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{{Short description|Rajput caste in India and Pakistan}}
{{about|the tribe|the dynasty established by the tribe|Soomra dynasty|other uses|Soomro (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox ethnic group|
| group = '''Soomro'''
| image =
| poptime =
| popplace = [[Sindh]] <small>([[Pakistan]])</small>, [[India]]
| langs = [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
| related = [[Sindhi people|Sindhi]]s
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
}}
'''Soomro''' ({{lang-sd|{{Naskh|سومرو}}}}, ([[Devanagari]]): सूमरो), '''Soomra,''' '''Sumrah''' or '''Sumra''' is a clan having a local origin in [[Sindh]] who are considered to belong to [[Rajput]] tribe.<ref name="Wink 2002 166">{{Cite book |last=Wink |first=André |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2m7_R5P2oAC&q=al+hind+andre+wink |title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7Th-11th Centuries |date=2002 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-0-391-04173-8 |pages=166 |language=en|quote= In Lower Sind however we become dimly aware of the existence in the eighth and ninth centuries of a tribal people, the Sumras, who shortly after the death of Mahmud of Ghazna became quasi-independent rulers throughout the Multan region, even when it remained nominally incorporated in the Ghaznavid and Ghurid dominion and subsequently in the Delhi Sultanate. The Sumras were a dynasty of local origin, later claiming to be Rajputs as well as Arabs, and are clearly distinguishable from the pastoral-nomadic Jats or Mids. In fact, it could very well be that next to the Baluchi immigration from the west, the rise of the Sumras was a factor in pushing the Jats of Lower Sind northward.}}</ref> They are found in Sindh, parts of [[Punjab region|Punjab]] especially bordering Sindh, [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] province, and the [[Kutch district]] of the Indian state of [[Gujarat]] and also [[Rajasthan]].<ref name="Journal">{{cite journal |title=The Arab Conquest |journal=International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics |date=2007 |volume=36 |issue=1 |page=91 |quote=The Soomras are believed to be Parmar Rajputs found even today in Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Kutch and Sindh. The Cambridge History of India refers to the Soomras as "a Rajput dynasty the later members of which accepted Islam" (p. 54 ).}}</ref><ref name="Siddiqui"/><ref name="sen2">{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |pages=114}}</ref>

The Soomro tribe established the [[Soomra dynasty]] in 1025 CE, which re-established native Sindhi rule over Sindh since the [[Arab]] conquests.<ref name="Journal"/> Many members of the Soomro caste were one of the first in [[Sindh]] to convert to [[Islam]] from [[Hinduism]] but initially continued to maintain several Hindu customs and traditions.<ref name="Siddiqui">{{cite journal |last=Siddiqui |first=Habibullah |title=The Soomras of Sindh: their origin, main characteristics and rule – an overview (general survey) (1025 – 1351 AD) |url=http://www.uok.edu.pk/faculties/sindhi/docs/soomroEng.pdf |journal=Literary Conference on Soomra Period in Sindh |quote=}}</ref><ref name="Journal" />

== Origins ==
Many authors have presented conflicting accounts of Soomro's origins. Some say their origins to be of [[Rajput]]s who migrated to Sindh from [[Rajasthan]]<ref name="Siddiqui" /> by linking them to the [[Parmar]] clan of Rajputs.<ref name="Journal" /><ref name="Siddiqui" /> Others like Ahmad Hasan Dani claims that "of this there is no definite proof" though he too affirms that they originate in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_xtAAAAMAAJ&q=soomra+dynasty|title=History of Pakistan: Pakistan through ages|last=Dani|first=Ahmad Hasan|date=2007|publisher=Sang-e Meel Publications|isbn=978-969-35-2020-0|language=en|quote=But as many kings of the dynasty bore local names, it is almost certain that the Soomras were of local origin. Sometimes they are connected with Paramara Rajputs, but of this there is no definite proof.}}</ref> M. H. Panhwar, a Sindhologist, also rejects a Rajput origin and attributes its to James Todd but still accepts native origin.<ref name="Panhwar Soomra National Council (Pakistan) 2003">{{cite book | last=Panhwar | first=M.H. | author2=Soomra National Council (Pakistan) | title=An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Soomra Kingdom of Sindh: 1011-1351 AD | publisher=Soomra National Council, Pakistan | year=2003 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-BtuAAAAMAAJ | access-date=2022-07-27 | page= 26 (on pdf) |quote= “Presence of Soomras in Kutch, Gujarat and Rajasthan in small numbers does not make them Rajputs either… All British period historians given in the table at end of this chapter have called Soomras as Rajputs under influence of Todd's writings. Actually they were local converted to Ismailism.”}}</ref> Some writers have detailed about a subdivision in [[Jats]] with the name "Sumra".<ref name="Khan Choonara 2004 p.130">{{cite book | last1=Khan | first1=H.A. | last2=Choonara | first2=S. | title=Re-Thinking Punjab: The Construction of Siraiki Identity | publisher=Research and Publication Centre (RPC), National College of Arts | year=2004 | isbn=978-969-8623-09-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nV71AwAAQBAJ | access-date=2022-07-27 | page=130 | quote= Other important braches and sub-divisions of the Jat in the Siraiki area include Panhwar, Parihar, Chajra, Daha, Jhakkar, Joiya, Guraha, Bhatti, Massan, Bhutta, Sahu, Sial, Jangla, Thind, Samtia, Sehar, Sumra…}}</ref><ref name="Bhatia 1987 p.24">{{cite book | last=Bhatia | first=S. | title=Social Change and Politics in Punjab, 1898-1910 | publisher=Enkay Publishers | year=1987 | isbn=978-81-85148-13-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qnVuAAAAMAAJ | access-date=2022-07-29 | page=24 |quote= The Jats were divided into several tribes . In the Western plain ( i.e. , West of Lahore ) excluding the salt range , and sub - montane tracts were to be found the Tahim , Butta , Langah , Sumra , Sipra and Hans}}</ref> But Historian [[André Wink]] has mentioned that the Soomras were not Jats.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wink |first=André |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC&dq=samma+andre+wink&pg=PA159 |title=Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World |date=1991 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-09249-5 |pages=159 |language=en|quote=The Sammas rose to great power in Sind at about 1351 A.D., displacing the Sumras, who were not Jats and had achieved control of Lower Sind shortly after the death of Mahmud of Ghazna.}}</ref>

He has also explained that Soomras who were of local Sindhi origin and had been semi-independent rulers after the death of [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] were different to pastoral-nomadic [[Jats]] or [[Med people|Meds]]. As per him, rise of Soomras was one of the factor in movement of the Jats of lower Sindh towards north.<ref name="Wink 2002 166"/> Ghulam Hussain and others argue that the Soomros and other native tribes indigenous to Sindh slowly began to [[Caste system among South Asian Muslims|'Ashrafize']] themselves by remaking their genealogies to further associate themselves with [[Sayyid#South Asia|Syeds]] whom they possibly intermarried and acquired power through.<ref name="Hussain pp. 24">{{cite journal | last=Hussain | first=Ghulam | title=Dalits are in India, not in Pakistan: Exploring the Discursive Bases of the Denial of Dalitness under the Ashrafia Hegemony | journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies | publisher=SAGE Publications | volume=55 | issue=1 | date=2019-08-02 | issn=0021-9096 | doi=10.1177/0021909619863455 | pages=24 | s2cid=201404746 | quote= Soomra, Samma and Kalhora indigenous castes (locally known as Sammat) were further ashrafized. After conversion to Islam they intermarried with local Arab landowners and thus had acquired great influence and power. By furnishing Tuhfa-tul-Kiram and Beglar Namah, the two books on the history, as the reference, they reconstructed their genealogies to have roots in Arabs and in association with the Sayeds. Hence, the Soomras claimed to be Sumerian Arabs; Sammas, the descendants of Jamshed Abbasi of Persia, and Kalhoras traced their descent to Abbasid Khalifas
}}</ref><ref name="Siddiqui" />

Tarikh Waqa`i Rajisthan corroborates this viewpoint and confirms that Soomras were originally "Parmar Rajputs".<ref name="Siddiqui" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Molai |first=Rahim Dad Khan |title=Jannat Sindh - Sindhi Adabi Board Online Library (History) |url=http://www.sindhiadabiboard.org/catalogue/history/Book50/Book_page9.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124173139/http://www.sindhiadabiboard.org/catalogue/history/Book50/Book_page9.html |archive-date=2022-01-24 |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=www.sindhiadabiboard.org}}</ref>

Pre-eminent Sindhi scholar [[Nabi Bakhsh Baloch|Nabi Baksh Baloch]] tried to reconcile all different conflicting accounts of Soomra origin. He considered Soomras, a hybrid race that was mix of Sindhi-Arab blood, emerged after the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Ummayad caliph]] [[Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik]]’s decree asking Arab officers posted in Sindh to settle in the land permanently. Consequently they took Sindhi wives and subsequently married their daughters in Sindhi families.<ref name="Siddiqui" />
Hence, Dr. Baloch writes that:<ref name="Siddiqui" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Soomran Jo Daur - Sindhi Adabi Board Online Library (History) |url=http://www.sindhiadabiboard.org/catalogue/history/Book37/Book_page1.html |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=www.sindhiadabiboard.org}}</ref><blockquote>Soomras were descendents of these hybrid princes, whose ancestors, according to common legend, were either Arabs or their grand-sons on the mothers’ side</blockquote>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Sindhi tribes}}

[[Category:Rajput clans]]
[[Category:Surnames]]
[[Category:Sindhi tribes]]
[[Category:Maldhari communities]]

Soomro - Revision history

Advanced Academy: minor update

Ajay Kumar: Add new article

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