Sindh Under the Mughals: Origin and Development of Historiography
Dr Humera Naz
Oxford University Press, Karachi
ISBN:9780190701284
254pp.

Sindh has always been a small state with limited defence capabilities. It has been surrounded by some mighty empires and military powers of their times, such as Arabs, Persians, Afghans and Indians. In addition to its smallness, the fertility of its lands — and resultant wealth — has made it a target of foreign invasions throughout the course of history.

One such episode of foreign rule In Sindh was that by Mughals of Delhi, technically from 1591 to 1737 CE, though factually the power had already passed on to local Kalhoras by 1700 CE.

One of the most significant hallmarks of Mughal rule in Sindh, as well as that of preceding Arghun (1520-1555) and Tarkhan (1555-1591) rule, was the development of huge historiographic literature in the Persian language. This literature is a great source of information on the social, political and cultural life of that era.

While, some political works of that period have received some scholarly attention, there has been almost a blackout of other genres of “non-political historical literature”, such as the biographical accounts of Sufi saints, poets, scholars, and other celebrities (Tadhkiras), the spoken discourse of the Sufi saints recorded by their disciples (Mulfuz, plural Mulfuzat), and the collections of letters or epistolography (Insha).

A new book is a treasure of information on the historiographic literature produced during the mediaeval and Mughal period in Sindh

In this background, the present book by Dr Humera Naz on the “origin and development of historiography in Sindh under the Mughal era (1591-1737)” is the most welcome addition to scholarship on the subject. It ably examines a huge collection of treatises, both political and non-political in nature, and presents a candid analysis.

But before we move to discuss the contents of the book, it is pertinent to state that the Mughals, particularly emperor Akbar — during whose reign in Delhi Sindh was annexed — had a close personal connection with Sindh. His father, Humayoun, had married a Sindhi girl, Hamida Bano Begum, daughter of Shaikh Ali Akbar, a resident of village Paat in present Dadu district, when he had fled to Sindh in the early 1540s, due to his power struggle with Sher Shah of Sur.

From this union, Akbar was born in October 1542 at Umerkot, another city of Sindh in the Thar desert. So, Akbar was not only born in Sindh but was born of a Sindhi mother, prompting French scholar on South Asia Michel Boivin to describe Akbar as a “native of Sindh”, in his foreword to the book under review.

Coming back to the contents of the book, the author has described the main purpose of “this research” as “to analyse the historical sources of mediaeval Sindh from a fresh perspective.” In this regard, the author has meticulously examined and analysed almost all the significant Persian works produced during the timeframe of the study. This prompted Boivin to write: “She sifts through works written in Persian during this period and extracts numerous lessons about the religious and social life in Sindh under the Mughals.”

One of the major works, under the genre of political accounts, reviewed by the author is the iconic Chach Nama or Fateh Nama-i-Sindh, which was translated from Arabic in Persian during the 13th century by Ali bin Hamid bin Abi Bakar al-Kufi. Though this work does not fall within the timeframe of the study, being much older, Dr Naz has included it in view of the work being the oldest and pioneering work of its genre in Sindh.

Another work reviewed is the Nusrat Nama-i-Tarkhan, written by Abu Sa’id Muhammad bin Bayazid Purani in 1560 CE. The subject of this work is the achievements and conquests of the Tarkhans. The significance of this work lies in the fact that, while Chach Nama is a translation of an Arabic treatise composed outside Sindh, this work is the first political account compiled in Sindh.

It is this work that provides somewhat ‘authentic’ information about the martyrdom of the legendary military commander of Sindh, Duleh Darya Khan, who was instrumental in defending Sindh against the Arghuns.

Yet another important work of that era is the Tarikh-i-Sindh alias Tarikh-i-Masumi, compiled by Mir Muhammad Masum Shah Bukhari during the Mughal era. The author Dr Naz has aptly compared and contrasted Masum’s work with other such contemporary works produced in other parts of India.

This brings us next to the review of Beglar Nama [The Book of Beglar], written by Idarki Beglari, and basically a biography of Amir Khan Zaman Shah Qasim (1540-1610 CE). This work has been considered one of the greatest sources of information on multiple aspects of life in that era, compelling great scholar Dr NA Baloch to write that the Beglar Nama “gives details of several internal events, particularly during Mirza Muhammad Baqi’s reign, which are not found” in other sources of history.

Other important works surveyed in the book are Tarikh-i-Baldah-i-Thatta alias Tarikh-i-Tahiri, written by a great scholar of his times, Mir Tahir Muhammad Nisyani; Mazhar-i-Shahjahani [The Manifestation of the Emperor Shah Jahan] by Yousuf Mirak; Tarkhan Nama, or Tarikh-i-Sind Dar Zamana-i-Arghun Wa Tarkhan [The History of Sindh During the Reign of the Arghuns and Tarkhans] authored by Syed Muhammad; and Intikhab-i-Muntakhib, or Intikhab-i-Muntakhib al-Tawarikh [Selections from Discerning Histories] by Abdul Shakoor.

In the category of Tadhkiras and Mulfuzat literature, which indeed help a great deal in understanding the social, cultural and political aspects of life, the author has reviewed Tadhkirat al-Murad. This is basically a hagiography of renowned Sufi saint Syed Mohammad Hussain, alias Shah Murad Shirazi (d. 1487 CE), perhaps the first of its kind in Sindh.

This reviewer was particularly impressed with the description of the work relating to the biographies of thirty-one female versifiers, titled Jawahir al-Aja’ib [The Wonderful Jewels], also known as Tadhkirat al-Nisa, compiled by Fakhri Harawi, who dedicated and presented this work to Queen Haji Mah Begum. Thanks to the inclusion of this work in the book under review, we now know the degree of empowerment of women in Sindh at that time and that so many women composed poetry in mediaeval Sindh.

Another work relating to the Tadhkiras and Mulfuzat genre reviewed in the book is Hadigat al-Awliya-i-Sindh [The Garden of the Sufi Saints of Sindh], compiled by Syed Abdul Qadir bin Syed Hashim Thattawi, who himself was a renowned Sufi saint of Sindh. The work may be termed as the first biographical directory of the Sufi saints of Sindh, containing accounts of forty-one “mashaykhs and dervishes.”

In the same genre, Tadhkira Mashayikh-i-Sewistan [The Biographical Directory of the Sufi Saints of Sewistan] by Abdul Ghafoor bin Hyder is an important inclusion. It is basically a biographical directory of 14 Sufi saints buried in Sewistan (present Sehwan Sharif), including Uthman Marwandi — popularly known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar — and his contemporaries. Yet another important work relating to the lives of the Mughal nobility included in the book is the Dhakhirat al-Khawanin by Shaykh Farid Bhakkari.

In addition to political and biographical literature, mediaeval and latter-day Sindh had also rich literary traditions in epistolography or letter writing. One of the earliest works relating to this genre has been Manshat-i-Mehru or Insha-i-Mehru, a collection of official letters to various state functionaries by noble Ain al-Mulk Mahru during the late 14th century. The collection is indeed a very useful source of information on the mediaeval governance model of Sindh.

This brings us to the collection of emperor Aurangzeb’s letters, under title Aadab-i-Alamgiri also known as Munshat-i-Alamgiri [The Letters of Aurangzeb], ans transcribed by his Mir Munshi or First Secretary, Abu al-Fath Qabil Khan. Concerning the same monarch is Raqa’im-i-Kara’im [The Notations of Greatness] by Syed Ashraf Khan Hussaini, son of Amir Abdul Karim Amirkhani Sindhi, including in it a vast mass of documents relating to Aurangzeb.

The book is a treasure of information on the historiographic literature produced during the mediaeval and Mughal period in Sindh, and is recommended to everyone interested in South Asian history and historiography.

The reviewer is an author and academic with an interest in South Asian history and historiography. He tweets @DrMAliShaikh and can be reached at drshaikhma@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, August 6th, 2023