Information about Sindh
Sindh
Sind, province, southeastern Pakistan, bordered on the northeast by Punjab Province, on the west and north by Baluchistan Province, on the east by the Indian states of Gujarāt and Rājasthān, and on the south by the Arabian Sea. Sind was established as a province in its present form in 1970, and has an area of 140,914 sq km (54,407 sq mi). The provincial capital is Karāchi.
The center of Sind consists of the valley and delta of the Indus River, which comprises about 40 percent of the province’s area; Sind is named after the river, called the Sindhu in Pakistan. The Kīrthar Range of mountains runs north-south down the western side of the Indus Valley; a desert belt borders the eastern side, merging with the Thar Desert (or Great Indian Desert) in the south. The climate is subtropical with hot summers and cool winters. Rainfall is sparse, averaging about 180 mm (7 in) a year, and confined mainly to the Indus Valley area.
The population of Sind is about 30 million (1998), concentrated in the cities and the Indus Valley. About 43 percent of the population lives in urban areas. Karāchi is Pakistan’s commercial and industrial center, as well as its largest city. Its population was dramatically swollen by Muslim refugees from India at the time of partition from India and independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. Heavy inward migration to Sind has continued and the population is ethnically mixed. Muhajirs (Urdu-speaking settlers), concentrated in the cities, form one of the largest immigrant groups. The principal languages of the province are Sindhi and Urdu. Islam is the predominant religion.
The Indus and its associated canal-based irrigation system is the foundation of Sind’s economy; the majority of people are employed in agriculture. The major crops are wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize (corn), cotton, and oilseeds. Productivity has increased substantially since the 1960s because of greater fertilizer use and the development of better drainage, which has reduced waterlogging and salinity in the soil. Sind has many orchards producing a wide variety of fruits. Livestock are important. Cattle, sheep, buffalo, and goats are the main animals kept. The concentration of large-scale manufacturing in Karāchi has helped make Sind one of Pakistan’s most industrialized areas. The province is a major focus of cotton processing and textile production. The production of cement, fertilizers, vegetable oils, sugar, cars, pharmaceuticals, and petroleum products is also important.
Sind’s recorded history dates more than 4,000 years to the Indus Valley civilization (2500-1700 bc). Major archaeological sites are at Mohenjo-Daro, Amre, and Kot Diji. In the late 500s bc the region was annexed to the Persian Empire. In 325 bc it was conquered by Alexander the Great and subsequently incorporated into various empires, including those of the Parthians, Scythians, and Kushānas. In the 3rd century ad it was reincorporated into the Persian Empire, where it remained until the Arab conquest of 711. From 1526 to 1761 Sind was part of the Mughal Empire. It was then ruled by a succession of independent Sindhi dynasties until the British annexed the area in 1843. In 1937 Sind was made a separate province within British India. As part of independent Pakistan, Sind was incorporated into the province of West Pakistan from 1955 until 1970, when it was reestablished as a separate province.
*******************
|