Sindhis in India in the context of "Sindhi language"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Sindhis in India in the context of "Sindhi language"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Sindhis in India

Sindhis in India (Devanagari: सिन्धी, Sindhī, Naskh script: سنڌي) refer to a socio-ethnic group of Sindhi people living in the Republic of India, originating from Sindh (a province of modern-day Pakistan).

After the 1947 Partition of India into the dominions of new Muslim-majority Pakistan and remaining Hindu-majority India, a million non-Muslim Sindhis migrated to independent India. As per the 2011 census of India, there are 2,772,364 Sindhi speakers in the Indian Republic. However, this number does not include ethnic Sindhis who no longer speak the language and also includes Kutchis who may not identify as ethnic Sindhis (especially those in Gujarat).

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Sindhis in India in the context of Sindhi language

Sindhi (سِنڌِي, Sindhī, [sɪndʱiː]) is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is primarily spoken by the Sindhi people native to the Pakistani province of Sindh, where the language has official status. It constitutes the mother tongue of over 34 million people in Pakistan, primarily concentrated in Sindh; with historic communities in neighbouring Balochistan as well. It is also spoken by 1.7 million people in India, mostly by the descendants of partition-era migrants; with it having the status of a scheduled language in the country without any state-level official status. Sindhi is written in the Sindhi alphabet of the Perso-Arabic script, the sole official script for the language in Pakistan; while in India, both the Perso-Arabic and Devanagari scripts are used.

With over 37 million native speakers, Sindhi is a major South Asian language, being the most-widely spoken language in southern Pakistan and third most-widely spoken in the entirety of Pakistan (after Punjabi and Pashto). The language is also geographically spread out of South Asia as it is spoken by the Sindhi diaspora, present around the world, primarily in the Gulf states, the Western world and the Far East.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Sindhis in India in the context of Sindhis

Sindhis are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group originating from and native to Sindh, a region of Pakistan, who share a common Sindhi culture, history, ancestry, and language. The historical homeland of Sindhis is bordered by southeastern Balochistan; the Bahawalpur region of Punjab; the Marwar region of Rajasthan; and the Kutch region of Gujarat.

Sindhis are the third-largest ethnic group in Pakistan, after the Punjabis and Pashtuns, forming a majority in Sindh with historical communities also found in neighbouring Balochistan. They form a significant diasporic population in India, mostly partition-era migrants and their descendants. Sindhi diaspora is also present in other parts of South Asia; as well as in the Gulf states, the Western world and the Far East.

↑ Return to Menu

Sindhis in India in the context of Sindhi Hindus

Sindhi Hindus are ethnic Sindhis who practice Hinduism and are native to, or have origins in, Sindh, Pakistan. They are spread across Sindh, primarily concentrated in the eastern districts; with a significant diasporic population in India, mainly composing the descendants of partition-era migrants who fled from Pakistan to the Dominion of India, in what was a wholesale exchange of Hindu and Muslim populations in some areas. Some later emigrated from the Indian subcontinent and settled in other parts of the world.

According to the 2023 census, there are 4.9 million Sindhi Hindus residing within the Sindh province of Pakistan with major population centers being Mirpur Khas Division and Hyderabad Division that combined account for more than 2 million of them. Meanwhile, the 2011 census listed 2.77 million speakers of Sindhi in India, including speakers of Kutchi, a number that does not include Sindhi Hindus who no longer speak the Sindhi language. The vast majority of Sindhi Hindus living in India belong to the Lohana jāti, which includes the sub-groups of Amil, Bhaiband and Sahiti.

↑ Return to Menu