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Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, stretches north on either side of the River Indus. Its borders touch the Balochistan desert on the one side and Thar Desert with India on the other. The northern part of the Province abuts on Punjab while its southeast flank ends in the salt marshes of the Rann of Kutch. It has a short coastline washed by the Arabian Sea. It takes its name from the Indus. known locally as Sindh - Indus is also the main artery of Pakistan and the life-stream of the lower valley.
The name Sindh comes from the Sanskrit word Sindhu that means the divider describing the River Indus which divides the province into two. Sindhu was eventually abbreviated into Sindh.
Sindh has a rich cultural background of literature. Music and arts. Sindhi artists excel in pottery. glazed tiles. Iacquerware. quilt making. and carpet weaving. Local art of ajrak (hand blocked patterns of cotton cloth) and Soosi. A striped hand woven cotton cloth is very popular. Special wrestling contests or "Malakhras". falconry. camel racing. cock fighting, kite flying and ox cart racing are favorite pastimes.
The economic, cultural and the political history of Sindh has been intertwined with the flow of the river. It has fertilized as well as eroded its soil: it has brought into existence flourishing towns and capital cities on its banks and has also caused their decay by shifting its course. At one time it was used for navigation from the ocean right up to Punjab. And has always provided Sindh population with sufficient means of livelihood.
Throughout ancient and medieval times. The Indus Valley has marked a vague but important political boundary line. Between India proper and bans Indus lands. These territories west of the Indus Valley have in the remote past. More often. formed parts of Kingdoms and Empires whose seats of Government were situated variously in Persia. Greece. Turkistan. Arabia and Iraq. Only at brief intervals did some Indian rulers gain any foothold in these lands
The ancient Indus Valley civilization of Moen-jo-daro, an independent and distinctive non-Aryan civilization was contemporary and comparable with the level of development of the later part of the early dynastic period of Babylonia. This is indicative of the ancient sociopolitical affinity of the Indus Valley lands with Western Asia
Sindh due to its unique geographic position, has remained an entity with its own historical parameters. Early history opens up when Darius I sent an army (515-500 BC) and Sindh was annexed by the Persian Empire. Nearly two centuries later. Sindh was stormed by Alexander the Great. whose march has been fully conjectured on, by modern researchers, as is the case with other aspects of Sindh's history. The broad feature of Alexander's conquest is that he saw a hostile country and encountered tough opposition. The foundation of the still existing town of Sehwan (sijistan) is attributed to Alexander.
During the Rai dynasty period, Sindh seems to have become independent of Persia, but again came under its suzerainty. But in 622 a crafty Brahman, Chach, came to the throne of Sindh, and thus the Brahman dynasty supplanted the Rai dynasty. The Brahman dynasty subsequently lost ground to the Arab forces under Muhammad Bin Qasim and Sindh was brought under Umayyad rule in 711/12.
Arab domination was eventually thrown off by the Summas of Sindh (1058-1249). Arab rule brought Sindh within the orbit of the Islamic Civilization and Sindhi language now came to be written in the Naskh script. Education became widely diffused and Sindhi scholars attained fame in the Muslim world. Agriculture and commerce progressed considerably.
The Sumras, who belonged to the indigenous population of Sindh, embraced Islam. The names of some 21 rulers are known and they ruled for nearly 300 years. By the 14th century, we find the Sammas supplanting the Sumras as rulers of Sind. They made Thatta their capital. Their graveyard stands on the Makli Hills, where the tomb of Jam Nizamuddin is of great architectural beauty
It was during the reign of the Sammas, that Persian became the official language, replacing Arabic. It marked the birth of Sufi poetry and mysticism in Sindh. The Samma ruler, Jam Feroz was defeated by Shah Beg in 1520. Thus the house of Arghuns and then the Tarkhans from the north became established. It was during the reign of the Samma that Hyumayun appeared in Sindh and Emperor Akbar opened his eyes to the world at Umarkot Mughals took over from the Tarkhans in 1592
When Mirza Abdul Rahim Khan-e-Khanan defeated Mirza Jani Beg and conquered Sindh for Emperor Akbar.
In the second half of the 16th century. Kalhoras gained power in Upper Sindh but the rule of Mughal Governors remained effective in lower Sindh. with Thatta as the capital. In 1737, province of Thatta also came under the control of the Kalhoras. During the Mughal period, some beautiful mosques and monuments were founded - Akbar's mosque at Rohri, Mir Masum's monument at Sukkur and Shahjehan's mosques at Thatta and Sehwan