Amarkot (Umerkot)
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History
Vignettes about the kingdom and its history
Taha Siddiqui, Footprints: Once upon a time in Umerkot, The Dawn Jan 16, 2015
The boundary wall is damaged in many parts. The signboards that should give information to visitors have faded in the sun. The staircase leading to the top of a watchtower has many missing steps.
This is the fort of Umerkot or, as it was once called, Amarkot. Not only has its history been ‘Islamised’ by overlooking its original builder, Amar Singh, who used to rule this region, the heritage site is also facing slow extinction.
Locals here will tell you the famous story of Umer-Marvi — a local Romeo and Juliet folklore — and how Marvi was kept at this fort, built by Umer Soomro who once ruled Sindh.
Vikram Singh, who is from the Sodha family, a sub-tribe of the Rajputs who settled in Umerkot in the 11th century, calls the official history of the fort, inscribed on signboards around the place, “a bunch of lies”. Pointing to the fort, he slams the government for not “giving credit to our ancestors for building this”.
Vikram, who shows us around the fort that he insists once belonged to his ancestors, laments the current state of affairs in this part of Sindh which borders India and is called the gateway to the Thar desert.
“Rana Rattan Singh, one of our ancestors, was hanged by the British at this very fort for standing up for the rights of the Sindhis, but there is no mention of him anywhere,” Vikram points out as he shows us the place where the execution took place.
Just a few kilometres from the fort is the birthplace of Mughal emperor Akbar. Humayun was given refuge by Vikram’s ancestors when he was on the run after Sher Shah Suri overthrew him.
“We gave protection to many Muslims seeking refuge, and the person who went on to become one of the greatest rulers of the region was born here. Yet today, the Hindus in this region are on the run,” Vikram remarks.
Vikram’s first-cousin, Hamir Singh, is the present Rana of what was once the kingdom of Amarkot.
At his ancestral home built over a 100 years ago on the outskirts of Umerkot, Hamir Singh is surrounded by villagers. Many are wearing colourful turbans and they have come to pay their respect to the Rana.
Hamir’s grandfather, Rana Arjun Singh, had opted for Pakistan at the time of the partition of the subcontinent. The family says their historical roots in Sindh made Rana Arjun Singh choose Pakistan over India. “He loved Sindh and did not join Congress even though Nehru had personally approached him,” Hamir tells us.
But now the family appears to regret that decision.
“This area used to have a Hindu majority,” Vikram explains. “But migration has been on the rise.” He mentions the persecution of the Hindu community, religious intolerance, and the government’s lack of interest in improving inter-faith harmony for Hindus, especially the trading community, as factors making them want to leave. “Many of them are now settled in India,” Vikram says.
Most households have strong connections with India as the Hindus here tend not to marry within their community and try to find a bride or a groom across the border. Currently, the population of Umerkot is estimated to be equally divided between Hindus and Muslims. At the time of partition, Umerkot was estimated to be 80 per cent Hindu.
“Unlike Punjab, Sindh’s border regions remain neglected,” says Sohail Sangi, a teacher at Sindh University who belongs to Umerkot.
According to Sangi, the military has been in control of most of this region under the pretext of it being next to India, but has not bothered developing it. He blames this on their “paranoia of anyone not Muslim, and not from Punjab”.
Umerkot’s rich culture and history is something to be proud of, Sangi says, but instead Pakistan continues to forget the diversities it has.
Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2015
The Hindu king of Amarkot acceded to Pakistan despite a Hindu majority
In 1947 the Hindu Raja of Amarkot, Rana Arjun Singh, acceded to Pakistan despite a Hindu majority (more than 80% in 1947).
Why?
A top-ranking R S S leader recalled in a lecture that Amarkot was on very bad terms with a neighbouring Rajput- Hindu ruled kingdom. Whatever the ruler of one kingdom did the other did the opposite. So when the neighbour acceded to India, Hindu- majority Amarkot went over to Pakistan.
The following theories have been adapted from Why did the Hindu king of Amarkot opt for Pakistan despite a Hindu majority in the state? By Sandeep Bansal, Jagat Bakshi, Ram Raghuwanshi and Ayushya Khanna on Quora
This is one of the best kept secrets of the partition of India.
Almost 50% population of the area was Hindu even in 2016.
Theory 1 The main reason was Mr Jinnah’s generous offer to border princely state of India to accede to Pakistan (see the book The last days of the British Raj). Jinnah was keen to attract some of the larger border states, hoping thereby to attract other Rajput states to Pakistan and compensate for the loss of half of Bengal and Punjab. He offered to permit Jodhpur and Jaisalmer to accede to Pakistan on any terms they chose, giving their rulers blank sheets of paper and asking them to write down their terms, which he would sign.
Two princely states Junagadh(Muslim ruler) and Amarkot despite of almost all Hindu population accepted the offer of Jinnah and accede to Pakistan. The royal family of Umerkot still has a jagir of 48.6 km2 along with historical fort and palaces there.
Jaisalmer refused. Hanwant Singh (Jodhpur) came close to signing. However, the atmosphere in Jodhpur was in general hostile to accession to Pakistan. Mountbatten also pointed out that the accession of a predominantly Hindu state to Pakistan would violate the principle of the two-nation theory on which Partition was based, and was likely to cause communal violence in the State. Hanwant Singh was persuaded by these arguments, and somewhat reluctantly agreed to accede to India.
Five other theories Some other reasons might also have affected the decision of Rana Chander Singh: i) Hindu Muslim unity of Sindh before partition. ii) Rana Chander Singh’s love for and pride in Sindhi culture.
iii) The area is economically dependent on fertile areas of Sindh (Sindh river valley especially Karachi) and it was too far from any major city of India. Ram Raghuwanshi adds, ‘Amarkot/ Umarkot lies in Sindh…. and there is whole Thar desert between [the bnearest] Indian state and Amarkot. On the map it may look connected to India but [actually] they have to cross whole desert to reach India.
Another reason is that the rulers of Amarkot had a good understanding with Muslim politicians. So they thought it will not be a big issue to remain in Pakistan. The king of Amarkot later became a founding member of PPP and then a federal minister in Pakistan.
iv) Nehru and the Congress at the time, driven by socialism had made it quite clear that they would not allow the Kings and Princes much say in the governance of their former realms. As socialists, they were bound by their ideology to take a hard stance against the monarchies of India.
Jinnah was not bound by any such ideology and was willing to offer monarchs more leeway if they chose Pakistan. He tried to woo the King of Jodhpur also and the king was seriously considering joining Pakistan before V.P Menon got to him.
The Rana of Umerkot was under the impression that his interests would be better protected in Pakistan as opposed to socialist India.
v) With Umerkot’s realm coming inside the Pakistan-side of the Radcliffe line, Umerkot decided that being a part of Pakistan was inevitable anyway. If the prince pretended to join willingly, he may even get a favorable deal from Jinnah and Pakistan.
According to Vikram Singh, his grandfather Rana Arjun opted for Pakistan because of his love for Sindh and hatred for Congress. “This area used to have a Hindu majority,” Vikram explains. “But migration has been on the rise.” He mentions the persecution of the Hindu community, religious intolerance, and the government’s lack of interest in improving inter-faith harmony for Hindus, especially the trading community, as factors making them want to leave. “Many of them are now settled in India,” Vikram says.
In 2016, the population of Umerkot was estimated to be equally divided between Hindus and Muslims. At the time of partition, Umerkot was estimated to be 80 per cent Hindu.
2010: Hamir Singh is crowned Rana
Sunny Sebastian, Pakistan's Umerkot gets a new Hindu ruler, The Hindu, May 30, 2010
JAIPUR: A successor to the former Hindu ruler of Umerkot, the late Rana Chander Singh, was anointed in Pakistan this past Sunday. A large number of Hindus and the predominant Sindhi Muslim population of Tharparkar, Umerkot and Mithi -- places not far from the Indo-Pakistan border -- joined the stately procession of Hamir Singh, who was crowned the 26 {+t} {+h} Rana of Rajputs, also referred to as the Rana of the Thakurs of Tharparkar.
The 53-year-old Hamir Singh, son of the late ruler who passed away in August 2009 and the scion of the Sodha-Parmar clan, is a political person. He held the portfolios of Science and Technology and Agriculture as Minister during the second tenure of the late Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. A popular figure among the people of the border districts and three times MLA, he also worked as the deputy Nizam of Umerkot.
The leading Pakistani newspaper The Dawn reported the event in a report datelined Mithi, the headquarters of Tharparkar district, on May 25: “The coronation, held at the playground of Govt. Boys' High School, drew a large number of elders of the community and the local elite. People belonging to different faiths turned up to watch the event. The ceremony began with the entry into Mithi of a convoy of hundreds of vehicles from Rana Jagir (Rana's native village near Umerkot) .When the caravan stopped at the old Naka (checkpoint), two girls sang aarti in praise of a deity during which worshippers held a platter containing incense”.
The coronation ceremony was a gala event, which for any Indian onlooker would have resembled the crowning of a Rajasthani prince of yore --for Umerkot is only 40 km from Khokrapar, the first railway station in Pakistan if one enters from Rajasthan's Barmer district.
Rana Hamir sat on a colourfully decorated chariot even as the Thakurs, donning traditional headgear, stood on both sides of the road. Pir Ladhu Singh, the guardian of Pir Pithoro shrine, put a golden crown on the head of Hamir Singh marking the continuation of the 800-year- old tradition.
“Both the Hindu and Muslim communities recognise the authority of Rana. This part of the Thar in Sindh is called Dhata and Rana of Amarkot is Rana of Dhata,” said Hamir Singh, talking to The Hindu from Umerkot on phone. Like in the case of the former royal families in Rajasthan, the Rana has Thakurs placed directly under him while the Muslim tribes are represented by the “Pradhans”.
“An area spread over 22,000 sq km follows this tradition and, irrespective of religion, accepts us. The coronation was a public affair with the full involvement of all the communities,” said Mr. Hamir Singh, who maintains his links with India, especially Rajasthan, the home of many of his people, the Sodha Rajputs.
