Sind

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

SINDH, or SCINDE, a province of British India, in the N. N. part of the presidency of Bombay. It consists of the lower valley and delta of the Indus, and is bounded on the W. and N. W. by Baluchistan and Afghanistan; N. E. by the Punjab; E. by Rajputana; and S. S. by the Runn or Ran of Kach and the Indian Ocean; area, 46,930 square miles pop. about 3,500,000. Divided into six districts: Haidarabad, Karachi, Shikarpur, Thar and Parkar, Larkhana and Upper Sind Frontier, and also includes the native state of Khairpuz (6,109 square miles). The chief city and port is Kurrachee or Karachi, but the ancient capital Haidarabad is still a populous town. The history of Sind is of little interest. It was subdued by the Mogul Emperor Akbar in 1580, since which period it has always been either nominally or really tributary. In 1739 it fell under the power of Nadir Shah, but on his death it reverted to the imperial sway of Delhi. From about the middle of the 18th century it was subordinate to Afghanistan. Civil dissension in the end of the 18th century led to the elevation of the Talpur dynasty of the "Ameers." The government then became a wholly unchecked military despotism, upheld by a feudal soldiery. The The hostility displayed by the Ameers of Sind toward the British during and after their operations against the Afghans led ultimately to its invasion by British troops, and final conquest by Sir C. Napier's victory at Miani in 1843. Sir C. Napier was appointed its first governor, and it was soon after annexed to the presidency of Bombay.