Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Anthropology Department, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

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Arabs exercised authority in Sind for over three centuries (93-416/711-1025), first as governors appointed directly by the Umayyads and ('c)Abbasids and then, from around 240/854, as independent rulers from the Quraysh tribes of Habbar b. al-Aswad and Samah b. Lu'ayy. This dissertation is concerned with four major topics in the religious history of the period: the identification of the non-Muslim religions and sects at the time of the Arab conquest; the mechanisms encouraging or impeding collaboration and conversion; the prosopography of the Sind(')i Muslim population; and the rise of the Isma('c('))il(')i state at Multan toward the end of the period. Correlations between religious and social factors are examined in two general areas: the observed differential between Buddhist and Hindu collaboration and conversion, and the decline in the recruitment, replication, and circulation of the Muslim religious elite.

Gender is a behavioural norm attributed to men and women in a given social system. Gender defines the role of women socially and in day to day life, especially when it comes to the access to the safe water. However, their participation is very little. Water projects by nature are gender sensitive and thus should have gender equality, starting from planning and decision making level to execution. In agricultural sector we need more water than other sectors. Men have been predominant decision makers for water management in agriculture and farm work while women have been thought to be responsible for household chores. However, in reality, women have always been prime participants in the agricultural production system. The aim of this thesis was to assess the participation of women in the “Sindh On-Farm Water Management Project”. In this regard a study was carried out in the project area using written questionnaires and face to face interviews that were even recorded using video. According to the results obtained a handful of women who own lands who will be affected by this project. They are aware of the project but reluctant to participate. Some others who work as farm laborers are unaware of the project but would be interested in participation. Finally, women working as professionals, social mobilizers and consultants have diverse views about their own work, working conditions and participation of women concerned with land and farming. The thesis concludes that the Sindh project was a good exercise to involve women and give them confidence to take part in decision making. It is a good start but lot more need to be done to actually give women their due right especially in rural areas of developing countries.

It is generally recognised that the primary role of the decentralise local governance is to establish closer relationship between rural communities and the governing authorities in local development. In Pakistan, the system of local governments has always been introduced by the non-democratic forces. The decentralised governments have often been discontinued by the civilian governments of Pakistan. This study has sought to examine the role of the decentralised local governance in initiating the local community participation in local development in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. This thesis responds the questions about the initiatives taken by the local government authorities and the genuine local community participation in local community development programs. It further explores the main barriers to local public participation in the local policy making and implementation in Sindh. The findings suggest that the challenges to participation have been ever increasing. The military establishment’s hold on the central state policies has weakened the public empowering national laws. Furthermore, the local government’s role to initiate meaningful local community involvement in development projects of the decentralised local governance has been engrossed by the hold of feudal lords, corruption, favouritism, and the attitude of indifference on the part of provincial and national governments. Thus, it is argued that, in such dominant military state and feudal lords’ system, there is no positive link between the local government reforms and the democratic participation in the local decision-making. Based on these findings, a realistic model for participation is introduced and relevant implications are considered.

The Manchar Lake in Pakistan is in danger. So are the native fisher folk that populate the area and lake. The lake is undergoing water quality degradation due to both a decrease in the amount of freshwater inflow and an increase in the polluted agricultural run-off. The fish in the lake are dying and some fish species are becoming extinct, the people living on and around the lake are facing severe health risks, migratory birds are no longer stopping at the Manchar Lake and agriculture in the area is also suffering. This report focuses on time-series modeling and analysis of water quality data from Manchar Lake. We evaluate data for three sites within the Manchar Lake and complete time series models and analysis for two sites. Particular attention is given to the Electrical Conductivity data of the lake. The approach to modeling and time series analysis provide an example of potential uses of measured data to recognize shifts in water quality within the context of potential insights and recommendations about lake management in the area. / text

Flooding is the most devastating natural hazard in Pakistan and the recent flooding has demonstrated its severeness. Floods are common all over the country, though the province of Sindh experience the most damages. River Indus flows on a ridge here and once the surplus water during flood events leave the main channel does not return back. Therefore it is very important to adapt to this disaster. This study aims at identifying ways to address the problem of floods in upper Sindh for which Sukkur district was chosen. Questionnaire survey and interviews were conducted in three talukas of the district in the aftermath of recent floods (2010, 2011 and 2012) to provide a baseline study for Sustainable Flood Disaster Management Plan for the upper Sindh region. Recommendations were put to reduce the flood losses for the future floods.

abstract: This dissertation discusses the processes of post-colonial minoritization of Hindus in Pakistan from the inception of the state in 1947 to the secession of the eastern wing (former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) from the country after a civil and international war in 1971. The dissertation analyzes the emergence and development of the minority question in Europe and connects it with Colonial India, where it culminated into Partition of British India and emergence of Pakistan in 1947. The dissertation analyzes post- Colonial minoritization of Pakistani Hindus as a gradual process on three different but interconnected levels: 1. the loss of Hindu life from Pakistan, 2. the transference of Hindu property and 3. the political minoritization of Pakistani Hindus. The dissertation does so by approaching the history of Pakistani Hindus in two distinct geographical locations, Sindh and the ex-Pakistani province of East Bengal. It also includes discussion on Pakistani Scheduled Castes and Tribes. The dissertation is based on indepth, detailed fieldwork in Tharparkar district of Sindh province and archival research in Pakistan and Bangladesh. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Religious Studies 2014

Creative Writing as a teachable artistic practice, and reinforcing its identity with an appropriate pedagogical approach, has been a vibrant research area for some years now. Yet, despite a strong increase in writing courses all over the globe, there has been little research into how creative practitioners can actually contribute to facilitate the process of skill development in higher education learners, especially in the public sector universities across Sindh, Pakistan. In an effort to introduce Creative Writing as an academic discipline to government universities in Sindh, the present research sought to observe the impact of a training programme on English fiction on a sample of native learners. A total of thirteen students volunteered for this project. The research sample was selected from a population of second year undergraduates, enrolled in literature courses at the Institute of English Language and Literature (IELL) in the University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan (USJP); wherein Creative Writing had hitherto been a non-existent area of studies. Students were offered a twenty-nine session modular-workshop, aimed at exploring and expediting their artistic abilities in the short time span of a single semester. To ensure the trustworthiness of findings, the entire procedure was documented under the guidance of the researcher’s supervisory team. A post-workshop evaluation survey was also used for attaining student feedback. The setup of assessment items and analysis constructs of students’ narrative portfolios were adapted from validated sources and aligned with the context of this study. However, neither the feedback nor the assessment of students’ work was counted as the findings of this research. Unlike non-artistic inquiries, the post-training creative output gathered from project participants was interpreted as the final research outcome. Methodologically, this process was conducted following a matrix of three practice-oriented research paradigms; whereas “performative research” was selected as the principle data creation and presentation strategy. The resulting research insight has exhibited an in-depth understanding of approaches that could facilitate fiction composition abilities of learners from different language backgrounds, while writing in English. It also allows practitioners to consider non-typical methods of research to contribute holistically to the existing body of knowledge in the field.

During the preliminary phase of analytical discourse on South Asia’s medieval history, the scholarship rigidly demarcated the material cultures of the pre-Islamic societies from those of the Muslim communities that were only introduced to the region’s landscapes once the Islamic political rule was established. This was done to simplify the process of examining the regional, religious, ethnic, political, and cultural disparities in the Indian subcontinent’s medieval milieu. Consequently, the exceedingly broad categories of “Muslim” and “Hindu” were conceived to portray the identities of South Asian societies and cultures. However, these categories remain in use even in the current art-historical scholarship that shows a tendency to classify the historical artifacts based on either geographic or sectarian identities. To that end, the sites developed by Muslim rulers are termed as “Islamic/Muslim,” and Hindu temples as “Indian.” Such simplistic classifications, which identify the social and material cultures with singular monolithic identities, overlook the dynamics of intercultural and interfaith interactions between the diverse co-existing communities of South Asian regions that played an active role in shaping those cultures. The Samma dynastic architecture in the vast necropolis of Makli – a UNESCO world heritage site located in the city Thatta (in present-day Sindh province of Pakistan) – presents an opportunity to examine this key methodological issue. Modern scholars classify Samma architecture under the polarities such as “Sindhi,” “Islamic,” and “Indo-Islamic.” The present research challenges these classifications to demonstrate that the overall artistic program of Samma architecture does not reflect any single culture, religion or region. In fact, it evinces a hybridization of style and character, and hence, transcends the standard categorization of architectural artifacts from South Asia. Therefore, by actively engaging with the architecture, decoration, and epigraphy, this study allows for the formulation of important conclusions on the meanings attached to the Samma dynastic architecture, which was a key medium of presenting their social, religious, political and cultural programs. Additionally, this study demonstrates where Samma monuments fit within the broader categories of artistic productions from South Asia as well as the wider Islamic world. Hence, where this research augments the overly broad and simplified classifications, it also aims to produce a more meaningful analytical framework that moves beyond visual analysis, iconography, and typology. / Graduate / 2021-11-15