Sindhi Sammat

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The Sammat (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.; sammāṭ, samāṭr, sammāṭh) is the indigenous community of Sindhi people, comprising a number of native tribes and forming a substantial portion of the Sindhi Muslim population.[1][2] Hindu Sammats are also extant.[3]

The term Sammat refers to Sindhis of indigenous origin.[4][5] Scholarship dates the presence of Sammat tribes in the region to ancient times.[6] The Sammats are regarded as a traditionally privileged group within Sindhi society.[7] Sammat rulers feature prominently in the verse of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, the eighteenth-century Sindhi poet.[3] In contemporary Sindh, the Sammat castes are conventionally ranked second to Sayeds and other castes claiming Arab descent.[8]

Subgroups[edit | edit source]

Sindhi Jats[edit | edit source]

Further information: Sindhi Jats and Zutt
A gold dinar minted in Egypt, displaying the names of the caliph and the Zutt emir Ubaydallah ibn al-Sari

Originating in the lower Indus Valley, many Sindhi Jats migrated to lower Iraq between the fifth and eleventh centuries, where they formed the Zuṭṭ (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) community.[9][10] In the eighth century, Arab conquerors recorded several agglomerations of Jats and Meds across lower and central Sindh.[11] A further migration into the Punjab occurred between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries, during which Sindhi Jat groups settled on cultivable land and gradually adopted sedentary agriculture.[12][13][14]

Some Sindhi Jat communities, together with other Sindhi groups such as the Jadgals[15] and Jamotes,[16] are present in modern Balochistan, particularly across the Kacchi Plain, Las Bela, and Makran.[17] They are collectively referred to as the Jats of Balochistan.[18]

Soomros[edit | edit source]

Further information: Soomro and Soomro dynasty

The Soomros are a tribe of local origin[19][20] who founded the Soomro Sultanate (1026–1351), restoring native rule in Sindh after the period of Arab governance.[21] Modern historians, including André Wink, describe the Soomras as a dynasty of local origin who later claimed Rajput and, in some cases, Arab descent.[22] Members of the Soomro tribe were among the earliest converts to Islam in Sindh from Hinduism, although early Soomro practice has been characterised as syncretic, retaining a number of pre-Islamic customs.[23]

Sammas[edit | edit source]

Further information: Samma (tribe) and Samma dynasty

The Sammas originated in Sindh. Early Samma communities are recorded as concentrated in Brahmanabad and its surrounding areas.[24] They subsequently displaced the Soomros and established the Samma Sultanate (1351–1524).[25] The Sultanate maintained close relations with the Sultanate of Gujarat,[26] and offshoots of the Samma — including the Jadejas and Chudasamas — established themselves in Saurashtra and Kutch.[26][27]

The Sandhai Muslims are also identified as a Samma-related community.[28]

Kalhoras[edit | edit source]

Further information: Kalhora and Kalhora dynasty

The Kalhoras are a Sammat group of native origin.[29][30] They founded the Kalhora dynasty, which exercised authority over Sindh and parts of Kutch in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.[31]

Daudpotras[edit | edit source]

Further information: Daudpotra and Bahawalpur (princely state)
Noor Mahal, built in 1872 by Sadeq Mohammad Khan IV

The Daudpotras were a prominent tribe of lower Sindh, closely related to the Kalhoras and regarded as a Kalhora offshoot.[32] The Daudpotras migrated northwards and were granted jagirs by the Nawabs of Multan and the Sheikhs of Uch, laying the foundations for the Bahawalpur State.[33][34] [35] The state subsequently became a princely state of the British Raj and was the first to accede to the Dominion of Pakistan in 1947.[36]

Sindhi Lohanas[edit | edit source]

Further information: Lohana, Sindhi Memon, and Khoja

The Sindhi Lohanas are identified in older sources as a Sammat group of indigenous origin.[24][37] Sindhi Lohanas and their offshoot communities have historically been associated with urban trade and commerce in Sindh.[38]

The Sindhi Memon and Sindhi Khoja communities are considered offshoots of the Lohanas.[39][38]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Jones, Allen Keith (2003). Politics in Sindh, 1907–1940: Muslim Identity and the Demand for Pakistan. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 4. ISBN 9780195795936. The vast majority of the Sindhi Muslim population—roughly 70 per cent—comprised of Pukka Sindhis, persons belonging to the Jat, Sammat....
  2. ↑ Shah, Nafisa (31 December 2022). "Introduction. Honour Violence, Law and Power in Upper Sindh". Honour and Violence: Gender, Power and Law in Southern Pakistan. Berghahn Books: 16. doi:10.1515/9781785330827-006. ISBN 978-1-78533-082-7.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hussain 2022, p. 476.
  4. ↑ Weekes, Richard V. (1984). Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey (Second, Revised and Expanded ed.). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 685. ISBN 0-313-23392-6. Sammat to refer to those Sindhis with indigenous origins
  5. ↑ Abdulla, Ahmed (1973). The Historical Background of Pakistan and Its People. Tanzeem Publishers. p. 96. Among others are the Bhuttos, Bhattis, Lakha, Sahetas, Lohanas, Mohano, Dahars, Indhar, Chachar, Dhareja, Rathors, Dakhan, Langah etc. ... All these old Sindhi tribes are known under the common nomenclature of Sammat.
  6. ↑ Talbot, Ian (1990). Provincial Politics and the Pakistan Movement: The Growth of the Muslim League in North-West and North-East India 1937–47 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780195773873.
  7. ↑ Hussain 2022, p. 469.
  8. ↑ Hussain 2022, p. 487.
  9. ↑ Wink, André (2002). Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, 7th–11th Centuries. Brill. pp. 48, 157, 160. ISBN 978-0-391-04173-8.
  10. ↑ Maclean, Derryl N. (1984). Religion and Society in Arab Sind (Thesis). McGill University. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-315-20821-6.
  11. ↑ Mayaram, Shail (2003). Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins. Columbia University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-231-12730-1.
  12. ↑ Ansari, Sarah F. D. (1992). Sufi Saints and State Power: The Pirs of Sind, 1843–1947. Cambridge University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-521-40530-0.
  13. ↑ Grewal, J. S. (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-521-63764-0.
  14. ↑ Asher, Catherine B.; Talbot, Cynthia (16 March 2006). India Before Europe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-80904-7.
  15. ↑ Illustrated Weekly of Pakistan. Pakistan Herald Publications. 1964. p. 30. Jadgals who migrated from Sind via Bela to Panjgur.
  16. ↑ 1998 District Census Report of Malir. Population Census Organisation, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 1999. p. 11. Among Sindhis the tribes are Syed, Jokhia, Khaskheli, Palari, Bareja, Bhabra, Dhars, Sirhindi, Jamot and Mohanas.
  17. ↑ Nicolini, Beatrice (1 January 2004). Makran, Oman, and Zanzibar: Three-Terminal Cultural Corridor in the Western Indian Ocean, 1799–1856. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-13780-6.
  18. ↑ Peterson, J. E. "Oman's Diverse Society: Northern Oman" (PDF). JE Peterson. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  19. ↑ Dani, Ahmad Hasan (2007). History of Pakistan: Pakistan through Ages. Sang-e-Meel Publications. ISBN 978-969-35-2020-0. But as many kings of the dynasty bore local names, it is almost certain that the Soomras were of local origin.
  20. ↑ Panhwar, M. H.; Soomra National Council (Pakistan) (2003). An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Soomra Kingdom of Sindh: 1011–1351 AD. Soomra National Council. p. 26.
  21. ↑ "The Arab Conquest". International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics. 36 (1): 91. 2007.
  22. ↑ Wink, André (2002). Al-Hind: The Slavic Kings and the Islamic Conquest, 11th–13th Centuries. Brill. ISBN 978-0-391-04174-5.
  23. ↑ Siddiqui, Habibullah. "The Soomras of Sindh: Their Origin, Main Characteristics and Rule – an Overview (General Survey) (1025–1351 AD)" (PDF). Literary Conference on Soomra Period in Sindh.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Wink, André (2002). Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, 7th–11th Centuries. Vol. 1. Brill. pp. 158–159. ISBN 978-0-391-04125-7.
  25. ↑ Rapson, Edward James; Haig, Wolseley; Burn, Richard; Dodwell, Henry (1965). The Cambridge History of India: Turks and Afghans. Chand. p. 518.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Desai, Anjali H. (2007). India Guide Gujarat. India Guide Publications. pp. 311–. ISBN 978-0-9789517-0-2.
  27. ↑ Sheikh, Samira (2009). "Pastoralism, Trade, and Settlement in Saurashtra and Kachchh". Forging a Region: Sultans, Traders, and Pilgrims in Gujarat, 1200–1500. Oxford University Press. pp. 101–128. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198060192.003.0004. ISBN 9780198060192.
  28. ↑ Singh, K. S. (1996). Communities, Segments, Synonyms, Surnames and Titles. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 1747. ISBN 978-0-19-563357-3.
  29. ↑ Hussain, Ghulam (1 February 2020). "'Dalits are in India, not in Pakistan': Exploring the Discursive Bases of the Denial of Dalitness under the Ashrafia Hegemony". Journal of Asian and African Studies. 55 (1): 17–43. doi:10.1177/0021909619863455. ISSN 0021-9096. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  30. ↑ Pakistan's Sindh Province (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service. p. 3.
  31. ↑ "Sindhi Adabi Board Online Library (Stories)". Sindhi Adabi Board. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  32. ↑ Ansari, A.S. Bazmee (24 April 2012). "Dāwūdpōtrās". Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912. ISSN 1573-3912. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  33. ↑ Naeem, Anila (5 April 2017). "Shikarpoor Historic Town. Introduction, Background and Development". Urban Traditions and Historic Environments in Sindh. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 28–29. doi:10.1515/9789048531257-005. ISBN 9789048531257.
  34. ↑ Khalid, Samia (1 June 2017). "Women of Bahawalpur State during the Nineteenth Century: A Socio-Economic Study". Pakistan Journal of Women's Studies: Alam-e-Niswan. 24 (1): 2.
  35. ↑ Khan, Ansar Zahid (24 April 2012). "S̲h̲ikārpūr". Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. ISSN 1573-3912. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  36. ↑ Long, Roger D.; Singh, Gurharpal; Samad, Yunas; Talbot, Ian (8 October 2015). State and Nation-Building in Pakistan: Beyond Islam and Security. Routledge. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-317-44820-4.
  37. ↑ Jalal, Hamid (1977). Pakistan: Past and Present – A Comprehensive Study Published in Commemoration of the Centenary of the Birth of the Founder of Pakistan. Stacey International. ISBN 978-0-9503304-9-5. Sammat, by race descended from the Samma, Rajput, Lakha, Lohana and Jat inhabitants of the country at the time of its conquest by Muhammad bin Qasim.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Boivin, Michel (18 March 2024). Devotion, Religious Authority, and Social Structures in Sindh: Khojas, Vanyos, and Faqirs. Brill. pp. 29, 122. ISBN 978-90-04-69529-0.
  39. ↑ Herzig, Pascale (2006). South Asians in Kenya: Gender, Generation and Changing Identities in Diaspora. LIT Verlag. p. 118. ISBN 978-3-8258-0052-9.

Bibliography[edit | edit source]

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