• Source: Sindhi Hindus

Sindhi Hindus are ethnic Sindhis who follow Hinduism and are native to the region of Sindh. They are spread across modern-day Sindh, Pakistan, and India. After the partition of India in 1947, many Sindhi Hindus were among those who fled from Pakistan to the dominion of India, in what was a wholesale exchange of Hindu and Muslim populations in some areas. Some later emigrated from the Indian subcontinent and settled in other parts of the world.
According to the 2017 Pakistani census, there are 3.35 million Sindhi Hindus residing within the Sindh province of Pakistan with major population centers being Mirpur Khas Division and Hyderabad Division that combined account for more than 2 million of them. Meanwhile, the 2011 census listed 2.77 million speakers of Sindhi in India, including speakers of Kutchi, a number that does not include Sindhi Hindus who no longer speak the Sindhi language. The vast majority of Sindhi Hindus living in India belong to the Lohana jāti, which includes the sub-groups of Amil, Bhaiband and Sahiti.




Hinduism in Sindh



Prior to Arab invasions, majority of Sindh's population practiced Hinduism, although a significant minority adhered to Buddhism as well. During the Arab invasions, majority of Sindhi Hindus were a rural pastoral population, who lived mostly in upper Sindh, a region that was entirely Hindu; while the Buddhists of Sindh were a mercantile population, who lived entirely in the urban areas of lower Sindh.
After many successful raids, collaboration by the local Buddhist population, and resistance by the local Hindu population, the army of the Umayyad Caliphate led by Muhammad ibn al-Qasim successfully invaded and conquered Sindh in 712CE, against the last Hindu king of Sindh, Raja Dahir.
Sindh, under the control of Qasim, saw a decline of Buddhism, as most Buddhists started converting to Islam. The later reign of the Delhi Sultanate, led to further decline, with both Buddhism and Hinduism becoming minority religions in Sindh. Buddhism later collapsed and ceased to exist in Sindh, while Hinduism remained persistent, managing to survive and flourish throughout the centuries as a minority religion. The consistency of Hinduism in Sindh is credited the dependency of the rural Hindu population on Brahmins.




Castes






= Indian Sindhi Hindus

=
Most Sindhi Hindus in India belong to the Lohana caste, who are historically traders, merchants and government officials, and belong to the Vaishya varna. The Sindhi Lohanas are further divided into different sub-groups for example Amils, Bhaibands, Hyderabadi Bhaiband (Sindhi Varki), Sahitis, Shikarpuris, Hatvaniya/Hatwara, Thattai, Bhagnari etc, these sub-groups have their own hundreds of surnames.
Other notable castes include Bhatias (Larai) and Aroras (Riasti), who are also called as Wāniya and Deewan in the Sindhi language, and who also belong to the Vaishya varna and Kshatriya varna of the Hindu caste system, respectively.
A small minority of Hindu Sindhis in India belong to the Brahmin caste, who can be further divided into the three endogamous subcastes- Pokarnos, Shrimalis and Saraswats.




= Pakistani Sindhi Hindus

=
Hindu Rajputs are mainly found in Thar region of Sindh.
Tribal groups like Dhed, Bhils, Meghwals and Kolhis etc form the largest group among Sindhi Hindus in Pakistan and are mostly found in the Southern and Eastern parts of Sindh.




Sindhi Hindus in India



During the first half of 1948, approximately 1 million Sindhi Hindus immigrated to India. Various refugee colonies have been set up by Government of India for accommodation of Sindhi refugees across the nation like: Ahmedabad, Gandhidham, Kandla and Adipur camps in Gujarat, Sindhi Camp bus stand in Rajasthan's capital Jaipur, Cox Town camp in Karnataka's capital Bangalore and Ulhasnagar (Kalyan Camp) in Maharashtra.
According to the 2011 census of India, there are around 2.8 million Sindhi-language speakers living in India, however, this number does not include ethnic Sindhis who no longer speak Sindhi. Sindhis formed a major-chunk of population of Ulhasnagar Municipality (Mumbai Metropolitan Region), Maharashtra. The population of Ulhasnagar city is 500k, out of which 400k of the residents are Sindhis, thus constituting 80% of the city's population as per 2011 census report. Ulhasnagar is also known as India's "Mini Sindh" due to having the highest concentration of Sindhis in one city in India.




Partition of India



After the partition of India in 1947, the majority of Sindh's Hindus migrated to India, mainly forced by the religious-based persecution sponsored by Muhajir refugees and other Sindhi Muslims. They settled primarily in the neighbouring Kutch district of Gujarat, which bears linguistic and cultural similarities to Sindh, and the city of Bombay. As per Census of India 2011, there are around 1,741,662 Sindhi speakers living in India (not counting Kutchi speakers, who are sometimes seen as speaking a Sindhi dialect). There are also sizable Sindhi Hindu communities elsewhere in the world, sometimes termed, the 'Sindhi diaspora'.




Family Names






= Conventions

=
Sindhi Hindu family names often derive from a patronymic tradition, commonly ending with the suffix "-ani". This suffix signifies descent from a shared male ancestor. One explanation suggests that "-ani" is a Sindhi adaptation of "anshi", originating from the Sanskrit word "ansh", meaning "descended from". The initial component of a Sindhi Hindu surname typically reflects the name or location of an ancestor. In northern Sindh, surnames ending in "ja" (meaning "of") are also prevalent. A person's surname often includes the name of their native village followed by "ja". Sindhi Hindus frequently append the "-ani" suffix to the name of a great-grandfather and adopt it as their family name.




= Surnames

=




Notable Sindhi Hindus



Bherumal Meharchand Advani, late linguist, historian, novelist, poet and researcher
Kalyan Bulchand Advani, late poet, critique and scholar
Kiara Advani, Indian actress
L. K. Advani, Indian politician and former Deputy Prime Minister of India
Nikkhil Advani, Indian movie director and screenwriter
Pankaj Advani, Indian billiards and professional snooker player
Suresh H. Advani, oncologist who pioneered Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in India
Asrani, Indian actor and director
Kirat Babani, late writer, journalist and progressive activist
Babita, former Indian film actress
Anant Balani, late Bollywood film director and screenwriter
Rana Bhagwandas, late Pakistani jurist
Tamannaah Bhatia, Indian actress
Deepak Bhojwani, Indian diplomat
Aarti Chabria, Indian actress and former model
Master Chander, late singer, musical director and poet
Brahma Chellaney, Indian geostrategist
Vishal Dadlani, Indian singer, songwriter, actor and music composer.
Jairamdas Daulatram, late Indian political leader
Raja Dahir, the last Hindu king of Sindh
Bhai Pratap Dialdas, late Indian businessman, philanthropist and freedom fighter
Harish Fabiani, Indian (NRI) businessman based in Madrid
Khialdas Fani, late Indian writer, poet, stage artist and singer
Sobho Gianchandani, Pakistani Sindhi social scientist and revolutionary writer
Kitu Gidwani, Indian model and actress
Gope, late Indian actor
Hotchand Molchand Gurbakhshani, late educationist and scholar.
Hari Harilela, late Hong Kong Indian businessman
Jimmi Harkishin, actor
Anita Hassanandani, Indian actress
Gopichand Hinduja, Indian-British billionaire businessman and co-chairman of the Hinduja Group
Indira Hinduja, Indian gynaecologist, obstetrician and infertility specialist
Arjun Hingorani, late Indian Bollywood director, producer and actor
Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani, late Indian Navy flag officer
Lakhumal Hiranand Hiranandani, late Indian otorhinolaryngology, social activist and philanthropist
Niranjan Hiranandani, Indian billionaire businessman, co-founder and managing director of Hiranandani Group
Popati Hiranandani, late Indian writer
Surendra Hiranandani, Indian-born entrepreneur, co-founder and managing director of Hiranandani Group
Rajkumar Hirani, Indian film director
Narendra Hirwani, former Indian cricketer
Micky Jagtiani, late Indian billionaire businessman
Gurumukh Das Jagwani, Indian politician
Jeet, Indian actor, film producer, singer, entrepreneur and television presenter
Kamna Jethmalani, Indian actress
Ram Jethmalani, late Indian lawyer and politician
Motilal Jotwani, late Indian writer, educationist, gandhian and a former post doctoral fellow of Harvard Divinity School
Hemu Kalani, late freedom fighter
Rajkumar Keswani, late Indian journalist
Atul Khatri, Indian stand-up comedian and YouTube personality
Raj Kiran, former Indian actor
Chanda Kochhar, Indian banker
Krishna Kohli, Pakistani politician
Rooplo Kolhi, late freedom fighter
J. B. Kripalani, late Indian politician
Jayant Kripalani, Indian film, television and stage actor, director and trainer
Krishna Kripalani, late Indian freedom fighter fighter, author and parliamentarian
Ajith Kumar, Indian film actor
Gulu Lalvani, British businessman, founder and chairman of Binatone
Kartar Lalvani, British-Indian businessman, founder and chairman of Vitabiotics
Nikita Lalwani, Indian novelist
Tej Lalvani, British businessman and the CEO Vitabiotics
Shankar Lalwani, Indian politician
Kishore Mahbubani, Singaporean diplomat and geopolitical consultant
K. R. Malkani, late journalist, historian and politician
Mangharam Udharam Malkani, late Indian scholar, critic, writer, playwright, literary historian and professor
N. R. Malkani, late social worker and freedom fighter
Rajeev Masand, Indian film critic and journalist
Rajesh Mirchandani, communications executive and former British television journalist
Mac Mohan, late Indian actor
Hansika Motwani, Indian actress
Rajeev Motwani, Indian American professor of Computer Science at Stanford University
Kabir Mulchandani, Indian-born, Dubai-based real estate and hospitality businessman and philanthropist
Bhagwanti Navani, late Indian singer and actress
Govind Nihalani, Indian film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer
Pahlaj Nihalani, Indian film producer
Seth Vishandas Nihalchand, late Sindhi Hindu politician, social reformer, and philanthropist
Archie Panjabi, British actress
Lila Poonawalla Indian industrialist, philanthropist, humanitarian and the founder of Lila Poonawalla Foundation
Kala Prakash, late Indian novelist, short story writer and poet
Moti Prakash, late Indian writer
Chandru Raheja, Indian billionaire businessman and chairman of K Raheja Corp
Sushil Rajpal, Indian director and producer
Bhagat Kanwar Ram, late Sindhi Sufi singer and poet
Sheila Ramani, late Indian actress
Bulo C Rani, late Indian music director
Gulabrai Ramchand, late Indian cricketer, cricket coach and administrator
Ishwardas Rohani, late Indian politician
G. S. Sainani, Indian general physician, medical researcher, medical writer and an Emeritus Professor of the National Academy of Medical Sciences
Meera Sanyal late Indian banker and politician
Aftab Shivdasani, Indian actor, producer and model
Hari Shivdasani, late Indian character actor
Sadhana Shivdasani, late Indian actress
Sonu Shivdasani, British hotelier, founder and CEO of Soneva
Ranveer Singh, Indian actor
G. P. Sippy, late Indian film producer and director
Ramesh Sippy, Indian film director, actor and producer
Sobhraj Nirmaldas Sujansingani, late Indian prose writer and poet
Anjana Sukhani, Indian actress and model
Dalip Tahil Indian film, television and theatre actor
Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani, late Indian Navy flag officer
Tarun Tahiliani, Indian fashion designer
Hiten Tejwani, Indian television actor
Sundri Uttamchandani, late Indian writer
Sunil Vaswani, Indian-born Nigerian billionaire businessman and chairman of the Stallion Group
Harchandrai Vishandas, late Sindhi attorney and politician
Romesh Wadhwani, Indian-American billionaire, chairman and CEO of Symphony Technology Group
Tulsi Ramsay, late Indian film director
Shyam Ramsay, late Bollywood film director




See also


Sindhis
Hinduism in Sindh
Sindhis in India
Hinduism in Pakistan
Darya Lal Mandir




Notes






References






Sources


Bherumal Mahirchand Advani, "Amilan-jo-Ahwal" - published in Sindhi, 1919
Amilan-jo-Ahwal (1919) - translated into English in 2016 ("A History of the Amils") at sindhis

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• Khidr
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• Sindhi Hindus
• Sindhis
• Sindhis in India
• List of Sindhi tribes
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