VirgilBugnion41 at 03:46, 26 November 2025

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{{short description|Ancient people in the western South Asia}}
{{for|the kingdoms in the Ramayana and Mahabharata|Sindhu Kingdom|Sauvira Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name =
| conventional_long_name = Sindhu-Sauvīra
| common_name = Sindhu-Sauvīra
| today = Pakistan
| era = Iron Age India
| status =
| status_text =
| empire =
| government_type = Monarchy
| event_start =
| date_start =
| year_start = {{c.|1000 BCE}}
| event_end = Conquered by the [[Achaemenid Empire]]
| date_end =
| year_end = {{c.|518 BCE}}
| p1 =
| s1 = Hindush{{!}}{{center|{{transliteration|peo|Hiⁿdūš}}<br><small>(Achaemenid Empire)</small>}}
| image_map = Mahajanapadas (c. 500 BCE).png
| image_map_alt =
| image_map_caption = The Sindhu-Sauvīra kingdom and the [[Mahajanapadas|Mahājanapada]]s in the Post Vedic period
| capital = [[Aror|Roruka]] or [[Aror|Vītabhaya]]/[[Aror|Vītībhaya]]
| common_languages = [[Prakrit]]s
| religion = [[Jainism]] and [[Historical Vedic Religion]]
| currency =
| leader1 =
| year_leader1 =
| title_leader =
}}
'''Sindhu-Sauvīra''' ([[Sanskrit]]: {{transliteration|sa|Sindhu-Sauvīra}}; [[Pali|Pāli]]: {{transliteration|pi|Sindhu-Sovīra}}) was an ancient [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] [[Monarchy|kingdom]] of the lower [[Indus River|Indus Valley]] in western [[South Asia]] (present-day [[Sindh]]) whose existence is attested during the [[Iron Age in India|Iron Age]]. The inhabitants of Sindhu were called the '''Saindhavas''', and the inhabitants of Sauvīra were called '''Sauvīrakas'''.

==Location==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction =vertical
| total_width=250
| image1 = Late Vedic Culture (1100-500 BCE).png
| caption1 = Location of Sindhu-Sauvīra during the late Vedic period
| image3 = India 500 BCE.jpg
| caption3 = Location of Sindhu-Sauvīra with respect to the Mahājanapadas and within the Achaemenid Empire
| caption_align = center
| footer=
}}
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
The territory of Sindhu-Sauvīra covered the lower [[Indus River|Indus]] Valley,<ref name="Raychaudhuri">{{cite book |last=Raychaudhuri |first=Hemchandra |author-link=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri |date=1953 |title=Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of Gupta Dynasty |url= |location= |publisher=[[University of Calcutta]] |page=197 |isbn=}}</ref> with its southern border being the [[Indian Ocean]] and its northern border being the [[Punjab|Pañjāb]] around [[Multan|Multān]].{{sfn|Jain|1974|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 209]-[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 210]}}

Sindhu was the name of the inland area between the Indus River and the [[Sulaiman Mountains]], while Sauvīra was the name for the coastal part of the kingdom as well as the inland area to the east of the Indus river as far north as the area of modern-day Multan.{{sfn|Jain|1974|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 209]-[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 210]}}

The capital of Sindhu-Sauvīra was named Roruka and Vītabhaya or Vītībhaya, and corresponds to the mediaeval [[Aror|Arohṛ]] and the modern-day [[Rohri|Rohṛī]].{{sfn|Jain|1974|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 209]-[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 210]}}{{sfn|Sikdar|1964|p=501-502}}<ref name="Raychaudhuri"/> Roruka is mentioned in the Buddhist literature as a major trading center.<ref>Derryl N. MacLean (1989), [https://books.google.com/books?id=xxAVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA63 ''Religion and Society in Arab Sind''], p.63</ref>

==History==
Sindhu-Sauvira finds mention in [[Vedic period|Late Vedic]],<ref>Michael Witzel (1987), "On the localisation of Vedic texts and schools (Materials on Vedic Śākhās, 7)" in G. Pollet (ed.), ''India and the Ancient world. History, Trade and Culture before A.D. 650''</ref> early [[Buddhist literature|Buddhist]] and early [[Jain literature]].

===Kingdom===
During the 6th to 5th centuries BCE, the Sindhu-Sauvīra was ruled by a powerful king named Udāyana or Udrāyaṇa or Rudrāyaṇa by various sources.<ref name="Raychaudhuri"/>{{sfn|Jain|1974|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n83/mode/2up 66]}}{{sfn|Jain|1974|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 209]-[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 210]}} Udāyana was married to the princess Prabhāvatī, who was the daughter of [[Chetaka|Ceṭaka]], the consul of the powerful [[Vajjika League]] in north-east South Asia, and was herself thus the cousin of the 24th [[Jainism|Jain]] [[Tirthankara|Tīrthaṅkara]] [[Mahavira|Mahāvīra]], himself the son of Chetaka's sister [[Trishala|Trisalā]].{{sfn|Sikdar|1964|p=388-464}}{{sfn|Deo|1956|p=71}} Ceṭaka had become an adept of the teachings of his nephew Mahāvīra and adopted Jainism, thus making the Licchavika and Vajjika capital of [[Vaishali (ancient city)|Vesālī]] a bastion of Jainism, and the marriages of his daughters to various leaders, in turn, contributed to the spreading of Jainism across northern South Asia.{{sfn|Jain|1974|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n85/mode/2up 67]}}

Therefore, according to Jain sources, Udāyana converted to [[Jainism]] after hearing Mahāvīra preach at Vītabhya, and he abdicated his throne and became a Jain monk after installing his nephew by his sister, Keśīkumāra, as king of Sindhu-Sauvira, instead of his own son, Abhijitkumāra, who found asylum at the court of [[Ajatashatru|Kūṇika]], the governor of the [[Anga|Āṅgeya]] city of Campā for the count of the king of [[Magadha]].{{sfn|Sikdar|1964|p=501-502}}{{sfn|Jain|1974|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 209]-[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 210]}} However, Buddhist sources instead claim that Udrāyaṇa embraced Buddhism and was ordained by the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]].{{sfn|Jain|1974|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 209]-[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385/page/n227/mode/2up 210]}}

===Persian conquest===
{{main|Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley|Hindush}}
In 518 BCE, Sindhu-Sauvīra was [[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley|conquered]] by the [[Persians|Persian]] [[Achaemenid Empire]]'s King of Kings, [[Darius the Great|Darius I]], after which it was organised into the satrapy (province) of [[Hindush|{{transliteration|peo|Hiⁿdūš}}]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Boardman |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Boardman (art historian) |editor2-last=Hammond |editor2-first=N. G. L. |editor2-link=N. G. L. Hammond |editor3-last=Lewis |editor3-first=D. M. |editor3-link=David Malcolm Lewis |editor4-last=Ostwald |editor4-first=M. |editor4-link=Martin Ostwald |author-last=Young |author-first=T. Cuyler |author-link= |date=1988 |chapter=The consolidation of the empire and its limits of growth under Darius and Xerxes |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |volume=4 |url= |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=53–111 |isbn=978-0-521-22804-6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Boardman |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Boardman (art historian) |editor2-last=Hammond |editor2-first=N. G. L. |editor2-link=N. G. L. Hammond |editor3-last=Lewis |editor3-first=D. M. |editor3-link=David Malcolm Lewis |editor4-last=Ostwald |editor4-first=M. |editor4-link=Martin Ostwald |author-last=Bivar |author-first=A. D. H. |author-link=David Bivar |date=1988 |chapter=The Indus Lands |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |volume=4 |url= |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=194–210 |isbn=978-0-521-22804-6 }}</ref>

===Later history===
Roruka was probably the capital of the king Mousikanos, who was encountered by [[Alexander the Great]] while [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|sailing down the Indus in 326 BCE]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Allchin | first=F.R. | last2=Erdosy | first2=G. | title=The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1995 | isbn=978-0-521-37695-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5kI02_zW70C&pg=PA292 | page=292}}</ref>

The Sauvīra people or country were mentioned in the [[Rudradaman I#Other facts|Junâgaḍh inscription of Rudradáman]] (150 CE).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fleet|first1=J.F.|title=Topographical List of the Brihat-Samhita|journal=The Indian Antiquary: A Journal of Oriental Research|date=1893|volume=22|page=189|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzVCAQAAMAAJ&q=sauvira&pg=PA189|access-date=13 September 2015|location=Bombay}}</ref>

Buddhist sites in Sindh are numerous, including a stupa at [[Mansura, Sindh|Brahmanabad (Mansura)]]; [[Siraj-ji-Takri|Sirah-ji-takri]] near [[Rohri]], [[Sukkur]]; [[Kahu-Jo-Darro|Kahu-Jo-Daro]] at [[Mirpur Khas]], [[Nawabshah]]; [[Sudheran-Jo-Thul]] near Hyderabad; [[Thul Mir Rukan]] stupa; [[Thul Hairo Khan (Buddhist Stupa)|Thul Hairo Khan Stupa]]; Bhaleel-Shah-Thul square stupas (5th–7th century A.D) at [[Dadu District|Dadu]], and Kot-Bambhan-Thul buddhist tower near [[Tando Muhammad Khan]]. In the 12th century king [[Kumarapala (Chaulukya dynasty)|Kumarapala]] excavated an ancient [[Jivantasvami]] [[Mahavira]] image from the ruins of Vītabhaya-pattana, and brought it to be installed at a Jain temple in his capital city [[Patan, Gujarat|Patan]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Shah | first=U.P. | title=Jaina-rūpa-maṇḍana | publisher=Abhinav Publications | issue=v. 1 | year=1987 | isbn=978-81-7017-208-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_y_P4duSXsC&pg=PA37 | page = 37}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Sindhis]]
*[[History of India]]
*[[History of Pakistan]]
*[[Gandhāra (kingdom)]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

===Works cited===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Deo |first=Shantaram Bhalchandra |date=1956 |title=History of Jaina Monachism from Inscriptions and Literature |url= |location=[[Pune]], [[India]] |publisher=[[Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute]] |isbn=978-9-333-68377-7 }}
*{{cite book |last=Jain |first=Kailash Chand |author-link= |date=1974 |title=Lord Mahāvīra and His Times |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72385 |location=[[Delhi]], [[India]] |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |page=66 |isbn=978-8-120-80805-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Sharma |first=J. P. |author-link= |date=1968 |title=Republics in Ancient India, C. 1500 B.C.-500 B.C. |url= |location=[[Leiden]], [[Netherlands]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|E. J. Brill]] |page= |isbn=978-9-004-02015-3 }}
*{{cite book |last=Sikdar |first=Jogendra Chandra |author-link= |date=1964 |title=Studies in the Bhagawatīsūtra |url= |location=[[Muzaffarpur]], [[Bihar]], [[India]] |publisher=Research Institute of Prakrit, Jainology & Ahimsa |pages=388–464 |isbn= }}
{{refend}}

{{History of Sindh}}

[[Category:History of Pakistan]]
[[Category:History of Sindh]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Pakistan]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 6th century BC]]

Sindhu-Sauvīra - Revision history

VirgilBugnion41 at 03:46, 26 November 2025