The Sindhi Bhils/Bheels ( Sindhi: ) are a Sindhinised sub-group of the

Bhil people Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. As of 2013, Bhils were the largest tribal group in India. Bhils are listed as tribal people of the s ...

who live in the

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, and Balocistan provinces of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. They are one of major Hindu community in the region, and are one of the Hindu groups in Pakistan who are known to not leave Sindh during the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

Culture

The Bhils are considered by some to be remaining community of

Indus valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...

The Bhils mostly work as peasants and are very poor. Most of them work labour jobs around the country to sustain themselves. The

Human Rights Commission of the United Nations The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of t ...

found out that many Bhils, Meghwars and Kolhis were actually slaves, even after Pakistan had abolished slavery of the Bhil people in 1992. In Sindh and Balochistan, these people are far worse off than the ones in Punjab, with many being forced to convert to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. Nearly 95% of the Sindhi bhils live in Thar desert in rural areas in Tharparkar,

Umerkot Umerkot (formerly known as Amarkot) is a city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The local language is Dhatki, which is one of the Rajasthani languages of the Indo-Aryan language family. It is most closely related to Marwari. Sindhi, Urdu and ...

Badin Badin ( Sindhi and ur, ) is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. It is the 87th largest city in Pakistan. Badin is often called 'Sugar State' due to its production of sugar. Badin ...

Thatta Thatta ( sd, ٺٽو; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Thatta's historic significance has yielded several monuments in and ...

, and Mohrano as well as in cities like

Mirpur Khas Mirpur Khas ( Sindhi and ; ''meaning "Town of the most-high Mirs"'') is the capital city of the Mirpur Khas District and Mirpur Khas Division in the Sindh province, Pakistan. Mirpur Khas is the 16th largest city in Sindh province and the 80th ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, and

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. Many bhils of interior Sindh frequently sacrifice animals to their 'goddesses', a tradition which has died off in recent years.

Language

Many Bhils speak Sindhi Bhil, a distinct variety of Sindhi with

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

influences. Some speak Dhatki dialect of Sindhi and some speak Marwari and others speak

Balochi Balochi, sometimes spelt in various other ways, may refer to: * Balochi language, a language of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan * an adjective for something related to the Baloch people, an ethnic group of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan * an adjecti ...

, Sindhi, and Saraiki.

References

{{improve categories, date=September 2022 Bhil clans Ethnic groups in Sindh Hinduism in Pakistan Hindu communities of Pakistan

Culture

Language

See also

References