Siraiki
The Siraiki people have historically inhibited the central parts of the classic Indus basin, the area which more or less comprises the modern state of Pakistan. The Siraiki people are considered to be of Indo-Hittite or Indo-European origin, although little is known about the ethnic origins of Siraikis before the invasion of the Indus Valley (c. 326 BCE) by Alexander of Macedon (356–323 BCE). As people of historic Sindhu Desh, the Siraiki people are originally Sindhis. Sindhu Desh gradually disappeared from the world map after the Arab conquest in 611 CE, and its territory was constantly amalgamated into the empires of various Central and West Asian conquerors until the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
The ethnic and sociopolitical fragmentation of traditional Sindhi society, migrations, and invading ethnocultural and religiously oriented influences over centuries have had an impact on Siraiki identity. The historians of Alexander of Macedon referred to Siraiki areas as the country of the Malloi and the Oxydaraiki, two major tribes who were, the historians said, more numerous and warlike than any of the other Indian tribes. They were located near the confluence of the Hydaspes and Akesines (Ravi and Sutlej rivers) and their junction with the Indus. The two tribes spoke the same language and have been referred to as Hydaraiki, Sydracae, and Syrakousi groups. Because the central Indus basin was the common route for invading armies, the Siraiki regions experienced chaos up into the nineteenth century. With the partition of India in 1947, Siraiki and southern Indus areas became a part of Pakistan. Although statistics for the exact Siraiki population are not available, Siraikis are generally considered to number around 40 million. The Pakistani province of Punjab was largely created in Indus regions with an almost two-thirds Siraikispeaking majority.
The Siraiki language is largely derived from Sanskrit and Prakrit and influenced by Arabic and Persian, as are the other languages of the western Indian subcontinent. Siraiki is the main and central dialect of the eight distinct dialects of Sindhi that are spoken in various parts of the Indus basin. During the British colonial period, the language policy of the British Indian government contributed to serious ethnolinguistic fragmentation. Around 1850, the British decided to provide specialized scripts to some Indus basin dialects, thereby fostering a sense of individual identity for speakers of those dialects. Various dialects of Sindhi were among those standardized with different scripts.
Since the 1960s, a new wave of Siraiki nationalism has aimed at obtaining more cultural and economic autonomy. Some Siraiki nationalists even demanded a separate Siraiki province, albeit without success. Siraiki middle and upper classes however, seem to be well integrated within the political structure and it is unlikely that an anti–status-quo movement can be successful. Members of the Siraiki elite have held some of the most important positions in the federal and provincial government: one president of Pakistan, Farooq Laghari (served from 1993 to 1998), was a Siraiki, and many Siraiki feel very much integrated into Pakistan.
Further Reading
Hiranandani, Popati. (1980) Sindhis: The Scattered Treasure. New Dehli: Malaah.
Kazi, Aftab. (1987) Ethnicity and Education in Nation-Building: Case of Pakistan. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
McCrindle, J. W. ([1896] 1984) Ancient India. Reprint. Patna, India: Eastern Book House.
Wagha, Ahsan. (1990) The Siraiki Language: Its Development and Growth. Islamabad, Pakistan: Dderawar.
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