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The Soomras of Sindh: their origin,

main characteristics and rule.

an overview (general survey) (1025 – 1351 AD)

1. Introduction:

Soomra is a prominent historical race, but the available historical studies on Sindh are bereft of its history in full detail and continuum. The history of Sindh has many a vacuum, which have to be bridged. Historically, Soomras are the first to wrest Sindh from the Arab rule (712 – 1025 AD). They substituted the Arab Habari government of al-Mansurah (875 – 1025 AD) after the episode of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi’s sack of al-Mansurah and unsuccessful hold over Sindh. Following the historical method, Soomras should be studied along with the rest of the races and tribes that inhabited Sindh and the events that occurred in the eleventh century AD: They were the Sama, Sehta, Abra, Sodha, Channa, Panhwar, Pahore, Gujar, Bhatti, Jarija (Sama) Thahim, Gaha, Taunr, Baran, Juneja (Sama), Rajar, Rajpar, Kachhela and the rest, who supported Soomras in their historical struggle to establish a local rule in Sindh.

They were settled on their farmlands from Mirpur Mathelo to Wagah Kot and further into the Kutch-Bhuj. Internally independent, they paid the tribute and supplied levies to the Soomra government. Besides the Soomra hold, the Jat and Malah tribesmen were also strong enough to challenge the Ghaznavid boats on the Indus in 1027-28 AD). The Soomras led the national resistance against foreign occupation and rule.

2. The origin of Soomra race:

Writers differ on the origin of the Soomra race: Whether they are ethnic indigenous Sindhis, a Rajput racial stock, or an Arab race? Historians draw conclusion from socio-cultural as well as the historical and archaeological evidence. The way in which the history of Sindh has been recorded in the past, does not admit of the historical method. However, according to the available printed material, Mir Tahir Muhammad Nisyani, in his Tarikh Tahiri (1621AD) asserts that Soomras were originally Hindus.1 They converted to Islam but remained Hindu in their customs, dress and even in their names. Tarikh Waqa`i Rajisthan corroborates this viewpoint and confirms that Soomras were originally “Parmar Rajputs”. They are mentioned as Qarmati, by Hamdani Abbas in his article published in Darul Ma`arif, Cairo. However, according to a local researcher, Maulai Shedai, Soomras were Parmar Rajputs, and amongst them, Amrah Soomro was the first to accept Islam. Again, however, from Bashari Maqdisi, Al Beruni, and the Cambridge History of India (Vol. II), we note that it was during the Soomra rule (1025 – 1351 AD) that the “Rajput” migrated from India to Sindh.2 Dr. N. A. Baloch, the eminent modern scholar of Sindh has written as exhaustive book on the Soomra Period, in which the conflicting versions about the origin of the Soomra race are reconciled: a hybrid race of Sindhi-Arab blood, that emerged after the Ummayad caliph Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik (715-17 AD)’s decree asking Arab officers posted in Sindh to settle in the land permanently. Consequently they took Sindhi wives and subsequently married their daughters in Sindhi families. Hence, Dr. Baloch writes that “Soomras were descendents of these hybrid princes, whose ancestors, according to common legend, were either Arabs or their grand-sons on the mothers’ side”.3 The evidence, if a common legend can provide one, is nonetheless tilted towards the Arab origin. It is also suggested that the name Soomra is a corrupt form of the Arabic name Samarrai i.e. the inhabitants of Samarra, a town built by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu`tasim (r. 833 – 842 AD) in 836 AD and named ا ا  َ    َ َ  Sarrah man ra`a, i.e. pleased in he who sees it.4 It remained the capital for 56 years (836 – 892 AD). It is argued that after the decline of Samarra, some of its Arab inhabitants migrated to Sindh and settled there for good. Habaris were then ruling in Sindh.