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Sindhi literature
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What is Sindhi literature?
Sindhi literature is a collection of writings in the Sindhi language, an Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in Pakistan and India. Its origins can be traced back to the 11th century, with its distinctive character shaped by Sufi mystics such as Qadi Qadan, Shah Abdul Karim, and Shah Inat Rizvi. A key feature of this literature is the coexistence of Vedantic thought and Islamic mysticism.
Religious poetry dominated Sindhi literature from the 15th to the 18th century, characterized by religious liberalism. Shah Abdul Latif of Bhit, the greatest Sindhi poet, is known for his collection Risalo, which criticized religious orthodoxies and preached the oneness of God. Another notable aspect is its close relationship with the Perso-Arabic literary tradition.
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What language is Sindhi literature written in?
Sindhi literature is written in the Sindhi language, an Indo-Aryan language with approximately 23 million speakers in Pakistan and 2.5 million in India. The Sindhi-Arabic script, standardized in 1853, is widely used and a source of cultural pride for Sindhi speakers. It has 52 letters, distinct from the 35 in the Urdu script. Although the Devanagari script is used in India, the Sindhi-Arabic script remains common in both India and Pakistan. Sindhi literature's origins can be traced to the 11th century, with its distinct character shaped by Sufi mystics such as Qadi Qadan, Shah Abdul Karim, and Shah Inat Rizvi.
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Who are some famous Sindhi writers or poets?
Sindhi literature has a rich history rooted in Sufi mysticism and Vedantic thought. Qadi Qadan (1463–1551), Shah Abdul Karim (1536–1623), and Shah Inat Rizvi (late 17th century) were three Sufi mystics who gave Sindhi literature its distinctive character.
Shah Abdul Latif of Bhit (1690–1752) is the greatest poet in Sindhi, known for his collection of poems Risalo. Abdul Wahhab Sachal Sarmast (1739–1826) enriched the tradition of religious songs, while Sami (1743–1850) represented the tradition of bhakti poetry. After British annexation in 1843, Kauromal Khilnani (1844–1916) and Mirza Qalich Beg (1853–1929) were prominent in prose. Shaikh Ayaz (1923–97) is an outstanding modernist Sindhi poet.
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What are common themes in Sindhi literature?
Sindhi literature, rooted in the Sindhi language of Pakistan and India, began around the 11th century. Key features include a blend of Vedantic thought and Islamic mysticism, which grew from the 15th to the 18th century, promoting religious liberalism, the oneness of God, and universal brotherhood.
Another theme in Sindhi literature is its close ties to Perso-Arabic traditions, adopting genres like the ghazal. After 1843, modernity brought prose, with writers like Kauromal Khilnani and Mirza Qalich Beg producing original works and adaptations from various languages. The writings of Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif of Bhit are a great symbol of classical Sindhi literature.
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How did Sindhi literature develop over time?
Sindhi literature traces back to the 11th century with Ismāʿīlī missionary verses. It acquired its distinctiveness through the works of Sufi mystics like Qadi Qadan, Shah Abdul Karim, and Shah Inat Rizvi, characterized by a blend of Vedantic thought and Islamic mysticism.
From the 15th to the 18th century, religious poetry flourished, dominated by religious liberalism. Shah Abdul Latif of Bhit, the greatest Sindhi poet, criticized religious orthodoxies and advocated for the oneness of God.
The annexation of Sindh by the British in 1843 ushered in an era of modernity and prose. Notable prose writers such as Kauromal Khilnani and Mirza Qalich Beg emerged, producing original works and adaptations from various languages.
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How has Sindhi literature helped preserve culture and traditions?
Sindhi literature has significantly contributed to preserving Sindhi culture and traditions through its rich literary heritage. The most important feature of Sindhi literature is the coexistence of Vedantic thought and Islamic mysticism. The symbolic figure in classical Sindhi literature, the Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif of Bhit (1690–1752), is a matter of great cultural pride to most Sindhi speakers, reinforcing their cultural solidarity. His poetry and other religious poems that grew in Sindhi from the 15th to the 18th century are dominated by religious liberalism. After the British annexed Sindh in 1843, modern Sindhi literature was marked by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s influence, which worked not only on the Sindhi verbal expression but also on the Sindhi emotional and imaginative levels.
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Sindhi literature, body of writings in the Sindhi language, an Indo-Aryan language used primarily in Pakistan and India. The beginning of Sindhi literature can be traced back to the 11th century in the stray verses of an Ismāʿīlī missionary. But it was the poetic works of Qadi Qadan (1463?–1551), Shah Abdul Karim (1536–1623), and Shah Inat Rizvi (late 17th century), three Sufi mystics, which gave Sindhi literature its distinctive character. The most-important feature of Sindhi literature is the coexistence of Vedantic thought and Islamic mysticism.
The body of religious poetry that grew in Sindhi from the 15th to the 18th century is entirely dominated by a religious liberalism. The greatest poet in Sindhi is Shah Abdul Latif of Bhit (1690–1752), known for his collection of poems Risalo. Latif criticized all forms of religious orthodoxies and preached the oneness of God and the universal brotherhood in a language charged with Sufi emotionalism. He was followed by another poet, also a Sufi saint, Abdul Wahhab Sachal Sarmast (1739–1826), who enriched the tradition of religious songs. His contemporary Sami (1743?–1850) was a Vedantist. He represented the tradition of bhakti poetry then in decline in other parts of India.
Another important feature of Sindhi literature is its intimate relationship with Perso-Arabic literary tradition. Sindh was an important centre of Indo-Persian poetry, and Sindhi poetry was strongly influenced by several Persian genres, such as the ghazal. Sindhi Hindus too participated in Sufi mystical poetry. The finest example is Diwan Dalpatram Sufi (died 1841), who composed a heroic ballad, a Persian jangnama about the famous Sufi martyr Shah Inayat of Jhok, whose death in 1718 was celebrated in several later poems. Sayyid Sabit Ali Shah (1740–1810) not only composed ghazals in Sindhi but also initiated the marsia genre, an elegy on the deaths of al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī and his followers at the Battle of Karbalāʾ.
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After the British annexed Sindh in 1843, modernity became prominent in an age of prose. The four great prose writers of that era were Kauromal Khilnani (1844–1916), Mirza Qalich Beg (1853–1929), Dayaram Gidumal (1857–1927), and Parmanand Mewaram (1856?–1938). They produced original works and adapted books from Sanskrit, Hindi, Persian, and English. Kauromal Khilnani published Arya nari charitra (1905; “The Indo-Aryan Women”) and wrote extensively on the panchayat system, health, agriculture, and folklore. His style was simple and stately. Mirza Qalich Beg, nicknamed “the Book Machine” by Kauromal Khilnani, published more than 300 books that were creative and discursive. The most-learned Sindhi author of the era, Dayaram Gidumal, was distinguished for his elegant and eloquent prose, as seen in his essays on the Japji Sahib (1891), the Bhagavadgita (1893), and the Yoga darshan (1903). Parmanand Mewaram’s magazine, Jote, published essays by him and by other writers. Those essays were rich and varied in content and lucid and forceful in style, and some of them were published in Dil bahar (1904; “Spring for the Heart”) and Gul phul (2 vol., 1925–36; “Flowers”). Modern Sindhi literature prior to the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 was marked by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s influence, which worked not only on the Sindhi verbal expression but also on the Sindhi emotional and imaginative levels. A lively literary scene continues to flourish in the scattered Sindhi-speaking Hindu community settled in India since 1947, but the principal centre of Sindhi literature today is in Pakistan, which has been home to many fine writers, notably the outstanding modernist Sindhi poet Shaikh Ayaz (1923–97), who is also well known for his fine verse translation into Urdu of the classic Sindhi poetry of Shah Abdul Latif of Bhit.