Sikhism in Sindh
Sikhism in Sindh, or Sindhi Sikhs, is a minor religious affiliation, adhered to by 5,182 people or around 0.01% of the total population as per 2023 Pakistani census. The religion has a long history in Sindh, with the Udasi and Nanakpanthi sects playing a prominent role. In recent years, mainstream Khalsa Sikhism has made inroads. Local Sindhi beliefs and practices often blur the line between Hinduism and Sikhism, an example of religious syncretism. Sikhism was popularized in Sindh by the missionary work of Nanakpanthi traders and Udasi saints. Nanakpanthi and Udasi are both Sikh sects; a major difference is that Udasis adopt life-long celibacy, whilst Nanakpanthis marry and have children.
In the Sindh province of Pakistan, the Sikh marriages are registered under the Sindh Hindu Marriage Act of 2016. Sindhis are one of the largest groups to visit Kartarpur Sahib. Since 1947, a sizeable portation of Sindhi Sikhs migrated to the Republic of India, whilst some remained behind in Pakistan.
Sindhi Sikhs internally categorize themselves into different groups, such as Bandai, Nawabshahi, or Naichan, among others.
History
Origins
Punjab and Sindh share geographic, linguistic, and cultural ties, with there being overlappings, Khushwant Singh characterizes this relationship as being marked by "both proximity and wariness". Thus, Sindh and Punjab both form a northwestern Indian space which is distinct from the Indian mainstream. Guru Nanak may have travelled through Sindh as he travelled from Punjab to the coast during his udasis. It may be plausible that parts of northern Sindh, such as Sukkur and Shikarpur, became influenced by Guru Nanak during his travels, however there is a paucity of conclusive evidence and it cannot be determined if Sindhis converted to Sikhism at the time. The question of determining when Sindhis began converting to Sikhism is difficult as many Sindhi Hindus adopted Sikh beliefs and practices without "formalizing" a relationship with Sikhism nor shedding their old identity.By the late 16th century during the guruship tenure of Guru Amar Das, territorial deputies or vicars known as a masand were established, including in Sindh. The Sindhi surname Masand originates from this event. Sikhism was initially a peaceful movement but was gradually martialized through the later gurus after Guru Arjan's execution, with a joint concept of sant-sipahi being practiced, however Sikhism in Sindh mostly continued following the sant side of Sikhism, however there are some exceptions with the martial sipahi side being evoked.
Spread of Sikhism
The foundation of Sikhism in Sindh took firmer roots during the early 17th century. This was facilitated by a trade-network linking southwestern Punjab and Sindh and the ancient Indus River trade. The first arrivals were Nanakpanthi traders, who mostly drew from the Arora caste, with others being Khatris. Other scholars, such as Matthew Cook, stress upon the importance the Lohana caste played in the transmission of Sikhism to Sindh, as they made-up around half of the Hindu population of Sindh by the mid-19th century and were "in the orbit of Sikh cultural hegemony". Cook believes that during the 18th century, Punjabi migrants moved to Sindh, where they were absorbed by the Lohana community, and were responsible for the spread of Sikhism in the region. Scott Levi claims that during the decline of the Mughal authority and Afghan invasions of Punjab, firms operating in Multan in southern Punjab shifted their operations to Shikarpur in Sindh, making possible the spread of Sikhism. There exists a traditional story of Guru Gobind Singh recruiting followers from Sindh in the 17th century. After the death of his master, Guru Gobind Singh, in 1708, it is said Bhai Gurdas Singh traveled to Sindh, where he did missionary work spreading the tenets of Sikhism in the local area of Shikarpur. Traditional lore claims he lived to an impressive age of 150. His life is commemorated in the Khatwari Dharamsal of Bhai Gurdas in Shikarpur, Sindh.There is a theory that when the Arabs conquered Sindh in 711, many Hindu refugees fled Aror and departed to settle in Punjab, later-on during the rise of the Kalhoras as independent rulers, there was a back-migration of the descendants of those earlier refugees, such as Lohanas, Bhatias, and Khatris, bringing Sikhism they had adopted in Punjab with them to Sindh. Sindhis may have been drawn to the sahaj teachings of Guru Nanak, which is described as a "method of gentle discipline". Another factor which aided the adoption of Sikhism in Sindh was the fact that Sindhi Hindus were followers of "mercantile pragmatism", which allowed for the absence of strict, rigid socio-cultural hierarchies involving caste and sect, which fit-in well with the egalitarian and universal message of Sikhism. Also, Sufism rather than Quranic Islam was prevalent in Sindh, which also influenced non-Muslims in the region.
These early Sindhi Sikh pioneers were differentiated from Khalsa Sikhs, as they did not place importance on maintaining uncut hair, donning the five Ks, nor did they adhere to the rehatnamas. The success of the Nanakpanthis in spreading Sikhism in Sindh is attributed to their ability to adopt the local culture and language of the places they settled. The Nanakpanthis stressed upon the nirankar concept, a formless conceptualization of the divine.
The places of worship of Nanakpanthis in Sindh was originally called a tikana, with the gurdwara term not being used initially. The Udasis also established darbar centres in Sindh, such as the Sadh Belo complex, where heterodoxical practices and beliefs of ascetics were followed which were not ordained by orthodox Khalsa Sikhism. During unrest in Punjab during the 18th century, both Punjabi Sikh and Hindus migrants moved to Sindh, with many being traders and others being warriors. This group of migrants were mostly sehajdharis, some were Bandais whom were followers of Banda Singh Bahadur. The Sindhi Sikhs were categorized based on region, such Nawabshahi and Naichi.
In the early 19th century, the Sikh Empire of Punjab bordered the Talpur Dynasty of Sindh to the south. The Sikh Empire had conquered Multan in 1818, with Ranjit Singh having ambitions and designs to invade Sindh and seize Shikarpur afterwards, which was an economic centre. Ranjit Singh suggested an alliance to Shah Shujah Durrani of Afghanistan, proposing to split up the Sindhi territory gained by the proposed conquest between them. However, successful delays by the Talpurs and the arrival of the British in the area led to the abandoning of the plan.
Colonial period
By the late 19th century, Khalsa Sikhs had emerged in the urban areas of Sindh but remained a minority in the midst of heterodoxical Sikh groups. Thariya Singh of Kandharan village was baptized into Sikhism in the 1870s and spent years prosletyzing Sikhism to local Sindhi Hindus, which led to the conversion of many. Although Thariya was baptized into the Khalsa, he did not go against the syncretic practices of Sindh, which aided his success in winning over sehajdhari Hindu converts. He also popularized the practice of gurudino, whereby the eldest son of a Hindu family was raised and baptized as a Sikh, a practice which was also common in Punjab and Balochistan at the time. Thariya promoted the singing of devotional music, langar communal kitchens, Udasi ascetic practices, congregational dancing in the style of Sufis, the recitation of extracts of Hindu scriptures, respecting holymen from various sampradayas, acceptance of practitioners of the local folk Islam of the region, celebrating gurpurabs, and holding kirtan musical performances during amrit vela.File:Equestrian depiction of Udero Lal, alongside Pir Patho and Lal Shahbaz, published in 'Janam Sakhi Shri Amar Udero Lal Sahib'.jpg|thumb|Equestrian depiction of Udero Lal, alongside Pir Patho and Lal Shahbaz, published in 'Janam Sakhi Shri Amar Udero Lal Sahib'. Jhulelal is venerated by many Sindhi Sikhs.The Singh Sabha movement in Punjab and its mission of promoting a monolithic Sikh identity did not impact Sindhi Sikhs much, failing to leave a lasting change on the beliefs and practices of Sindhi Sikhs, thus religious syncretism between Sikhism, Islam, and Hinduism continued in Sindh and religious differentiation and boundaries did not materialize as it did in Punjab during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Outside of Punjab, boundaries between Sikhs and Hindus still remained undefined and blurry. Sindhi Sikhs did not adopt the Sikh Marriage Act of 1909, preferring to maintain their syncretic ways. Thus, Sindhi Sikhs worshipped local Indic deities, such as Jhulelal, donned a tilak on their forehead, visited dargahs of regional Sufi pirs, and venerated dehdhari gurus, which contrasted with Khalsa Sikhs of the Punjab, who had become the dominant face of Sikhism by the early 20th century. Due to these factors, it is difficult to categorize what is Hindu and what is Sikh in pre-partition Sindh. Meanwhile, religious boundaries in neighbouring Punjab had been drawn through the Singh Sabha movement, the Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925, and SGPC, as per Harjot Oberoi.During the period of Sikh migration during the colonial-period, diasporic Punjabi Sikhs and Sindhis often formed close-bonds with one another in their new countries of residence, especially in southeast Asia, due to the affinities that Nanakpanthi Sindhs had toward Sikhism, allowing them to attach to the Punjabi Sikhs and working jointly together on causes, also worshipping together in the same religious spaces. An example of this colonial diasporic bond is how the Sindwork firm Wassiamall Assomull donated funds toward the construction of a gurdwara in Manila in the Philippines in 1933.
The Japji and Sukhmani prayers of Sikhism were translated into Hindi by the local Singh Sabha outfit of Sukkur. However, the Hindus and Sikhs of Sindh were still cognizant of themselves being two different groups, yet minor economic and social conflicts between them did not push them to antagonizing each-other and breaking-off ties. Thus, there were no major conflicts between Sindhi Hindus and Sikhs during the 1930s and 1940s, even as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh began to gain ground in Sindh at the time. Yet again, this contrasts with the situation in Punjab, where relations between Sikhs and Hindus had soured during the colonial-period.