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Hyderabad is the 4th largest city in Pakistan and the 2nd largest in the province of Sindh and it is located in south-east of the country. In AD711, Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh, Raja Dahir was a Hindu king who ruled over a Buddhist majority and that Chach of Alor and his kin were regarded as usurpers of the earlier Buddhist Rai Dynasty. The forces of Muhammad bin Qasim defeated Raja Dahir, Hyderabad is a city built on three hillocks cascading over each other. Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro of the Kalhora Dynasty founded the city in 1768 over the ruins of Neroon Kot, a formal concept for the city was laid out by his son, Sarfraz Khan in 1782. When the foundations were laid, the city obtained the nickname Heart of the Mehran as the ruler Mian Ghulam Shah himself was said to have fallen in love with the city. In 1768 he ordered a fort to be built on one of the three hills of Hyderabad to house and defend his people, the fort was built using fire-baked bricks, on account of which it was named Pacco Qillo meaning the strong fort. The City has a history of Sufism, in the 18th Century Syeds from Multan migrated and settled at Tando Jahania making it a sacred place for Muslims. These Syeds came here from Uch Sharif via Jahanian and these were the descendants of Jahaniyan Jahangasht a noted Sufi saint. The city is a multi-ethnic and has a mix of Sindhi, Urdu speaking Muhajirs, Brahuis, Punjabis, Pashtuns, Memons, the independence of Pakistan in 1947 saw the influx of Muslim Urdu-speaking Muhajirs from India fleeing from anti-Muslim pogroms. Mahjirs mainly live in Latifabad and Sindhi mainly live in Qasimabad areas, a large influx of Punjabis were attracted to Hyderabad after the Indus treaty settlement. Most Punjabis and Pakhtuns are distinct and separately living near the railway station, the city therefore has cosmopolitan atmosphere with multiethnic and multicultural communities. Hindus account for the largest religious minority forming 5% of the population of the city. While Christians account for 1% of the population, Hyderabad is the seat of a Diocese of the Church of Pakistan and has five churches. Two of Pakistans largest highways, the Indus Highway and the National Highway join at Hyderabad, several towns surrounding the city include Kotri at 6.7 kilometres, Jamshoro at 8.1 kilometres, Hattri at 5.0 kilometres and Husri at 7.5 kilometres. Hyderabad has a hot climate, with warm conditions year-round. The period from mid-April to late June is the hottest of the year, during this time, winds that blow usually bring along clouds of dust, and people prefer staying indoors in the daytime, while the breeze that flows at night is more pleasant. Winters are warm, with highs around 25 °C, though lows can drop below 10 °C at night
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Karachi
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Karachi is the capital of Sindh, and is the largest and most populous city in Pakistan, as well as the 7th largest in the world and the worlds second most populous city proper. Ranked as a world city, the city is Pakistans premier industrial and financial centre. Karachi is also Pakistans most cosmopolitan city, though the Karachi region has been inhabited for millennia, the city was founded as a village named Kolachi that was established as a fortified settlement in 1729. By the time of the Partition of British India, the city was the largest in Sindh with a population of 400,000. Immediately following the independence of Pakistan, the population increased dramatically with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees from India. The city experienced economic growth following independence, attracting migrants from throughout Pakistan. Karachi is now Pakistans premier industrial and financial centre, the city has a formal economy estimated to be worth $113 billion as of 2014. Karachi collects over a third of Pakistans tax revenue, and generates approximately 20% of Pakistans GDP, approximately 30% of Pakistani industrial output is from Karachi, while Karachis ports handle approximately 95% of Pakistans foreign trade. Approximately 90% of the corporations operating in Pakistan are headquartered in Karachi. Up to 70% of Karachis workforce is employed in the informal economy, Karachi is one of Pakistans most secular and socially liberal cities. It is also the most linguistically, ethnically, and religiously diverse city in Pakistan, Karachi is considered to be one of the worlds fastest growing cities, and has communities representing almost every ethnic group in Pakistan. Karachi is also home to over 2 million Bangladeshi migrants,1 million Afghans, the citys murder rate in 2015 had decreased by 75% compared to 2013, and kidnappings decreased by 90%, with the improved security environment triggering sharp increases in real-estate prices. Karachi was reputedly founded in 1729 as the settlement of Kolachi, the new settlement is said to have been named in honour of Mai Kolachi, whose son is said to have slayed a man-eating crocodile in the village after his elder brothers had already been killed by it. The citys inhabitants are referred to by the demonym Karachiite in English, the earliest inhabitants of the Karachi region are believed to have been hunter-gatherers, with ancient flint tools discovered at several sites. The Karachi region is believed to have known to the ancient Greeks. The region may be the site of Krokola, where Alexander the Great once camped to prepare a fleet for Babylonia, in 711 C. E. Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the Sindh and Indus Valley. The Karachi region is believed to have known to the Arabs as Debal. Under Mirza Ghazi Beg the Mughal administrator of Sindh, development of coastal Sindh, under his rule, fortifications in the region acted as a bulwark against Portuguese incursions into Sindh
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