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"Sind" redirects here. For other uses, see Sindh (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Sind State or Sind Province (1936–1955).

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Sindh (/ˈsɪnd/ SIND; Sindhi: سِنْڌ‎; Urdu: سِنْدھ, pronounced [sɪndʱə]; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind or Scinde) is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province by population after Punjab. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan to the west and north-west and Punjab to the north. It shares an International border with the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan to the east; it is also bounded by the Arabian Sea to the south. Sindh's landscape consists mostly of alluvial plains flanking the Indus River, the Thar Desert in the eastern portion of the province along the international border with India, and the Kirthar Mountains in the western portion of the province.

The economy of Sindh is the second largest in Pakistan after the province of Punjab; its provincial capital Karachi is the most populous city in the country as well as its main financial hub. Sindh is home to a large portion of Pakistan's industrial sector and contains two of the country's busiest commercial seaports: Port Qasim and the Port of Karachi. The remainder of Sindh consists of an agriculture-based economy and produces fruits, consumer items and vegetables for other parts of the country.[8][9][10]

Sindh is sometimes referred to as the Bab-ul Islam (transl. 'Gateway of Islam'), as it was one of the first regions of the Indian subcontinent to fall under Islamic rule.[11][12] The province is well known for its distinct culture, which is strongly influenced by Sufism, an important marker of Sindhi identity for both Hindus and Muslims.[13] Sindh is prominent for its history during the Bronze Age under the Indus Valley civilization, and is home to two UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites: the Makli Necropolis and Mohenjo-daro.[14]

Etymology

[edit]

The Greeks who conquered Sindh in 325 BC under the command of Alexander the Great referred to the Indus River as Indós, hence the modern Indus. The ancient Iranians referred to everything east of the river Indus as hind.[15][16] The word Sind is a Persian derivative of the Sanskrit term Sindhu, meaning "river," a reference to vast Indus River.[17]

The previous Perso-Arabic spelling Sind (سند) was discontinued in 1988 by an amendment passed in the Sindh Assembly.[18]

History

[edit]
Main article: History of Sindh

Ancient era

[edit]
Mohenjo-daro
The "Priest King" sculpture is carved from steatite.
The Pashupati seal
The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro
Excavated ruins of the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro

Sindh and surrounding areas contain the ruins of the Indus Valley Civilization. There are remnants of thousand-year-old cities and structures, with a notable example in Sindh being that of Mohenjo Daro. Built around 2500 BC, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus civilization, with features such as standardized bricks, street grids, and covered sewerage systems.[19][20] It was one of the world's earliest major cities, contemporaneous with the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Minoan Crete, and Caral-Supe. Mohenjo-daro was abandoned in the 19th century BC as the Indus Valley Civilization declined, and the site was not rediscovered until the 1920s. Significant excavation has since been conducted at the site of the city, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.[21] The site is currently threatened by erosion and improper restoration.[22] A gradual drying of the region during the 3rd millennium BC may have been the initial stimulus for its urbanisation.[23] Eventually it also reduced the water supply enough to cause the civilisation's demise and to disperse its population to the east.[c]

During the Bronze Age, the territory of Sindh was known as Sindhu-Sauvīra, covering the lower Indus Valley,[24] with its southern border being the Indian Ocean and its northern border being the Pañjāb around Multān.[25] The capital of Sindhu-Sauvīra was named Roruka and Vītabhaya or Vītībhaya, and corresponds to the mediaeval Arohṛ and the modern-day Rohṛī.[25][26][27] The Achaemenids conquered the region and established the satrapy of Hindush. The territory may have corresponded to the area covering the lower and central Indus basin (present day Sindh and the southern Punjab regions of Pakistan).[28] Alternatively, some authors consider that Hindush may have been located in the Punjab area.[29] These areas remained under Persian control until the invasion by Alexander.[30]

Alexander conquered parts of Sindh after Punjab for few years and appointed his general Peithon as governor. He constructed a harbour at the city of Patala in Sindh.[31][32] Chandragupta Maurya fought Alexander's successor in the east, Seleucus I Nicator, when the latter invaded. In a peace treaty, Seleucus ceded all territories west of the Indus River and offered a marriage, including a portion of Bactria, while Chandragupta granted Seleucus 500 elephants.[33]

Following a century of Mauryan rule which ended by 180 BC, the region came under the Indo-Greeks, followed by the Indo Scythians, who ruled with their capital at Minnagara.[34] Later on, Sasanian rulers from the reign of Shapur I claimed control of the Sindh area in their inscriptions, known as Hind.[35][36]

The local Rai dynasty emerged from Sindh and reigned for a period of 144 years, concurrent with the Huna invasions of North India.[37] Aror was noted to be the capital.[37][38] The Brahmin dynasty of Sindh succeeded the Rai dynasty.[39][40][41][42] Most of the information about its existence comes from the Chach Nama, a historical account of the Chach-Brahmin dynasty.[43] After the empire's fall in 712, though the empire had ended, its dynasty's members administered parts of Sindh under the Umayyad Caliphate's Caliphal province of Sind.[44]

Medieval era

[edit]

After the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Arab expansion towards the east reached the Sindh region beyond Persia.[45] The connection between the Sindh and Islam was established by the initial Muslim invasions during the Rashidun Caliphate. Al-Hakim ibn Jabalah al-Abdi, who attacked Makran in the year 649, was an early partisan of Ali ibn Abu Talib.[46] During the caliphate of Ali, many Jats of Sindh had come under the influence of Shi'ism[47] and some even participated in the Battle of Camel and died fighting for Ali.[46] Under the Arab Umayyads (661–750), many Shias sought asylum in the region of Sindh, to live in relative peace in the remote area. Ziyad Hindi is one of those refugees.[48] The first clash with the Hindu kings of Sindh took place in 636 (15 AH) under Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab with the governor of Bahrain, Uthman ibn Abu-al-Aas, dispatching naval expeditions against Thane, Bharuch and Debal.[49] Al-Baladhuri states they were victorious at Debal but doesn't mention the results of other two raids. However, the Chach Nama states that the raiders of Debal were defeated and its governor killed the leader of the raids.[50] These raids were thought to be triggered by a later pirate attack on Umayyad ships.[51] al-Baladhuri adds that this stopped any more incursions until the reign of Uthman.[52]

In 712, Mohammed Bin Qasim defeated the Brahmin dynasty and annexed it to the Umayyad Caliphate. This marked the beginning of Islam in the Indian subcontinent. The Habbari dynasty ruled much of Greater Sindh, as a semi-independent emirate from 854 to 1024. Beginning with the rule of 'Umar bin Abdul Aziz al-Habbari in 854, the region became semi-independent from the Abbasid Caliphate in 861, while continuing to nominally pledge allegiance to the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad.[53][54] The Habbaris ruled Sindh until they were defeated by Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi in 1026, who then went on to destroy the old Habbari capital of Mansura, and annex the region to the Ghaznavid Empire, thereby ending Arab rule of Sindh.[55][56]

The Soomra dynasty was a local Sindhi Muslim dynasty that ruled between early 11th century and the 14th century.[57][58][59] Later chroniclers like Ali ibn al-Athir (c. late 12th c.) and Ibn Khaldun (c. late 14th c.) attributed the fall of Habbarids to Mahmud of Ghazni, lending credence to the argument of Hafif being the last Habbarid.[60] The Soomras appear to have established themselves as a regional power in this power vacuum.[60][61] The Ghurids and Ghaznavids continued to rule parts of Sindh, across the eleventh and early twelfth century, alongside Soomras.[60] The precise delineations are not yet known but Sommrus were probably centered in lower Sindh.[60] Some of them were adherents of Isma'ilism.[61] One of their kings Shimuddin Chamisar had submitted to Iltutmish, the Sultan of Delhi, and was allowed to continue on as a vassal.[62]

Makli Necropolis
The Makli Necropolis at Thatta is one of the largest funerary sites in the world.[63]

The Sammas overthrew the Soomras soon after 1335 and established the Sindh Sultanate. The last Soomra ruler took shelter with the governor of Gujarat, under the protection of Muhammad bin Tughluq, the sultan of Delhi.[64][65][66] Mohammad bin Tughlaq made an expedition against Sindh in 1351 and died at Sondha, possibly in an attempt to restore the Soomras. With this, the Sammas became independent. The next sultan, Firuz Shah Tughlaq attacked Sindh in 1365 and 1367, unsuccessfully, but with reinforcements from Delhi he later obtained Banbhiniyo's surrender. For a period the Sammas were therefore subject to Delhi again. Later, as the Sultanate of Delhi collapsed they became fully independent.[67] Jam Unar was the founder of Samma dynasty mentioned by Ibn Battuta.[67] The Samma civilization contributed significantly to the evolution of the Indo-Islamic architectural style. The city of Thatta is famous for its necropolis of erstwhile royals, the Makli Necropolis, which covers 10 square km on the Makli Hill.[68] The Sammas have left a mark on Sindh with magnificent structures in Thatta.[69][70] They were later overthrown by the Turkic Arghuns in the late 15th century.[71][72]

Modern era

[edit]
Main article: Sind State
Elaborately illustrated map of the Thatta Subah of the Mughal Empire, commissioned by Jean Baptiste Joseph Gentil, ca.1770

In the late 16th century, Sindh was brought into the Mughal Empire by Akbar, himself born in the Sodha kingdom in Umerkot in Sindh.[73][74] In 1591-1593, Akbar sent an army to conquer lower Sindh from the Tarkhan dynasty after defeating the last Tarkhan ruler, Mirza Jani Beg; Jani Beg and his son Mirza Ghazi Beg.[75][76][77]

Mughal rule from their provincial capital of Thatta was to last in lower Sindh until the early 18th century, while upper Sindh was ruled by the indigenous Kalhora dynasty holding power, consolidating their rule from their capital of Khudabad, before shifting to Hyderabad from 1768 onwards.[78][79][80]

The Talpurs succeeded the Kalhoras and four branches of the dynasty were established.[81] One ruled lower Sindh from the city of Hyderabad, another ruled over upper Sindh from the city of Khairpur, a third ruled around the eastern city of Mirpur Khas, and a fourth was based in Tando Muhammad Khan. They were ethnically Baloch,[82] and for most of their rule, they were subordinate to the Durrani Empire and were forced to pay tribute to them.[83][84]

They ruled from 1783, until 1843, when they were in turn defeated by the British at the Battle of Miani and Battle of Dubbo.[85] The northern Khairpur branch of the Talpur dynasty, however, continued to maintain a degree of sovereignty during British rule as the princely state of Khairpur,[82] whose ruler elected to join the new Dominion of Pakistan in October 1947 as an autonomous region, before being fully amalgamated into West Pakistan in 1955.

British Raj

[edit]
See also: Sind Division and Sind Province (1936–1955)
Sindh became part of the Bombay Presidency in 1909.

The British conquered Sindh in 1843. General Charles Napier is said to have reported victory to the Governor General with a one-word telegram, namely "Peccavi" – or "I have sinned" (Latin).[86] The British had two objectives in their rule of Sindh: the consolidation of British rule and the use of Sindh as a market for British products and a source of revenue and raw materials. With the appropriate infrastructure in place, the British hoped to utilise Sindh for its economic potential.[87] The British incorporated Sindh, some years later after annexing it, into the Bombay Presidency. Distance from the provincial capital, Bombay, led to grievances that Sindh was neglected in contrast to other parts of the Presidency. The merger of Sindh into Punjab province was considered from time to time but was turned down because of British disagreement and Sindhi opposition, both from Muslims and Hindus, to being annexed to Punjab.[87]

Later, desire for a separate administrative status for Sindh grew. At the annual session of the Indian National Congress in 1913, a Sindhi Hindu put forward the demand for Sindh's separation from the Bombay Presidency on the grounds of Sindh's unique cultural character. This reflected the desire of Sindh's predominantly Hindu commercial class to free itself from competing with the more powerful Bombay's business interests.[87] Meanwhile, Sindhi politics was characterised in the 1920s by the growing importance of Karachi and the Khilafat Movement.[88] A number of Sindhi pirs, descendants of Sufi saints who had proselytised in Sindh, joined the Khilafat Movement, which propagated the protection of the Ottoman Caliphate, and those pirs who did not join the movement found a decline in their following.[89] The pirs generated huge support for the Khilafat cause in Sindh.[90] Sindh came to be at the forefront of the Khilafat Movement.[91]

Although Sindh was less sectarian than other parts of India, the province's Muslim elite and emerging Muslim middle class demanded separation of Sindh from Bombay Presidency as a safeguard for their own interests. In this campaign, local Sindhi Muslims identified 'Hindu' with Bombay instead of Sindh. Sindhi Hindus were seen as representing the interests of Bombay instead of the majority of Sindhi Muslims. Sindhi Hindus, for the most part, opposed the separation of Sindh from Bombay.[87] Although Sindh had a culture of religious syncretism, communal harmony and tolerance due to Sindh's strong Sufi culture in which both Sindhi Muslims and Sindhi Hindus partook,[92] both the Muslim landed elite, waderas, and the Hindu commercial elements, banias, collaborated in oppressing the predominantly Muslim peasantry of Sindh who were economically exploited.[93] Sindhi Muslims eventually demanded the separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency, a move opposed by Sindhi Hindus.[90][94][95]

In Sindh's first provincial election after its separation from Bombay in 1936, economic interests were an essential factor of politics informed by religious and cultural issues.[96] Due to British policies, much land in Sindh was transferred from Muslim to Hindu hands over the decades.[97] Religious tensions rose in Sindh over the Sukkur Manzilgah issue where Muslims and Hindus disputed over an abandoned mosque in proximity to an area sacred to Hindus. The Sindh Muslim League exploited the issue and agitated for the return of the mosque to Muslims. Consequentially, a thousand members of the Muslim League were imprisoned. Eventually, due to panic the government restored the mosque to Muslims.[96] The separation of Sindh from Bombay Presidency triggered Sindhi Muslim nationalists to support the Pakistan Movement. Even while the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province were ruled by parties hostile to the Muslim League, Sindh remained loyal to Jinnah.[98] Although the prominent Sindhi Muslim nationalist G. M. Syed left the All India Muslim League in the mid-1940s and his relationship with Jinnah never improved, the overwhelming majority of Sindhi Muslims supported the creation of Pakistan, seeing in it their deliverance.[88] Sindhi support for the Pakistan Movement arose from the desire of the Sindhi Muslim business class to drive out their Hindu competitors.[99] The Muslim League's rise to becoming the party with the strongest support in Sindh was in large part linked to its winning over of the religious pir families.[100] Although the Muslim League had previously fared poorly in the 1937 elections in Sindh, when local Sindhi Muslim parties won more seats,[100] the Muslim League's cultivation of support from local pirs in 1946 helped it gain a foothold in the province,[101] it didn't take long for the overwhelming majority of Sindhi Muslims to campaign for the creation of Pakistan.[102][103]

Partition (1947)

[edit]

In 1947, violence did not constitute a major part of the Sindhi partition experience, unlike in Punjab. There were very few incidents of violence on Sindh, in part due to the Sufi-influenced culture of religious tolerance and in part that Sindh was not divided and was instead made part of Pakistan in its entirety. Sindhi Hindus who left generally did so out of a fear of persecution, rather than persecution itself, because of the arrival of Muslim refugees from India. Sindhi Hindus differentiated between the local Sindhi Muslims and the migrant Muslims from India. A large number of Sindhi Hindus travelled to India by sea, to the ports of Bombay, Porbandar, Veraval and Okha.[104]

Demographics

[edit]
Demographic indicators
Indicator Value
Urban population 53.97%
Rural population 46.03%
Population growth rate 2.57%
Gender ratio (male per 100 female) 108.76[105]
Economically active population 22.75% (old data)[clarification needed]

Population

[edit]
Population history
YearPop.±%
18722,322,765—    
18812,542,976+9.5%
18913,003,711+18.1%
19013,410,223+13.5%
19113,737,223+9.6%
19213,472,508−7.1%
19314,114,253+18.5%
19414,840,795+17.7%
19516,047,748+24.9%
19618,367,065+38.4%
197214,155,909+69.2%
198119,028,666+34.4%
199829,991,161+57.6%
201747,854,510+59.6%
202355,696,147+16.4%
Source: Census in Pakistan, Census of British Raj[106]: 7 [d][e][f][g][h][i][j][k]

Sindh has the second highest Human Development Index out of all of Pakistan's provinces at 0.628.[107] The 2023 Census of Pakistan indicated a population of 55.7 million.

Religion

[edit]
See also: Sufism in Sindh and Hinduism in Sindh
Religion in Sindh according to 2023 census
  1. Islam (90.0%)
  2. Hinduism (8.81%)
  3. Christianity (0.98%)
  4. Ahmaddiya (0.03%)
  5. Sikhism (0.01%)
  6. Zoroastrianism (0.00%)
  7. Other (0.07%)

Islam in Sindh has a long history, starting with the capture of Sindh by Muhammad Bin Qasim in 712. Over time, the majority of the population in Sindh converted to Islam, especially in rural areas. Today, Muslims make up 90% of the population, and are more dominant in urban than rural areas. Islam in Sindh has a strong Sufi ethos with numerous Muslim saints and mystics, such as the Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, having lived in Sindh historically. One popular legend that highlights the strong Sufi presence in Sindh is that 125,000 Sufi saints and mystics are buried on Makli Hill near Thatta.[108] The development of Sufism in Sindh was similar to the development of Sufism in other parts of the Muslim world. In the sixteenth century two Sufi tareeqat (orders) – Qadria and Naqshbandia – were introduced in Sindh.[109] Sufism continues to play an important role in the daily lives of Sindhis.[110]

In 1941, the last census conducted prior to the partition of India, the total population of Sindh was 4,840,795 out of which 3,462,015 (71.5%) were Muslims, 1,279,530 (26.4%) were Hindus and the remaining were Tribals, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains, Jews, and Buddhists.[106]: 28 [111]

Sindh also has Pakistan's highest percentage of Hindus overall, accounting for 8.8% of the population, roughly around 4.9 million people,[112] and 13.3% of the province's rural population as per 2023 Pakistani census report. These numbers also include the scheduled caste population, which stands at 1.7% of the total in Sindh (or 3.1% in rural areas),[113] and is believed to have been under-reported, with some community members instead counted under the main Hindu category.[114] Although, Pakistan Hindu Council claimed that there are 6,842,526 Hindus living in Sindh Province covering around 14.29% of the region's population.[115] Umerkot district in the Thar Desert is Pakistan's only Hindu-majority district. The Shri Ramapir Temple in Tandoallahyar whose annual festival is the second largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan is in Sindh.[116] Sindh is also the only province in Pakistan to have a separate law for governing Hindu marriages.[117]

2020 community estimates indicated the Sikh population in Sindh stood at approximately 10,000,[118] while the 2023 census indicated a population of 5,182 Sikhs.[119]

Religion in Sindh (1872−2023)
Religious
group 		1872[120][k] 1881[121][j] 1891[122][i] 1901[123][h] 1911[124][g] 1921[125][f] 1931[126][e] 1941[106]: 28 [d] 1951[127]: 22–26 [l] 1998[128] 2017[129][112] 2023[119][130]
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Islam 1,712,266[m] 78.1% 1,989,630 78.24% 2,318,180 77.18% 2,609,337 76.52% 2,822,756 75.53% 2,562,700 73.8% 3,017,377 73.34% 3,462,015 71.52% 5,535,645 91.53% 27,796,814 91.32% 43,234,107 90.34% 50,126,428 90.09%
Hinduism [n] 475,848[o] 21.7% 544,848 21.43% 674,371 22.45% 787,683 23.1% 877,313 23.47% 876,629 25.24% 1,055,119 25.65% 1,279,530 26.43% 482,560 7.98% 2,280,842 7.49% 4,176,986 8.73% 4,901,407 8.81%
Christianity 3,329[p] 0.15% 6,082 0.24% 7,768 0.26% 7,825 0.23% 10,917 0.29% 11,734 0.34% 15,152 0.37% 20,304 0.42% 22,601 0.37% 294,885 0.97% 408,301 0.85% 546,968 0.98%
Zoroastrianism 870[q] 0.04% 1,063 0.04% 1,534 0.05% 2,000 0.06% 2,411 0.06% 2,913 0.08% 3,537 0.09% 3,841 0.08% 5,046 0.08% — — — — 1,763 0.003%
Buddhism 67 0.003% 9 0% 2 0% 0 0% 21 0.001% 41 0.001% 53 0.001% 111 0.002% 670 0.01% — — — — — —
Judaism 35 0.002% 153 0.01% 210 0.01% 428 0.01% 595 0.02% 671 0.02% 985 0.02% 1,082 0.02% — — — — — — — —
Jainism — — 1,191 0.05% 923 0.03% 921 0.03% 1,349 0.04% 1,534 0.04% 1,144 0.03% 3,687 0.08% — — — — — — — —
Sikhism — — — — 720 0.02% —[r] — 12,339 0.33% 8,036 0.23% 19,172 0.47% 32,627 0.67% — — — — — — 5,182 0.01%
Tribal — — — — — — —[r] — 9,224 0.25% 8,186 0.24% 204 0% 37,598 0.78% — — — — — — — —
Ahmadiyya — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 43,524 0.14% 21,661 0.05% 18,266 0.03%
Others 0 0% 0 0% 3 0% 2,029 0.06% 298 0.01% 64 0.002% 1,510 0.04% 0 0% 1,226 0.02% 23,828 0.08% 13,455 0.03% 38,395 0.07%
Total Responses 2,192,415 94.39% 2,542,976 100% 3,003,711 100% 3,410,223 100% 3,737,223 100% 3,472,508 100% 4,114,253 100% 4,840,795 100% 6,047,748 99.89% 30,439,893 100% 47,854,510 100% 55,638,409 99.9%
Total Population 2,322,765 100% 2,542,976 100% 3,003,711 100% 3,410,223 100% 3,737,223 100% 3,472,508 100% 4,114,253 100% 4,840,795 100% 6,054,474 100% 30,439,893 100% 47,854,510 100% 55,696,147 100%

Languages

[edit]
Languages of Sindh (2023)
  1. Sindhi (60.1%)
  2. Urdu (22.3%)
  3. Pashto (5.31%)
  4. Punjabi (4.07%)
  5. Balochi (2.17%)
  6. Saraiki (1.64%)
  7. Hindko (1.49%)
  8. Others (2.88%)

According to the 2023 census, the most widely spoken language in the province is Sindhi, the first language of 33,462,299 60% of the population. It is followed by Urdu 12,409,745 (22%), then Pashto 2,955,893 (5.3%), Punjabi 2,265,471 (4.1%), Balochi 1,208,147 (2.2%), Saraiki 913,418 (1.6%), and Hindko 830,581 (1.5), Brahui 265,769, Mewati 57,059, Kashmiri 53,249, Balti 27,193, Shina 22,273, Koshistani 14,885, 777 Kalasha and others are 1,151,650,[131] Other minority languages include Kutchi, Gujarati,[132] Aer, Bagri, Bhaya, Brahui, Dhatki, Ghera, Goaria, Gurgula, Jadgali, Jandavra, Jogi, Kabutra, Kachi Koli, Parkari Koli, Wadiyari Koli, Loarki, Marwari, Sansi, and Vaghri.[133]

Geography and nature

[edit]
Peninsula of Manora
Sindh ibex in Kirthar National Park

Sindh is in the western corner of South Asia, bordering the Iranian plateau in the west. Geographically it is the third largest province of Pakistan, stretching about 579 kilometres (360 mi) from north to south and 442 kilometres (275 mi) (extreme) or 281 kilometres (175 mi) (average) from east to west, with an area of 140,915 square kilometres (54,408 sq mi) of Pakistani territory. Sindh is bounded by the Thar Desert to the east, the Kirthar Mountains to the west and the Arabian Sea and Rann of Kutch to the south. In the centre is a fertile plain along the Indus River.

Sindh is divided into three main geographical regions: Siro ("upper country"), aka Upper Sindh, which is above Sehwan; Vicholo ("middle country"), or Middle Sindh, from Sehwan to Hyderabad; and Lāṟu ("sloping, descending country"), or Lower Sindh, mostly consisting of the Indus Delta below Hyderabad.[134]

Flora

[edit]
Sindhri mangoes is among top 10 mango varieties in the world
Sindhri is among top 10 mango varieties in the world.[135]

The province is mostly arid with scant vegetation except for the irrigated Indus Valley. The dwarf palm, Acacia rupestris (kher), and Tecomella undulata (lohirro) trees are typical of the western hill region. In the Indus valley, the Acacia nilotica (babul) (babbur) is the most dominant and occurs in thick forests along the Indus banks. The Azadirachta indica (neem) (nim), Zizyphys vulgaris (bir) (ber), Tamarix orientalis (jujuba lai) and Capparis aphylla (kirir) are among the more common trees.

Mango, date palms and the more recently introduced banana, guava, orange and chiku are the typical fruit-bearing trees. The coastal strip and the creeks abound in semi-aquatic and aquatic plants and the inshore Indus delta islands have forests of Avicennia tomentosa (timmer) and Ceriops candolleana (chaunir) trees. Water lilies grow in abundance in the numerous lakes and ponds, particularly in the lower Sindh region.[citation needed]

Fauna

[edit]
Main article: Fauna of Sindh
Indus river dolphin

Among the wild animals, the Sindh ibex (sareh), blackbuck, wild sheep (Urial or gadh) and wild bear are found in the western rocky range. The leopard is now rare and the Asiatic cheetah extinct. The Pirrang (large tiger cat or fishing cat) of the eastern desert region is also disappearing. Deer occur in the lower rocky plains and in the eastern region, as do the Striped hyena (charakh), jackal, fox, porcupine, common gray mongoose and hedgehog. The Sindhi phekari, red lynx or Caracal cat, is found in some areas. Phartho (hog deer) and wild bear occur, particularly in the central inundation belt. There are bats, lizards and reptiles, including the cobra, lundi (viper) and the mysterious Sindh krait of the Thar region, which is supposed to suck the victim's breath in his sleep. Some unusual sightings of Asian cheetah occurred in 2003 near the Balochistan border in Kirthar Mountains. The rare Houbara bustard finds Sindh's warm climate suitable to rest and mate. Unfortunately, it is hunted by locals and foreigners.

Crocodiles are rare and inhabit only the backwaters of the Indus, eastern Nara channel and Karachi backwater. Besides a large variety of marine fish, the plumbeous dolphin, the beaked dolphin, rorqual or blue whale and skates frequent the seas along the Sindh coast. The Pallo (Sable fish), a marine fish, ascends the Indus annually from February to April to spawn. The Indus river dolphin is among the most endangered species in Pakistan and is found in the part of the Indus river in northern Sindh. Hog deer and wild bear occur, particularly in the central inundation belt.

Although Sindh has a semi arid climate, through its coastal and riverine forests, its huge fresh water lakes and mountains and deserts, Sindh supports a large amount of varied wildlife. Due to the semi-arid climate of Sindh the left out forests support an average population of jackals and snakes. The national parks established by the Government of Pakistan in collaboration with many organizations such as World Wide Fund for Nature and Sindh Wildlife Department support a huge variety of animals and birds. The Kirthar National Park in the Kirthar range spreads over more than 3000 km2 of desert, stunted tree forests and a lake. The KNP supports Sindh ibex, wild sheep (urial) and black bear along with the rare leopard. There are also occasional sightings of The Sindhi phekari, ped lynx or Caracal cat. There is a project to introduce tigers and Asian elephants too in KNP near the huge Hub Dam Lake. Between July and November when the monsoon winds blow onshore from the ocean, giant olive ridley turtles lay their eggs along the seaward side. The turtles are protected species. After the mothers lay and leave them buried under the sands the SWD and WWF officials take the eggs and protect them until they are hatched to keep them from predators.

Climate

[edit]
Main article: Climate of Sindh
Lansdowne Railway Bridge

Sindh lies in a tropical to subtropical region; it is hot in the summer and mild to warm in winter. Temperatures frequently rise above 46 °C (115 °F) between May and August, and the minimum average temperature of 2 °C (36 °F) occurs during December and January in the northern and higher elevated regions. The annual rainfall averages about seven inches, falling mainly during July and August. The southwest monsoon wind begins in mid-February and continues until the end of September, whereas the cool northerly wind blows during the winter months from October to January.

Sindh lies between the two monsoons—the southwest monsoon from the Indian Ocean and the northeast or retreating monsoon, deflected towards it by the Himalayan mountains—and escapes the influence of both. The region's scarcity of rainfall is compensated by the inundation of the Indus twice a year, caused by the spring and summer melting of Himalayan snow and by rainfall in the monsoon season.

Sindh is divided into three climatic regions: Siro (the upper region, centred on Jacobabad), Wicholo (the middle region, centred on Hyderabad), and Lar (the lower region, centred on Karachi). The thermal equator passes through upper Sindh, where the air is generally very dry. Central Sindh's temperatures are generally lower than those of upper Sindh but higher than those of lower Sindh. Dry hot days and cool nights are typical during the summer. Central Sindh's maximum temperature typically reaches 43–44 °C (109–111 °F). Lower Sindh has a damper and humid maritime climate affected by the southwestern winds in summer and northeastern winds in winter, with lower rainfall than Central Sindh. Lower Sindh's maximum temperature reaches about 35–38 °C (95–100 °F). In the Kirthar range at 1,800 m (5,900 ft) and higher at Gorakh Hill and other peaks in Dadu District, temperatures near freezing have been recorded and brief snowfall is received in the winters.

Major cities

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Main articles: List of cities in Pakistan by population and List of cities in Sindh by population
List of major cities in Sindh
Rank City District(s) Population Image
1 Karachi Nazimabad, Orangi, Gulshan, Korangi, Malir, Keamari, Karachi 18,868,021
2 Hyderabad Hyderabad 1,921,275
3 Sukkur Sukkur 563,851
4 Larkana Larkana 551,716
5 Benazirabad[136] Shaheed Benazirabad 363,138
6 Kotri Jamshoro 106,615
7 Mirpur Khas Mirpur Khas 267,833
8 Shikarpur Shikarpur 204,938
Clock Tower Shikarpur
9 Jacobabad Jacobabad 219,315
10 Khairpur Khairpur 191,044
Source: Pakistan Census 2023[137]
This is a list of city proper populations and does not indicate metro populations.

Government

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Sindh province

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Main article: Government of Sindh
Sindh ibex, the provincial animal[138]
Black partridge, the provincial bird[139]
Neem Tree, the provincial tree[140]

The Provincial Assembly of Sindh is a unicameral and consists of 168 seats, of which 5% are reserved for non-Muslims and 17% for women. The provincial capital of Sindh is Karachi. The provincial government is led by Chief Minister who is directly elected by the popular and landslide votes; the Governor serves as a ceremonial representative nominated and appointed by the President of Pakistan. The administrative boss of the province who is in charge of the bureaucracy is the Chief Secretary Sindh, who is appointed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Most of the influential Sindhi tribes in the province are involved in Pakistan's politics.

In addition, Sindh's politics leans towards the left-wing and its political culture serves as a dominant place for the left-wing spectrum in the country.[141] The province's trend towards the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and away from the Pakistan Muslim League (N) can be seen in nationwide general elections, in which Sindh is a stronghold of the PPP.[141] The PML(N) has a limited support due to its centre-right agenda.[142]

In metropolitan cities such as Karachi and Hyderabad, the MQM (another party of the left with the support of Muhajirs) has a considerable vote bank and support.[141] Minor leftist parties such as the People's Movement also found support in rural areas of the province.[143]

Divisions

[edit]
Main article: Divisions of Sindh, Pakistan

In 2008, after the public elections, the new government decided to restore the structure of Divisions of all provinces.[144] In Sindh after the lapse of the Local Governments Bodies term in 2010 the Divisional Commissioners system was to be restored.[145][146][147]

In July 2011, following excessive violence in the city of Karachi and after the political split between the ruling PPP and the majority party in Sindh, the MQM and after the resignation of the MQM Governor of Sindh, PPP and the Government of Sindh decided to restore the commissionerate system in the province. As a consequence, the five divisions of Sindh were restored – namely Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Larkana with their respective districts. Subsequently, a new division was added in Sindh, the Nawab Shah/Shaheed Benazirabad division.[148]

Karachi district has been de-merged into its five original constituent districts: Karachi East, Karachi West, Karachi Central, Karachi South and Malir. Recently Korangi has been upgraded to the status of the sixth district of Karachi. These six districts form the Karachi Division now.[149] In 2020, the Kemari District was created after splitting Karachi West District.[150] Currently the Sindh government is planning to divide the Tharparkar district into Tharparkar and Chhachro districts.[151]

Districts

[edit]
Main article: List of districts of Sindh
Sr. No. District Headquarters Area 
(km2) 		Population 
(in 2023)[152] 		Density 
(people/km2) 		Division
1 Badin Badin 6,858 1,947,081 285 Hyderabad
2 Dadu Dadu 7,866 1,742,320 222 Hyderabad
3 Ghotki Mirpur Mathelo 6,083 1,772,609 291 Sukkur
4 Hyderabad Hyderabad 993 2,432,540 2,449 Hyderabad
5 Jacobabad Jacobabad 2,698 1,174,097 434 Larkana
6 Jamshoro Jamshoro 11,204 1,117,308 100 Hyderabad
7 Karachi Central North Nazimabad 69 3,822,325 55,839 Karachi
7 Karachi East Gulshan e Iqbal 139 3,921,742 28,220 Karachi
7 Karachi South Saddar Karachi 122 2,329,764 19,105 Karachi
7 Karachi West Orangi Town 370 2,679,380 7,238 Karachi
7 Korangi Korangi 108 3,128,971 28,969 Karachi
7 Keamari Moriro Mirbahar 559 2,068,451 3,700 Karachi
7 Malir Malir 2,160 2,432,248 1,127 Karachi
8 Kashmore Kandhkot 2,580 1,233,957 477 Larkana
9 Khairpur Khairpur 15,910 2,597,535 163 Sukkur
10 Larkana Larkana 1,948 1,784,453 916 Larkana
11 Matiari Matiari 1,417 849,383 599 Hyderabad
12 Mirpur Khas Mirpur Khas 2,925 1,681,386 575 Mirpur Khas
13 Naushahro Feroze Naushahro Feroze 2,945 1,777,082 603 Shaheed Benazir Abad
14 Shaheed Benazirabad Nawabshah 4,502 1,845,102 410 Shaheed Benazir Abad
15 Qambar Shahdadkot Qambar 5,475 1,514,869 276 Larkana
16 Sanghar Sanghar 10,728 2,308,465 215 Mirpur Khas
17 Shikarpur Shikarpur 2,512 1,386,330 552 Larkana
18 Sukkur Sukkur 5,165 1,639,897 318 Sukkur
19 Tando Allahyar Tando Allahyar 1,554 922,012 593 Hyderabad
20 Tando Muhammad Khan Tando Muhammad Khan 1,423 726,119 509 Hyderabad
21 Tharparkar Mithi 19,637 1,778,407 91 Mirpur Khas
22 Thatta Thatta 8,570 1,083,191 127 Hyderabad
22 Sujawal Sujawal 8,785 839,292 96 Hyderabad
23 Umerkot Umerkot 5,608 1,159,831 207 Mirpur Khas

Lower-level subdivisions

[edit]

In Sindh, talukas are equivalent to the tehsils used elsewhere in the country, supervisory tapas correspond with the kanungo circles used elsewhere, tapas correspond with the patwar circles used in other provinces, and dehs are equivalent to the mouzas used elsewhere.[153]

Towns and villages

[edit]

Economy

[edit]
A view of Karachi downtown, the capital of Sindh province
This section is an excerpt from Economy of Sindh.[edit]
A view of Karachi Skyline, the capital of Sindh province

The economy of Sindh is the 2nd largest of all the provinces in Pakistan, second only to Punjab. Much of Sindh's economy is influenced by the economy of Karachi, the largest city and economic capital of the country. Historically, Sindh's contribution to Pakistan's GDP has been between 30% and 32.7%. Its share in the service sector has ranged from 21% to 27.8% and in the agriculture sector from 21.4% to 27.7%. Performance-wise, its best sector is the manufacturing sector, where its share has ranged from 36.7% to 46.5%.[154] Since 1972, Sindh's GDP has expanded by 3.6 times.[155]

GDP by province

Endowed with coastal access, Sindh is a major centre of economic activity in Pakistan and has a highly diversified economy ranging from heavy industry and finance centred in and around Karachi to a substantial agricultural base along the Indus. Manufacturing includes machine products, cement, plastics, and various other goods.

Agriculture plays an important role in Sindh with cotton, rice, wheat, sugar cane, bananas, and mangoes as the most important crops. The largest and finer quality of rice is produced in Larkano district.[156][157]

Sindh is a rich province in natural resources of gas, petrol, and coal. The Mari Gas field is the biggest producer of natural gas in the country, with companies like Mari Petroleum.[158] Thar coalfield also includes a large lignite deposit.[158]
Qayoom Abad Bridge Karachi
Navalrai Market Clock Tower Hyderabad
Sukkur skyline along the shores of the River Indus

Education

[edit]
Dayaram Jethmal College (D.J. College), Karachi, in the 19th century
National Academy of Performing Arts, Karachi
Year Literacy rate
1972 60.77
1981 37.5%
1998 45.29%
2017 54.57%[159]

Universities

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from List of universities in Sindh § List of universities.[edit]
University Location Established Campuses Specialization Type
KASB Institute of Technology Karachi 2011 General Private
Sindh Madressatul Islam University 1885 General Public
NED University of Engineering and Technology 1922 Tharparkar Engineering Science Public
Dow University of Health Sciences 1945 Medical Science Public
University of Karachi 1951 General Public
Institute of Business Administration, Karachi 1955 General Public
Dawood University of Engineering and Technology 1962 Engineering & Technology Public
Pakistan Naval Academy 1970 General Military
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture 1989 Arts, Design & Architecture Private
Baqai Medical University 1989 Medical Science Private
Hamdard University 1991 Islamabad General Private
Commecs institute of business and emerging sciences 1993 General Private
Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology 1993 Engineering Science Private
Textile Institute of Pakistan 1994 Textile & Manufacturing Private
Institute of Business Management 1995 Management Science Private
Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology 1995 Hyderabad, Islamabad, Larkana, Gharo, United Arab Emirates Engineering & Technology Private
Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology 1997 General Private
Greenwich University, Karachi 1987 Mauritius General Private
Jinnah University for Women 1998 General Private
Iqra University 1998 Islamabad, Quetta General Private
Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education 2000 General Private
Ilma University 2001 General Private
Preston University 2001 General Private
Indus University 2004 General Private
Aga Khan University 1983 London[160] General Private
Muhammad Ali Jinnah University 1998 General Private
Sindh Institute of Medical Sciences 2009 General Private
Karachi School for Business and Leadership 2009 General Private
Habib University 2009 General Private
Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University 2010 General Public
Jinnah Sindh Medical University 1973 General Public
Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Law 2012 General Public
DHA Suffa University 2002 General Private
Nazeer Hussain University 2012 General Private
Newports Institute of Communications and Economics 2013 General Private
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto City University 2013 General Private
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Dewan University 2013 General Private
Qalandar Shahbaz University of Modern Sciences 2013 General Private
Ziauddin University 1986[161] Sukkur General Public
Salim Habib University 2015[162] General Private
60 Sohail University 2018 General Private
Millennium Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship 2021 General Private
City University of Health Sciences 1991 Medical Public
Karachi Institute of Technology & Entrepreneurship 2013[163] General Private
Emaan Institute of Management and Sciences 2018 General Private
Malir University of Science and Technology 2017 General Private
Karachi Institute of Power Engineering (KINPOE)-College of PIEAS 1993 Hawksbay Road, Karachi, Constituent College of Pakistan Institute of Engineering & Applied Sciences (PIEAS) Nuclear Power Engineering & Technology Public
University of Art and Culture, Jamshoro Jamshoro 2018 Arts & Design Private
Shaheed Allah Bux Soomro University of Art, Design and Heritages 1990 Arts & Design Public
Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences 1881 Thatta Medical Science Public
University of Sindh 1947 Badin, Dadu, Mirpur Khas, (till 2024) Naushahro Feroze, Thatta, Larkana (till 2024) General Public
Mehran University of Engineering and Technology 1963 Khairpur, Sujawal, Jacobabad,

Umerkot

Engineering & Technology Public
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Benazirabad Benazirabad 2010 Sanghar, Naushehro Feroze General Public
Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology 1974 Larkana, Jacobabad Engineering & Technology Public
Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women 2013 General Public
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences 2012 General Public
Isra University Hyderabad 1997 Islamabad, Karachi General Private
University of EAST 2004 General Private
Hyderabad Institute for Technical & Management Sciences 2023 General Public
Government College University Hyderabad 1917 General Public
Sukkur IBA University Sukkur 1994 Hyderabad, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Kandhkot Engineering & Administration Public
Aror University of Art, Architecture, Design & Heritage 2013 Arts & Design Public
Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University 2018 General Public
Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur 1974 Ghotki,Shahdadkot General Public
Pir Abdul Qadir Shah Jeelani Institute of Medical Sciences 2003[164] General Public
Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University of Technology and Skill Development 1950 Engineering & Technology Public
Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana 2008 General Public
University of Larkano 2024[165] Bill passed on 26 July 23 in Sindh Assembly General Public
Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam 1939 Khairpur, Umerkot, Dokri (till 2024) Agriculture Science Public
University of Sufism and Modern Sciences Bhit Shah 2011 General Public
Shaikh Ayaz University Shikarpur 2011[166] General Public
University of Mirpurkhas Mirpurkhas[167] 2024[168] Bill passed on 26 July 23 in Sindh Assembly

(Sindh University campus upgraded to full-fledged University)

General
University of Thar Tharparkar@Mithi purposed[169] May be the Campus of University of Sindh/University of Mirpurkhas[170] General (Later may be full-fledged university)
Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Institute of Management Science (BBSIMD-Dadu) Dadu 2011[171] Under IBA Sukkur Purposed to autonomous institute

Other major public and private educational institutes in Sindh include:

Culture

[edit]
Main article: Sindhi culture
Children in a rural area of Sindh, 2012
Sant Nenuram Ashram

The rich culture, art and architectural landscape of Sindh have fascinated historians. The culture, folktales, art and music of Sindh form a mosaic of human history.[172]

Cultural heritage

[edit]
Archaeological ruins at Moenjodaro, Sindh, Pakistan
The ruins of an ancient mosque at Bhambore
Sindhi women collecting water from a reservoir on the way to Mubarak Village

The work of Sindhi artisans was sold in ancient markets of Damascus, Baghdad, Basra, Istanbul, Cairo and Samarkand. Referring to the lacquer work on wood locally known as Jandi, T. Posten (an English traveller who visited Sindh in the early 19th century) asserted that the articles of Hala could be compared with exquisite specimens of China. Technological improvements such as the spinning wheel (charkha) and treadle (pai-chah) in the weaver's loom were gradually introduced and the processes of designing, dyeing and printing by block were refined. The refined, lightweight, colourful, washable fabrics from Hala became a luxury for people used to the woollens and linens of the age.[173]

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the World Wildlife Fund, Pakistan, play an important role to promote the culture of Sindh. They provide training to women artisans in Sindh so they get a source of income. They promote their products under the name of "Crafts Forever". Many women in rural Sindh are skilled in the production of caps. Sindhi caps are manufactured commercially on a small scale at New Saeedabad and Hala New. Sindhi people began celebrating Sindhi Topi Day on 6 December 2009, to preserve the historical culture of Sindh by wearing Ajrak and Sindhi topi.[174]

Huts in the Thar desert

Tourism

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from Tourism in Sindh.[edit]
Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi

Sindh is a province in Pakistan.

The province includes a number of important historical sites. The Indus Valley civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (mature period 2600–1900 BC) which was centred mostly in the Sindh.[175] Sindh has numerous tourist sites with the most prominent being the ruins of Mohenjo-daro near the city of Larkana.[175] Islamic architecture is quite prominent as well as colonial and post-partition sites. Natural sites, like Manchar Lake have increasingly been a source of sustainable tourism in the province.[176]

CNIC Codes

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See also

[edit]

Notes

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References

[edit]

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Sindh

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Sindh is the southernmost province of Pakistan, located in the western part of the Indian subcontinent, occupying the lower Indus River basin and extending along the Arabian Sea coastline in the southeast of the country. With an area of 140,914 square kilometers, it ranks as the third-largest province by land area. The province's population reached 55,696,147 according to the 2023 census, making it the second-most populous in Pakistan and featuring high urban density around its capital, Karachi. Karachi, serving as Sindh's administrative center, is Pakistan's largest city, primary seaport, and chief financial and industrial hub, contributing significantly to the national economy through manufacturing, trade, and services. Historically, Sindh represents the core of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, one of the earliest known urban societies that flourished from approximately 2600 to 1900 BCE, with Mohenjo-daro—its most prominent archaeological site—exemplifying advanced urban planning, drainage systems, and brick architecture dating back over 4,500 years. The region has witnessed successive migration, conquests and cultural layers, from early Indo-Aryan settlements and Persian influences to Arab Muslim invasions in the 8th century CE, which introduced Islam and shaped enduring Sufi traditions central to Sindhi identity. Economically, Sindh sustains Pakistan's second-largest provincial economy, driven by agriculture dependent on Indus irrigation, textile industries, and Karachi's port activities, though it grapples with challenges like water scarcity, ethnic divisions between Sindhis and Muhajirs, and infrastructure strains from rapid urbanization. The province's cultural landscape blends pre-Islamic heritage with Islamic motifs, evident in Sindhi literature, folk music, and sites like the Makli Necropolis, underscoring its role as a historical gateway for trade and ideas between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Etymology

Linguistic origins and historical references

The name Sindh derives from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, meaning "river" or "stream," originally denoting the Indus River that bisects the region. This etymological root reflects the area's defining geographical feature, with Sindhu serving as the river's indigenous designation before adaptations in other languages. In the Rigveda, composed circa 1500–1200 BCE, Sindhu appears over 170 times as a deified and formidable river, often portrayed as gleaming and swift, marking the northwestern frontier of Vedic Aryan territories within the Sapta Sindhu—the land of seven rivers encompassing the Indus and its tributaries. The text invokes Sindhu in hymns praising its flow and fertility, underscoring its centrality to early Indo-Aryan cosmology and settlement patterns east of the river. Historical allusions extend to Mesopotamian records, where Assyrians referenced the region as Sinda by the seventh century BCE, likely drawing from trade or exploratory contacts. Greek accounts from Alexander the Great's invasion in 325 BCE rendered the river as Indós, influencing later European nomenclature while preserving the phonetic core of Sindhu. In Avestan texts, the analogous Hapta Həndu denotes the seven rivers, paralleling Vedic geography and indicating shared Indo-Iranian linguistic heritage. Persian and subsequent Arabic usages simplified it to Sind, as seen in chronicles of the seventh-century Arab conquests, where the province retained its riverine identity amid expanding Islamic administration.

History

Prehistoric settlements and Indus Valley Civilization

Archaeological evidence indicates early human presence in Sindh during the Paleolithic period, with significant finds from limestone terraces at sites such as Ongar and Daphro, where stone tools and artifacts attest to hunter-gatherer activities dating back tens of thousands of years. Upper Paleolithic assemblages in the region feature bladelet technologies and microliths, suggesting adaptation to local environments along river valleys and coastal areas. By the Mesolithic era, around 9000–6000 BCE, settlements emerged in Upper and Lower Sindh, including sites along the Khadeji River north of Karachi and in the Thar Desert lake district, where microlithic tools and faunal remains indicate seasonal exploitation of wetlands by mobile hunter-gatherer groups during the Early Holocene. These communities transitioned toward more sedentary patterns, with evidence of resource-intensive strategies amid climatic shifts following the last Ice Age. The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), flourishing from approximately 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE with its mature phase between 2600 BCE and 1900 BCE, represents the region's most prominent prehistoric urban development, centered in Sindh around the Indus River. Mohenjo-daro, located in Larkana District, emerged as a major urban center around 2500 BCE, spanning about 250 hectares and housing an estimated population of 40,000, featuring advanced grid-planned streets, standardized baked-brick structures, and a sophisticated drainage system indicative of centralized planning. Other key Sindh sites include Chanhudaro, known for craft production like bead-making and shell-working, and Lakhueen-jo-daro, reflecting similar Harappan material culture. Artifacts from Mohenjo-daro, such as the iconic "Priest-King" statue and the bronze "Dancing Girl" figurine, highlight artistic sophistication and possible ritual practices, while seals depicting animals and undeciphered script suggest administrative and trade functions across a network extending to Mesopotamia. The civilization's economy relied on agriculture supported by Indus floodplains, with crops like wheat, barley, and cotton, alongside animal husbandry and maritime trade via coastal sites. Decline around 1900 BCE involved deurbanization, possibly due to climatic aridification, river shifts, and ecological stress, leading to abandonment of major centers like Mohenjo-daro by 1700 BCE.

Rai and Brahmin dynasties

The Rai dynasty (c. 489–632 CE) was the earliest known ruling house of Sindh, adhering to Buddhist traditions as part of its religious culture. It ruled for approximately 143 years with its capital at Aror (modern Rohri), noted for its Buddhist connections and regional influence. The Brahmin dynasty, also known as the Chach dynasty (c. 632–712 CE), succeeded the Rai by overthrowing the Buddhist rulers. This Hindu dynasty governed until the Arab conquest of Sindh in 712 CE, with Raja Dahir as its last prominent king. The capital was at Alor, and although ruled by Hindus, Buddhism persisted in southern parts of Sindh during this period.

Arab conquest and early Islamic era

The Arab conquest of Sindh began in 711 CE when Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, a 17-year-old Umayyad general and nephew of the governor of Iraq, Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, launched an expedition against the region ruled by Raja Dahir of the Brahmin dynasty. The incursion was prompted by Arab grievances, including pirate attacks on Muslim trading ships off the coast of Debal by Dahir's forces and appeals for intervention from oppressed Muslim merchants and women captured in earlier raids. Qasim's army, comprising approximately 6,000 Syrian cavalry, 6,000 camel-mounted troops, and a naval fleet, departed from Shiraz and proceeded by land through the Kutch region while the fleet sailed from Bahrain. The campaign opened with the siege of Debal, Sindh's principal port, in late 711 CE, where Qasim employed manjaniqs (catapults) to breach the city's defenses after initial resistance from Dahir's governor. Upon capture, the city's main temple was razed and replaced with a mosque, marking the first establishment of Muslim authority in the region; reports from contemporary accounts describe the slaughter of resisting combatants but relative leniency toward surrendering civilians. Qasim then advanced inland, securing Nirun and Sehwan by early 712 CE through sieges that exploited the fragmented loyalties among local Buddhist and Hindu chieftains, many of whom defected due to Dahir's perceived weakness and internal dynastic strife. The decisive Battle of Aror (or Rawar) in 712 CE pitted Qasim's forces against Dahir's army of around 50,000, including war elephants; Dahir was killed by an arrow while mounted on an elephant, leading to the collapse of organized resistance and the fall of the capital at Aror (modern Rohri). Qasim extended conquests to Brahmanabad and Multan by mid-713 CE, where he reportedly discovered temple treasures funding further operations, though the campaign's momentum stalled amid logistical strains and local guerrilla opposition. Administrative policies emphasized pragmatism: non-Muslim landowners and Brahmins were granted exemptions from enslavement if they submitted, paying jizya tax in exchange for protection, which facilitated governance over a predominantly Hindu-Buddhist population resistant to immediate conversion. Qasim's tenure as governor ended abruptly in 715 CE when he was recalled to Damascus by the new Umayyad caliph Sulayman, who harbored enmity toward Al-Hajjaj's faction; accused of improprieties including the alleged violation of noblewomen, Qasim was tortured and executed by flaying, though historical accounts vary on the veracity of these charges, attributing them partly to political intrigue. Under subsequent Umayyad governors until the dynasty's fall in 750 CE, Sindh served as a frontier province with Arab garrisons in key cities like Mansura (near Brahmanabad), but control remained tenuous, reliant on alliances with local elites rather than mass Islamization. The transition to Abbasid rule post-750 CE saw diminished central oversight, with Sindh's governors exercising de facto autonomy amid revolts and the rise of local Arab tribal amirs, yet the region retained Islamic administrative innovations like Arabic as the court language and standardized taxation. Early Islamic era demographics reflected continuity: Muslims formed a small elite, primarily Arab settlers and converts, while the majority population adhered to indigenous faiths, with gradual cultural exchanges evident in architecture and coinage bearing caliphal names alongside local motifs. This period laid the groundwork for Sindh's enduring role as Islam's initial subcontinental bridgehead, though expansion beyond Multan proved limited due to the Indus River's natural barriers and the subcontinent's decentralized polities.

Medieval dynasties and Mughal integration

Following the decline of Abbasid influence, the Soomra dynasty established control over Sindh around 1024 CE, marking the region's first native Muslim rulers after the Habbari emirs. Originating possibly from the Parmar Rajput tribe who converted to Islam, the Soomras ruled until 1351 CE, with their capital at Mansura initially shifting to Bhambore and later Thatta. Key rulers included Al Khafif, the founder, who consolidated power amid fragmentation from prior Arab governance, and later figures like Hamir and Tahl Chand, who maintained nominal allegiance to Baghdad while asserting de facto independence. Their era saw agricultural expansion along the Indus, patronage of Ismaili scholarship, and defensive fortifications against invasions from Multan and Gujarat, though internal feuds weakened the dynasty by the mid-14th century. The Samma dynasty supplanted the Soomras in 1351 CE, ruling until 1524 CE as a Muslim Rajput confederacy from Thatta, which became a thriving commercial hub linking Persian Gulf trade routes. Founded by Jam Unar (r. 1339–1351 CE), who claimed descent from the legendary Jamshid, the dynasty expanded influence into Kutch and southern Punjab, fostering Sindhi literature, architecture like the Makli Necropolis, and irrigation systems that boosted cotton and rice production. Prominent sovereigns included Jam Nizamuddin II (r. 1461–1509 CE), known for minting coinage and resisting Delhi Sultanate incursions, and Jam Feruz II (r. 1510–1524 CE), whose reign ended amid civil strife and external pressures from Afghan warlords. The Sammas promoted Sufi orders and Hindu-Muslim syncretism in administration, but dynastic fragmentation invited Arghun incursions. Turco-Mongol Arghuns, migrating from Kandahar under Dhu'l-Nun Beg, overthrew the Sammas by 1524 CE, with Shah Beg Arghun capturing Thatta after defeating Jam Feruz in 1520. Ruling until 1554 CE, the Arghuns imposed tribute systems and fortified borders against Portuguese naval threats in the Arabian Sea, though their short tenure featured brutal reprisals against local elites and economic disruption from over-taxation. The Tarkhan dynasty, led by Mirza Isa Beg—a Tarkhan general under the Arghuns—succeeded them in 1554 CE, governing until 1591 CE with a focus on stabilizing trade via Thatta's ports and allying with Safavids against Uzbeks. Isa Khan II's tomb exemplifies their architectural legacy, blending Persian domes with local motifs, but internal revolts eroded Tarkhan authority. Mughal Emperor Akbar completed the conquest of Sindh in 1591 CE, dispatching Khan Jahan to subdue Mirza Jani Beg Tarkhan, who surrendered Thatta without prolonged resistance. Integrated as the Subah of Thatta (Multan sub-division), Sindh contributed revenue from indigo, textiles, and maritime tolls, estimated at 10 million dams annually by Jahangir's reign, while Mughal governors like Mirza Ghazi enforced central land grants (jagirs) to loyalists. Administrative reforms included standardized taxation and canal maintenance, fostering urban growth in Hyderabad (founded 1768 under later Mughals), though peripheral status limited direct imperial oversight, allowing semi-autonomous kalora nawabs to emerge by the 1700s. This era embedded Sindh into broader Mughal networks, enhancing cultural exchanges via Persianate elites while preserving local agrarian structures.

British colonial administration

The British conquest of Sindh occurred in 1843, when forces under General Sir Charles James Napier defeated the Talpur Amirs at the Battle of Miani on February 17, with British casualties numbering around 270 against an estimated 6,000 Talpur losses, leading to the rapid annexation of the territory. Following the victory, Napier proclaimed the annexation on February 20, 1843, integrating Sindh into the Bombay Presidency as a district under direct British control, with Napier serving as its first administrator until 1847. This administrative structure emphasized revenue collection through a system of land assessments, initially harsh under Napier but later reformed to stabilize agrarian output, though it prioritized British commercial interests such as cotton exports. Economic development focused on infrastructure to enhance agricultural productivity and trade connectivity. Irrigation works expanded from the 1850s, utilizing Indus River waters through canals like the Nara system, which by the early 20th century irrigated over 2 million acres, transforming arid lands into cultivable areas and boosting cash crop production despite uneven distribution favoring large landowners. Railways followed, with the Indus Valley State Railway line from Karachi to Kotri opening in 1861, extending northward to facilitate troop movements and commodity transport, contributing to economic integration but also exacerbating vulnerabilities during droughts. Sindh experienced severe famines in 1896–1897 and 1899–1900, linked to monsoon failures and inadequate relief infrastructure, resulting in significant mortality among rural populations dependent on rain-fed agriculture. Administratively, Sindh remained a non-regulation province under Bombay until the Government of India Act 1935 prompted its separation on April 1, 1936, establishing it as a distinct province with Karachi as capital and a legislative assembly, reflecting demands for localized governance amid growing Muslim political mobilization. This change allowed for tailored policies on irrigation and revenue, though British oversight persisted until 1947, with the Sukkur Barrage project initiated in 1923–1932 exemplifying late colonial investments in perennial irrigation covering 7.63 million acres by completion.

Partition, migration, and early Pakistan era

The partition of British India on 14 August 1947 resulted in Sindh, a Muslim-majority province with approximately 4.1 million residents in 1941—of whom 73 percent were Muslims and 26 percent Hindus—being fully incorporated into the new Dominion of Pakistan without territorial division. This outcome reflected Sindh's demographic profile and its strategic position adjacent to Punjab and Balochistan, both also assigned to Pakistan under the partition plan devised by the Radcliffe Boundary Commission, despite advocacy from some Hindu leaders for subdividing the province along religious lines. Unlike Punjab and Bengal, where boundaries were drawn to separate Muslim and non-Muslim majorities, Sindh's indivisibility stemmed from its rural Muslim predominance and the logistical challenges of carving out Hindu-minority urban enclaves, such as those in Karachi and Hyderabad, which comprised over 70 percent Hindu populations in some districts. The partition prompted a massive unidirectional migration from Sindh, with nearly all of its Hindu population—estimated at 1.2 to 1.4 million individuals—relocating to India between 1947 and 1948, often abandoning immovable assets like homes, businesses, and agricultural lands valued in the millions of rupees. This exodus was driven by fears of marginalization in a Muslim-dominated state, economic pressures, and sporadic communal tensions, though violence in Sindh remained comparatively restrained relative to Punjab's massacres, with fewer documented deaths per capita. In reciprocal flows, around 7.5 million Muslim migrants, known as Muhajirs, arrived in Pakistan from India, with a substantial portion—hundreds of thousands from regions like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Gujarat—settling in Sindh's urban centers, particularly Karachi and Hyderabad, due to the province's ports, commercial infrastructure, and availability of evacuated properties. These Muhajirs, often educated professionals, traders, and civil servants, filled administrative and economic vacuums left by departing Hindus, contributing to rapid urbanization; Karachi's population surged from about 400,000 in 1941 to over 1.9 million by 1951, with Urdu speakers rising to dominate the city's demographics. In the early Pakistan era (1947–1958), Sindh faced acute challenges from this demographic upheaval, including refugee rehabilitation, housing shortages, and inflationary pressures on food and land prices, as federal authorities allocated abandoned Hindu properties to Muhajir settlers under ordinances like the Administration of Evacuee Property Act of 1948. Karachi, designated as Pakistan's provisional capital until 1959, experienced explosive growth as the seat of government, attracting further Muhajir influxes and transforming from a somnolent port into a bustling metropolis, though native Sindhis perceived cultural and linguistic displacement amid the shift from Sindhi to Urdu as the administrative lingua franca. Provincial governance under figures like Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah, Sindh's first chief minister, prioritized integration but encountered tensions over resource allocation, with Muhajir-dominated urban elites gaining disproportionate influence in bureaucracy and commerce relative to rural Sindhi agriculturists. By the mid-1950s, these dynamics foreshadowed ethnic frictions, culminating in the 1955 One Unit scheme that dissolved Sindh as a distinct province into West Pakistan, ostensibly for administrative efficiency but effectively diluting regional autonomy amid centralizing tendencies under Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah (until his death in 1948) and successor Liaquat Ali Khan.

Post-1970s developments and political shifts

Following the separation of East Pakistan in 1971, Sindh emerged as a political stronghold for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a Sindhi landowner, which secured a majority of seats in the province during the 1970 elections. The 1973 Constitution, enacted under Bhutto's government, established a federal parliamentary system that devolved some powers to provinces, including Sindh, while centralizing key fiscal and defense functions. However, the 1972 Sindh Language Bill, designating Sindhi as the official language alongside Urdu, provoked riots by Urdu-speaking Muhajirs (migrants from India and their descendants), exacerbating ethnic divisions and leading to over 100 deaths in clashes between Sindhi and Muhajir communities. The 1977 military coup by General Zia-ul-Haq ousted Bhutto and imposed martial law, suppressing PPP activities through arrests and executions, including Bhutto's in 1979, which galvanized Sindhi resentment against Punjabi-dominated federal institutions. During Zia's Islamization drive (1978–1988), Sindh experienced relative political quiescence but saw the rise of Muhajir nationalism, culminating in the formation of the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) in 1984 to represent urban Urdu-speakers marginalized by rural Sindhi feudal elites and perceived Punjabi favoritism. MQM's mobilization led to ethnic violence, including 1986 clashes in Hyderabad where hundreds died in Muhajir-Sindhi confrontations, framing urban-rural divides along linguistic lines. The 1990s marked intensified ethnic strife in urban Sindh, particularly Karachi, where MQM-PPP rivalries fueled over 5,000 deaths from targeted killings, extortion, and counter-insurgency operations by security forces against MQM militias accused of terrorism. PPP governments alternately allied with and clashed against MQM, while federal interventions under Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto (1988–1990, 1993–1996) and Nawaz Sharif deepened provincial grievances over resource allocation. The 1991 Water Apportionment Accord allocated Indus River shares—55% to Punjab and 37% to Sindh—but implementation disputes persisted, with Sindh alleging upstream diversions by Punjab caused shortages, desertification, and agricultural losses exceeding 20% in some districts by the mid-1990s. Post-2000 developments under General Pervez Musharraf (1999–2008) saw MQM join federal coalitions, gaining influence in Karachi governance, while PPP rebuilt its rural base amid criticism of feudal patronage sustaining its dominance despite stagnant human development metrics—Sindh's literacy rate hovered at 40% in 2005, far below national averages. The 18th Amendment in 2010 devolved ministries like education and health to provinces, empowering Sindh's PPP-led government but highlighting governance failures, including chronic water scarcity and urban decay. PPP retained provincial control in elections (2008, 2013, 2018, 2024), capturing over 70% of rural seats via wadera (landlord) networks, though urban challenges from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and splintered MQM eroded its Karachi hold. Major events like the 2010 floods, displacing 6 million in Sindh, and Rangers-led operations against extremism (2013 onward) underscored vulnerabilities, with PPP accused of prioritizing patronage over infrastructure amid persistent poverty rates above 40%.

Geography

Physical features and river systems

Sindh province covers 140,914 square kilometers and is characterized by low-lying alluvial plains dominated by the Indus River, flanked on the west by the rugged Kirthar Range, on the east by the arid Thar Desert, and terminating in the south with the Indus Delta along the Arabian Sea coastline. The central plains, extending roughly 580 kilometers north to south and encompassing 51,500 square kilometers, feature fertile silt deposits with elevations rarely surpassing 100 meters above sea level, forming the agricultural heartland. The Kirthar Range, stretching approximately 300 kilometers parallel to the Indus, marks the western boundary with Balochistan, with southern elevations around 1,200 meters increasing northward to 2,500 meters; prominent peaks include Borough Hills at 2,151 meters and Kutte-ji-Kabar at 2,097 meters. Adjacent sub-ranges like the Lakki (80 kilometers long, with tertiary rock formations and thermal springs) and Pab contribute to a transitional zone of hills and valleys. In contrast, the eastern belt comprises the Thar Desert's expansive sandy dunes—covering over 56 percent of the terrain and rising to 150 meters—punctuated by isolated elevations such as the Karunjhar Hills at 300 meters. The Indus River constitutes the primary fluvial system, traversing Sindh southward for about 580 kilometers and supplying 95 percent of irrigation water through seasonal inundation and extensive canal networks branching from barrages at Guddu, Sukkur, and Kotri. Major tributaries are limited within Sindh, as upstream confluences occur in Punjab; however, the river's lower course fragments into distributaries forming the Indus Delta, a sediment-rich estuarine zone supporting limited perennial flow amid tidal influences. Supplementary rivers include the seasonal western nalas like Gaj and Hab, which originate in the Kirthar foothills, and the shorter coastal drainages such as Hub, Malir, and Lyari emptying near Karachi. Manchar Lake, Pakistan's largest inland freshwater body at approximately 260 square kilometers during monsoons, lies west of the Indus near Sehwan and connects via the Aral and Shahi channels, accumulating floodwaters that sustain fisheries and wetlands before evaporating or draining back. These systems collectively shape Sindh's hydrology, with the Indus providing over 80 percent of surface water while episodic flash floods from peripheral wadis exacerbate erosion and deposition patterns.

Climate variability and natural hazards

Sindh's climate is predominantly arid to semi-arid, with approximately 50% of the region classified as arid, 40% semi-arid, and 10% humid, resulting in low and highly variable precipitation dominated by the summer monsoon season. Annual rainfall typically ranges from 100-200 mm in interior areas, increasing toward the coast, with southern districts receiving over 80% of totals during July-September monsoons and northern districts 59-81%. Temperatures exhibit extreme seasonal swings, with summer highs often surpassing 45°C in June-August and winter averages around 10-20°C, influenced by the Indus River's moderating effects and continental air masses. Inter-annual variability is pronounced, driven by El Niño-Southern Oscillation patterns and shifting monsoon dynamics, leading to frequent dry spells interspersed with intense downpours. Recent trends show rising annual precipitation in Sindh by 30-60 mm over recent decades, alongside a clear warming signal with average temperatures increasing, projected to rise 2-5°C by the end of the century under moderate emissions scenarios. These shifts amplify climate variability, with intensified heatwaves—such as those exceeding 50°C in 2022—linked to higher evaporation rates and reduced soil moisture, straining agriculture and water resources. Glacial melt in upstream Himalayas contributes to erratic Indus flows, while urban heat islands in Karachi exacerbate local extremes. The province faces recurrent natural hazards, primarily floods from Indus River overflows and monsoon deluges, which have repeatedly inundated vast farmlands; the 2010 event displaced over 8 million in Sindh, while 2022 floods submerged one-third of the area, causing over 400 deaths province-wide and damages exceeding $10 billion nationally. Cyclones from the Arabian Sea, such as Cyclone Yemyin in 2007, bring storm surges and winds up to 120 km/h to coastal districts like Thatta and Badin, eroding shorelines and salinizing groundwater. Droughts recur every 5-10 years due to monsoon failures, as in 1998-2002 when crop yields dropped 40% from water shortages. Earthquakes pose risks along the tectonic boundary near the Kirthar Range, with moderate events like the 2013 Balochistan quake felt in northern Sindh, though major seismic activity remains lower than in neighboring Balochistan. Heatwaves, intensified by climate change, have caused hundreds of deaths annually in recent years, particularly in urban slums lacking cooling infrastructure.

Environmental degradation and resource management

Sindh faces severe environmental degradation primarily driven by reduced freshwater inflows to the Indus Delta, leading to increased salinity, mangrove loss, and soil degradation. Upstream dams such as Tarbela and Mangla have significantly curtailed the Indus River's flow into Sindh since the 1970s, with annual discharges at Kotri Barrage dropping from over 150 billion cubic meters in the 1970s to around 10-20 billion cubic meters in recent years, exacerbating seawater intrusion and salinizing over 1.2 million hectares of arable land. This has rendered vast tracts unsuitable for agriculture, contributing to desertification and loss of biodiversity in the delta region, where land erosion averages 20 meters annually in eastern Sindh from 1989 to 2018. Mangrove forests, covering approximately 70% of Pakistan's total and vital for coastal protection, have experienced localized degradation in Sindh due to pollution, overgrazing, and urban encroachment, particularly around Karachi, where 200 hectares were cleared between 2010 and 2022 for housing and development projects. Despite national mangrove expansion efforts—Pakistan increased coverage by planting over 1 million hectares since 1990—Sindh's coastal ecosystems remain threatened by diminished freshwater, which has raised salinity levels beyond tolerance for species like Avicennia marina, resulting in die-offs and reduced carbon sequestration capacity. Deforestation compounds these issues, with Sindh losing forest cover at rates linked to fuelwood demand and agricultural expansion, further eroding soil stability and exacerbating flood vulnerability as seen in the 2022 deluges that damaged 57% of crops due partly to upstream management failures. Urban pollution in Karachi, Sindh's economic hub, intensifies degradation through industrial effluents and untreated sewage discharging into the Indus and coastal waters, introducing nitrates, phosphates, and heavy metals that contaminate fisheries and groundwater. Soil salinization affects up to 6 million hectares province-wide, stemming from inefficient flood irrigation practices that evaporate water and concentrate salts, reducing crop yields by 20-50% in affected areas without drainage improvements. Resource management challenges center on inequitable water allocation under the Indus Waters Treaty and provincial disputes, where Punjab's upstream storage diverts flows critical for Sindh's irrigation-dependent agriculture, which consumes 90% of available water but achieves only 30-40% efficiency due to outdated canals and seepage losses. Pakistan's per capita water availability has fallen below 1,000 cubic meters annually, with Sindh experiencing acute shortages during dry seasons, worsened by climate variability including droughts that affected 68% of rural households in 2018. Efforts like the Sindh Forest Department's mangrove rehabilitation have shown promise, restoring thousands of hectares, but systemic issues persist from governance fragmentation, corruption in irrigation departments, and failure to enforce environmental regulations, hindering sustainable extraction of groundwater and fisheries resources. Integrated basin management reforms, including lined canals and wastewater recycling, are recommended but implementation lags due to inter-provincial conflicts and inadequate funding.

Demographics

Sindh's population has expanded significantly since Pakistan's independence, rising from 6,047,748 in the 1951 census to 55,696,147 in the 2023 census, reflecting sustained high fertility rates and net positive migration patterns. Inter-censal annual growth rates have averaged approximately 2.8% from 1951 to 1998, decelerating slightly to 2.41% between 1998 and 2017, before increasing to 2.57% from 2017 to 2023 amid improved census methodologies and demographic momentum. This growth outpaces the national average in recent decades, driven by factors including limited family planning uptake in rural areas and influxes from adjacent regions, though rural underdevelopment exacerbates internal pressures. Urbanization in Sindh has accelerated, with the urban population share climbing from around 36% in 1998 to 53.7% in 2023, contrasting with Pakistan's overall urbanization rate of 38.8%. This shift is evidenced by higher urban growth rates compared to rural areas, where annual increases averaged 2.09% during earlier inter-censal periods, indicating substantial rural-to-urban migration. Karachi, as Sindh's premier metropolis, has absorbed the bulk of this movement, its population surging to 20.3 million by 2023, constituting over one-third of the province's total and fueled by economic opportunities in trade, industry, and services that outstrip rural agricultural prospects. Rural-to-urban migration within Sindh is propelled by structural imbalances, including stagnant agrarian productivity, water scarcity, and feudal land tenure systems that limit rural livelihoods, prompting outflows estimated at 3% of inter-provincial rural-urban movements. While this has bolstered urban labor pools, it has strained infrastructure in recipient cities, leading to informal settlements and heightened urban poverty, with Karachi's expansion exemplifying unmanaged demographic pressures absent robust policy interventions. Despite these challenges, migration continues, as evidenced by the province's urban population exceeding 29 million in 2023, underscoring a transition toward greater urban dependency.

Ethnic composition and linguistic diversity

Sindh's population exhibits significant ethnic diversity, shaped by historical migrations, partition-era influxes, and recent internal movements within Pakistan. The largest ethnic group comprises the Sindhis, indigenous to the region and primarily rural dwellers in the province's interior districts, who form the core of the province's demographic identity. According to 2023 census data aggregated from official statistics, Sindhi speakers—serving as a proxy for the Sindhi ethnic population—number approximately 33.5 million, constituting about 60% of Sindh's total population of 55.7 million. This dominance reflects Sindh's historical continuity as a cradle of Sindhi culture, though urban concentration has diluted it in cities like Karachi and Hyderabad. The second-largest group is the Muhajirs (also known as Urdu-speaking immigrants or Biharis in some contexts), descendants of Muslims who migrated from various parts of India during the 1947 partition and subsequent events. Concentrated in urban centers, particularly Karachi where they form a plurality or majority in many neighborhoods, Muhajirs account for roughly 20-22% of the provincial population, mirrored by Urdu as the mother tongue of about 12.4 million residents. Smaller but growing communities include Pashtuns (around 5%, or 3 million speakers of Pashto, many recent economic migrants from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan) and Punjabis (about 4%, or 2.3 million Punjabi speakers, often linked to military, business, or labor migration). Baloch and Seraiki speakers form minor presences, typically under 2% each, primarily along the western borders. Linguistic diversity in Sindh aligns closely with ethnic distributions, with Sindhi serving as the provincial official language alongside Urdu, the national lingua franca. Sindhi, an Indo-Aryan language with roots traceable to ancient Prakrit dialects, is spoken natively by the majority and features a standardized Arabic-script variant promoted since the 19th century, though regional dialects like Lari, Lasi, and Vicholi persist. Urdu's prevalence underscores Muhajir influence and serves as a bridge language in multicultural urban settings, while Pashto and Punjabi reflect migrant enclaves, contributing to multilingualism in ports and industrial hubs. Other tongues, including Balochi and minor indigenous varieties, add to the tapestry but remain marginal, with English functioning as an elite administrative medium. This diversity fosters both cultural richness and occasional tensions over resource allocation and political representation.

Religious demographics and minority status

Islam is the predominant religion in Sindh, with Muslims comprising 91.3% of the province's population according to the 2017 census data. Hindus form the largest religious minority at approximately 6.5%, with an additional 1.0% classified as Scheduled Castes, many of whom adhere to Hindu practices, bringing the total Hindu-affiliated population to around 7.5%. Christians account for 1.0%, primarily concentrated in urban centers like Karachi, while Ahmadis represent 0.1%, and other groups (including Sikhs, Parsis, and Zoroastrians) constitute negligible shares under 0.5% combined.
ReligionPercentage
Muslims91.3%
Hindus6.5%
Scheduled Castes1.0%
Christians1.0%
Ahmadis0.1%
Others<0.1%
This distribution reflects the 2017 Pakistan Census, the most recent comprehensive provincial breakdown available, with Sindh's total population then at 47.89 million. Hindu concentrations are highest in rural districts such as Umerkot (over 50%) and Tharparkar (around 48%), where they form nearly half the local populace, often in agrarian communities. Christians, numbering about 546,000 province-wide, are mostly urban and include communities of Punjabi and Goan descent facing socioeconomic marginalization. Religious minorities in Sindh, particularly Hindus, encounter systemic challenges including forced conversions, abductions of minor girls, and land disputes, with over 1,000 reported cases annually in the province as per human rights documentation. These incidents, often involving influential Muslim landowners or clerics, have prompted emigration, contributing to a decline in the Hindu share from pre-partition levels (around 26% in 1941) to current figures, despite natural population growth. Christians face blasphemy accusations and mob violence, exacerbated by weak enforcement of protective laws, though urban networks provide some communal safeguards. Provincial authorities have established anti-forced conversion committees, but implementation remains inconsistent, with critics attributing persistence to feudal influences and inadequate judicial oversight. Ahmadis, constitutionally non-Muslim, report heightened persecution under blasphemy statutes, though their small numbers limit visibility in Sindh-specific data.

Government and Politics

Provincial governance structure

Sindh functions as a province within Pakistan's federal parliamentary system, as outlined in the Constitution of 1973. The Governor of Sindh serves as the ceremonial head of the province, appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, with a term generally matching the federal executive's duration. The Governor's duties include granting assent to provincial legislation, summoning and proroguing sessions of the Provincial Assembly, and acting as a liaison between federal and provincial authorities. Muhammad Kamran Tessori has held the office since October 10, 2022. Executive power resides with the Chief Minister, who leads the provincial government and is elected by a majority vote in the Provincial Assembly. The Chief Minister forms a cabinet of ministers to oversee departments such as finance, education, and health, deriving authority from the assembly's confidence. Syed Murad Ali Shah, from the Pakistan Peoples Party, was elected Chief Minister for a third consecutive term on February 26, 2024, receiving 112 votes in the 168-member assembly. The cabinet operates under the Chief Minister's direction, implementing policies within constitutional limits on provincial subjects like agriculture and local governance. The unicameral Provincial Assembly of Sindh, seated in Karachi, holds legislative authority over matters not assigned to the federal government, including taxation, education, and public health per the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. It comprises 168 seats: members are elected directly from constituencies for five-year terms, with reserved seats for women and non-Muslims filled proportionally by the assembly based on party representation. The assembly debates and passes bills, approves budgets, and oversees the executive through questions, committees, and no-confidence motions. Elections are managed by the Election Commission of Pakistan, with the most recent held in February 2024. Provincial administration is supported by a civil bureaucracy headed by the Chief Secretary, appointed by the Chief Minister with federal concurrence for key positions, ensuring coordination across 30 districts and implementation of assembly-enacted laws. The structure emphasizes separation of powers, though federal oversight persists via the concurrent list and governor's discretionary powers in emergencies.

Administrative divisions and local power dynamics

Sindh Province is administratively organized into seven divisions—Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkhas, and Korangi—as of 2024, which oversee 30 districts further subdivided into 125 tehsils and approximately 1,381 union councils. These divisions facilitate provincial administration, with commissioners appointed by the provincial government to manage revenue collection, law enforcement coordination, and development oversight at the divisional level. Districts are headed by deputy commissioners, who exercise executive authority over police, land revenue, and basic infrastructure maintenance, reporting to divisional commissioners and ultimately the Chief Secretary of Sindh. The local government framework is governed by the Sindh Local Government Act (SLGA) 2013, establishing a three-tier system comprising union committees (rural and urban), tehsil/town municipal administrations, and district councils, with the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation handling the provincial capital as a distinct entity. Local bodies elections, conducted by the Election Commission of Pakistan in phases during 2022–2023, determine mayors, chairpersons, and councilors for these tiers, with over 18,000 seats contested across Sindh. However, fiscal devolution remains limited, as provincial authorities retain control over major revenue sources like property taxes and grants, allocating funds through annual budgets that often prioritize party-aligned projects over local needs. Local power dynamics are characterized by provincial dominance, where the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which has controlled Sindh's provincial government since 2008, influences local appointments and policy implementation, treating district councils as extensions of patronage networks rather than autonomous bodies. In urban centers like Karachi, representing about 20% of Sindh's administrative units but over 50% of its population, power fragmentation arises from ethnic-based parties such as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), leading to jurisdictional overlaps and service delivery disputes between city-specific corporations and provincial departments. Rural districts, conversely, exhibit centralized control through deputy commissioners, undermining elected local officials' authority in areas like water distribution and dispute resolution. This structure fosters inefficiency, with reports of dual governance channels—provincial line departments parallel to local councils—exacerbating corruption and accountability gaps, as local bodies collect less than 10% of their budgets independently.

Feudalism, corruption, and political dynasties

Feudalism in Sindh manifests as a system dominated by large landowners known as waderas, who control vast tracts of agricultural land and exert significant influence over rural populations. These elites, often numbering around 22 major families alongside 59 upper-caste groups, maintain private militias and economic leverage to enforce tenant subservience, with practices including debt bondage and suppression of labor rights. A 2012 study indicated that the median Sindhi landlord holds 28 acres, while approximately 80% of share tenants remain landless, perpetuating cycles of poverty and dependency in rural areas where agriculture employs the majority. This structure, rooted in colonial land grants and tribal loyalties, hinders land reforms and democratic participation, as waderas prioritize patronage networks over development. Political dynasties amplify feudal power through entrenched control of provincial governance, particularly via the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which has governed Sindh since 2008. The Bhutto-Zardari family exemplifies this, with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari, serving as PPP chairman since 2007 and contesting elections from Sindh strongholds like NA-194 in 2024. Family members have held key positions, including Zardari's presidency from 2008 to 2013, enabling policies that preserve feudal interests such as resistance to tenancy reforms and allocation of irrigation resources favoring large estates. This dynastic hold, intertwined with wadera alliances, results in electoral outcomes where rural votes are mobilized through clientelism rather than policy platforms, stifling competition and merit-based leadership. Corruption thrives within this framework, as feudal-dynastic networks facilitate systemic graft in public sectors. Transparency International Pakistan's 2022 survey identified education as Sindh's most corrupt institution, followed by police, with 47% of respondents attributing national underdevelopment to such practices. A 2025 audit by the Auditor General of Pakistan revealed Rs836.43 billion in irregularities across Sindh government departments, encompassing Rs1.088 billion in fraud, Rs97.865 billion in unproduced records, and Rs32.122 billion in irregular hiring, often tied to patronage appointments benefiting allied elites. Feudal politicians, lacking accountability, divert development funds—such as those for rural infrastructure—into personal or familial coffers, exacerbating inequality; for instance, unaccounted expenditures in irrigation projects underscore how wadera influence blocks equitable resource distribution. These patterns, sustained by weak enforcement and merit deficits, undermine governance efficacy and public trust.

Economy

Agriculture, irrigation, and rural economy

Agriculture constitutes the primary driver of Sindh's rural economy, supporting livelihoods for the majority of the province's rural population through irrigated cultivation dependent on the Indus River basin. The sector accounts for approximately 22.7% of Sindh's gross domestic product, underscoring its economic centrality despite the province's urban concentrations. Irrigated agriculture covers 77% of the cultivated land, enabling high-volume production of cash crops that contribute to Pakistan's export earnings, particularly cotton and rice. Sindh's irrigation infrastructure centers on three key barrages along the Indus: Sukkur Barrage (commissioned 1932), Guddu Barrage (1962), and Kotri Barrage (1955), which collectively divert waters to irrigate 5.57 million hectares via an extensive canal network spanning 58,500 kilometers province-wide. Sukkur Barrage alone services nearly the entire province's arable zones from northern districts to southern coastal areas, while Guddu supports over 1 million hectares in upper Sindh. These systems, originally expanded under British colonial engineering and later Pakistani developments, provide seasonal reliability of 47-100% in summer and 65-85% in winter for canal supplies, though upstream diversions and climate variability increasingly strain downstream allocations. Principal crops include cotton, which Sindh produces at about 33% of national output, alongside rice, wheat, and sugarcane as staples of the kharif and rabi seasons. Production data from provincial estimates indicate fluctuations, with recent declines in cotton and paddy yields attributed to pest pressures, water shortages, and falling market prices—cotton rates dropping from Rs7,000-10,000 per 40kg in 2023 to Rs7,000-8,000 in 2024. Wheat remains the dominant rabi crop, cultivated across districts like Dadu and Sukkur, while rice dominates kharif in irrigated lowlands. In the rural economy, agriculture employs roughly 40-50% of the workforce, with smallholder farming and sharecropping prevalent amid land fragmentation and feudal landholdings that limit productivity gains. Skilled labor shortages have exacerbated yield reductions of 15-20% in wheat and cotton over the past five years, hindering mechanization and modernization efforts. Persistent challenges such as soil salinity, inadequate drainage, and inter-provincial water disputes further constrain rural incomes, sustaining poverty incidence above national averages in agrarian districts. Despite policy initiatives like the Sindh Agriculture Policy (2018-2030) aiming for sustainable intensification, empirical outcomes remain limited by institutional inefficiencies and environmental degradation.

Urban industry, trade, and Karachi's role

Karachi dominates Sindh's urban industry and trade, serving as Pakistan's largest industrial and commercial center with major sectors including textiles, cement, steel, heavy machinery, chemicals, food processing, pharmaceuticals, engineering, construction, automobiles, IT, and telecommunications. The city also hosts significant banking and insurance operations, contributing to its role as the financial hub of the country. Sindh's overall economy, heavily urbanized at around 52% of its population, relies on Karachi for much of its industrial output, with the province accounting for a substantial share of national manufacturing. Karachi generates approximately 25% of Pakistan's GDP and about 50% of the country's revenue, underscoring its pivotal economic role beyond Sindh to the national level. As the gateway for trade, Karachi Port handled a record 54 million tons of cargo in fiscal year 2024-25, including 2.65 million TEUs of containers, facilitating the bulk of Pakistan's imports and exports. In 2023-24, the port processed 64.15 million tonnes, maintaining its position as the nation's primary maritime trade conduit despite competition from other ports. While Karachi overshadows other urban areas, cities like Hyderabad and Sukkur support secondary industrial activities through dedicated estates and enclaves. Sukkur's Sindh Industrial Trading Estate, established in 1963, and Small Industries Estate focus on light manufacturing and engineering goods. Recent developments include approved industrial enclaves in Hyderabad and Sukkur emphasizing agro-processing, engineering, and light industries to bolster regional diversification. These efforts aim to extend industrial growth beyond Karachi, leveraging Sindh's strategic location and infrastructure like seaports and economic zones.

Poverty, inequality, and development barriers

Sindh faces entrenched poverty, with a provincial rate of 24.1% as of 2025, amid national trends showing a reversal from prior reductions due to inflation, floods, and stagnant growth. Rural areas bear the brunt, where poverty headcount ratios have historically reached 43%, more than double urban levels, creating an urban-rural divide exceeding 30 percentage points—the widest in Pakistan. This disparity persists despite Karachi's economic dominance, as rural households remain dependent on low-productivity agriculture and face chronic underinvestment in off-farm opportunities. Income and asset inequality exacerbate vulnerabilities, with land ownership Gini coefficients hovering near 0.63, indicating extreme concentration among a small elite that controls vast estates. Feudal structures lock tenants into cycles of debt and subsistence, as large landowners prioritize extraction over innovation, suppressing wages and blocking land reforms essential for equitable access. This system sustains interior Sindh's impoverishment, where peasants endure bonded labor-like conditions and limited mobility, hindering broader human capital development. Key development barriers include governance failures in resource distribution, where Karachi-generated revenues fail to alleviate rural deficits, compounded by corruption that diverts alleviation funds. Inadequate rural infrastructure—such as poor roads and irrigation—amplifies isolation and exposure to climate shocks like the 2022 floods, which disproportionately devastated agrarian livelihoods without feudal mitigation for the poor. Low agricultural diversification and weak non-farm job creation further stall transitions out of poverty, as evidenced by stagnant escapes reliant on rare shifts to education or urban migration. Addressing these requires dismantling feudal monopolies and prioritizing causal enablers like secure property rights and market access, rather than sporadic welfare injections.

Society and Culture

Education, literacy, and institutional failures

Sindh's literacy rate stood at 57.54% in 2024, below the national average of approximately 60% and trailing Punjab's 66.25%, with rural areas exhibiting significantly lower rates than urban centers like Karachi. Female literacy lags particularly, contributing to gender disparities in enrollment and completion rates, where girls comprise a disproportionate share of the province's estimated 7.82 million out-of-school children as of 2025, representing 65% in rural districts and 35% in urban ones. The education system's institutional shortcomings manifest in widespread "ghost schools," with a 2022 Sindh Education Department survey identifying nearly 11,000 non-functional or abandoned facilities, many existing only on paper to siphon funds through fabricated enrollments and salaries. Teacher absenteeism compounds this, as "ghost teachers" draw salaries without attendance, enabled by lax monitoring and political interference, while up to 20% of public schools in 2025 operate without students or staff due to such malfeasance. Poor infrastructure, including roofless buildings and erroneous textbooks, stems from embezzlement by bureaucrats and contractors backed by political patrons, undermining even the Rs. 34.2 billion allocated for 729 projects in fiscal year 2023. Feudal elites exacerbate these failures by prioritizing patronage networks over merit-based hiring and resource allocation, treating schools as extensions of landed influence rather than engines of social mobility, which perpetuates low human capital investment and entrenches inequality. Corruption scandals, such as those in 2025 involving Sindh Public Service Commission appointments, further erode accountability, as provincial governance favors dynastic control and kickbacks over systemic reforms. This confluence of graft, absenteeism, and feudal dominance has resulted in outdated curricula and inadequate facilities, yielding graduates ill-equipped for modern economies despite nominal enrollment gains.

Healthcare access and public welfare

Healthcare access in Sindh remains severely limited, particularly in rural areas, where socioeconomic barriers such as poverty, distance to facilities, and inadequate infrastructure restrict primary care utilization. The province lags behind other Pakistani regions in maternal and child health outcomes, with rural facilities often under-equipped and understaffed, contributing to low contraceptive use and high disease burdens like malaria, which reported 215,270 cases in 2025 according to official figures, though private estimates suggest underreporting exacerbates the crisis. Key indicators underscore the deficiencies: the maternal mortality ratio in rural Sindh stands at approximately 410 deaths per 100,000 live births, far exceeding national averages and Sustainable Development Goals targets, while infant mortality rates hover around 80 per 1,000 live births in rural zones. The doctor-to-patient ratio in Pakistan is roughly 1:1,000, but Sindh faces acute shortages, with registered physicians inadequate for its 50 million population and many public hospitals lacking essential equipment or trained staff. Hospital bed availability is critically low, at about 1 per 1,613 people nationally, with Sindh's public sector strained by overcrowding and absenteeism. Corruption further undermines service delivery, with audits revealing over Rs. 12 billion in irregularities in the Sindh Health Department as of 2025, including stolen cancer medicines worth Rs. 360 million from Civil Hospital Karachi and Rs. 40 billion in financial discrepancies at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases. These systemic issues, compounded by feudal influences prioritizing elite access over public needs, result in frequent medicine shortages and ghost patient schemes that divert funds from frontline care. Public welfare efforts in Sindh rely on federal and provincial programs like the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which covered millions nationwide by 2025 but struggles with targeting in high-poverty districts, where rates reach 53.4% in areas like Badin. The People's Poverty Reduction Program, a Sindh initiative, aims at union-council-level interventions but faces implementation gaps due to corruption and weak governance, mirroring national poverty surges to 39% amid economic pressures. Organizations like the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund provide micro-infrastructure and community support, yet overall efficacy is limited by elite capture and inadequate monitoring, leaving rural populations vulnerable to floods and unemployment without sustainable lifts from destitution.

Cultural heritage, traditions, and social structures

Sindh's cultural heritage originates from the Indus Valley Civilization, with the Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro serving as a prime example of early urban planning and architecture from the 3rd millennium BCE. This site features advanced drainage systems and standardized brick construction, reflecting a sophisticated society predating written records. Later contributions include the Makli Necropolis, a UNESCO-listed burial complex near Thatta containing over 500,000 tombs from the 14th to 18th centuries, illustrating the architectural styles of the Samma, Arghun, and Mughal dynasties through ornate stone monuments. Sufism permeates Sindhi cultural expression, particularly through the poetry and music of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (1689–1752), whose Shah Jo Risalo integrates local folklore with mystical themes, influencing Sindhi literature, spiritual practices, and folk music traditions. Sufi shrines, such as those dedicated to saints like Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, promote tolerance and draw pilgrims from diverse backgrounds, embedding pluralism in Sindhi identity among both Muslims and Hindus. Traditional crafts like Ajrak, a block-printed shawl using natural dyes and geometric patterns, symbolize cultural pride and are used in ceremonies, attire, and as gifts denoting respect. Sindhi traditions encompass festivals such as Thadri, celebrated seven days after Raksha Bandhan with consumption of cold, pre-prepared foods to invoke blessings and observe dietary customs rooted in agrarian cycles. Social structures center on extended joint families led by senior males, fostering collective decision-making and mutual support within biradari kinship networks that transcend strict caste divisions. Tribal affiliations, including groups like Sammat and Rajput lineages, maintain historical ties influencing marriage alliances and community solidarity, while Sufi ethos encourages egalitarian spiritual bonds over rigid hierarchies.

Security and Conflicts

Ethnic tensions and separatist movements

Sindh's ethnic landscape features a Sindhi majority alongside significant Muhajir (Urdu-speaking migrants from post-Partition India), Punjabi, and Pashtun populations, particularly concentrated in urban centers like Karachi, where non-Sindhis comprise over 60% of residents. Tensions arise from competition over resources, political representation, and demographic shifts, with Sindhis perceiving influxes of Punjabi and Pashtun laborers—estimated at over 1.5 million Pashtuns in Karachi by the 1980s—as threats to cultural and economic dominance. These frictions intensified after the 1971 secession of East Pakistan, fueling Sindhi grievances over federal centralization and Punjabi hegemony in Pakistan's polity. Urban ethnic violence peaked in the 1980s and 1990s, driven by clashes between Sindhi nationalists aligned with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), formed in 1984 to advocate for Urdu-speakers marginalized by rural Sindhi political control. A pivotal incident occurred on May 13, 1985, when anti-MQM riots in Karachi killed over 50 Muhajirs, prompting retaliatory violence and the escalation of MQM militancy, which involved targeted killings and extortion rackets that contributed to thousands of deaths province-wide by the mid-1990s. Operations like the 1992 military intervention against MQM strongholds reduced immediate violence but entrenched mutual distrust, with MQM factions splitting into pro-London (Altaf Hussain-led) and anti-London groups amid accusations of state complicity in fostering divisions. Separatist sentiments crystallized in the Sindhudesh movement, launched by G.M. Syed in 1972 through the Jeay Sindh Mahaz, advocating independence for Sindh based on historical sovereignty and opposition to Punjabi-dominated federal policies like the One Unit scheme of the 1950s. Groups such as the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) and Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army have conducted low-intensity actions, including sabotage of railways and pipelines—e.g., over 20 blasts in northern Sindh in 2010—and protests demanding secession, with a notable rally in Karachi on November 8, 2020, drawing thousands despite crackdowns. Pakistani authorities classify these outfits as terrorist entities, attributing sporadic violence to them while Sindhi activists cite resource exploitation and demographic engineering as causal drivers, though the movement remains fragmented and lacks mass mobilization compared to Baloch insurgency.

Crime, dacoity, and law enforcement challenges

Sindh experiences elevated levels of violent crime, including murders, kidnappings, and robberies, particularly in rural riverine areas and urban centers like Karachi. In 2023, official data recorded thousands of cognizable offenses across the province, with Sindh Police reporting persistent challenges in curbing homicide and abduction cases amid underreporting due to fear of reprisals. Nationally, Pakistan saw over 11,000 murders and 34,000 kidnappings or abductions in 2024, with Sindh contributing significantly through dacoit-led incidents in its katcha (riverine) belts. Dacoity, or organized banditry, thrives in Sindh's katcha regions spanning districts like Shikarpur, Ghotki, and Kashmore, where dense forests along the Indus River provide cover for gangs engaging in armed robbery, cattle rustling, and high-profile kidnappings for ransom. These groups, often rooted in tribal feuds and land disputes, sustain operations through informant networks and political patronage, leading to frequent clashes with law enforcement; for instance, dacoits killed at least 12 policemen in ambushes during 2024. To counter this, the Sindh government approved a "surrender policy" on October 7, 2025, incentivizing bandits to lay down arms in exchange for amnesty and rehabilitation, resulting in 72 dacoits surrendering in Shikarpur by October 22, 2025, with bounties totaling over Rs60 million waived. Despite such measures, banditry persists, fueled by weak state presence and cross-border links with Punjab and Balochistan. In urban Sindh, particularly Karachi, street crime dominates, encompassing mobile phone snatching, vehicle theft, and extortion, with nearly 300 individuals shot dead by muggers between 2022 and 2024. The Citizens-Police Liaison Committee documented over 43,000 street crime incidents in Karachi during the first eight months of 2025, marking a slight decline from 2024 but still reflecting systemic failures in patrolling and response times. Law enforcement in Sindh grapples with deep-seated corruption, politicization, and resource shortages, rendering the provincial police ineffective against entrenched criminal networks. Officers frequently face political pressure to shield influential figures, while impunity for abuses—exacerbated by low conviction rates and lack of forensic capabilities—undermines public trust. The Sindh High Court in November 2024 directed the Inspector General of Police to purge corrupt elements and bolster special security units, highlighting recruitment flaws and graft as core barriers to reform. In katcha operations, challenging terrain and dacoit intelligence further hamper raids, with at least 26 policemen killed by militants or bandits in 2023 alone. These issues stem from historical underinvestment and elite capture, prioritizing patronage over professionalization.

Water disputes, sectarian violence, and extremism

Sindh faces persistent inter-provincial water disputes, primarily with upstream Punjab over the allocation and management of Indus River flows. The 1991 Water Apportionment Accord delineated shares, assigning Sindh approximately 48.76 million acre-feet annually, yet implementation has been contentious, with Sindh alleging overuse by Punjab through upstream dams and canals, resulting in reduced downstream availability during dry seasons. These grievances trace to colonial-era irrigation developments and intensified post-independence, exacerbating Sindh's vulnerability as the lower riparian province. Central to these tensions is opposition to the Kalabagh Dam, proposed in 1984 on the Indus in Punjab's Mianwali district to generate 3,600 megawatts of hydropower and store 7.4 million acre-feet. Sindh nationalists and assemblies, including resolutions passed in 2012, argue the project would enable Punjab to control flows, leading to inundation of Sindhi lands, saltwater intrusion, and agricultural desertification without commensurate benefits for downstream users. Punjab counters that the dam would mitigate floods and ensure equitable supply, but political asymmetry—Punjab's demographic and economic dominance—has stalled construction, fueling perceptions of federal bias toward the larger province. Sectarian violence in Sindh, though less intense than in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, manifests in targeted attacks by Sunni Deobandi militants against Shia Muslims, particularly in Karachi and interior districts. Groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), an offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan formed in 1996, have operated in Karachi, conducting bombings and shootings against Shia processions and mosques as part of broader anti-Shia campaigns. Such incidents contribute to cycles of retaliation, with LeJ and affiliates responsible for hundreds of deaths nationwide, including in Sindh, amid state efforts to ban and prosecute these outfits under anti-terrorism laws. Religious extremism has gained footholds in Sindh's northern and central districts, where madrassas and poverty enable recruitment by groups like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and sectarian militants. TTP, primarily based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has extended operations into Sindh for fundraising via kidnappings and attacks on security forces, with heightened activity post-2021 resurgence linked to Afghan Taliban ties. These networks overlap with sectarian outfits, propagating Deobandi ideologies that vilify Shias and minorities, leading to sporadic bombings and assassinations; counterterrorism operations have disrupted cells but not eradicated underlying ideological propagation through unregulated religious seminaries. Provincial law enforcement struggles with resource constraints, allowing extremists to exploit ethnic grievances and weak governance for safe havens.

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