History of Sindh - References in Ancient Literature

References in Ancient Literature

Sindh was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the late 6th century BCE, and became a the Persian satrapy (province) of Hindush in addition to that of Gandhara (Gandāra) centered in the Punjab to the north. Iranian and thus also Persian speech replaces 'S' with 'H' in many Sanskritic words, resulting in 'Sindhu' being pronounced and written as 'Hindu'. They introduced the Kharosthi script and links to the west in the region.

As has been indicated above that Sindhu Civilization i.e. Native Indian were attacked over many time by Persian Muslims troops and native Indians also used to re-attack those staying beyond Sindhu river i.e. Muslim troops. When native Indian used attack the foreigner Muslim troops, they used alert them shouting as Sindhu... Sindhu.... Sindhu. Later on as "S" was pronounced as "H" and it called as "Hindu". Later on strong troops of Perian Achamenidian (Muslims) conquered entire Sindhu civilization and driven these natives to southern India and those conquered made them as slaves. Since these Persian were from cold region they were non-vegetarians. They used eat animals like cows, goats etc. These animals were baked in fire which they call this process as Hom-Yagna. Whereas native India belonged to tropical region hence they were against killing of animals and thus they were vegetarians. These Muslims developed script from Kharoshi and Local Brahmi script as Sanskrit and called themselves as Brahmins. They had written four Vedas in Sanskrit. They developed a system of governance as Chaturvarna system. This system is described in Purushasuktam,Vedas, Ramayana and Gita epics.

The Vedas (Rigveda) praises the Sindhu, the cradle of civilization. "Sindhu in might surpasses all the streams that flow.... His roar is lifted up to heaven above the earth; he puts forth endless vigour with a flash of light .... Even as cows with milk rush to their calves, so other rivers roar into the Sindhu. As a warrior-king leads other warriors, so does Sindhu lead other rivers.... Rich in good steeds is Sindhu, rich in gold, nobly fashioned, rich in ample wealth." In this hymn Sindhu, unlike other rivers, is considered masculine. Other references are, when the Vedic seer invokes heaven and earth, he also invokes the Sindhu. The Veda refers to the Ganges only twice; but it makes as many as thirty references to the Sindhu. This is the Great Sindhu that gave Sindh its name.

In Ramayana, Sindh was part of Dasharatha's empire. When Kekayi goes into a sulk, Dasaratha tells her: "The sun does not set on my empire. Sindh, Sauvira, Saurashtra, Anga, Vanga, Magadha, Kashi, Koshal --- they are all mine. They produce an infinite variety of valuable articles. You can ask whatever you like." Of course Kekayi wants nothing short of the throne for her son, Bharata. The rest is epic history. When Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, Rama sent the vanaras (monkeys) to look for her, among other places, in Sindh with its "remarkable swimming horses." Later, when all ended well, Rama gave Sindhu-Sauvira (the Sindh and Multan areas) to Bharata, who duly extended his rule farther north to Gandhara, the home town of Gandhari of Mahabharata fame, which is the modern-day Afghan city Kandahar. His sons founded the cities of Peshawar (Pushkalavati) and Taxila (Takshasila).

Sindh is also mentioned in the Mahabharata. King Jayadratha of Sindh was married to Kaurava prince Duryodhan's sister, Dushhala. He was, therefore, all along on the side of the Kauravas and against the Pandavas. However, be it said to the credit of Jayadratha that he, like Dhritarashtra and Bhishma, opposed the disastrous game of dice between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Gaandhari( gAMdhArI), as her name indicates, was a princess of Sindh.

In the titanic battle of Mahabharata, when Abhimanyu, Subhadra's son, got killed, Jayadratha "pushed his body with his foot. Arjuna was furious. He vowed to kill "Sindhu-Pati" Jayadratha that very day, before the sun set. Jayadratha wanted to flee the field, but it was too late. He died an inglorious death. Jayadratha's other love was milk and condensed hot milk (the Sindhi khirni). When announcing his determination to kill Jayadratha, Arjuna said: "Jayadratha is a relation, but he is evil; he has been brought up on kshir and kshirni, but now I'll cut him to pieces with my arrows."

In the Bhisma Parva of the Mahabharata, the Sindhu is referred to as the great protector which must be remembered day and night. Obviously the mighty river was a mighty defence line of the country. The Anushasana Parva of the Mahabharata prescribes bathing in Sindhu river to go to heaven after death, signifying its purity.

The Bhagvad Gita is based on an earlier sermon involving Sindh. Once upon a time, the king of Sindh had defeated young prince Sanjay of Sauvira. Sanjay had lost heart and wanted to forget all about his kingdom. But his brave mother Vidula had shamed him into action. She had told him to remember his ancestry, remember his responsibilities to his people, uphold dharma, and live nobly or die nobly. At a time when the Pandavas were dispirited and did not want to fight, their mother Kunti reminded Krishna of the story of Vidula and asked him to repeat it to her sons—to move them to action. The result was the immortal sermon of the Gita.

Dushhala also did a great good turn to Sindh. Since the movement of the centre of Indian civilization from the Sindhu to the Ganges, the former had obviously become a rough frontier tract subject to frequent invasions. Dushhala was pained to find the tribes of Jats and Medes in Sindh quarrelling endlessly. She therefore requested Duryodhana to send some Brahmins to tone up the socio-cultural life of Sindh. Duryodhana was good enough to send 30,000 Brahmins to Sindh. It was these Brahmins who later formed the backbone of resistance to Alexander. But of that, later.

Kalidasa says in the Raghuvamsha that on the advice of his maternal uncle Yudhajat, Rama conferred Sindh on Bharata. Rama's ancestor Raghu's triumphant horses had relaxed on the banks of the Sindhu. Another great Sanskrit poet, Bhasa, had created a play titled Avimarka based on the romance of prince Avimarka with princess Kurangadi of Sindhu-Sauvira. The Bhavishya Purana says that Shalivahana, the grandson of Maharaja Vikramaditya of Ujjain, established law and order in "Sindhusthana" and fixed his frontier on the Sindhu.

Anshnath, the eleventh Jain Tirthankara, was a Sindhi. He died in Bengal. The Jaina Dakshinyachihna (eighth century) speaks of the Sindhis as "elegant, with a lovely, soft and slow gait. They are fond of songs, music and dance and feel affection for their country."

There is a legend that the great Buddha had graced Sindh with his visit. Finding the climate extreme, and the area dry and dusty, he had permitted the bhikshus to wear shoes here. He had also permitted the use of padded clothing, forbidden elsewhere. Here Sthavirtis, the prince of Rorik or Roruka (Aror or Alor near modern Rohri) became his disciple. When the Buddha went round his native Kapilavastu in a chariot, it was mentioned that the "four auspicious horses, of lotus colour, had come from Sindhudesha." To this day, historic Buddhist stupas are found in Sindh. No wonder when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had become head of Pakistan, even he adorned his office with a statue of the Buddha.

The Divyavadana (Tibetan version) reports: "The Buddha is in Rajagriha. At this time there were two great cities in Jambudvipa (India): Pataliputra and Roruka. When Roruka rises, Pataliputra declines; when Pataliputra rises, Roruka declines." Here was Roruka of Sindh competing with the capital of the Magadha empire. When Bimbisara was king of Magadha, he sent Rudrayana, king of Sindhu-Sauvira, a rare portrait of the Buddha. The two powerful ministers of Sindh at the time were Hiroo and Bheru, their names still common among the Sindhis. Chandragupta Maurya first won Sindh and the Punjab. It was from this base that he displaced the Nandas, occupied Pataliputra and established the great Maurya Empire.

Kashmir's ancient royal history Rajatarangini has many references to Sindh. Kuya's son Sindhu rose to lead the elephant brigade of Kashmir and became an adviser to Queen Didda. A top honour in Kashmir was "Sindhu Gaja", Elephant of Sindh.

Sindh was ruled by Rai Dynasty during c. 489–632. Rai Diwaji (Devaditya) was the greatest ruler of this dynasty, who stands out as a great patron of Buddhism, comparable to Ashoka in this regard. The capital of his vast empire was Al-ror. The empire was usurped later by Brahman dynasties, whose unpopularitiy was a contributing factor to later Arab conquest.