Sindh
The main languages are Sindhi and Urdu. 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. A major trading state from ancient times, the Assyrians as early as the seventh century BC knew the region as Sinda, the Persians Abisind, the ancient Greeks as Sinthus, the ancient Romans and Sindus, the Chinese Sintow, while the Arabs dubbed it Sind. It is called the Abhira Kingdom in Shrimad Bhagwatam.
In ancient times, the territory of the modern Sindh province was sometimes known as Sovira, Souveera or Sindhudesh, Sindhu being the original name for Indus River and the suffix 'desh' roughly corresponding to country or territory. The first known village 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 Pakistan, were the aborigine tribes speaking languages related to Munda languages. The Aryans invaded from the Iranian plateau and settled in the Indus valley around 4000 BCE. This Aryan culture blossomed over the centuries and gave rise to the Indus Valley Civilization around 3000 BCE. The Indus Valley Civilization rivaled the contemporary civilizations of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in both size and scope numbering nearly half a million inhabitants at its height with well-planned grid cities and sewer systems. A branch of these tribes called the Indo-Aryans are believed to have founded the Vedic Civilization that existed between Sarasvati River and Ganges river around 1500 BCE and also influenced Indus Valley Civilization. This civilization helped shape subsequent cultures in South Asia. The Aryan invaders instituted the caste system to enslave the native population and the aborigine tribes.
Sindh was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE, and became part of the Persian satrapy (province) of Hindush centered in the Punjab to the north. Persian speech had a tendency to replace 'S' with an 'H' resulting in 'Sindu' being pronounced and written as 'Hindu'. They introduced the Kharoshti script and links to the west in the region. Subsequently conquered by Greeks led by Alexander the Great, the region came under loose Greek control for a few decades until Alexander's death and brief Seleucid rule and then was conquered by the Mauryans led by Chandragupta in 305 BCE. Later, during the reign of the Buddhist king Ashoka the region would solidly become a Buddhist domain. Following a century of Mauryan rule which ended by 232 BCE, the region came under the Greco-Bactrians based in what is today Afghanistan and these rulers would also convert to and proliferate Buddhism in the region. The Scythians shattered the Greco-Bactrians fledgling empire and then the Tocharian Kushan Empire annexed Sindh by the 1st century CE. Though the Kushans were Zoroastrian, they were tolerant of the local Buddhist tradition and sponsored many building projects for local beliefs. The Huns and remnants of the Kushans, Scythians, and the Sassanid Persians all exercised some degree of control in Sindh until the coming of the Muslim Arabs in 711 CE.
Conquered by Syrian Arabs led by Muhammad bin Qasim, Sindh became the easternmost province of the Umayyad Caliphate. The lands further east were known to the Arabs as Hind. The defeat of the Brahmin ruler Dahir was made easier due to the tension between the Buddhist majority and the ruling Brahmins' fragile base of control. The Arabs redefined the region and adopted the term budd to refer to the numerous Buddhist idols they encountered, a word that remains in use today. The city of Mansura was established as a regional misr or capital and Arab rule lasted for nearly 3 centuries and a fusion of cultures produced much of what is today modern Sindhi society. Arab geographers, historians and travelers also sometimes called the entire area from the Arabian Sea to the Hindu Kush, Sindh. The meaning of the word Sindhu being water (or ocean) appears to refer to the Indus river.
In addition, there is a mythological belief among Muslims that four rivers had sprung from Heaven: Neel (Nile), Furat (Euphrates), Jehoon (Jaxartes) and Sehoon (Sind or in modern times the Indus).[citation needed]Arab rule ended with the ascension of the Soomro dynasty, who were local Sindhi Muslims and who controlled the province directly and as vassals from 1058 to 1249. Turkic invaders conquered the area by 977 CE and the region loosely became part of the Ghaznavid Empire and then the Delhi Sultanate which lasted until 1524. The Mughals seized the region and their rule lasted for another two centuries, while another local Sindhi Muslim group the Samma challenged Mughal rule from their base at Thatta. The Muslim Sufi played a pivotal role in converting the millions of native people to Islam. Sindh, though part of larger empires, continued to enjoy certain autonomy as a loyal Muslim domain and came under the rule of the Arghun Dynasty and the Tarkhan dynasty from 1519 to 1625. Sind became a vassal-state of the Afghan Durrani Empire by 1747. It was then ruled by Kalhora rulers and later the Balochi Talpurs 2 from 1783.
British forces under General Charles Napier arrived in Sindh in the 19th century and conquered it in 1843. It is said that he sent back to the Governor General a one-word message, "Peccavi" – Latin for "I have sinned". In actual fact, this pun first appeared as a cartoon in Punch magazine. The first Aga Khan helped the British in the conquest of Sindh and was granted a pension as a result.[citation needed]. After 1853 Sindh was divided into provinces and was assigned a Zamindar's to collect taxes for British, Zamindar's were also known as 'Wadara'.Wadara of "Shikarpur" was Bhagwandas Golani (1841 - 1899) a merchant born in the royal family of the Golani's . After his death in his eldest son Shobraj Bhagwandas Golani (1878 - 1919) took over as the Landlord of Shikarpur, Digri, Jamrao, Kachhelo, Tando Jan Mohammed, Ratnabad, Roshanabad and Khayrpur. Shobraj Bhagwandas Golani was also invited to Great Britain by the King along with all the Nawab's and Rajah's of India in 1900 to discuss the participation of their respective provinces in Expansion of British Empire in Middle East. Sindh was made part of British India's Bombay Presidency, and became a separate province in 1935. The British ruled the area for a century and Sindh was home to many prominent Muslim leaders including Muhammad Ali Jinnah who agitated for greater Muslim autonomy.
Following World War II, Britain withdrew from British India and Sindh voted to join Pakistan in 1947 and Muslim immigrants from India replaced the Hindu educated elites who moved to India. Later local Sindhis have resented the influx of Pashtun and Punjabi immigrants to Karachi. Nonetheless, traditional Sindhi families remain prominent in Pakistani politics, especially the Bhutto dynasty. In recent years Sindhi dissatisfaction has grown over issues such as the construction of large dams, perceived discrimination in military/government jobs, provincial autonomy, and overall revenue shares.