Mian Babban
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Caption : "Amirs of Sind, a Sindian woman, priest and soldier, ancient of the Indus."
Date created : 1843
Author: James Atkinson , Lithograph : Charles Hughes
Description of the Lithograph
The “Durya” or sea of Sinde, as the inhabitants of that country designate their noble stream, is navigated by a numerous class of Mahemodans who may be said to pass their lives on its waters. Their large flat bottomed boats carry in addition to the cargo, the wives and families of the crew, for whose accommodation the after part of the vessel is partitioned off. The large spare sail is placed behind the mast; when there is no wind the boat is tracked by the men with ropes fastened to the masthead. The “Jumtees” or stage barges of the Umeers are commodious vessels: some nearly sixty feet long with three masts and sails made of alternate stripes of red and white cloth. They have two cabins connected with each other by a deck; the one in the bow being considered as the post of honour. It is of a pavilion shape, covered with scarlet cloth, and having screens of silk at the doorways. The individual standing on the river's bank, habited in green, is a descendant of the Prophet, one of the priestly race of Syuds, held in the greatest veneration throughout Sinde. No country in Asia is indeed more perfectly priest-ridden. A remarkable ostentation of sanctity pervades all classes, although unfortunately the moral precepts of their faith exert but little influence on their conduct. Near him is a Sindian military retainer. Of them as of the people in general it may be said, that they are a strong hardy race of men, rather more fitted for fatigue than for activity, and mostly tall and dark complexioned. In temper the Sindians are proud and impatient, knavish and mean. Their fanaticism, superstition, and despotism is scarcely to be described. There is no zeal but for the propagation of “the Faith”, no spirit but in celebration religious festivals, no liberality but in feeding lazy Syuds, and no taste but in ornamenting old tombs. The female here represented is an inhabitant of the low country. her heavy nose ring of gold fastened by a plait of silk or hair to the back of the head, to prevent its weight tearing the nostrils, is peculiar to that province. Some of the better classes wear a string of small pearls for the same purpose.
The town of Sehwun, situated on a branch of the Indus, is commanded on the north side by a singular ancient castle now in ruins, in all probability as old as the age of the Greeks. It consists of a mound of earth sixty feet high by twelve hundred in length and more than seven hundred in breadth, once surrounded from the very ground by a brick wall. The interior presents a mass of broken fragments of pottery. It is surmised that this is the castle in the territories of Sabus Raja alluded to by Quintus Curtius as having been mined by Alexander on his voyage down the Indus. In after times, the Emperor Hoomayoon failed to capture it, but his son Ukbar having besieged it for seven months stormed and dismantled it. At the present day Sehwun has considerable celebrity and sanctity from its containing the tomb of Lall Shah Baz, a holy man of Khorasan, and the patron saint of Sinde. Thousands of pilgrims flock to the consecrated spot, and the monarchs of Kabul and India have often visited the sanctuary. The intention of the present government of India to take possession of the tract of country along the banks of the Indus, so as to secure its free navigation, verifies the correctness of the judgment of the Umeers, that their true line of policy to enable them to retain their independence, was to prevent our obtaining any knowledge of its course or capabilities. The fear and dread entertained by these jealous potentates of the ultimate design of the British authorities induced them in 1830 for a long time perniciously to refuse their permission to Sir A. Burnes, to proceed by the river route to Lahore with the present of horses he was in charge of, sent by the King of England to Runjeet Sing, and their alarm has proved too justly founded. Similar distrust was felt by some of their subjects, as that officer mentions in his travels that among the inhabitants who crowded the banks to see the mission pass, a Syud or Priest, after gazing with astonishment turned to his companions and exclaimed, “Alas Sinde is now gone since the English have seen the river, which the road to its conquest.” In 1839, the first British army landed on its shores, and in 1842, the cession in perpetuity of Kurachee, Tatta, Sukkur, Dukker and Roree has been required from its Rulers.
