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I received the following as a forward, but if it has emanated from @Social Sindhis, I am happy to give it credit :
A UNIQUE CASTE SYSTEM OF SINDHIS
As post-partition Sindhis, we had often heard of Sindhi names/labels such as Amils, Bhaibands, Sindhiwarkis, Hyderabadis, and so on.
Sindhishaan requested veteran researcher Shri Sahib Bijani to simplify and explain the various ‘types’ to the Sindh community.
Here is a summary of the extensive research conducted by Shri Bijani.
Sindhis don’t follow any caste system, but there are certain loosely defined ‘castes’ or ‘zaats’ that are distinct from each other as they have come to be associated with distinct cultural and behavioral characteristics.
These qualities or traits arose either from their professional differences or from the cities and places where they lived.
For example, Hyderabadis are known for living in Hyderabad, a city that was comparatively advanced and prosperous.
Similarly, Shikarpuris are people from Shikarpur. This way, there are many classifications in the Sindhi community.
We have listed some of the better-known types in this article.
🔸AMILS – The word Amil comes from amal, which means to practice.
These are Hindu Kshatriyas who served as accountants in the governments of the Mirs and Kalhoras in Sindh.
Nowadays, their descendants are also known as Amils, even though they may no longer be in service. Amils residing in Hyderabad would be known as Hyderabadi Amils. Some of the Amils also resided in Khairpur, Larkana, and Sehwan. Hyderabadis are supposed to be of a higher Zaat, well-educated, and fair-skinned because Hyderabad was an educational and cultural hub in those days.
🔸BHAIBANDS – In Sindh, the business class of Sindhis was known as Bhaibands.
These people were involved in trade and business activities in the kingdom of the Mirs. It would be possible to find one Amil brother and one Bhaiband brother in the same household.
In those days, Amils would marry only Amils and Bhaibands would marry only Bhaibands.
Even though they may be in service, they are known as Bhaibands if their ancestors belonged to this caste.
🔸SINDHWARKIS – Sindhwarkis are those Bhaibands of Sindh who traded in the materials made in Sindh and then exported them.
In 1843, the British conquered Sindh, and at that time the Hyderabadi Bhaibands supplied the British soldiers with daily necessities.
Because of their contact with the British army, they supplied all types of material to them, even from the villages of Sindh.
Then these Bhaibands went to Bombay, from there to Columbia and Rangoon.
In 1869, the Suez Canal opened, and many Sindhis went to Europe and Singapore, then spread all over the world, and began trading from many other ports and cities.
This is the now known category
of Sindhi NRIs
🔸CHHAPRUS – The word Chhapru comes from the word Chhappar meaning mountain.
These people usually lived in the mountain regions in Sindh and later came down to stay in Karachi.
Chhaprus have followed their own distinct rituals and customs.
Some of the Chhaprus are also known as Saprus.
🔸BHATIAS – Bhatias are descendants of Shri Krishna.
There are thousands of Sindhi Bhatias worldwide today.
They usually marry among themselves and are strict vegetarians.
Many don’t even eat onions and garlic. Some of their sub-castes are Gajria, Kajria, Parmal, etc.
🔸MASANDS – Masands were appointed to spread Sikhism by the fourth Guru, Guru Ramdas.
They would spread the message of Gurbani in small towns and villages and collect funds. Then, on Diwali day, they would go to meet their Guru and hand over the collection.
They would then be honored by their Guru. Even today, there are around 300 Masands in India; some are brilliant educators and social workers.
🔸THAKURS – These are the descendants of Lord Jhulelal.
They are the official Brahmins of the Sindhi community. They head many Sindhi Tikanas and Durbars.
🔸BHAGNARIS – There were two small villages in Baluchistan known as Bhag and Nari, which gave rise to the name of this Bhagnari community. They were the community of dry fruits and spice merchants of those days. Some Bhagnaris were also wine merchants. They married strictly within their own community.
Some famous Bhagnaris are Popleys, Nanomal Issardas, and so on.
🔸LOHANAS – Lohanas are the descendants of Luv, the son of Bhagwan Ramchandra.
They were the Kshatriyas who lived in an iron fort they built in Punjab, known as Loh-Ghar, which later became Lahore. They came to Sindh from Lahore, from where many Lohanas migrated to Kutch. They are usually engaged in trading and other business.
There are many more such Jaatis in Sindh, and it is not possible to describe every one in this.
Efforts must be made to research, classify, and tabulate these various castes and sub-castes, as this is important for future generations.
Jai, ShreeJHULELAL 🙏❤️🙏
Does anyone know more about background reserch? Message directly to our Social Sindhis original page.
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Many years ago, I had gone to the airport to receive my husband and I took my 4-year-old son with me. We were browsing in the bookshop when I noticed two gentlemen wearing the Pakistani salwar kurta, speaking in the Sindhi language. I recognised the dialect as belonging to Hyderabad, which is the place of my birth and from where my ancestors stem. I was fascinated as I heard them speak. Never had I heard such ‘shudh’ (pure) Sindhi spoken.
We do speak Sindhi grammatically, but we tend to mix English and/or Hindi words into our conversation. I went up to them and praised them for their diction and command over the Sindhi Language. I expected them to be pleased. Instead they started to criticize the fact that I was talking to my child in English and Hindi. Their tirade put me on the offensive. I told them that we were forced by circumstances beyond our control to leave our town in Sind; that ‘To Survive’ became our new language, religion and way of life. To survive we needed to mingle with the world. We had to imbibe the customs, mannerisms and language in return for the love and security that our new ‘home’ provided. Could they truly blame us for not speaking in only pure Sindhi with our children.
I think that the two gentlemen were taken aback by my passion, and they seemed to be learning about the point of view of a displaced Sindhi for the first time in their lives. I conduct classes on Hindu Philosophy and Culture. Much later, another gentleman asked me why I was not doing anything about reviving the Sindhi language. I decided to make a start by presenting to the Sindhis, ‘Sindhi proverbs’ as they project the way our ancestors thought and lived. Could I request friends who are reading these words to go through the proverbs, and then go through them with your children. Maybe we can still instill an interest in our children for the Sindhi language.
It is said that what is painful to remember, we simply don’t forget. The pain of having lost our birth land kept ‘us’…the past generation remembering…and we do not want the children of the future to forget. Below I present to you a proverb from the book: ‘Wisdom of Sind’
In matters of relationships, Sindhis made interesting observations. For a husband they believed that:
Murs ta phado, Na ta jado
Which literally means that unless a husband is hard to please, he is not good enough. Probably the macho image of a difficult man was attractive to a Sindhi woman. On the other hand, maybe the proverb was coined by the parents of the girl to make her life more satisfactory, by praising the negative traits of her husband.
I finally did write a book on the sindh proverbs, which I named : ‘Wisdom of Sind’
It is up on this website of mine under ‘Books’ for free perusal 🙏
Shakun Narain Kimatrai
Shakun Kimatrai 