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December 21, 2003
Review: Portrayal of Sindh
THE saying, ‘people who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it’, holds as true for Sindh, as it would for any other land and people. The accounts of some 25 European travellers who visited Sindh during the 17th century and the conquest by the British in 1843 compiled in the book under review, A Social and Cultural History of Sind, tell an interesting story. The authors, who were European travellers themselves, have relied mostly on 19th century writings about the region (1800-1858).
These travellers who visited Sindh came for various reasons. Some made Sindh their home and developed close ties with the ruling gentry, while others came as mere tourists. Some were attached with diplomatic missions or military expeditions and their motives varied accordingly, but directly or indirectly, they supported colonialism. Espousing the spirit of an adventurer, explorer and a conqueror, they undauntingly took risks and also recorded minute details of the social and cultural scene as well as the functioning of the state.
The book covers the period of the Kalhoras (1700-82), and the Talpurs (1782-1843). A list of the names of the rulers is attached. The book opens with details of Sindh’s geographical features, agriculture, flora and fauna, handicrafts, imports/exports, means of transport, animals and fish. Then follows a description of the inhabitants — their religion, castes, occupations, ethnicity, and cultural practices, dresses, music, dances, languages, housing and furniture — and also an account of the major cities. The fourth and the last part of the book discusses the rulers, courts, and the administration of that time. The wealth of information collected by foreign writers and put together in a book is commendable.
What is described briefly is the plight of the common man, who can be seen in the roles of a trader, a banker, a farmer, a dancer on the shrines, or a faqir (hermit) taking intoxicants. The compiler is, however, right in commenting that this information is found nowhere else.
There is a sweeping reference to women, who are described as peeping out of windows at the foreigners’ carriages, or dancing to entertain them, much of which was not appreciated by the guests to the utter dismay of the hosts. The visitors were impressed as they distantly admired the exotic attire and beauty of the women. Occasionally, women are mentioned as wives and princesses being manipulated in the political game played by men. The only female name mentioned is ‘Mahtab’, who was a dancer.
The book documents and also criticizes the great privileges enjoyed by the Sayyids who maintained a distance from the commoners who held the former in high respect. Though Hindus are portrayed as an oppressed section perpetually facing insecurity, their monopoly over commerce despite being a minority, the high status enjoyed by them in courts and the important roles assigned to them are also described.
Karachi was a small town then, as reported in the book, with a population of 14,000 as observed by L. Orlich in 1842. It grew to one having 45,000 people as reported by Richard F. Burton in 1878. Thatta was once a seat of learning with over 400 schools, while it also had 5,000 looms, over 60,000 artisans, 60,000 traders while business boomed. Its population then declined to only 12,000 people, including 20 bankers, 40 traders, and five butchers.
Other towns in Sindh — Shikarpur, Sehwan, Khairpur, Mirpur, Rohri, Sukkur, Bhakar (on an island in Indus river), Bhulri, Larkana and Hala also met the same fate due to political negligence. The account on Hyderabad mentions the architecture of its fort. Quite naturally, the visitors keenly took meticulous notes on the strategic features of the fortifications, the number of soldiers, quality of arms, wealth, internal strife, intrigues and weaknesses of the rulers, to be able to devise their own strategy to overpower them one day. The local rulers however, oblivious to the motive behind the guests’ visit, welcomed and treated these guests with great hospitality.
The historical background traced in the book is interesting. But it also makes the reader wonder whether the facts given actually add to our knowledge or quietly mock us. The description of the rulers, the court manners, their administrative policies are elaborate but some assertions seem rude as well as contemptuous. There are brief mentions of slavery, infanticide, mythical practices, mud houses, dirty streets, crocodiles of Mangho Pir, and more.
The book seems to advocate the need for colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent, reaching the conclusion that the extreme deterioration of the political and administrative super-structures and intellectual culture was the underlying cause for foreign invasion. But the fact is that no foreign nation has the right to rule over a people, whatever their moral or productive decadence may be at any point in time. The locals — the nobles and the rulers — are portrayed in the book as lazy, treacherous, greedy, uncivilized and low in morals, which made them an easy prey to the designs of the foreign invaders.
But that is no justification for subjugating them. The colonizers were also perhaps voracious in their greed for money and lust for power. They plundered these lands to bolster their superficial pride and the sense of racial superiority.
The translation of the book is quite good. Bibliographical details of the sources dating as early as 1744, given in English, demonstrate the credibility of this intellectual pursuit. These include six manuscripts available in the Institute of Sindhology, while others were printed in the 19th and early 20th centuries mostly in England, or India.
A few maps and some chronological narratives would have aptly supported the text, making the book more useful. The snapshots are arranged chronologically but how much they are distanced from each other is difficult to ascertain. There are mentions of accounts like the ‘youngest brother’ who ravaged a whole village because its people were a disturbance to his hunting game. Since there is no reference to the youngest brother’s name, this abstraction lowers the utility of a good selection.
Sindh Ki Samaji-o-Saqafati Tarikh
Translation of ‘A Social and Cultural History of Sind’ Compiled by Dr Mubarak Ali
Translated by Saud-ul-Hasan Khan
Fiction House, 18 Mozang Road, Lahore
Tel: (042) 7249218
246pp. Rs180
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