Sindhi Language

Sindhi is one of the major languages of Pakistan , spoken in the province of Sindh by approximately forty million people. It is one of the oldest language of the sub-continent with a rich culture, vast folklore and extensive literature.

Linguistic Boundaries:

Sindhi has extended its boundaries beyond the province of Sindh . In northern Sindh it flows over the north-west into Baluchistan province, former Bahawalpur state (now in Punjab), on the west it is bounded by the mountain range separating Sindh from Baluchistan.

This boundary has not been crossed by Sindhi, except in the southern part of the hilly area of Kohistan . Here in general , the language spoken is Baluchi but sindhi is also found spoken by a good number of population. It is spoken as mother tongue in some parts of Baluchistan. It has spread its influence still further towards the Persian Gulf in the Lasbella area of Baluchistan and is spoken as a first language along with Baluchi ( Makrani) by a large number of people in Jadgal, Guwadar, Ormara and Pasni, and has crossed theGulf and is spoken in Muskat, UAE and generally in the coastal region.

In the east and south-west, Sindhi has crossed the Runn of Kucch and is spoken by a large number of people in Kucch, Gujrat and the peninsula of Kathiawar in India. In the east, it has influenced the speech of the neighbouing parts of Marwar and Jaisalmir states of Rajistan (Rajputana in India).

After the partition of British India, numerous Sindhi Hindus migrated from Sindh and settled in the central and western parts of India speak Sindhi in their household. It is also spoken by approximately 4,00,000 people as their first language, in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Congo, South Africa, Madagascar, East Africa U.K., U.S.A. and Canada by those who have migrated from Sindh and settled there. It is also spoken in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Sri lanka and in some other countries in Far-East and South East-Asia by those people who have settled there in the first quarter of the 20th century or even earlier.