Sind, 1908

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Sind

This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.

The province of Sind forms the extreme north-western portion of the Bombay Presidency, consisting of the lower valley and delta of the Indus, and lying between 23 35' and 28 29' N. and 66 40' and 71 10' E. 1 It has an area of 53,116 square miles and a populatioh (1901) of 3,410,223, and includes one Native State, KHAIRPUR, with an area of 6,050 square miles and a population of 1993 13.

Physical aspects

Sind is bounded on the north by Baluchistan, the Punjab, and the State of Bahawalpur; on the east by the Rajputana States of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur j on the south by the Rann of Cutch and the Arabian Sea ; and on the west by the territory of the Jam of Las Bela and of the Khan of Kalat (Baluchistan). It comprises three well-defined tracts : the Kohistan, or hilly country, which lies as a solid block between Karachi and Sehwan, and is thence continued north as a narrow fringe along the skirtb of the Kirthar range ; Sind proper, the central alluvial plain, watered by the Indus ; and the Registan, or Thai, a band of so-called desert on the eastern border, where rolling sandhillb alternating with valleys are often fairly wooded, and there are exten- sive level tracts of pasture land.

Almost every portion of the great alluvial tract of Sind has at some time or other formed a channel for the river INDUS (Sanskrit, Sindhu, which gives its name to the province), or one of its many branches, This mam central stream of North-Western India, after collecting into its bed the waters of the five Punjab rivers, has deposited near its debouchure into the Arabian Sea a vast mass of deltaic matter, through which it flows by several shifting channels to join the sea on the southern border of the province. In every direction trace v s of ancient river-beds may be discovered, crossing the country like elevated dikes, for the level of the land, as in all other deltaic regions, is highest at the river bank. The Indus brings down from the turbid hill torrents a greater quantity of detritus than can be carried forward by its diminished velocity in the plain; and hence a constant accumulation of silt takes place along its various beds, raising their level above that of .the surrounding country, and inpi- den tally affording an easy means of irrigation, on which the agricul- tural prosperity of Sind entirely depends, by side channels drawn from the central river. Besides the Indus there are some hill streams or nat'Sj of which the HAB, which may almost be called a river, is impor- tant, Appearing as a string of unconnected pools in the dry season,

1 All spheiical values were obtained from the Compiler. Sind Gazetteer, and arc based upon the latest information. it forms the boundary between Sind and Baluchistan. Other impor- tant nals are the Malir from which the city of Karachi obtains its drinking-water supply, the Baran which supplies Kohistan, and the Gaj.

The only elevations deserving the name of mountains occur in the KIRTHAR range, which separates Sind from Baluchistan, and attains in places a height of about 7,000 feet above sea-level, sinking in the south to the Pab hills. The wild and rocky tract of KOHISTAN, in - the western portion of Karachi District, forms almost the only remain- ing exception to the general flatness of the province. Another off- shoot of the Kirthar chain, however, known as the LAKHI range, extends in a barren mass eastward into the Kotri taluka of Karachi District, presenting evident marks of volcanic origin in its hot springs and sulphurous exhalations. A few insignificant limestone ranges intersect the Indus valley, on one of which, known as the Ganjo hills, with an elevation of only 100 feet, stands the Talpur capital of Hyderabad. A second small chain, running in a north-westerly direction from the neighbourhood of Jaisalmer, attains towards the Indus a height of 150 feet, and forms the rocks on which are perched the towns of Rohri and Sukkur.

The plain country comprises a mixed tract of dry desert and alluvial plain. The finest and most productive region lies in the neighbour- hood of Shikarpur and Larkana, where a long narrow island extends for 160 miles from north to south, enclosed on one side by the river Indus, and on the other by the Western Nara. Another great alluvial tract, with an average width of 70 or 80 miles, stretches eastward from the Indus to the Eastern Nara. The Indus is known to have fre- quently changed its course within historical times. Vestiges of ancient towns still stud the neighbourhood of the Rann of (Dutch. Sandhills abound near the eastern border. Large tracts rendered sterile for want of irrigation also occur in many other parts of Sind.

The scenery of the province naturally lacks variety or grandeur, and its monotony renders it tame and uninteresting. Nothing can be more dreary to a stranger approaching the shore than the low and flat coast, entirely devoid of trees and shrubs. Even among the hills of Kohis- tan, where fine rocky scenery abounds, the charm of foliage is almost totally wanting. In the Thar and Parkar District, in the eastern por- tions of Khairpur State, and in the talukas of Rohn, Mlrpur Mathelo, and Ubauro (Sukkur District), the Registan or desert tract consists of nothing but sandhills, many of which, however, derive picturesqueness from their bold outline, and are sometimes even fairly wooded. The several ranges of sandhills succeed one another like vast waves.

The alluvial strip which borders either bank of the Indus for a distance of 12 miles, though superior to every other part of Sind in soil and productiveness, can lay no claim to picturesque beauty. Even here, however, extensive forests of babul (Acacia arabicd] in many places skirt the reaches of the river for miles together. Near the town of Sehwan, the Lakhi range forms an abrupt escarpment towards the Indus in a perpendicular face of rock 600 feet high. But the finest views in the province are those which embrace the towns of Sukkur and Rohri, and the island fortress of Bukkur, with its lofty walls, lying in the river between them. All three crown the range of limestone hills through which the Indus has here cut its way, and the minarets and houses, especially in Rohri, overhang the stream from a towering height. A little to the south of Bukkur, again, lies the green island of Sadh Bela with its sacred shrine, while groves of date-palm and acacia stud the banks of the Indus on either side.

The extreme south-eastern border of Sind is formed by the RANN OF CUTCH, an immense salt-water waste, with an area of about 9,000 square miles. It bounds the District of Thar and Parkar for a distance of nearly 80 miles. Every part of it is devoid of herbage, and a large portion is annually converted into a salt lake from June to November, owing to the influx of the sea at Lakhpat Bandar on the Kori mouth of the Indus, as well as at other places in Cutch and Kathiawar. During the remaining six months of the year, after the evaporation of the water, the surface becomes encrusted with salt, while herds of chinkclra (gazelle) and a few wild asses roam over the desert expanse. According to local tradition, a well-tilled plain, irrigated by a branch of the Indus, once covered the western portion of the Rann ; but the hand of man assisted by an earthquake diverted the waters, and the tract has ever since remained a waste of salt. The upper part of the Kori mouth still bears the name of the purdna or 'ancient' stream; and there is little doubt that the Indus once took a more easterly course than at present, and so rendered some portion of the Rann a fertile lowland.

The whole- sea-coast of Sind, except the part between Karachi and Cape Monze, where the Pab hills approach the shore, is low and flat, and submerged at spring-tides. It consists, in fact, of a series of mud- banks deposited by the Indus, or in a few places of sandhills blown from seaward. The sea near the shore is very shallow, owing to the quantity of mud brought down by the river. A bank extends along the coast from Karachi to Cutch, about 2 miles from the land and 3 miles in width, and which is generally dry at low water. This cir- cumstance renders the approach to the shore extremely dangerous for large vessels, and the only harbour in the province is at KARACHI.

Lakes are rare, the largest being the MANCHHAR in the Sehwan talukct) formed by the surplus waters of the Western Nara and the rain torrents of the Klrthar hills. During the inundation season, it measures 20 miles in length, and covers an area of about 180 square miles. At the same period, the flood-hollows (dandhs) of the Eastern Nara form pretty lakelets. The Makhi dandh, 50 miles in circum- ference, through which the Eastern Nara winds till it emerges at Bukkur, was, owing to its thick jungle and wooded islets, the favourite haunt of the Hur outlaws.

The greater part of Sind is occupied by the alluvium of the Indus, frequently covered by sand-dunes in the eastern part of the province, which is an extension of the Rajputana desert. Western Sind between the Indus and the Baluchistan frontier is a hilly region, consisting almost entirely of Tertiary strata folded into a succession of anticlines and synclines. The following are the principal geological divisions of this series :

Miocene

9, Manchhar or Siwalik (sandstones, clays, and conglomerates of fluviatile or terrestrial origin, with fossil wood and remains of extinct mammalia).

8. Gaj (limestones, shales, and sandstones, .partly fluviatile, partly marine),

Oligocene

7. Upper Nari (principally shales and sandstones, partly fluviatile, partly marine).

Eocene

6. Lower Nari (principally limestone and shale, marine).

5. Kirthar (mostly Nummulitic limestone of great thickness, forming the higher hill ranges).

4. Upper Ranlkot (shales and limestones, marine, corresponding in age with the London clay).

3. Lower Ranlkot (mostly sandstone of fluviatile origin, with beds of h'gnite and fossil plants).

2. Cardita beaumonti beds and Deccan trap (sandstones, shales, impure limestones, and intercalated volcanic beds, approximately of the same age as the Thanet Sands in England).

Cretaceous

r. Hippuritic limestones (only locally developed).

Hot sulphurous springs occur at a number of places along the hills of Western Sind, the best known being those of Lakhi, near Sehwan, and Magar Plr north of Karachi. At Nagar Parkar, on the northern border of the Rann of Cutch, there is an outcrop of granitic rocks similar to those of the Aravalli range. The geology of Western Sind has been described in detail by Dr. W. T. Blanford in vol xvii of the Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India.

Whatever is cultivated in Egypt, in Arabia, and in the countries bordering the Persian Gulf may be grown with success in Sind, since these countries are equally characterized by great summer heat, but little tempered by rain; great winter cold; a dry soil and similar geological formations. The chief trees of Sind are the babul (Acacia arabica), bahdn (Populus euphraticd}^ kandi (Prosopis spidgera\ and siras. The nlm^ plpal^ banyan, and her also occur. The babul is the staple tree of Lower Sind, its wood yielding timber for boat-building and fuel, its bark being used in tanning, and its leaves and pods as fodder for camels and goats. Siras and lot (tamarisk) are found in all forms from scrub to big trees. The lahan, common in Upper Sind, furnishes a light soft wood used in house-building and in the manu- facture of the celebrated lacquer-boxes of Hala and Khanot. The shores of the Indus delta abound with low mangrove thickets, which yield good fuel and fodder. Among exotic trees are the tali (Dal- bergia Stssoo) and the tamarind.

The commoner wild animals are the wolf, wild hog, chinkara (gazelle), hog-deer, jackal, wild-cat, and hare. The hyena is rare. Ibex and gad (mountain sheep) are found in the western hills, and the wild ass in the eastern desert. The lynx is rarely found, while the leopard and bear are occasionally met with in the western hills as stragglers from Baluchistan. Antelope have been introduced with success into the Khairpur State. The migratory birds which visit the province in large numbers include geese, ducks, teal, snipe, crane, flamingo, pelican, and ibis. The Indian bustard is found east of the Indus and the tilur and lekh or florican in all parts. Quail and many kinds of sand-grouse occur in large numbers, while swans are seen on rare occasions. The principal local game-birds are the francolin, or black partridge, and the grey partridge. The blue rock- pigeon is common near the Kirthar hills. Mortality caused by snakes has greatly diminished, but the black cobra, the karait, and the kappar are common. An unusually large species of the first (Bungarus sindanus) is found in Rohri. Pythons are occasionally met with in Karachi District.

Owing to its prevalent aridity, and the absence of the monsoons, the climate of Sind ranks among the hottest and most variable in India. The average temperature of the summer months is 95, and that of the winter months 60. But the thermometer frequently rises in summer to 114 and occasionally to 120, while in winter it falls at night a few degrees below freezing-point, and ranges even in the daytime from 40 to 80. No other part of India has so long a continuance of excessively hot weather, owing to the deficiency of rain. The climate on the sea- coast, however, is much more equable in temperature than in Upper Sind; and Karachi, the great centre of European population, enjoys a strong sea-breeze, which blows day and night from April to October.

In Northern Sind the extremes of temperature are strongly marked. The thermometer at Shikarpur often sinks below freezing-point in winter, and ice forms as late as February; yet in summer, for weeks together, the readings at midnight do not fall below 100. Jacobabad boasts of the highest temperature yet recorded at an Indian meteoro- logical station (126 in June, 1897).

On the verge of two monsoons, Sind is unrefreshed by either. The south-jvest monsoon stops at Lakhpat, in Cutch, in the south-east \ the north-east monsoon passes no farther than Karachi in the extreme south-west. The rainfall of Sind is thus scanty and irregular, and it averages only about 8 inches. The record of series of almost rainless seasons is occasionally broken by a sudden excessive fall. Of such deluges, the most notable occurred at Karachi in 1902, when 12 inches fell in 24 hours.

History

In the earliest times of which records are available the Aryans were already settled on the Indus and traded by sea with both East Africa and the Persian Gulf (1000 B.C.). About five hundred 18 ory " years later Darius Hystaspes conquered the whole of the Indus valley and gave a further impetus to trade, which led to the introduction of the art of coining money. Persian rule in Sind had passed away, and with it the traffic by sea with the Persian Gulf and Arabia, before the advent of Alexander the Great, who, after passing through the plains of the Punjab, sailed down the Indus in the year 325 B.C. The departure of Alexander was followed by the rise of the Mauryan empire, which included within its boundaries the whole of Northern India as well as Gujarat and Sind. When this empire fell, the Bactrian Greeks invaded the Punjab about 200 B.C.; and it is probable that both Apollodotus and his^ successor Menander ruled over Sind a hundred years before the Christian era. From this time until the yth century A.D. India was the scene of numerous invasions by the hordes of Central Asia, of whom the Ephthalites or White Huns settled in Sind and established the Rai dynasty at Alor and Brahmanabad. At this time sun-worship flourished in Northern Sind, while Buddhism had a firm hold on the people of the south. The Rai dynasty was ter- minated by the usurpation of the Brahman minister Chach, whose family was soon after ousted by the rising power of the Muhammadans. During the reign of Chach's son Dahir, a few peaceful Muhammadan merchants, as the Arab version of the conquest asserts, who had been sent into Sind by the Khalif Abdul Malik to purchase female slaves and other articles of lawful commerce, were attacked by robbers, and either made prisoners or killed on the spot. One or two of the injured mer- chants alone escaped to make their complaints to the Khalif, and the latter readily embraced so excellent an opportunity of spreading Islam into the delta of the Indus. He died before the army collected for the purpose could invade Sind; but his son dispatched Muhammad bin Kasim, Sakifi, to carry out the conquest about 711.

Muhammad bin Kasim set out from Shiraz with a large force, and first captured the seaport of Debal, identified by some with Manora and by others with the village of Kakar Bukera 20 miles to the south- west of Tatta, or, more probably, with TATTA itself. Thence he marched upon Nerankot, the modern Hyderabad ; and after its capitu- lation he next took the strong fortress of Sehwan. Returning to Neran^- kot, the Musalman leader proceeded to cross the Indus, whose main channel then flowed east of the city, and successfully engaged the army of Raja Dahir. The native prince was slain at the fort of Rawar, while his family were carried away prisoners by the conqueror. In 712 Muhammad bin Kasim arrived at the capital, Alor, which was taken ; and then advanced upon MULTAN (in the present Punjab Province), which submitted with an immense treasure, The end of the first great Musalman conqueror of India was tragic. The story runs that he was falsely accused by the daughters of Dahir, whom he had dispatched to his master's harem, of having violated their chastity, and that he was thereupon sewn up alive in a raw cow-hide by the Khalif's orders.

Sind remained thenceforward, with scarcely a break, in the hands of the Muhammadans, but the hold of the KhaUfs upon this distant province grew slowly weaker, and became virtually extinct in 871. Two Arab chiefs founded what were practically independent kingdoms at Multan and Mansura. The former comprised the upper valley of the united Indus as far as Aror ; the latter extended from that town to the sea, and nearly coincided with the modern province of Sind. The country was then well cultivated; and Aror, the capital, surrounded by a double wall, is said to have almost equalled Multan in size, and to have possessed a considerable commerce. The Arab princes apparently derived but a very small revenue from Sind, and left the administration wholly in the hands of natives. Arab soldiers held lands on military tenure, and liberal grants provided for the sacred buildings and institu- tions of Islam. Commerce was carried on by caravans with Khorasan, Seistan, and Zabulistan, and by sea with China, Ceylon, and Malabar. The Arabs also permitted the native Sindls the free exercise of their own religion to a considerable extent.

While Mahmud of Ghazni was leading raids upon India, early in the eleventh" century, Sind was ruled by a governor who nominally repre- sented the Khalif. In 1010 Mahmud captured Multan, and in 1024 appointed his Wazlr, Abdur Razzak, governor of the province, which was subdued by 1026. In 1053 the Sumras, a Rajput tribe in Lower Sind, taking advantage of the weak and indolent character of the Ghazni sovereign, shook off their allegiance and succeeded in establish- ing a chief of their own tribe .as the independent ruler of the eastern delta. Their authority never extended to Upper Sind, which continued under the rule of Mahmud's successors and thus in time became part of the Delhi kingdom. The' Sumras were eventually overthrown and their capital, Tur, destroyed by the troops of Ala-ud-dm Khiljl about the end of the thirteenth or early in -the fourteenth century. In 1333 the Sammas, another Rajput tribe of Cutch and Lower Sind, following the example of the Sumras, -seized the reins of government and set up a ruler of their own under the title of Jam. A few years later (about 1340) Tatta was founded and became their capital.

The connexion of Sind with the rest of India is slight during this period; but it may be mentioned that the province was conquered by Muhammad Ghon, and that Kubacha, who held it for him and for Rutb-ud-din, the first of the Slave kings of Delhi, rebelled after the latter's death, but was overthrown by Altamsh. In 1221 Jalal-ud-dm, the last Shah of Khwarizm (Khiva), was driven into Sind by his enemy Chingiz Khan. * The adventures of this heroic prince, who battled his way back through Persia only to succumb after a -decade of daring energy, form a stirring page of romantic history.' 1 Muhammad bin Tughlak died on the banks of the Indus, in 1351, in pursuit of a rebel leader whom the Sammas had sheltered.

The history of the Sammas after their accession to power is of interest, by reason of the ability with which they held their own in several cam- paigns against the forces of the imperial government, and by reason also of the conversion of large numbers of people from Hinduism to Islam. The first ruler of the line was a Muhammadan with a Hindu name, Jam Unar, a fact which seems to argue recent conversion. Under JunS, the second Jam, Bukkur in Upper Sind, which had hitherto been held on behalf of the Sultan of Delhi, was added to the Samma dominions ; but under his successor, Tamachi, Firoz Tughlak retook Bukkur and carried Tamachi and his son, Khair-ud-din, captives to Delhi. On the death of Tamachi a few years later, Khair-ud-din was released and allowed to resume the government of Sind. It was during his reign, in 1351, that Muhammad bin Tughlak entered Sind in pursuit of the rebel whom Khair-ud-din had sheltered. Muhammad's successor, Firoz Shah, was so harassed by the Sammas on his way back to Delhi that eight years later he returned to avenge himself upon them, accomplishing his pur- pose after preliminary failure. The Samma kings gradually extended their authority over the whole of Sind, the zenith of their fame being reached in the time of Jam Nizam-ud-dm, better known as Jam Nanda, who died in 1-509 after a reign of forty-six years. The line ended with Jam Firoz,, who was conquered by Shah' Beg Arghun in 1520.

The Arghun dynasty traced its origin to Chingiz Khan, and com- mence'd its rule in Sind in 1521. The first prince of the line, Shah Beg Arghun, having been driven out of Kandahar by Babar, defeated the Samma army in 1520, and sacked Tatta, the capital of Jam Flroz SammL By a subsequent agreement the Jam retained all Sind between Suklcur and Tatta, while the Shah took the region north of Lakhi. But the Sammas soon after repudiated this agreement ; and a battle fought, probably in the south-east of the present Hyderabad District, resulted in their utter defeat arid the secure establishment of the Arghun power. Shah Beg afterwards captured the fort of Bukkur, and rebuilt the forti- fications with bricks taken from the ancient stronghold of Aror. . Just before his death in 1522 he made preparations to invade Gujarat, but did not live to accomplish his purpose. Shah Beg was not only a bold soldier, but also a learned Musalman theologian and commentator. His son and successor, Mirza Shah Hasan, finally drove Jam Firoz from Tatta to Cutch, and at length to Gujarat, where he died. During Shah Hasan's reign, the Mughal emperor Humayun being defeated by the Afghan Sher Shah in 1540 fled to Sind, where he endeavoured un- successfully to take the fort of Bukkur. After a short stay in Jodhpur, Humayun returned to Sind by way of Umarkot in 1542, and again attempted without success to conquer the country. Shah Hasan died childless in 1554, after a reign of twenty-two years, and with him ended the Arghun dynasty.

A short-lived line, the Turkhan, succeeded and witnessed the sack of Tatta in 1555 by the Portuguese; but in 1592 the Mughal emperor Akbar, who was himself born at Umarkot during the flight of his father Humayun, defeated Mirza Janl Beg, ruler of Tatta, and united Sind with the empire of Delhi. The province was incorporated under Akbar's organization in the Stibah of Multan. During the flourishing period of the Mughal empire, the general peace of the great monarchy extended to Sind, and but few historical events of importance occurred for the next century. In the interval, however, between the consolida- tion of the empire by Akbar and the dismemberment which followed on the invasion of Nadir Shah, the Daudputras, or sons of Daud Khan, rose to distinction. Weavers and warriors by profession, they led a wild and wandering life at Khanpur, Tarai, and throughout the Sukkur country. After a long and sanguinary conflict with the Mahars, a race of Hindu origin, the Daudputras succeeded in establishing their supremacy over Upper Sind, and founded the town of Shikarpur.

Towards the end of the seventeenth century, another race, closely allied -to the Daudputras, rose to power in the lower Indus valley. The Kalhoras traced their descent historically to Muhammad of Kambatha (1204), and more mythically to Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet. About 1558, the family rose into notice through the sanctity of one Adam Shah, the chief of a large sect of mendicants in Chanduka, whom the governor of Multan attacked and put to death. The fakirs descended from this family long lived a life of warfare against the Mughal lieutenants, until at length, in 1658, under Nasir Muhammad Kalhora, they began successfully to oppose the imperial troops, and to organize themselves into a regular government. At length, about 1701, Yar Muhammad Kalhora, assisted by the Sirai or Talpur tribe, seized upon Shikarpur, where he fixed his court, and obtained from the emperor Aurangzeb a grant of the tract between the Indus and the Nara, together with a regular title (Khuda Yar Khan) under the imperial system. By the year 1711 Yar Muhammad had farther overrun the Kandiaio and Larkana tracts, as well as the country around Sukkur.

On the death of Yar Muhammad Kalhora, in 1719, his ^son Nur Muhammad succeeded to his territories, and conquered the Shikarpur territory from the Daudputras. Sen wan and its dependencies also fell under his rule, and his territory extended from the Multan border to Tatta. The fort of JBukkur, however, did not come into the possession of the Kalhoras till 1736. With this exception, Nur Muhammad's authority stretched from the desert to the Baluchi mountains. During his reign the Talpur tribe of Baloch, who were to be the last native rulers of Sind, first came into notice in the person of Mir Bahram, an able officer of the Kalhora kings. When Nadir Shah, the Persian conqueror, swooped upon Delhi in February, 1739, and broke down the decaying Mughal organization, all the provinces west of the Indus were detached from the empire and incorporated with the Persian dominions. Tatta and Shikarpur formed part of the territory thus ceded to Nadir Shah. Shortly after his return to Kabul, Nadir set out upon a second expedition against Sind and the Punjab, in order to repress his troublesome vassal Nur Muhammad. Two years earlier, the Kalhora prince had persuaded Sadik All, subahdar of Tatta, to make over that province in return for a sum of 3 lakhs; and this transaction apparently aroused the anger of his new suzerain. On Nadir's approach Nur Muhammad at first fled to Umarkot, but afterwards surrendered with the loss of Shikarpur and Sibi, which the Shah made over to the Daudputras and Afghans. An annual tribute of 20 lakhs was also imposed upon the Kalhora prince.

On Nadir Shah's death Sind became tributary, in 1748, to Ahmad Shah, Durrani, In 1754, the tribute being in arrears, Ahmad Shah advanced against Sind, and Nur Muhammad fled to Jaisalmer, where he died. His son, Muhammad Murad Yar Khan, managed to appease the Afghan ruler, and obtained a confirmation of his rank and power. He founded the town of Muradabad. In 1757 his subjects rose against his oppressive government and dethroned him, placing his brother Ghulam Shah upon the throne. The new prince, in 1762, invaded Cutch, and during the next year took the seaports of Basta and Lakhpat on the Indus. In 1768 he founded the city of Hyder- abad on the ancient site of Nerankot, During the early part of his reign, in 1758, the East India Company established a factory at Tatta. Sarfaraz Khan, his son and successor (1772), discouraged the Company's operations, and the factory was eventually withdrawn in 1775. Soon afterwards the Baloch deposed the chief, and two years of anarchy followed, In 1777 Ghulam Nabi Khan, a brother of Ghulam Shah, succeeded in obtaining the throne, During his reign Mir Bijar^ a Talpur chief, lose in rebellion, and in the battle between them the Kalhora prince lost his life. Abdun Nabi Khan, his brother, suc- ceeded to the throne and made a compromise with Mir Bijar, retaining the sovereignty for himself, but appointing the Talpur chief as his minister. In 1781 an Afghan army invaded Sind, where the tribute remained always in a chronic state of arrears, but Mir Bijar defeated it near Shikarpur. Thereupon, Abdun Nabi Khan assassinated his too successful general. Abdullah Khan Talpur, son of the murdered man, at once seized upon the government, and the last of the Kalhoras fled to Kalat. Thence he made many unsuccessful efforts to regain 'his kingdom, and at last re-established himself for a while by Afghan aid. But on his putting Abdullah Khan to death, Mir Fateh AIT, a kinsman of the murdered Talpur, once more expelled him. The Kalhora king made a final effort to recover his throne ; but, being defeated by Mir Fateh All, he fled to Jodhpur, where his descendants still hold distinguished rank. With him ended the dynasty of the Kalhoras.

In 1783 Mir Fateh All Khan, first of the Talpur line, established himself as Rais of Sind and obtained &farman from the Afghan Shah Zaman for its government. The history of Sind under its new dynasty generally spoken of as the Talpur Mirs is rendered very complicated by the numerous branches into which the ruling house split up. Fateh All Khan's nephew, Mir Sohrab Khan, settled with his adherents at Rohri; his son, Mir Tharo Khan, removed to Shahbandar; and each of them occupied the adjacent country as an independent ruler, throwing off all allegiance to the head of their house at Hyderabad.

The Talpurs thus fell into three distinct branches the Hyderabad or Shahdadpur family, ruling in central Sind ; the Mlrpur or Manikani house, descendants of Mir Tharo, ruling at Mlrpur ; and the Sohrabani line, derived from Mir Sohrab, ruling at Khairpur. Further, to increase the complication, Fateh All, head of the Hyderabad Mirs, associated with himself in the government his three younger brothers, Ghulam All, Karram All, and Murad AIT. He then turned his attention to the recovery of Karachi and Umarkot. The former, alienated to the Khan of Kalat, he recovered in 1795; the latter, held by the Raja of Jodhpur, the Mirs regained in 1813. In 1801 Mir Fateh All died, leaving one son, Sobhdar, and bequeathing his dominions to his three brothers. Of these, Ghulam All died in i8n, and left a son, Mir Muhammad; but the two surviving brothers retained the chief power in Hyderabad. Karram All died without issue in 1828 ; but Murad All left two sons, Nur Muhammad and Naslr Khan. Up to 1840 the government of Hyderabad was carried -on by these two Mirs, together with their cousins, Sobhdar and Mir Muhammad. The Talpur Mirs adorned Hyderabad and its rival Khudabad with many handsome buildings, of which their own tombs are the most remarkable.

The first connexion of the British with Sind took place as early as 1758, in the matter of the factory at Tatta. In 1799 a commercial mission was sent to Sind, to conduct business between the British and the Talpur Mirs ; but it ended unsatisfactorily. The agent resided from time to time at Tatta, Shahbandar, or Karachi, and endured numerous indignities, until at length he received a peremptory order from the Mirs to quit their territory. The East India Company took no notice of this insult In 1809 an arrangement was effected between the Mirs and the Company, mainly for the purpose of excluding the French from settling in Sind. In 1825 the Khosas, a Baloch tribe, made incursions into Cutch, and a military demonstration became necessary as a preventive measure. In 1830 Lieutenant (afterwards Sir Alexander) Burnes, after many delays and threats on the part of the Mirs, was permitted to follow up the course of the Indus, then unexplored, taking with him presents from the King of England to Ranjlt Singh at Lahore. Two years later Colonel Pottinger concluded a treaty with the Hyder- abad Mirs for the advancement of commerce, by which traders and merchants were permitted to use the roads and rivers of Sind, though no Englishman might settle in the country. The Khairpur Mirs also ratified this treaty. In 1835 Colonel Pottinger obtained leave to survey the sea-coast of Sind and the delta of the Indus yet trade did not enter the river, and the Mirs clearly mistrusted the intentions of their powerful neighbours.

In 1838 the first Afghan War necessitated the dispatch of British troops to join the main army by way of the Indus, in spite of a clause in the treaty expressly forbidding the employment of the river as a military highway. Lord Auckland considered that so great an emer- gency overrode the text of the agreement. In December of that year a large force under Sir John Keane landed in Sind, but found itself unable to proceed, owing to the obstacles thrown in its way by the Mirs in withholding stores and carriage. After a threat to march upon Hyderabad, Sir John Keane at length succeeded in continuing his course. Owing to this hostile demeanour, a reserve force was dis- patched from Bombay in 1839 to take U P ^ station in Sind. The Baloch garrison at Manora, near Karachi, endeavoured to prevent it from landing, and the British accordingly found it necessary to occupy that fort.

A treaty was afterwards, in 1839, concluded with the Hyderabad Mirs, by which they agreed to pay 23 lakhs to Shah Shuja, in com- mutation of all arrears of tribute due to the Afghans ; to admit the establishment in Sind of a British force not exceeding 5,000 men, the, expenses being defrayed in part by the Mlrs themselves ; and finally, to abolish all tolls upon trading boats on the Indus. The Khairpur Mirs concluded a similar treaty, except as regards the subsidy. The British then took possession of the fort of Bukkur, under the terms of the engagement. By careful conciliatory measures, the British repre- sentatives secured the tranquillity of the country, so that a steam flotilla navigated the Indus unimpeded. Nur Muhammad, the senior Hyder- abad Mir, died in 1841, and the government passed to his two sons, conjointly with their uncle, Nasir Khan.

In 1842 Sir Charles Napier arrived in Sind, with sole authority over all the territory on the lower Indus. New conditions were proposed to the Mirs, owing to delay in payment of the tribute, these terms including the cession of Karachi, Tatta, Sukkur, Bukkur, and Rohri. After some delay and a slight military demonstration, the treaty was signed in February, 1843. ^ ut ^ e Baloch composing the Sind! army did not acquiesce in this surrender of independence; and shortly "after- wards they attacked the Residency, which stood near the Indus, a few miles from Hyderabad. The Resident (Major Outram) and his small suite, after defending the building for a short time, found themselves, compelled to retreat and soon after joined Sir C. Napier's force. On February 17, 1843, Napier found the Mirs' army, 22,000 strong, posted on the Fuleli river near Miani. He gave them battle with only 2,800 men of all arms and 12 pieces of artillery, and gained a com- plete and brilliant victory. The Baloch loss amounted to about 5,000 men, while that of the British did not exceed 257. Shortly after, the chief Mirs of Hyderabad and Khairpur surrendered as pri- soners of war, and the fort of Hyderabad was captured, together with the Mirs' treasure, computed at about a crore of rupees. In March Napier received reinforcements from Sukkur, and went in search of the rest of the enemy, with 5,000 men. He found the Baloch army, 20,000 strong, under Sher Muhammad of Mirpur, in a strong position near Dabo. After a desperate resistance, the Sindis fled in disorder, their leader retreating to the desert. Soon afterwards our troops- occupied Mirpur Khas and Umarkot. Sind was declared a conquered country, and annexed to the British dominions, with the exception of the present Khairpur State, which was made over to All Murad, one of the Khairpur Mlrs who had supported the British policy.

The Talpur family thus ceased to be a ruling power, save in Kbair- pur, after a sovereignty of 53 years. The Mlrs were removed succes- sively to Bombay, Poona, and Calcutta; but in 1854 Lord Dalhousie allowed them to return to Sind and take up their residence at Hyder- abad. Under the Talpurs the government of Sind consisted of a rude military feudalism. The Mlrs themselves had little education or refinement, and lived in primitive Baloch simplicity, their extravagant propensities being shown in their fondness for horses, arms, and field sports. Their sole aim was to hoard up wealth, oppose all improve- ments, and enjoy themselves after their own fashion.

Immediately after annexation Sir C, Napier was appointed the first British Governor, while a pension of 3! lakhs, together with lands injagtr, was distributed amongst the deposed Mlrs. The judicial and revenue systems underwent a speedy remodelling, and the province was divided into extensive Districts. The wild border tribes were reduced to order by the skilful management of General John Jacob. Since the British annexation the chief events in Sind have consisted of com- mercial improvements, including especially the immense harbour works at Karachi, which have rendered the modern capital one of the most important seaports of India. Under the Commissionership of Sir Bartle Frere (1851-9), in whose time the province was so peaceful that he was able to send his only European regiment to the Punjab during the Mutiny, Sind took most important steps in the direction of mercan- tile progress ; and at a later date the construction of the Indus valley portion of what is now the North- Western Railway contributed greatly to the prosperity of the country, by linking Karachi with the wheat- growing tracts of the Punjab.

In 1 88 1 a staff of village officers was oiganized in Sind, and the present system of irrigation settlements introduced, under which the assessment depends on the means of irrigation used. Of recent years Sind has progressed rapidly in population and prosperity ; Karachi is now a very important port, with a steadily growing export of wheat, cotton, and oilseeds. Cultivation is extending as schemes of immigration bring settlers for the lands watered by the new canals. Sind now con- tains more Baloch inhabitants than the whole of Baluchistan. There are numerous settlers from the Punjab on the Jamrao Canal ; and the future of the province, which knows not famine, seems assured.

The most famous ruins are at BRAHMANABAD in Thar and Parkar District. Throughout the province are scattered remains of Muham- madan buildings, built of burnt bricks decorated with enamelled tiles in beautiful patterns. These bear legible inscriptions in Arabic characters. The finest specimens are at Tatta, and include the tomb of Jam Nizam-ud-dm, built in great part from the remains of some magnificent Hindu temples ; Diwan Sarfa Khan's tomb, with an ela- borately carved gravestone, and a mihrab decorated with glazed blue and white tiles ; Nawab Isa Khan's tomb, decorated throughout with surface tracery; and the great Jama Masjid, built in 1647 and still in use. In Sehwan there are the remains of an old fort which legend ascribes to Alexander, besides other forts known as Charlo Rani-jo-kot, Kot Nurpur, Dharnjo, and Dilniji. Later tile-work is found in abundance upon the Talpur tombs at Hyderabad. In the delta of the Indus are sites of many ruined cities, such as Lahori, Kakar Bukera, Samui, Fateh- bagh, Kat Bambhan, Jun, Thari, Badin, and Tur, Close to the village of Virawah in Thar and Parkar are the ruins of a large and once prosperous city, Pari Nagar, said to have been founded in A,D. 456 by Jeso Paramara of Balmir, and supposed to have been destroyed by the Muhammadans. In these ruins are the fragments of many Jain temples.

Population

Including towns, the average density is 64 persons per square mile. The population, which is extremely scattered in all parts of the pro- vince, gathers thickest in Larkana (129 per square mile), Hyderabad (119), and Sukkur (97). In the Frontier District of Upper Sind, the density falls to 89. The extensive District of Karachi, though it con- tains the capital town and largest commercial centre, has but 37 persons to the square mile ; in the Khairpur State the density is only 33 ; and in the wide but desert expanse of Thar and Parkar District it does not exceed 27.

Of the 4,429 towns and villages of British Sind, 2,367 contain less than 500 inhabitants; 1,200 between 500 and 1,000; 693 between 1,000 and 2,060 ; 150 between 2,000 and 5,000 ; 12 between 5,000 and 10,000 ; 3 between 10,000 and 20,000 ; 2 between 20,000 and 50,000 ; and 2 above 50,000.

KARACHI, the capital city, had a population in 1901 of 116,663 persons, including 8,019 in cantonments; but its commercial impor- tance is far greater than this total would seem to imply. SHIKARPUR, still a depot of transit trade with the Bolan Pass and Khorasan, had, in 1901, 49,491 ; HYDERABAD CITY, the Talpur capital, 69,378, including 4,588 in cantonments. The other chief towns and places of interest include ALOR, the capital of Sind under its Hindu Rajas ; BRAHMAN- ABAD, a mass of extensive ruins of very great antiquity near Shahdadpur ; the fortified island of BUKKUR in the Indus ; KETI, the port on the principal mouth of the Indus (2,727); KHAIRPUR, the capital of the State of the same name ; KOTRI, the station on the North-Western Railway opposite Hyderabad city (7,617) ; LARK ANA, the head-quarters of the newly formed District of that name (14,543); ROHRI (9,537) ; SEHWAN (5,244); the deserted port of SHAHBANDAR; SUKKUR, the great inland port of the Indus, and point of departure for the line of rail to Quetta (31,316); TATTA, the old emporium on the sea-board (10,783); JACOBABAD, the military station of the Frontier District (10,787, including 3,107 in cantonments); UMARKOT (4,924), Akbar's birthplace; MIRPUR KHAS (2,787), a rising town in the Jamrao tract ; and TANDO. ADAM (8,664), an important trading centre in Hyderabad.

Sind is very sparsely populated even at the present day. No statistics are available as to the number of inhabitants under its native rulers, though a probable conjecture sets it down in the early part of the nineteenth century at not more than 1,000,000, or only about 1 6 persons per square mile. A Census taken in 1856, exclusive of the Khairpur State, returned the population at 1,772,367. A more accurate enumeration undertaken in 1872 gave the total, again exclud- ing the Khairpur State, at 2,206,565, thus showing a gain of 434,198 persons, or 26 per cent., in the fifteen years. The Census of 1881 disclosed a total population in British Districts of 2,417,057, which had increased to 2,875,100 in 1891. In 1901 the population was 12 per cent, greater than at the previous Census, a striking increase of over 1,000,000 having taken place in thirty years.

The main feature of this increase, which is found in every District of the province, seems to be the influx of foreigners, chiefly from the adjacent territories and the Punjab. In Karachi, as in the city of Bombay and other large seaports, the indigenous population is in the minority. Much of the increase in the more rural parts of the province may be attributed to the general development of the people, under the influence of prosperous harvests and improved means of access to markets. The rate of increase in the towns has been generally higher than in the surrounding country. Karachi owes its prosperity to the development of its sea trade, and to the opening of direct railway communication with Upper India and the western frontier. The extension of railway communication has adversely affected Su&ur and Shikarpur, which depended largely on their overland and ri^fy traffic. ^

The collection and registration of vital statistics does not differ materially in system from the rest of the Presidency. The average birth-rate per 1,000 in the province for the year 1904 is 22, the highest being 26 in Sukkur and the lowest 18 in Hyderabad; while the death- rate is 17, the highest being 25 in Karachi and the lowest 12 in Upper Sind Frontier. The mortality is swelled by the fever which prevails after the annual inundations have subsided with the arrival of the cold season. Other common diseases are smallpox and cholera.

Plague appeared for the first time in Karachi city in December, 1896, having probably been introduced from Bombay. From Karachi it spread to Hyderabad in January, 1897, and to Sukkur in the fol- lowing month. The epidemic in Sukkur and the neighbouring town of Rohri was virulent ; but very effective measures of repression and disinfection were adopted at a cost of Rs. 1,20,000, and there has been no recrudescence of the disease. Shikarpur has altogether escaped attack; Hyderabad has been free on several occasions of varying duration ; but Karachi has enjoyed no respite, save for a few weeks, since the first outbreak. Plague has exercised little effect on the popu- lation, except in Karachi city. During the seven years preceding the outbreak the average annual birth-rate for the city was 47 per 1,000, and the average annual death-rate 37. This difference of 10 represents the normal growth of population, apart from variations owing to migra- tion. For the seven years ending 1903 the birth-rate declined to 42 and the death-rate rose to 70, showing that the population was annually decreasing at the rate of 28 per 1,000, Adding to this the potential loss of normal accretion, the full effect of plague is expressed by an annual loss of 38 per 1,000. In Karachi the number of deaths ascribed to plague from its commencement up to the end of 1903 is about 18,000, but in reality was probably larger. The mortality in Hyderabad and Sukkur Districts up to the close of 1903 was 3,581 and 697 respectively.

Classified according to sex, the native population of British Districts in 1901 consisted of males 1,758,432, and females 1,447,649. The European element was represented by 4,829 persons : namely, males 3,358, and females 1,471. Classified according to sex and age, there were returned (i) under 15 years boys 704,544, and girls 584,7-85; total children 1,289,329, or 40 per cent. ; (ii) of 15 years and upwards males 1,057,246, and females 864,335; tota ^ adults 1,921,581, or 60 per cent. In Sind the proportion of females has always been notably low. So far, no complete explanation is forthcoming of this peculiarity but it is doubtless due, in some measure, to a large portion of the population being recently arrived immigrants, who leave their women behind.

Of the total population in British Districts the unmarried number 1,626,175 ; the married 1,298,630 ; and the widowed 286,105, of whom two-thirds are women. The proportion of widowed is considerably less than in the rest of the Presidency, doubtless owing to the absence of prejudice against widow marriage among the majority of the population, which is Muhammadarh The premier Hindu caste of Sind, namely, the Lohanas, do not favour widow marriage, though it is not forbidden. It is noteworthy that, in some sections of the Lohana caste, the practice of marrying a widow to her deceased husband's younger brother still prevails.

More than five-sixths of the population of Sind speak Sindl. The only other languages of importance are Rajastham, Baluchi, and Pun- jabi, spoken by immigrants from Rajputana, Baluchistan, and the Punjab. Gujarat! is spoken in parts of Thar and Parkar and in Karachi city. Sindl belongs to the north-western group of Indo-Aryan languages, and is more closely connected with the Prakrit than either Marathi or Gujarat!, having preserved numerous phonetic and gram- matical forms that have dropped out of other vernaculars. In Karachi and Hyderabad, a dialect of Sindl known as Siraiki is spoken. Another known as Lari is the literary dialect, dealt with in grammars of the language. Sindl literature consists mainly of translations from Arabic and Persian, chiefly theological works, and a few rude national ballads.

Classified by religion, the Muhammadans number 2,446,489, or 76 per cent, of the total population in British Districts; Hindus, 751,252; Christians, 7,817; Parsis, 2,000; Jains, 921; and Jews, 428. The Sikhs, of whom a considerable number were returned in previous years, are concealed in the Census statistics of 1901 under the denomi- nation of Nanakpanthi Hindus. They probably amount to 150,000. The Musalmans by race are divided into Afghans or Pathans, Arabs, Baloch, Brahuis, Jats, Makranis, Mughals, Sindls, Shaikhs, and the menial or slave tribes, including those of African descent.

Of these ten divisions, the Jat and Makrani are allied to the Baloch. Arabs, numbering 122,000, are largely Saiyids, or at least claim this distinction. Shaikhs, who are partly Arab, but mainly Hindu converts, number 32,000. The Afghans reside chiefly in Sukkur and Shikarpur Districts, and are greatly superior to the Sindls in physical development and personal courage. The Baloch consist of many tribes, originally wild mountaineers from the barren hills to the westward, who settled in Sind under the Talpur dynasty and received large jagirs in return for military service. They are fairer, more powerful, and hardier than the Sindls ; they have genuine, though peculiar, ideas of honour ; and they are brave soldiers with a large share of national pride. They are> on the other hand, grossly illiterate, rough in manners and debauched, violent and revengeful, and addicted to coarse amusements. Formerly inveterate cattle thieves, they are now less given to dishonest prac- tices. In religion they belong to the Sunni sect, though the Talpur Mfrs, on arrival in Sind, adopted the Shiah persuasion. The Baloch number 514,000, divided into sixteen main tribes. Of these, the most important numerically is the Rind, with its offshoots, the Dombki, Khosa, Jamali, Jakrani, and Lighari, who all claim descent from Rind, the grandson of the mythical 'progenitor of the Baloch tribes, Harin. After the Rind group come the Chandias and Burdis. Of the Marri and Bugti tribes, who are famous on the frontier, only a small number are found in Sind. The Talpurs, included in the Marri tribe in the Census, claim to be a branch of the Rind. From the Census of 1901 it appears that the Baloch in Sind consist of Rind and allied tribes, 254,000 ; Chandias, 72,000 ; < Burdis, 65,000; others, 117,000. The Sindls, numbering over a million, represent the original Hindu popu- lation, converted to Islam under the Abbaside Khalifs, They are taller and more robust than the natives of the rest of the Bombay Presidency, of dark complexion and muscular frame. Their detractors represent them as idle and apathetic, addicted to drunkenness and other vices, and wanting in personal cleanliness. Though naturally indolent, they are capable of sustained effort ; they are kindly, inoffen- sive, and on the whole honest. In religion,, they are Sunnis. Of the numerous tribal divisions of the Sindis, the Sumro and Samo, repre- senting the dynasties which ruled in Sind from the eleventh to the sixteenth century, are interesting. They number 102,000 and 733,000 respectively, and form the majority of the Sindis. The Muhanos (107,383) are boatmen and fishermen, forming a distinct section with peculiar customs.

The Hindus occupy in Sind a position analogous to that of the Musalmans in the rest of the Presidency, being in the minority and greatly influenced by the former predominance of Musalman ideas, The Brahmans are illiterate and depraved, and form a very small proportion ( 0-4 per cent.) of the population, The premier Hindu caste is here the Lohanas, who represent half the total Hindu popu- lation. They are the Banias or merchants of Sind. The Amil section of the Lohanas are clerks and writers ; they wear the Musalman beard. The castes of numerical importance are: Lohanas, 413,000; Dhers, 70,000; Kolls, 32,000; Rajputs, 26,000; and Brahmans, 13,000. Among the Christians of the province, 4,437 are Roman Catholics, 3,136 belong to the Anglican communion, and 244 are of other sects. There are 4,221 Europeans, 2,988 native Christians, and 608. Eurasians. The native Christians are mostly Roman Catholics. The missions working in Sind are the Church of England Zanana Mission, with stations at both Karachi and Hyderabad, and the Methodist Episcopal Mission and the Roman Catholic Mission, which work only in Karachi District.

The occupational distribution of the population in the British Districts and Khairpur State in 1901 was : agriculture, 75 per cent. ; industries and commerce, 5 per cent,; general labour, 12 per cent, There are very few industries.

The Sindi Muhammadan is taller and more robust than the native of other Provinces of India. He is strong, extremely hardy of exposure and fatigue, and in the main truthful and honest. On the other hand, he is incapable or impatient of any prolonged labour, except earthwork or when engaged in his own cultivation. Though extremely simple in his habits in the villages, he is liable to become addicted to gambling and intoxication in the towns. He is unclean in his person and im- moral. He makes a poor artisan, and nearly all the skilled workmen in the large towns are foreigners. The landowners have on the whole retrograded. Their influence over their cultivators and tribesmen has decreased with the establishment of criminal and civil courts, the increase of cultivation, and the general relaxation of feudal ties. Care- less habits of living, illiteracy, inability to cope with the money-lenders and the uncertainties of cultivation have, rather than the extravagance so loosely ascribed to them, caused the impoverishment of many of the old families. Those surviving live for the most part within their means, and are of great assistance in local matters to the adminis- tration. The Baloch, who form a large proportion of the population, have adopted the language and approximated in habits to the Sindis ; but many tribes retain to the full their predatory instincts, especially in regard to cattle, The Baloch is also a poorer cultivator than the Sindi.

Of the Hindus, the Amils have perhaps changed more in their habits than any other class. They have been the only class freely to seek education, and with education have adopted many Western habits. Although many now enter other professions, they still hold the great majority of government appointments, for which their talents qualify them. A small number of the Banias have availed themselves of education to enter government service, but the majority continue to follow purely mercantile pursuits. Their most profitable traffic in the past has been money-lending, in which many have acquired fortunes in both real and personal property. They are frugal and avaricious, and generally manage to secure a competency in whatever trade they adopt.

In Upper Sind, the ordinary food of the lower classes consists or boiled rice or flat cakes of jowar. The accompaniment to this fare, m the shape- of a little meat, vegetables, or fish, is designated bor\ but meat is rare. Buttermilk, khir, is the usual beverage. In Lower Sind bdjra is eaten as well as jowar, and in rice districts rice becomes the staple diet. Muhammadans do not take alcohol, but they are addicted to bhang. Hindus take native liquor freely, and there is a growing taste for English spirits. Well-to-do Muhammadans eat wheaten cakes and zpntao of boiled rice and spiced goat's flesh. The diet of Hindus of the better class consists for the most part of rice, wheaten cakes, vegetables, and pulse. A few are vegetarians ; the rest partake almost daily of spiced goat's flesh and occasionally indulge in fulao. Both Hindus and Muhammadans are very fond of sweetmeats.

Dress is undergoing a considerable change ; garments of European materials and cut are every day becoming more prevalent. The educated and official classes, more particularly among the Amils, have evolved a compromise between Oriental and occidental costume, the principal features of which are a long black or dark cloth "coat buttoned up to the throat, with a turned-down collar, and cotton cloth or flannel trousers. European boots are also becoming general. The old Baloch hat or siraiki topi> now hardly ever worn by Muhammadans, has, in a modified shape, become the distinctive head-dress of the pleaders, though, even among them, it is giving way before the turban. Among Muhammadansj the almost universal head-dress is the volu- minous white turban or patko. A flowing shirt (pekryan\ and the loosest of trousers (suthan), plaited at the waist and drawn in at the ankle, are the principal garments, though among the better classes the former is surmounted in winter by a coat of English tweed or of broadcloth or green velvet, embroidered with gold lace or silk and sometimes trimmed with fur. In summer, a shawl is thrown over the shoulders or, when riding, tied round the waist. The Baloch of "Upper Sind wears a white smock gathered in at the waist and reaching down to the ankles ; in winter, he puts on a sheepskin postln which, according to strict Baloch custom, is the only coloured garment permissible. In the Frontier District dark clothes were formerly the sign of a blood-feud ; but the tradition is dying out, and the chiefs and landowners now often wear coloured coats and waistcoats, which some hide under the white smock. Instead of, or in addition to, the smock a very long shirt is frequently worn. The working costume of the cultivating classes consists of a turban, a tight cotton -coat with short sleeves, and trousers dyed with indigo to conceal the dirt. The ordinary cultivator wears no warm clothes even in frosty weather, but goes about shivering with a sheet thrown over his head. In the desert, the men dress in the Kachhi fashion. The Banias are the most conservative in their dress, though the moment a member of that class enters Government service or a profession he discards his hereditary costume for the garb of the Amil, Their ordinary dress consists of the white cotton vest (cholo\ the waistcloth (dhofi), and a small flat red or white turban (pagri), A short coat (angarakho) fastened with tapes completes their costume, In the Frontier District the pagrt is replaced by a small round cap or loose white turban.

Muhammadan women generally wear a cotton vest (sholi\ red cotton trousers (sutkan), and a shawl (rao) thrown over the head. In some parts a skirt (paro\ mostly of red cotton, is worn instead of trousers. Baloch women wear a long white gown (ghagho\ reaching to the ankles. Parda women, when they venture out in public, are enveloped from head to foot in the long white burko^ which corresponds to the yashmak of the nearer East. Hindu women wear a white muslin vest (eholo)) a red cotton skirt (peshgir), and a white muslin shawl (rao\ which is replaced in public by a thicker garment (chadar) drawn over the face, leaving only one eye exposed. In the desert, the women wear a red cotton skirt, fully plaited, known as the ghaghro. Among Hindu ladies of the upper classes garments of a semi-European cut are coming into favour ; the rudimentary Sindi slippers covering only the toes are being displaced by the European shoe, and the unwholesome fashion of encasing both entire arms in ivory bangles, which onpe put on are never removed till the wearer dies or becomes a widow, is gradually losing influence. Married women among both Muhammadans and Hindus are generally distinguished by the nose-ring.

In the cities substantial storeyed houses are common; in Karachi, stone is used; in Hyderabad, brick; and in Upper Sind, sun-dried brick. These, however, are the dwellings of the wealthy ; the majority live in mud houses devoid of verandas and of all but the smallest window apertures. The Muhammadan peasantry live in wattle huts or mud cottages. The large landowners of the Frontier District usually have substantial bungalows surrounded by high crenellated walls ; and everywhere the Muhammadan nobleman surrounds his private apartments with a wall (dlam pandti), sheltering them from the public gaze.

The favourite game of the Sindjs is wrestling (malakkro\ in which the negroes or Sldis are the most expert performers. At fairs and festivals a wrestling competition is certain to be one of the chief attractions. The national sport of the Baloch is horse-racing; the great meeting is held at the Jacobabad horse show, but there are generally races at Baloch wedding feasts, and matches and small sweepstakes are not uncommon. Cock-, quail-, partridge-, and ram- fighting are also popular amusements with the lower classes; in the riverain forests hog-baiting is occasionally practised. Hawking was formerly the favourite pastime of the Muhammadan nobility and gentry ; but it is being driven out by the universal taste for breech- loaders, which, however, are rarely discharged at a bird on the wing.

The educated classes have taken readily to cricket and lawn-tennis. Chaupar, a game played with dice on a board, is common among Hindus and Muhammadans ; the former also play various card games, such as pisakot) chovih^ and bezique, which afford opportunities for gambling. Among Muhammadans, the nautch is still a source of supreme delectation, though it is losing favour with Hindus, who, in Upper Sind, delight to watch a bhagat or performance in which Bania men dance and sing religious songs to the sound of drums* Both Hindus and Muhammadans are fond of instrumental music and singing ; concertinas and American organs are being introduced, There are no amusements in the home.

The important Muhammadan festivals are the Bakri Id, Muharram, and Ramzan Id. They are the occasion of feasting, prayers, the putting on of new clothes, and, above all, visits to spiritual guides (mtirshids) and to the popular shrines with which Sind is so plenti- fully endowed. Fairs are generally held in connexion with these shrines, of which the most famous are the shrines of Kalandar Lai Shahbaz at Sehwan, Shah Abdul LatTf at Bhit Shah near Hala, Shaikh Tabir or Uderolal at Uderolal near Hala, and Shah Khair-ud-din in Sukkur. The fair at Sehwan is attended by a vast concourse \ one of the principal features is the dancing of the dervishes who come in large numbers from all parts of the East. The chief Hindu festivals are Mahasivaratri, Holl, Chetichand, Thadri, Dasarah, and Divali. The first is specially observed by the votaries of Siva, who fast and decorate the lingam. The HolT, or Horl as it is also called, though not the occasion for the bacchanalian orgies seen in other parts of India, is still the pretext for noisy and sometimes drunken and obscene revels. Chetichand, the Hindu New Year, the first day of Chet Sudh, is observed as a rule on the river-side, where large numbers collect. The Thadri in Sawan is the occasion for much gambling. The Dasarah and Divali or Diari are the two most important festivals of the Hindus; the former is celebrated with fireworks and the latter with displays of lamps.

The joint family system exists among both Hindus and Muham- madans, but it is disappearing. The tendency is for the sons to separate on the death of the father, and among Hindus the family generally breaks up on the death of both parents.

Both Hindus and Muhammadans are known by their personal names, coupled with their patronymics, The Muhammadan is further distinguished by the designation of his tribe, which is generally, though not necessarily, an endogamous division, marriages between first cousins being regarded, as among the Arabs, with approval. A Muhammadan of the lower classes is simply known by his personal name, followed by the name of his tribe. The Muhammadans employ the usual or Persian names, but, especially among the lower classes, names of Indian origin are frequent. The Persian terminations bakhsh and dad) meaning 'granted/ used with one or other of the many names of the Almighty are common, while the Sindi equivalent dino and the Siraiki ditto are frequently substituted. A few special Sindi names are Mitho, 'sweet 3 ; Kauro, 'bitter 3 ; Warayo, 'returned'; Bacho, 'pre- served.' The day of birth frequently inspires a name, e.g. -Sumar (Monday), Jumo (Friday). Saiyids always add the honorific Shah to their names; Pathans and Baloch append the title Khan.

Among Hindus, names are usually formed by suffixing to appropriate nouns such terminations as -das, ' slave ' ; -mal, ' brave ' ; -ram, an incar- nation of deity; -nand, the name of Krishna's father; -rai, 'a king'; and -chand, 'the moon.' Thus Narayandas means 'the servant of Narayan,' i.e. God ; Hotchand signifies the friend of the moon. The followers of Guru Nanak and others attach the termination Singh, 'lion,' to certain words, e.g. Awat Singh. Some Sikhs even use the Persian termination Bakhsh, e.g. Gobind Bakhsh. By some, the names of the days of the week are employed, though both Shukur (Friday) and Chanchar (Saturday) are avoided, being considered unlucky. Among Hindus, the descendants of a common ancestor are designated by an adjectival form of his name ; thus Gidvani from Gidu, Advani from Adu ; and a tendency is exhibiting itself in the educated ranks of the younger generation to extend the use of the cognomen with a view to the introduction of the European style, but the paucity of names exposes the system to obvious disadvantages.

Agriculture

The soil of Sind is plastic clay, deposited by the Indus. With water, it develops into a rich mould; without water, it degenerates into a desert. There are two principal harvests the spring or rah, sown in September, October, or November, and reaped in February, March, or April ; and the autumn or kharlf, sown during the floods of the river from May to August, and reaped from October to December.

The total extent of cultivated land in British Sind in 1903-4 amounted to 6,444 square miles, the greater portion of the province being uncultivable for want of water. The rabi harvest consists of wheat, barley, gram, vetches, oilseeds, and vegetables. The kharif includes the millets known as bajra and jowar, the two chief food- grains in Sind ; rice, indigo, san hemp, til, pulses, and cotton. The area under each staple in 1903-4 was as follows : jo-war, 1,051 square miles; bajra, 1,478; rice, 1,381; wheat, 858; gram, 129; mug, 38; lang, 339; tobacco, 13: til, 182; miscellaneous products, such as vegetables, fruits, &c., 64 square miles. The average yield of each crop in pounds per acre is wheat, 1,066; barley, 965; bajra, 763 ; jowar, 1,798 gram, 469; cotton (cleaned), 466; til, 448; sugar-cane, 4,315. The fruits common to the country include dates, plantains, mangoes, limes, oranges, pomegranates, citrons, figs, grapes, tamarinds, mul- berries, and melons. The British have introduced apricots, peaches, and nectarines, with excellent results ; and Egyptian cotton, with a longer staple than the ordinary variety, has been grown with con- siderable success.

The methods of cultivation still differ little, if at all, from the primitive type. Rotation of crops is unknown, and the implements belong to the coarsest patterns. Two bullocks generally draw the clumsy native plough, while a heavy log of wood, with a man perched on either end, and drawn by four bullocks, does duty for a harrow.

Loans under the Land Improvement and Agriculturists' Loans Acts were slow in gaining popularity in Sind, owing partly to the ignor- ance of cultivators and partly to the hold of the money-lenders, who threatened foreclosure if money was borrowed from Government. Recently, however, the system has been much extended, and is now indispensable, in consequence of the contraction of credit caused by the introduction of the Dekkhan Agriculturists' Relief Act. But Government loans are made only to the owners of land, and not to the large class of cultivators. This class is in a chronic state of indebtedness, though much of the burden of their debts is assumed by the landowners, the money-lenders generally exacting a condition that the landowner shall be responsible for his tenants' debts. Among the landowners, especially those holding 50 acres or less, indebtedness is widespread ; the larger landholders, however, find it easier to keep out of debt. The creditors are almost invariably professional money- lenders, though most of them fall in the category of agriculturists, in so far that they own land which they generally cultivate through the medium of the original owners reduced to the status of tenants. The ordinary rate of interest paid on private loans by agriculturists is r8 per cent, per annum.

Among domestic animals, the camel of the one-humped species ranks first as a beast of burden, numbers being bred in the salt marshes of the Indus in Hyderabad and the Kohistan. Great herds of buffaloes graze on the swampy tracts of the delta ; and ghi (clarified butter), made from their milk, forms an important item of export. The fat-tailed sheep and the goat abound in Upper Sind, Sukkur, Thar and Parkar, and the Kohistan. The horses, though small, are active, hardy, and capable of enduring great fatigue. The Baloch of Upper Sind pay much attention to the breeding of mares. The Government has introduced English stallions ; and horse-breeding is carried on for the purpose of furnishing a superior class of remounts for the cavalry, as well as to improve the local breed. There is a strong and useful type of mule. Bullocks are chiefly used for draught or for turning irrigation wheels. Good cattle are bred, of medium size. The milch cows are well-known, and are exported to other parts of the Presidency.

The dry character of the soil and the almost complete absence of rain render irrigation a matter of prime importance, Sometimes, indeed, for two or three years in succession, no rain whatever falls in the province. Under these circumstances the Indus is to Sind what the Nile is to Egypt. When the province was annexed in 1843, numerous irrigation canals existed which derived their supply direct from the river. These canals are carried away from the river bank in the direction the water can most easily flow to reach the fields that are to be irrigated. None of them has its head where the bank is really permanent, and they can draw off water only during the inunda- tion season. The river must consequently rise several feet before the canals will fill. Many of these canals are but old deltaic channels, reopened and extended, and all have the appearance of rivers rather than artificial cuts. The system is very imperfect ; but much has been done since the country came under British rule to improve it, and to minimize the risks to which cultivation is necessarily exposed, owing to its dependence on the capricious nature of the supply in the river. Enormous areas, formerly waste, have moreover been brought under cultivation by the construction of new canals, also dependent, as must be the case, on the river inundation, but designed on more modern principles and kept under control by means of masonry regulators near the heads. Owing to the nature of the Indus, which in its course through Sind offers only three points Sukkur, Kotri, and Jerruck sufficiently stable for the permanent heads necessary for perennial canals, these inundation canals far exceed the perennial canals in number, revenue production, irrigational scope, and paying properties. The Eastern Nara, a depression on the left bank of the Indus, has, by means of a cut through the rock above the Bukkur gorge, been converted into a river of manageable size, from which, by means of weirs, a system of perennial canals has been carried out. The latest of these the Jamrao Canal is designed throughout, from headworks to village watercourses, on the most modern scientific principles. The other perennial canals are the Fuleli, the Mithrao, the Thar, and the Hiral, all of which, together with their branches, have regulators at their heads to control the water passing down them. Their mouths are not liable to be choked with silt or masked by sandbanks, as is the case with the inundation canals. Remodellings, improvements, and extensions to the old canals are being actively carried out by the Government Engineers, and cultivation now is much less speculative than it used to be. The supply of water from all canals is obtained in two ways, by flow and by lift. Flow, which is due to the action of gravity, is necessary only for rice, but is much in favour with the culti- vators for all kinds of crops, as it saves personal labour. On the other hand, it leads to great waste of water and waterlogging. Lift, which is represented by the Persian wheel and bullock-power, economizes water, but necessitates industry and adds about R.S. 2 per acre to the cost of raising a crop.

The principal canals on the right bank of the Indus are -.Major the Desert Canal, dug to irrigate the waterless tract along the north frontier and to convert the raiders of Kalat into agriculturists ; the Unar Wah and the Began, which with the Desert Canal irrigate the Upper Sind Frontier and Sukkur Districts. Minor the Sukkur Canal, which is the only perennial canal on the right bank, irrigating the northern portion of Sukkur District and 109 square miles of Lar- kana ; the Ghar, which waters Larkana ; the Western Nara, taking off 15 miles south of the Ghar, and passing through Larkana into the Manchhar Lake and the Sind Wah. Of these, the Begari, the Sind, the Ghar, the Western Nara, together with the Kalri, the Baghar near Tatta, the Pinyari, and the Sattah, were in use at the time of annexa- tion. On the left bank : Major the Eastern Nara works, the Jam- rao, the Thar, and the Mithrao Canals, deriving their supply from the Eastern Nara, and watering the talukas of Thar and Parkar and of Hyderabad ; the Nasrat, Naolakhl, and the Mahl Wah the first two irrigating parts of Hyderabad and the third irrigating parts of Sukkur District; and the Dad, known from its great velocity as the Khune Wah throughout the first reaches. Minor the Fuleli, with numerous branches, which takes off north of Hyderabad and supplies the whole of the Tando subdivision and some parts of Karachi ; the Gharo Mahmudo, which waters parts of Hyderabad District and is really a side channel of the Indus j the Nasir, the Karl Shamuli, the Mihrab Wah, Alibar Kacheri, and the great Marak and the Sarfaraz Wah, all irrigating Hyderabad District; and the Dahar canal in Sukkur.

The total number of 'major' productive works is 9, and of the ' minor ' works and navigation channels for which capital accounts are kept is 8. There are 26 other ( minor' works. The area irri- gated by canals has increased by about 50 per cent, since the advent of British rule, and the proportion of area protected by irrigation to the total cultivated area is now 87 per cent. The Begari, the Ghar, the Eastern and Western Nara, and the Fuleli with their branches and some ' minor ' works are also navigable channels. The financial results of the irrigation works for a series of years are shown in the table on the next page.

Cultivation is also carried on either within embankments, which are raised to impound the scanty rainfall, or on watercourses which dis- tribute the water of the hill streams or nais. Some of these nais are of a considerable size and perennial ; others fail during the dry season. The province contains more than 30,000 wells, of which 12,600 are used for irrigation purposes. The area irrigated from wells was in square miles in 1903-4, and the assessment amounted to Rs. 22,000. The use of the Persian wheel for lifting water from wells is general.

Fisheries

Seafish abound along the coast. The principal are the pomphlet, sole, and sardine, which come in shoals in February ; the shark, saw- fish, ray, skate, ringan sird, a cod, sir, cavalho, and red snapper. Of fresh- water fish, which are of much more importance than the seafish, the chief are the palla, dhambhro (a carp), singhdro, jhirkhan, and gandan. The long and also the snub-nosed crocodile are found in the Indus. Excellent oysters are collected at Karachi.

Rents,Wages,and price

There are few tenant-rights in existence in Sind. The smaller zamindars cultivate their own land, while the larger estates are let to yearly tenants, who almost always pay rent in prices!' and kind for the P rivile g e of cultivating, the zamlnddrs being responsible for the Government revenue. The share of the produce paid varies from one-fourth to one- half, according to the difficulty and expense of cultivating. In Upper Sind, in the Rohri tdluka^ a special form of tenancy known as maurusi haripan, or hereditary tenancy, exists, which presents some resemblance to the aforammto of the Portuguese. The hereditary tenant pays to the proprietor a quit-rent, known as lapo, zamlndari, malkano^ tobro or deh kharch) seldom exceeding 6 or 8 annas per acre. The rate cannot be enhanced. The settlement of the Government demand is then made direct with the tenant, against whom, in the land registers, the quit-rent is also entered. This right of occupancy is permanent and alienable. In other cases, the Mart's or cultivators pay lapo to the zamindar, and also a proportion of the crop as rent, fixed in accor- dance with custom. The zammddr is then liable for the Government assessment.

The daily wages for skilled labour are one rupee in the case of masons, and 12 annas for carpenters and blacksmiths. Unskilled labourers receive 4 annas to 8 annas. It is not customary to give food in addition to money wages. Except among the Muhano fisher- folk and Musalman cultivators, the women do not perform outdoor labour.

The rates are generally above the normal level of the Presidency. During the last decade, immigrants driven by famine from Rajput- ana and Kathiawar have considerably lowered the high rates of wages previously prevailing.

The diffusion of education and the expansion and development of the agricultural resources of the province have effected much improve- ment in the condition of the people. The middle-class clerk is rapidly adopting a more European style of living. Besides the evolution in dress noticed above, he now adds chairs and a table to the few cots which formerly represented his furniture, he buys glass and crockery, and replaces the primitive wick and earthen bowl by an oil-lamp. Tea and cigarettes are also purchased, and his food generally is of better quality, This tendency is not so noticeable in the cultivator. His dress and furniture betoken no change ; but his body is well nourished and, except in winter, well clothed. Education has not yet disclosed to him other wants. For the landless labourer of Sind work is always plentiful, and its return sufficient to supply all his material wants.

Forests

The extent of forest land is small for a province of so large an area, amounting to only 1,066 square miles, excluding the State of Khairpur. The Forest department has charge of about 100 separate forests (under the control of a Deputy- Conservator), chiefly situated along the banks of the Indus, extending southward from Ghotki to the mid delta. They run in narrow strips, from a quarter of a mile to 2 miles in breadth, and about 3 miles in length. These strips of forest are supposed to have been constructed as game preserves by the Mirs. Many of them suffer greatly at times from the encroachments of the stream. The floods of 1863 swept away 1,000 acres of the Dhareja forest in Sukkur District, and a similar misfortune occurred to the forests of Sunder Belo and Samtia in the two succeeding years.

The common trees have already been noticed under Botany. The delta of the Indus contains no forests, but its shores and inlets abound with low thickets of mangrove-trees, the wood of which makes good fuel. The Forest department has lately introduced several valuable exotics, including the tamarind, the water-chestnut, and the tallow-tree. In r86o-r the revenue derived from the Sind forests was r-2 lakhs, while the receipts in 1903-4 amounted to nearly 3| lakhs. These are mainly from grazing fees, the sale of firewood and timber, cultivation, fisheries, charcoal, babul pods and seeds, reeds, &c. Large quantities of firewood are exported.

Mines and minerals

The salt of the delta is the only mineral product of commercial importance. Extensive beds of remarkably pure bay salt occur on the Sirganda creek, an eastern arm of the Indus, said to Be capable of supplying the consumption of the whole world for a century. Since 1880, no salt has been taken from these deposits, all that is required being manufactured at Maurypur. The only deposits now worked are at Dilyar and Saran in Thar and Parkar. Fuller's earth and soda compounds are found in Sind.

Lignite occurs interbedded with the lower Ranikot formation, south- west of Kotri. Limestone is found abundantly over Western Sind, often containing numerous flint nodules which were, at one time, largely made use of for flintlocks. Hot sulphurous springs occur at a number of places along the hills of Western Sind, the best known being those of Lakhi near Sehwan, and Magar Pir north of Karachi.

Arts and manufactures

Though chiefly an agricultural and pastoral country, Sind has a repu- tation for pottery, leathern work, and carpets, which in design and finish are equal to the productions of any part of the manufactures. Bombay Presidency. The chief articles produced in Hyderabad are blankets, coarse cotton cloth, camel fittings, metal-work, lacquered work, enamel, and gold and silver embroidery. Hala is famous for pottery and tiles, Bubak for carpets, and Tatta for cotton lunfis. The principal productions of Shikarpur are earthenware, metal vessels of all descriptions, coarse cotton cloth, and leathern articles. Lacquered work, embroidered shoes, woollen carpets, and saddle-bags are the chief products of the Upper Sind Frontier District.

In 1904 there were 30 cotton-ginning mills in the province, mostly in Hyderabad (23), which employed more than 4,000 hands. Many rice-husking factories have been opened in Larkana District. In Karachi District the numerous factories include an arsenal, 6 cotton- ginning, cleaning, and pressing factories, 2 bone-mills, 2 metal works, and a railway workshop. The province has in all 40 factories, em- ploying over 8,000 operatives.

Commerce and trade

The trade of Sind centres almost entirely in the great seaport of Karachi, a creation of British rule, and now the chief port of entry and exit for the Punjab. The total value of the imports into Karachi in 1903-4 amounted to 9-6 crores, while those into the rest of the province were only about 3 lakhs. In the same year, the exports from Karachi amounted to about 15 crores, and from the remainder of Sind to nearly 8-| lakhs.' The staple articles of export are raw cotton, wool, wheat and other grains.

Karachi has long formed the chief outlet for the cotton crops of Sind and the Punjab. The province at one time actually imported the material necessary for its own petty domestic manufactures from Cutch and Gujarat, to the amount of several thousand maunds annually. About 1840, however, extensive cotton plantations sprang up in Sind itself. In 1861 exports first began; and in 1866, by which time cotton was also received from the Punjab, they exceeded 250,000 cwts. At present, cotton cultivation occupies 319 square miles, and the province annually supplies Karachi with about 369,000 cwts. The remainder exported consists of Punjab cotton, from the Districts of Multan, Lahore, and Amritsar ; but it bears in European markets the name of 'Sind,' from its place of shipment. Since 1870, a large trade in raw cotton has sprung up with China. The total export of raw cotton in 1903-4 amounted to 1,026,330 cwts.

The wool of Sind forms a staple of almost equal importance, though the larger portion of the exports comes, not from the province itself. but from Ferozepore District in the Punjab, and from Afghanistan and Baluchistan. The supply from the latter countries is brought into the market in a dirty condition. The value of wool exported from Karachi in 1873-4 was 63-5 lakhs, which increased to 76 lakhs in 1903-4.

Of late years, a very important and increasing trade in wheat with Europe has been developed. The supply comes almost entirely from the Punjab. The following table shows the exports (in tons) of wheat from Karachi for a series of years :

1872-3 . 8,499 l8 9 2 ~3 r 735 6 9 r

1882-3 . 136,614 1902-3 . 442,411

1903-4 . 869,355

The external land trade of Sind is with Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and Seistan. The value of imports and exports in 1903-4 amounted to 48 and 41 lakhs, respectively, The share of Baluchistan is 15 per cent., of Seistan 9 per cent., and the rest (76 per cent.) is with Afghani- stan. The chief imports are horses, sheep, goats, piece-goods, drugs and medicines, #/z*, mustard, grapes, and raw wool ; the exports are piece-goods of European and Indian manufacture, indigo, wheat, rice, and sugar. Karachi has a Chamber of Commerce and a Port Trust. The great harbour works of KARACHI are described under that article.

Communications

Communications are carried on by means of the Indus, by numerous excellent roads, by the North-Western Railway, and by the Hyderabad- Jodhpur metre-gauge line which connects the frontier with the jodhpur . Bikaner Railway thus linking

Sind at Hyderabad with Rajputana, Northern and Central India, and Gujarat. The Indus is under the charge of a special Government de- partment, the Indus Conservancy 1 , the duty of which is to remove all obstructions to navigation as soon as they appear. The main line of the North- Western Railway traverses the province from north to south, entering it at Reti and terminating at Karachi and Kiamari. Between Karachi and Kotri the line is double; between Rohri and Reti it is being doubled ; and between Kotri and Rohri there is a single line on either side of the Indus. The eastern Kotri-Rohri chord was originally constructed in consequence of the shifting of the right bank of the Indus and frequent breaches, which dislocated communication. The line on the left bank is on high ground and less liable to inundation, and saves about 36^ miles on the through distance from the Punjab to Karachi. The Quetta branch commences at Ruk, and running north- west leaves the province some little way beyond Jacobabad. Another branch runs south-east from Hyderabad to Badin, and is likely before long to form part of the Bombay-Si nd connexion railway. A short branch of 3 miles connects Phulji with Puranadero on the Indus right bank. The North-Western Railway facilitates the transmission of goods from Karachi to Northern Sind and the Punjab, or vice versa, thus saving the long detour by sea and river between Karachi and Kotri, via the Indus delta. The Indus has been bridged at Sukkur and Kotri. The distance from Karachi to Delhi by standard gauge throughout via Bhatinda is 907 miles, and by mixed gauge via Hyder- abad and Jodhpur 781 miles.

Karachi is also the focus of a number of trade routes from Afghani- stan and Central Asia. Three important lines converge at Karachi, placing it in direct communication with the interior of Sind, with Las Bela and Kalat. Trunk roads connect Sukkur District with the adjoining Districts of Upper Sind, and with Larkana, Hyderabad, and Karachi. The total length of roads (1903-4) in the province is 12,776 miles, of which 153 miles are metalled.

The Indus is navigable by country boats at all times of the year, and affords facilities of communication for both the import and export trade of the areas in proximity to the river. On the Fuleli canal about 100 country boats ply for the greater part of the year, and steam launches have recently been introduced for passenger traffic.

Sind forms the most important part of the Sind and Baluchistan Postal Circle, which is in charge of a Deputy-Postmaster-General. The following statistics show the advance in postal business since 1880-1.

A submarine cable, laid in 1864, connects Karachi with Fao in Turkish Arabia, and thence by Turkish Government telegraph with Constantinople and Western Europe. Another telegraph line runs from Karachi along the Makran coast, and thence by submarine cable to Bushire in Persia, connecting ultimately with the Russian system, as well as with the Siemens line to Berlin and England.

Administration

Sind forms a non-regulation sub-province under a Commissioner, who has, however, larger powers than those of an ordinary Commis- sioner of a Division. It contains four Collectorates Karachi, Sukkur, Larkana, and Hyderabad ; together with the two Districts of Thar and Parkar and the Upper Sind Frontier, each under a Deputy-Commissioner, besides the Native State of Khair- pur. It is nominally a * scheduled area,' i.e. it is not necessarily brought within, or is from time to time removed from, the operation of the general Acts of the legislature and the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts of judicature, but actually has been brought under the ordinary laws and jurisdiction. The Commissioner has two Assistants, one being an Indian Civilian who performs the duties of a secretary.

The Districts were originally administered by a separate service, the Sind Commission ; but this has been gradually superseded by the Indian Civil Service and is now almost extinct. The Provincial and Subor- dinate services are, however, distinct from those of the Bombay Presi- dency. The Collector of Sukkur is Political Agent for the KHAIRPUR STATE.

Legislation and justice

The Sadr Court, presided over by a Judicial Commissioner, is the highest court of civil and criminal appeal, and the High Court at Bombay has no jurisdiction in or over Sind, except andTustice as re arc ^ s (*) ' lis P owers under the Administrator- General Act, 1874 ; (2) probates and administrations; (3) decrees in matrimonial cases; and (4) European British subjects. The District Court of Karachi is a Colonial Court of Admiralty, from which an appeal lies to the Sadr Court, and ultimately to His Majesty in Council 1 . The Subordinate Judges in Sind form a distinct service ; otherwise, the judicial system does not differ from that in the rest of the Presidency. In certain parts of Upper Sind, the Sind Frontier Regulations are still in force, whereby the District Magistrate can refer murders and other offences likely to give rise to reprisals among Baloch and Pathans to the speedier and more primitive procedure of a jirga or council of their own elders, and himself punish those found guilty. In such matters he is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Sadr Court.

The revenue of Sind under Arab rule appears to have been small, and was chiefly derived from the land tax. The assessment of Sind and Multan was 27 lakhs; and this is supposed to have com- prised the poll tax, customs duties, and other miscellaneous items, besides the land tax, which was fixed at two-fifths of the produce of wheat and barley if the fields were watered by public canals, and three-tenths if irrigated by wheels or other artificial means, and at one-fourth if altogether unirrigated. The form of government under the Talpurs may be described as a purely military despotism on feudal principles, their Baloch chieftains holding jdgirs or grants of land for rendering service to the state when called upon. The land revenue was mainly paid in kind, the state share being one-eighth, two-fifths, or one-fifth of the produce according to the nature of the land cultivated. A cess, payable usually in kind, was levied on land irrigated by water-wheels, and a capitation tax on Hindus and traders. A cash payment, fixed at a certain sum $& jarib (about half an acre) and varying according to the nature of the soil, was also exacted. The average seems to have ranged from Rs. 6 to Rs. 12 per/anA An

1 Since 1906 the Sadr Court and the District Court, Karachi, have been amalga- mated in a new Court, known as the Court of the Judicial Commissioner of Sind. It is presided over by a Judicial Commissioner and two additional Judicial Commis- sioners, one of whom is to be a barrister especially qualified to deal with mercantile cases. The new court performs all the functions of a High Court, and the two additional Commissioners also perform the duties of the District and Sessions Court of Karachi. ad valorem duty of 6 per cent, was levied on all goods imported into, and 2\ per cent, on those exported from, Karachi, in addition to a 3 per cent, town duty. All fishermen were forced to surrender one- third of the produce of their nets to Government, and each boat on the Indus paid a fixed tax. The Mirs farmed the greater part of the revenue to contractors, a system which led to great abuses. The amount of revenue collected from every source under the Talpur dynasty has been variously estimated; its real value was never known, but in 1809 it was said to be nearly 43 lakhs; in 1814, 61 lakhs; in 1824, under 50 lakhs, and this subsequently decreased to 35 lakhs.

Land revenue

The land in Sind is held by a large number of ryots (peasant occu- pants), and by a small number of large zammddr proprietors. At the present time there are in round figures 32,700 holdings of under 5 acres, 61,000 of from 5 to an revenue - 25 acres, 27,500 of from 25 to 100 acres, and 11,400 of 100 acres and over. With few exceptions, 5,000 acres is the limit of large holdings. Both ryotwdri and zamlndari tenures occur, but the latter is the commonest tenure throughout the province, The zaminddr supplies the seed, plough, cattle, and labour, divides the crop, and pays the assessment out of his share of it, after recovering the value of the seed advanced. At annexation, and for many years afterwards, the revenue was collected in kind. Sir Bartle Frere introduced cash payments, and a regular survey was commenced in 1863. In 1882-3 the existing forms of settlements were three in number the original, revised, and irrigational settlements; but by 1902-3 the whole of the province had been brought under the irrigational settlement, which includes the charge for irrigation water under land revenue, The special feature of the Sind land settlement is the allowance for fal- lows, which are common owing to the poorness of the soil, the abundance of waste land, and the absence of a sufficient supply of manure. The assessment is now based on the mode of irrigation adopted, it being open to the farmer to choose the best method of irrigation, season by season. Occupants are liable to the full assess- ment on each survey number when cultivated, but fallow lands are free provided that assessment is paid thereon once in five years. Remissions are freely granted, and the fallow rules are suspended in years of bad inundation.

To protect the owners of large estates from the results of financial embarrassment, two Encumbered Estates Acts, Bombay Acts XIV of 1876 and XX of 1896, have been introduced, and in March, 1901, certain sections of the Dekkhan Agriculturists' Relief Act (1879) were applied to Sind. A special officer is entrusted with the charge of encumbered estates administered by Government on behalf of the owners, In the lands commanded by the Jamrao Canal, grants made since 1900 are subject to the condition that they shall not be trans- ferred without the sanction of the Commissioner. The rent-free or partial rent-free tenures in Sind comprise jdgirs, charitable grants (khairats\ and garden grants. The descendants of the Talpur dynasty hold jdgirs permanently alienated. Many other jdgirs have been granted on terms involving their eventual lapse to Government. On the Sind frontier, an interesting survival of former land grants made by the Afghan government to Pathan settlers is to be found in the pattadari grants, equivalent to an assignment of a fixed portion of the revenue of certain lands, and amounting in all to half a lakh of rupees. These grants are also found in Karachi and Sukkur Districts. KhairatS) or charitable grants to Saiyids, amount to 6 lakhs, being the estimated revenue of the lands so granted. In addition to these ordinary alienations, large tracts of land in the Upper Sind Frontier District have been granted rent-free to Baloch chiefs and their tribes- men. The area of these grants is 26,000 acres. Garden grants are either rent-free or on reduced assessment, to encourage the cultiva- tion of garden produce, while hurt and sen grants represent lands allotted for the growing of trees or in reward for public service such as the detection of crime.

The minimum and maximum rates of assessment per acre on ' dry ' land vary from R. i to Rs. 3-8, on rice lands Rs. 2-3 to Rs. 5-4, and on garden lands Rs. 2-3 to Rs. 6-8. The total land revenue in 1903-4 was 92-2 lakhs, of which 69-6 was from canal- irrigation. The gross revenue in the same year from all sources amounted to 1-5 crores. The land tax ordinarily forms two-thirds of the net revenues of Sind ; but remissions are constantly necessitated by droughts, floods, or bursting of embankments. In spite of these drawbacks, however, the revenue has steadily increased under British rule. The cost of clearing canals forms one of the most important items of public expenditure.

Miscellaneous

The chief port in Sind is Karachi. The Commissioner in Sind is the chief customs authority ; and the Collector of Customs and Salt Revenue in Sind, aided by two Assistants, is chief Revenue 0118 customs officer for all ports in the province. Small establishments are maintained at Keti Bandar and Sirganda two subordinate ports, which have practically no foreign trade. The average annual receipts of Karachi port were 8 lakhs during the decade 1881-90, and 25! lakhs during the next ten years, the principal items in both periods being spirits and liquors 17/4 lakhs and 11/2 lakhs, and petroleum Rs. 66,000 and 1-3 lakhs, respectively. Between 1894 and 1900 duties on sugar realized 5 lakhs and those on cotton goods more than 13/2| lakhs. In 1903-4 the total receipts exceeded 67/2 lakhs, the chief heads of receipt being petroleum about 7/2 lakhs, sugar 6 lakhs, spirits and wines 7 lakhs, and cotton goods more than 7 lakhs.

The Collector of Customs and Salt Revenue administers the Salt department, subject to the control of the Commissioner in Sind. The province produces nearly all the salt required for local consumption, the chief sources of supply being the Maurypur salt-works, 7 miles from Karachi, and the Dilyar and Saran deposits in Thar and Parkar District. At these three centres and also at Sukkur, where a depot is maintained for the convenience of the people of Upper Sind, salt is issued to the public after payment of duty. A small extra charge is made at Maury- pur, Dilyar, and Saran to cover the cost of manufacture, and at the Sukkur depot for railway freight. The State of Khairpur is annually supplied with about 12,000 maunds of salt from Maurypur, free of duty. The manufacture of salt by private individuals is strictly pro- hibited. The quantity of salt manufactured during the decades ending 1890 and 1900 averaged 225,000 maunds and 288,000 maunds, and in 1903 amounted to 349,000 maunds. Rock-salt is imported from the Punjab by private individuals, chiefly for the use of Punjabi residents, the imports amounting to 11,000 maunds in 1903. Small quantities of table and packing salt are imported from Europe. The average consumption per head rose from 5*8 Ib. in 1881 to 7-3 Ib. in 1891 and 7-4 Ib. in 1903. The total revenue from salt in 1903-4 amounted to 6-3 lakhs. There are two Government fishing yards at Shamspir and Khadda, near Karachi, to which salt is supplied at a reduced rate of R. i per maund, on condition that the curing is performed within the Government enclosure, The extension of railway communi- cations has had no appreciable effect on the consumption of salt in the province.

The opium revenue of Sind is derived partly from transhipment or re-exportation fees levied upon foreign opium transhipped or re- exported at Karachi, and partly from excise duty upon opium sold at the District treasuries to licensed dealers for local consumption. The average number of chests of opium carried annually from the Persian Gulf to Hongkong and other ports via Karachi and Bombay rose from 1,990 between 1881 and 1890 to 2,389 in the next decade. In 1903 the number was 2,873. The amount of fees for each of these periods was Rs. 9,500, Rs. 11,400, and Rs. 13,800. Poppy cultivation being prohibited, opium for local consumption is obtained from Bombay and issued to persons selected by the Commissioner in Sind from the tenderers, who are allowed to sell opium at single shops, and are bound to regulate their selling prices according to a standard fixed by the Commissioner. Licensed practitioners are allowed to keep one seer of opium for medical purposes, while private persons may possess three tolas of opium and five seers of poppy-heads, except in a portion of Thar and Parkar District on the east of the Nara Canal, where the limit for private possession is ten tolas. The revenue from opium fluctuates with the price of labour, the character of the harvest, and the general condition of the classes addicted to the use of it.

Excise revenue in Sind includes receipts on account of country liquor, intoxicating drugs other than opium, foreign imported liquors, and toddy. Country liquor is either mahua spirit, obtained from distilleries at Uran near Bombay, or molasses spirit from a central distillery at Kotri in Hyderabad District. Licences for distillation are granted to persons chosen by Government, who pay an annual fee of R, r per gallon of the capacity of their stills. A few wholesale licences are granted free of charge, while the retail traders, selected by the Collector or Deputy-Commissioner for each District, pay licence fees varying from Rs. 500 in Karachi town to Rs. 6 in rural areas. The trade in intoxicating drugs, namely bhang, charas, and ganja, is regulated by the Bombay Abkari Act. The cultivation of hemp under licence is restricted to Deho Yakubani and Bubak in Larkana District, the bhang produced being stored in a central warehouse at Bubak, whence the retail and wholesale dealers are supplied. Ganja is usually obtained from Panvel in the Kolaba District of Bombay, and charas from the Government warehouse at Amritsar in the Punjab. A quanti- tative duty is levied of R. i per seer on bhang, Rs. 6 per seer on charas, and Rs. 5 per seer on gdnja, the retail licences for each shop being sold by auction every year. Government regulates the maximum daily quantity which may be purchased by one person.

The excise revenue from foreign liquors is derived from licences for the right of sale, which are of three kinds : importers' licences, granted only in Karachi town to large firms for the sale of not less than 2 gallons at a time; wholesale licences, at fees varying from Rs. 25 to Rs. 250, for the sale of not less than one pint at a time , and retail licences, which permit unrestricted sale on payment of fees ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs. 700. Rum and malt liquor manufactured by the Murree Brewery Company at Quetta are treated as foreign spirit, and are sold only in the towns of Karachi, Hyderabad, and Sukkur. The consumption of toddy is very small, there being only nine shops in Sind authorized to sell it. The incidence of excise revenue per head of population was 2 annas in 1881, 4-4 annas in 1891, and 5-4 annas in 1901. Imports of foreign liquor rose from 264,000 gallons in 1887-8 to 488,000 gallons in 1890-1, 538,000 in 1900-1, and 601,000 in 1903-4. The average net revenue from country liquor and intoxicating drugs rose from 3^ to 5 lakhs and from Rs. 84,000 to 1-3 lakhs, respectively, during the decade ending 1890, and to nearly 8 lakhs and 2.7 lakhs during the following decade, the actual revenue under each head in 1903-4 being about 8J lakhs and 23 lakhs. Government are considering the question of still further restricting the sale of cheap European spirits, which are much in favour with the Christian, ParsI, and Hindu population; but the consumption of country liquor and intoxicating drugs by both Hindus and Muhammadans has, of recent years, been practically stationary, subject to slight fluctuations in accordance with retail prices and the character of the harvests. The number of shops for each District is strictly fixed by the Commissioner ; and no shop is opened or removed to a new locality without previously consulting local opinion.

Public works

There is a special irrigation branch of the Public Works department in Sind, for dealing with the work arising from the canal system, the control being vested in two Superintending Engineers one for the Indus right-bank canals and the other for the canals of the left bank. Each of these two divisions is again subdivided into five districts, each under an Executive Engineer ; and to cope with new work, a special survey and construction district, also under an Executive Engineer, has lately been organized.

The Indus Commission, consisting of the Commissioner in Sind as president, with the two Superintending Engineers and a secretary as members, was constituted in 1901. The duties of the Indus Com- mission, which acts as an advisory board to Government in all matters relating to the Indus within the boundaries of the province, are briefly as follows : to record scientific observations upon the velocity and discharge of the current ; to superintend topographical or hydro- graphical surveys in connexion with changes in the bed and water- level, and with alluvion and diluvion; to maintain river gauges and register their readings ; to record on maps all changes noted by their own engineer or reported from various Districts and the Native States ; to investigate the relation between the rise of level at Sukkur and Kotri ; to discuss and decide proposals for works upon old and new canals, for new embankments, sluices, and extensions ; to consider and decide what expenditure shall be incurred upon the maintenance of lines of embankment; to carry out works required for the conserva- tion of the river banks, and for the improvement and clearance of channels, especially such as feed irrigation canals; and to supervise the collection of registration fees payable by boat-owners under Act I of 1863.

The chief works carried out in Sind during recent years are the Jamrao Canal, the largest irrigation work in the province, which cost 72 lakhs; the enlargement and improvement of the Mahi Wah, Nasrat, Dad, and Began Canals ; the great bridges across the Indus at Sukkur and Hyderabad, which cost together more than 56 lakhs ; water-works at Karachi, Sukkur, and Hyderabad, District offices at Larkana, the Empress market at Karachi, and the Sind College. Extensive works have been carried out in Karachi harbour since 1886.

Local and municipal

Seven years' experience of the working of Municipal Act XXVI of 1850 had proved that the people of Sind, though unfitted to control their own municipal affairs, were quite ready munitial to contribute funds public improvements. Ac- cordingly, Mr. (afterwards Sir Bartle) Frere drew up proposals in 1858 to amend that Act so as to make it lawful to constitute any District or portion thereof a municipality, and to impose a cess on the land tax, and a shop and house tax. Under this scheme the expenditure of funds was to be left in the hands of District officers, assisted by a board for each municipal division thus constituted, corre- sponding to the modern taluka local board. The superintendence of large and important works was to vest in the Collector, subject to the control of the Commissioner, and the immediate supervision of minor works devolved upon the heads of villages. The system advocated was neither new noi experimental. It had been in force for some years in parts of the province, and had operated to relieve cultivators from statute labour in road-making and bridge construction. The scheme, however, was ultimately withdrawn in favour of Act XXXIII of 1860, which abolished the land cess and shop tax hitherto levied as a Local fund in parts of Sind. The cess was nevertheless revived soon afterwards in the shape of a levy of one anna per rupee of assessment, wherever the limit of assessment had not been authori- tatively fixed. In 1863 Government, by executive order, appointed District and taluka committees with definite duties to promote educa- tion and the construction of roads. The proceeds of a cess fixed at one anna per rupee of land revenue and subsequently legalized by Act VIII of 1865, tolls, ferry fees, and cattle pound receipts were placed under the control of these committees. The members, however, met but rarely, owing to lack of interest on the part of the ratepayers \ and save for improvements, which the Collectors and their deputies personally supervised and effected, no progress was made till the passing of the Local Boards (Bombay) Act I of 1884, which aimed at carrying out local improvements by local taxation, at decentralizing the management of local funds, and at giving a large share in their management to the ratepayers. By 1903-4 there were 6 District and 51 taluka boards in Sind, composed of 716 members, of whom 407 were nominated and 299 elected. All members are elected except those for 8 talukas in the Thar and Parkar District and for the whole of the Upper Sind Frontier District. The total revenue of the boards rose from 15/2 lakhs in 1890-1 to 8 lakhs in 1900-1 and to 8| lakhs in 1903-4, and their expenditure from 21/3 lakhs to yf and 9 lakhs in the same period. The chief heads of expenditure in 1903-4 were; education (2-7 lakhs), roads (Rs. 92,000), repairs to roads (2-2 lakhs), horse- and cattle-breeding, experimental cultivation and tree planting, and the improvement of rural water-supply and village sanitation. In many places village sanitary committees have been established, under a system whereby half the cost of village sanitation is borne by the villagers, one-third by Local funds, and one-sixth by Government. Though progress in local self-government is necessarily slow, the local boards are all in a sound financial condition, and continue to effect considerable improvement within the areas of their jurisdiction.

The history of municipal administration in Sind commenced with the establishment by Sir Charles Napier of conservancy boards under Act XXI of 1841 in Karachi and Hyderabad, shortly after the conquest of Sind (1843). In the rest of the province the responsibility for urban conservancy and the provision of roads, lighting, and water* supply rested with the local panchayats and inhabitants, who, though helped by small grants from the District Magistrates, were unable to effect much progress. In 1852, at the instance of Sir Bartle Frere, Act XXVI of 1850 was applied to Karachi, and subsequently to Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shikarpur, and other towns. Its provisions were simple, contemplating only the levy of a house tax and town duties* the prevention of nuisances, and the establishment of dispensaries. Act XXVI of 1850 was subsequently amended by Act I of 1871, which obliged municipalities to pay a certain proportion of the local police charges, and was finally repealed by Act VI of 1873, which was not actually applied to Sind until 1878. Bombay Act II of 1884 intro- duced further changes, by extending the elective principle, exempting all municipalities from police charges, and obliging them to establish and maintain middle and primary schools j and further progress in municipal government has been effected by the passing of Bombay Act III of 1901.

There are 26 municipalities in the province, with a total income in 1903-4 of nearly 25 lakhs, and an expenditure of 23^- lakhs, these figures being almost treble the corresponding items in 1884-5. The chief sources of income are octroi, which has risen during the last two decades from 5 lakhs to 15 lakhs, house tax, halalkhor cess, water rate, and the sale proceeds of lands. A house tax is perhaps the most unpopular source of income, and is levied in only 5 out of the 26 municipalities ; the halalkhor or conservancy cess is levied in 14 places and the receipts have largely increased. The diminution of waste areas and the depreciation of the value of building-sites in Karachi in conse- quence of plague epidemics has effected a marked reduction in the sale proceeds of waste lands during recent years. A large water-rate revenue in the Karachi, Hyderabad, and Sukkur municipalities is chiefly ear- marked for the repayment of loans and the maintenance of water-works. The larger municipalities evince rather more desire for progress than those in the Districts of the Presidency proper \ but the efficiency of the smaller boards depends chiefly upon the energy of the officials and members.

Army

The total strength of the army stationed in Sind in 1904 was : British troops, 1,666; Indian, 2,049; tota ^ 3>7 X 5- This force became under the reorganization scheme of 1904 the Karachi my " brigade, and is distributed in cantonments at Karachi, Hyderabad, and Jacobabad. The volunteer corps include the Sind Volunteer Rifle Corps, the Karachi Volunteer Artillery, and the North- Western Railway Volunteer Rifles, with a total strength of about 1,000 men.

Police and jails

The total police force consisted, in 1904, of 4,501 officers and men, exclusive of four District Superintendents. In Thar and Parkar the Deputy-Commissioner, and in the Upper Sind Froniters Districts an Assistant Superintendent, are in charge of the force ; but the area includes so large an extent of desert that any general statement of numbers per square mile would only mislead. In Hyderabad District, where the popula- tion is thickest, there is one policeman to ever} 7 12 square miles and to every 1,403 inhabitants ; in Karachi District, including the capital, there is one policeman to every 14 square miles and to every 538 of the population; while in the desert District of Thar and Parkar there is one policeman to every 33 square miles and to every 910 inhabitants. The Commissioner is ex offitio the head of the police, but direct control has recently been transferred to a Deputy-Inspector- General.

Sind possesses no hereditary village police. The local zamtnddrs assist the police in all criminal cases. The tracking of criminals and stolen animals by their footprints is skilfully performed by village pagis, who are paid by the village cess fund. Cattle-lifting and thefts in general are the chief offences with which the police in Sind are called upon to deal.

Education

The Central jail at Hyderabad contains accommodation for 865 inmates. There are, besides, 2 District jails and 54 subsidiary jails. Two jails at Karachi and Sukkur are being constructed. The convicts are employed in preparing articles for use or consumption in the jails, in jail repairs, and in manufacturing cloth or carpets.

Sind stands last among the four Divisions of the Bombay Presidency in regard to the literacy of its population, of whom only about 2-9 per

cent (4.9 males and "5 females ) are able to read and write. The most backward District is Thar and

Parkar. Education has, however, made relatively rapid progress, since annexation. In 1859-60 the province contained only 20 Government schools ; the total number of Government schools In 1873-4 amounted to 213, of which 26 were for girls. The number of pupils was 12,728, of whom 8,531 were Hindus and only 4, 139 Muhammadans. In 1883-4 the schools under the department had increased to 340, with 23,273 pupils.

The Musalman population showed, until recently, but little interest in education, and, like the Hindus of the province, are indisposed to educate their daughters. There is an Arts college in Karachi, with an engineering class, and the city contains also a medical class. Hyderabad possesses two training colleges, one for males and the other for females, and a medical class. There are three normal schools in Sind for females : two at Karachi, and one at Hyderabad. Among private institutions, the European and Indo-European schools at Karachi and the missionary schools in that town and Hyderabad teach up to the matriculation standard of the Bombay University.

There are printing presses at Karachi and at numerous other towns. About fifteen newspapers and periodicals are published in Sind, of which the Khair-khah Sind has the largest circulation.

Medical

Civil surgeons are stationed at Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shikar pur, and Jacobabad. Numerous charitable dispensaries have been established in all the chief towns. The total number Medicah of patients treated in 1904 in the several hospitals and dispensaries was about 440,000, of whom 7,000 were in-patients. There are three hospitals for females in Sind, and a lunatic asylum at Hyderabad. Vaccination is compulsory at Karachi under Bombay Act IV of 1879, and was made compulsory in Larkana in 1899 and in Rohri and Sukkur in 1904. In 1903-4 the Government vaccinators operated upon 82,745 persons.

[Major Outram, Campaign in Sdnde and Afghanistan in 1838-39 (1840) ; T, Postans, Sdnde, Personal Observations on the Manners and Customs of its Inhabitants and its Productive Capabilities (1843) ; General AV. F. P. Napier, The Conquest of Stinde (1845); Sir W. Napier, History of Sir Charles Napier's Administration of Sdnde (1851); Richard F. Burton, Sdnde or the Unhappy Valley (1851); Sdnde Revisited, 2 vols. (1877); Captain G. Malet, Translation of Muhammad Masum Shahs History of Sind from 710 to 1590 (Bombay, 1855); A. W. Hughes, Gazetteer of the Province of Sind (1876) ; Major Raverty, * The Mihran of Sind and its Tributaries ' (vol. Ixi, Journal, Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1893) ; General Haig, The Indus Delta Country, a Memoir on its Ancient Geography and History (1894) ; W. P. Andrew, The Indus and its Pro- vinces (1858)- Mirza Kalichbeg Fredunbeg, Chacknama, an Ancient History of Sind, in two parts (Karachi, 1902); Official Correspondence relative to Sdnde, 1836-43 (1843); Miscellaneous Information con- nected with Sind (Bombay, 1855) ; Official Sketch of the Judicial Ad- ministration of Scinde under the Talpur Dynasty (Bombay, 1858); Official History of Alienations in Sind (Karachi, 1886)- History of the Plague in Sind, 1896-7 (Karachi, 1897). A new Gazetteer is in preparation.]