Sind State

The Thatta Sarkar (1593–1629), Thatta Subah (1629–1737) or Sind State (1737–1843), also referred to as Scinde or Sindh, was a Mughal Sarkar later a Subah, then a proto-state, and lastly a princely state in the Sindh region of the Indian subcontinent until its annexation by the East India Company in 1843. The name Sind (), now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of the state, which was also adopted by the British to refer to its division.

Geography

The Thatta Subah was bordered to the north by the Multan Subah, to the west by the Safavid Empire and later the Khanate of Kalat, to the east by the Ajmer Subah and to the south by the Gujarat Subah and the Arabian Sea.

History

After the Mughal conquest of Sindh, the area was ruled from 1593 to 1629 by a Hakim, who was directly appointed by the Mughal Emperor from Delhi despite Thatta being a Sarkar (Division) of the Multan Subah. The Sarkar was predominantly (but not entirely) influenced by the Tarkhan dynasty with Jani Beg, Ghazi Beg and Isa Khan II serving as Hakim of Thatta. In 1629, Thatta was made into a separate Subah (Province) and was divided into three divisions: Sehwan Sarkar, Bhakkar Sarkar and Thatta Sarkar, each administered by a Faujdar who reported to the Subahdar. In 1699–1700, the Subahdar of Lahore and Multan, Prince Muhammad Mu'azzam and the Subahdar of Thatta, Hifzullah Khan faced off against the Kalhora chieftain and Mianwal Movement leader Deen Mohammad Kalhoro at Khore. Deen Mohammad was killed while his brother, Yar Muhammad Kalhoro, was exiled to Kalat. In his absence, Bhaktia Barozai, a local landowner, took over the Kalhora estate. Yar Muhammad returned to Sindh in 1701 after Hifzullah's death and, along with his subordinate Shahdad Khan Talpur, retook his land making Khudabad his capital. Yar Muhammad was later pardoned by the Mughal court in exchange for complete loyalty. After the death of Emperor Aurangzeb, Yar Muhammad was given the administration of Sehwan Sarkar by the Subahdar of Thatta Prince Mui'zz-ud-Din. In 1708, Yar Muhammad was provided with the additional charge of Sibi and Dhadar which were initially granted to the Barozai Panni tribe by Emperor Aurangzeb. On the orders of Emperor Farrukhsiyar, Yar Muhammad and Mir Lutf Ali Khan, the new Subahdar of Thatta, laid siege to the town of Jhok which served as the base for Shah Inayat, a revolutionary and an agriculturalal reformist who led a peasants rebellion against the feudal landlords and estate holders of Sindh. The siege continued from September–December 1717 and was deemed successful as Shah Inayat was deceivingly captured on 1 January 1718 and executed by Lutf Ali on 7 January. In 1725, Noor Mohammad Kalhoro, the son of Yar Muhammad and also the ''de facto'' ruler of Sind (who now had gained the administration of Bhakkar along with Sehwan), forged an alliance with the Emir of Afghanistan Hussain Hotak during his war with the Khanate of Kalat. Noor Mohammad later killed the Khan of Kalat, Abdullah Khan Ahmadzai in the Battle of Kachhi. Noor Mohammad also came into conflict with the Nawab Amir of Bahawalpur, Sadeq Khan I Daudpotra for control over Shikarpur.

Sind officially broke away from the Mughal Empire in 1737 and asserted autonomy under Noor Mohammad and his Kalhora clansmen as the Thatta Sarkar too was allotted to him by Emperor Muhammad Shah. Sind, along with Hyderabad and Awadh, supported the Mughal Empire during Nader Shah's invasion but was subdued by him in his Sindh expedition with Sibi given to Kalat and Shikarpur granted to Bahawalpur. These areas were recaptured by Noor Mohammad shortly after Nader Shah's departure. During Ahmad Shah's invasion, Sind became a tributary state of the Afghan Empire and also reached its greatest glory under Ghulam Shah Kalhoro who not only defeated the Khan of Kalat Nasir Khan I Ahmadzai and Rao of Kutch Godji II but also formed a marital alliance with Nawab of Bahawalpur Mubarak Khan II Daudpotra. Ghulam Shah also took part in the Third Battle of Panipat alongside Ahmad Shah Durrani against the Maratha Confederacy. Tensions arose between Ghulam Shah and Ahmad Shah who wanted to appoint Muhammad Atur Kalhoro to the throne of Sind. Bahadur Khan was sent by Ahmad Shah but was defeated by Ghulam Shah in the Battle of Ubauro. In 1768, Ghulam Shah shifted his capital from Khudabad to the newly built city of Hyderabad which was built on the ruins of an ancient city Neroon Kot by constructing the Pacco Qillo. After the untimely death of Ghulam Shah in 1772, four Kalhora Nawabs were successively enthroned in just 11 years while two battles were fought: the First Battle of Shikarpur in 1781 and the Battle of Larkana in 1782, to decide the fate of Sind.

In 1783, the Talpur Mirs, who long served the Kalhoras as their prime ministers, revolted under Fateh Ali Talpur and replaced the last Kalhora Nawab, Abdul Nabi Kalhoro, in the Battle of Halani. Fateh Ali expanded his domain by reclaiming Karachi that the Kalhoras had lost to Kalat. He also defended his territories during the Shikarpur campaign in which the Talpurs had to face the allied armies of the Afghans, the Khan of Kalat and remnants of the Kalhora dynasty. Under the hegemony of the Talpurs, Sind was divided into three fiefdoms: Hyderabad under the Shahdadani branch, Mirpur Khas under the Manikani branch and Khairpur under the Sohrabani branch, forming a federation and later a confederacy. Sind gradually became a princely state to come under British paramountcy signing a subsidiary alliance agreement in 1809. After the Anglo–Sind War, Sind, except from Khairpur, was annexed by the East India Company and was made a part of the Bombay Presidency. The Mir of Hyderabad, Nasir Khan Talpur, and the Mir of Mirpur Khas, Sher Muhammad Talpur, were defeated in the Battle of Miani (17 February 1843) and the Battle of Hyderabad (24 March 1843) respectively while the Mir of Khairpur, Ali Murad Talpur, continued to resist the British but eventually gave up attempts and entered into treaty with them with Khairpur becoming a princely state in 1853.

List of Subahdars, Nawabs and Mirs

Subahdars

Nawabs (

Kalhora dynasty)

Mirs (

Talpur dynasty)

Shahdadani Talpurs of

Hyderabad

Sohrabani Talpurs of Khairpur

Manikani Talpurs of

Mirpur Khas

See also

* Sindhu Kingdom

References

Notes

{{coord missing, India

Sind State
History of Sindh
Princely states of India