Bhaiband
Encyclopedia
Bhaiband, meaning “brotherhood”, a Jāti
designating the higher segment of the Kshatriya
Lohana
caste in the Hindus of Sindh & Balochistan who are of Rajput
Suryavanshi lineage. Bhaiband, historically associated with the Sindh region of modern Pakistan prior to the Partition of India.
It is also believed that Bhaibands are of Indo-Aryan origin and considered as the indigenous warriors, 'Khatris' or 'Kshyatria'. Their roots are believed to be Indo-scythian and Indo-Aryan origin, as opposed to the Indo-Greek origins of Amils. The Amil Sindhis (Malkanis, Advanis and Jethmalanis - communities of academics) for example were a cross-breed of Indo-Iranian Sindhis and Alexandrian Greeks, and thus emphasized more on education. The Bhaibands of Sindh who were converted to Islam by Muhammad bin Qasim are called - Memon.
In the later years, many Bhaibands turned into merchants due to coastal trade with Oman and Gwadar-Vasni (Indonesia). Bhaibands do not worry about getting jobs. Earlier, they usually teach their sons some Sindhi alphabets and a bit of arithmetic and after which they are made to work at their own shops or offices to become knowledegeable about business. There are some Bhaibands who were earlier Amils. Among Amils, there were many families where their sons didn’t pursue education. These uneducated boys were taught trade and the family members called them Bhaibands. The Baibands, by practice of thrift and usury, gradually pulled up to be recognized as second rung behind the Amils. Some Bhaibands went abroad to do business. Bhaibands established trading posts throughout the world and dealt in fabrics. Many became extremely rich and their women-folk were renowned for their richly dressed, bejeweled appearances. Generally, a boy of seventeen or so, among Bhaibands, went abroad for some time. That was called his first tour. When he finished his tour he came back to Hyderabad and was married. The Bhaiband men went to different lands: Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Saigon, Java, Sumatra …even the remote corners of the world and did business. They suffered many difficulties. They had to learn the language of the place and eat food they didn’t like, but they learnt the tricks of the trade. Earlier, in the days of the British, they sold some specially embroidered cloth pieces. English men called those boys Sindh workers and thus the names Sindhwarkee and Sindwark were born. Later, they established their own firms. The members of the firm were brothers or cousins only. Each member set up base in one country. The system of demand and supply used to send these members to different countries and lands in order to spread their network far and wide. Perfumes, cloth, almonds, pistachios, and such goods, bought cheap in one land were sold expensively in other lands and all the partners of the firm became rich. Bhaibands were chiefly traders. No trade was taboo for them. The Sindhis had always traded with foreign lands. Their slogan was: "Service is lowly; agriculture is noble; but trade alone is profitable". A popular saying was that when a Sindhi had money, he would buy or build more and more houses (Jaye Mathan Jaye); when a Muslim had money, he would marry more and more wives (Joye Mathan Joye). Many Bhaibands went to many places all over the world to start businesses there leaving their families in Hyderabad.
Contrary to popular impression, the Amil and the Bhaibands come from the same group of families. Those who took to service became known as Amils (for `amal', to execute) and those who took to business became Bhaibands (Bhai-bandhus).
Mr. Pir Muhammad Ali Rashidi has described the Shikarpur city's historic splendor witnessed by him before the partition of British India in his book "Uhe Deenhan Uhe Sheenhan" (Vol. I - pp 239–240) (Translation by Ramesh Kateja) “Shikarpur…..As I recollect from my early childhood memories, was a paradise for fun-loving wealthy people. The people of Shikarpur, their traditions and the way of life were different from people of other parts of Sindh. The grandeur of city was at its zenith. 'Sindh-warki' Bhaibands (A class of Hindu business community) were dominant; they were engaged in trade with far away regions right up to Samarkand and Bukhara . They would bring all the wealth earned overseas to Shikarpur and spent it there. They owned palatial houses. They would not spare anything to decorate the city and would not hesitate to indulge in charities. They had set up a very big hospital in Shikarpur. In their last days in Sindh, they had established the only medical college in northern Sindh, in Shikarpur only. All these charitable institutions were run with their finances. Their living was not an ordinary one; they lived a posh and majestic life. They had palaces in city, gardens on outskirts of city and bungalows therein evenings were spent in luxury of music and dance; best of the dancers would be invited from Lahore, Bombay and Calcutta . Once in a year they would organize a grand musical feat, where artists from all over India would be invited for competitions where awards and rewards would be showered on them. Motor vehicles were non-existent those days; the rich would travel in Victorias (Big horse driven carriages or buggies), pulled by two mares. Those Victoria saloons and the horses were stunningly beautiful and worth looking at. Riding in those saloons they would pass through Lakhi Daar and reach their garden enclosed bungalows. Liquor (Daroon) would flow, eatables would be made available in abundance, bone-pieces of roasted meat and potato patties would be specially ordered from Hindu chefs of Lakhi Daar. Adequate arrangement of music program would be the order of the evening. Moonlit night, fragrance of flowers, light rhythm of drums, soft notes of Sarangi (An indigenous violin), melodious voice of beautiful damsels would indeed recreate a scene out of paradise! Shikarpuri Bhaibands would comfortably stretch themselves in swinging 'Peenghas' or cots; they would bring out gold guineas from the folds of their Dhotis (an apparel worn waist downward by Hindus.) and offer to singing courtesans. Those days there was no paper currency; "Bald" rupee coins were not generally appreciated. Rich Shikarpuri Bhaibands would consider silver "Bald" rupee coins as an inferior currency. ("Bald" coins were called so, because picture embossed on the coins was that of Edward VII, who was bald) The only worthy currency for them was guineas or coins made of pure gold. Shikarpuri Bhaibands are the pioneers of the financial instrument called "Hundi" or Promissory-Notes as known in banking arena.” They carried on their trade with Baghdad and Basra in Iraq.
After Partition of India, everything has changed. Now Sindhis (Amils & Bhaibands) prefer to live in Dubai , America , Spain , Singapore , and Hong Kong . Now you cannot find any differences between the Amil and Bhaiband sects.
Jati
Jāti is the term used to denote clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities in India. It is a term used across religions. In Indian society each jāti typically has an association with a traditional job function or tribe, although religious beliefs Jāti (in Devanagari: जाति Tamil:சாதி) (the...
designating the higher segment of the Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
Lohana
Lohana
The Lohana also referred to as Luvana are an Indian caste,largely classified as merchants and are categorized as Vaishya or Bania caste although their ancient history proves that they are Kshatriya of Suryavanshi descant, claiming their lineage from Lava, son of Rama...
caste in the Hindus of Sindh & Balochistan who are of Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
Suryavanshi lineage. Bhaiband, historically associated with the Sindh region of modern Pakistan prior to the Partition of India.
It is also believed that Bhaibands are of Indo-Aryan origin and considered as the indigenous warriors, 'Khatris' or 'Kshyatria'. Their roots are believed to be Indo-scythian and Indo-Aryan origin, as opposed to the Indo-Greek origins of Amils. The Amil Sindhis (Malkanis, Advanis and Jethmalanis - communities of academics) for example were a cross-breed of Indo-Iranian Sindhis and Alexandrian Greeks, and thus emphasized more on education. The Bhaibands of Sindh who were converted to Islam by Muhammad bin Qasim are called - Memon.
Migration from Sindh
Many Hindu Sindhi Bhaiband (Ancestors of Budhrani, Mirchandani, Bhojwani, Sadhvani, etc.) and Hindu Sindhi Shikarpuri (Ancestors of Hinduja, Chawla, Raheja, Ahuja) along with other Hindu Sindhis left or fled Sindh during Arab invasion by Muhammad bin Qasim, in 711 AD. They got into boats and went to Bahawalpur and Punjab to disperse in different directions. Most of these Hindu Sindhis had escaped from Aror (Sukkur) near Rohri in North Sindh. Hence, their descendents still call themselves as "Arorvanshis". Many of Amils and Bhaibandsare are descendents of original Arorvanshis (Such as Ahuja or Bajaj or Suchdev or Motwanis of Sukkur or Manchandya nukh of Ajwanis, Bhavnanis, Gidwanis, Jagtianis and Karanmalanis and others). Many of them migrated to different cities/towns of Indian sub-continent (mostly Punjab, Jodhapur and Jaislmer) and many of them migrated to Italy, Germany, Egypt, Turkey and Armenia. They were called 'Banjaras' in India, Sinti in distant European lands, and 'Sintowee' in Mongolia and China. In Balochistan, the home of Bhaiband tribes has been the north-eastern Balochistan with 'Marri' tribes as an off-shoot of the Lohanas (95% follow Islam as of now), district Sibi, district of Lasbella & Hingora mountains with Hinglaj temple as a place of worship for all Bhaibands. The Soomras i.e. Chandravansh Rajputs (indigenous to the region), lived in neighbourhood of Bhaiband/Lohanas, in lasbella.Return to Sindh
When Aurangzeb succeeded Shah Jahan, Hindus came under very evil influence. At once he deprived his Hindu officers of their posts. He drove out his Muslim brethren who were Shias as he was a Sunni himself. After elevating Sunnis to important posts, he turned his wrath on Hindus. The persecutions of Sikhs by Aurangzeb are cited in Sikh history and other history books. Aurangzeb turned out to be oppressor and a great danger to Hindu public. Such persecution usually forces people to flee the country. Many consider this as one of major reason for return of Bhaibands from Punjab, Jodhpur and Jaislmer with the masses escaping where ever they could. From what is stated above, it is not to be under stood necessarily that the ancestors of present day Bhaibands ran only because of Aurangzeb’s persecution. This may have been the initial cause of return to Sindh (where Aurangzeb's reach was limited) which probably commenced from 1670 AD. Thereafter some people went to Sindh for the sake of service with the Sindh rulers or for business and then settled down there. Many did return back, but many were pushed westwards, and thus have never returned. The Bhaiband and Shikarpuri Sindhis, who returned (Sintis) from Armenia, Turkey and Egypt, brought with them business skills and tactics. Many of them settled in Khudabad. In the year 1789, the capital of Sindh shifted from Khudabad to Hyderabad. The change of capital no doubt induced a large number of the population of Khudabad to migrate to Hyderabad, the new seat of royalty. The Sonaras, Amils and Bhaibands who had lived and worked in Khudabad, felt honored to have shifted to Hyderabad with the Rulers and retained the term Khudabadi in the names of their communities as an identifier of the origin and called themselves "Khudabadi Sonara", "Khudabadi Amil" and "Khudabadi Bhaiband".Culture and Lifstyle
Bhaibands are Sindhi Hindus. They generally observe Hindu traditions and customs. Mostly all Bhaiband/Lohanas of Sindh, Balochistan, Multan, Kutch & Gujarat are devotees of Jhulelal. They also pray all Hindu deities along with their revered god Jhulelal. Bhaibunds used to wear Dhoti (loin cloth), Khamiz, long coat, Pugirhi (a specific Turban), mosty white and Bhochhan (a specific cloth, which is kept on shoulders) . They always covered their heads. Persons, who were wearing Pagirhis were great. Bochhan was even very important and mostly white, well planned and decorated. Jamma were specially worn on some occasions, which were almost opened from the front. Some persons even used coats like Sherwanis with gold or Rold golden buttons were mostly black elpac cloth and some preferred white ones, which glorified their personality. Bhaiband were fond of elegant dresses. Males were wearing various dresses on various occasions. In Bhaiband & Shikarpuri Communities, social organization revolves around kinship a 'Nukh' i.e. roots rather than caste. Patrilineage (Beradari) is the most important social institution. The community is governed by a Panchayat, or council of elders, who would, adjudicates disputes within the group or lineages the leader of who is a Mukhi. They are also known as an exogamous Vaishyas merchant class community (those who do not intermarry) within a wider endogamous (those who do intermarry) caste group. These tribes added 'ani' (southern sindh) and 'a' and 'ja' (northern sindh-Hinduja, Raheja, Ahuja, Duseja etc.) to their names. The Muslims merchants of Bhaiband/Lohana origin carried Islam to south western coastal strip of India, Sri-Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei & other south east Asian countries. In Sindh (before partition), the community is centred around Hyderbad, Karachi, Nawab-Shah, Naushero, and Central Sindh. Till today, may they be Hindu Lohanas or Muslim Memons, the Bhaibands are found in the central administration and merchantry of Sindh. Among the Bhaibands, the husband left for foreign lands while the daughter-in-law was at the mercy of her mother-in-law. The most important thing is that women were not treated badly amongst the Sindhis. Before Partition, daughters-in-law were sometimes not happy with this arrangement. After Partition, the wife started traveling with her husband in order to stay with him. Sindhis in Sind have mostly never had any social evils like child marriage or bad treatment of widows. After partition, the status of women was raised further because Sindhis started getting more educated. They would spend their earnings on good food, clothing, gold ornaments and precious stones. Their ladies are comparatively orthodox and spend time in pooja-path (prayers). The Bhaibands are philanthropists and give much time in the way of god.The Sindhi Hindus, once becoming Sintis in distant lands acquiring a range of cultural habits of different cultures, and furthermore with many inter-cultural marriages, the fabric in the race of Sindhis varied tremendously. Different dialects in Sindh were born, and different dressing sense as well.In the later years, many Bhaibands turned into merchants due to coastal trade with Oman and Gwadar-Vasni (Indonesia). Bhaibands do not worry about getting jobs. Earlier, they usually teach their sons some Sindhi alphabets and a bit of arithmetic and after which they are made to work at their own shops or offices to become knowledegeable about business. There are some Bhaibands who were earlier Amils. Among Amils, there were many families where their sons didn’t pursue education. These uneducated boys were taught trade and the family members called them Bhaibands. The Baibands, by practice of thrift and usury, gradually pulled up to be recognized as second rung behind the Amils. Some Bhaibands went abroad to do business. Bhaibands established trading posts throughout the world and dealt in fabrics. Many became extremely rich and their women-folk were renowned for their richly dressed, bejeweled appearances. Generally, a boy of seventeen or so, among Bhaibands, went abroad for some time. That was called his first tour. When he finished his tour he came back to Hyderabad and was married. The Bhaiband men went to different lands: Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Saigon, Java, Sumatra …even the remote corners of the world and did business. They suffered many difficulties. They had to learn the language of the place and eat food they didn’t like, but they learnt the tricks of the trade. Earlier, in the days of the British, they sold some specially embroidered cloth pieces. English men called those boys Sindh workers and thus the names Sindhwarkee and Sindwark were born. Later, they established their own firms. The members of the firm were brothers or cousins only. Each member set up base in one country. The system of demand and supply used to send these members to different countries and lands in order to spread their network far and wide. Perfumes, cloth, almonds, pistachios, and such goods, bought cheap in one land were sold expensively in other lands and all the partners of the firm became rich. Bhaibands were chiefly traders. No trade was taboo for them. The Sindhis had always traded with foreign lands. Their slogan was: "Service is lowly; agriculture is noble; but trade alone is profitable". A popular saying was that when a Sindhi had money, he would buy or build more and more houses (Jaye Mathan Jaye); when a Muslim had money, he would marry more and more wives (Joye Mathan Joye). Many Bhaibands went to many places all over the world to start businesses there leaving their families in Hyderabad.
Contrary to popular impression, the Amil and the Bhaibands come from the same group of families. Those who took to service became known as Amils (for `amal', to execute) and those who took to business became Bhaibands (Bhai-bandhus).
Mr. Pir Muhammad Ali Rashidi has described the Shikarpur city's historic splendor witnessed by him before the partition of British India in his book "Uhe Deenhan Uhe Sheenhan" (Vol. I - pp 239–240) (Translation by Ramesh Kateja) “Shikarpur…..As I recollect from my early childhood memories, was a paradise for fun-loving wealthy people. The people of Shikarpur, their traditions and the way of life were different from people of other parts of Sindh. The grandeur of city was at its zenith. 'Sindh-warki' Bhaibands (A class of Hindu business community) were dominant; they were engaged in trade with far away regions right up to Samarkand and Bukhara . They would bring all the wealth earned overseas to Shikarpur and spent it there. They owned palatial houses. They would not spare anything to decorate the city and would not hesitate to indulge in charities. They had set up a very big hospital in Shikarpur. In their last days in Sindh, they had established the only medical college in northern Sindh, in Shikarpur only. All these charitable institutions were run with their finances. Their living was not an ordinary one; they lived a posh and majestic life. They had palaces in city, gardens on outskirts of city and bungalows therein evenings were spent in luxury of music and dance; best of the dancers would be invited from Lahore, Bombay and Calcutta . Once in a year they would organize a grand musical feat, where artists from all over India would be invited for competitions where awards and rewards would be showered on them. Motor vehicles were non-existent those days; the rich would travel in Victorias (Big horse driven carriages or buggies), pulled by two mares. Those Victoria saloons and the horses were stunningly beautiful and worth looking at. Riding in those saloons they would pass through Lakhi Daar and reach their garden enclosed bungalows. Liquor (Daroon) would flow, eatables would be made available in abundance, bone-pieces of roasted meat and potato patties would be specially ordered from Hindu chefs of Lakhi Daar. Adequate arrangement of music program would be the order of the evening. Moonlit night, fragrance of flowers, light rhythm of drums, soft notes of Sarangi (An indigenous violin), melodious voice of beautiful damsels would indeed recreate a scene out of paradise! Shikarpuri Bhaibands would comfortably stretch themselves in swinging 'Peenghas' or cots; they would bring out gold guineas from the folds of their Dhotis (an apparel worn waist downward by Hindus.) and offer to singing courtesans. Those days there was no paper currency; "Bald" rupee coins were not generally appreciated. Rich Shikarpuri Bhaibands would consider silver "Bald" rupee coins as an inferior currency. ("Bald" coins were called so, because picture embossed on the coins was that of Edward VII, who was bald) The only worthy currency for them was guineas or coins made of pure gold. Shikarpuri Bhaibands are the pioneers of the financial instrument called "Hundi" or Promissory-Notes as known in banking arena.” They carried on their trade with Baghdad and Basra in Iraq.
After Partition of India, everything has changed. Now Sindhis (Amils & Bhaibands) prefer to live in Dubai , America , Spain , Singapore , and Hong Kong . Now you cannot find any differences between the Amil and Bhaiband sects.