Ideas in Motion: Sindh and its Neighbours

Abstract

Ideas in Motion: Sindh and its Neighbours

Regional geographic connections between Sindh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat are a frequent subject in the bardic traditions of manganhar musicians, a community of hereditary musicians, based in the southern borderlands of India-Pakistan. In their songs, memory and longing for places occur as a leitmotif, and conjure a vision of connected cities and well-travelled routes. Though now separated by a heavily militarised border, the songs harken back to a historical period in which these regions shared strong cultural, religious, and political ties. Scholars have highlighted these connections in the architectural patronage of the Samma dynasty (1351–1522/23) in Sindh, interpreting these monuments as part of the Maru-Gurjara style of architecture which developed in Gujarat and Rajasthan in the eleventh century and tied its use in Sindh to imperial aspirations of the Sammas. This connection is but one instance of a broader engagement between these regions and one which implicates actors beyond elite patrons. Through an analysis of extant Sindhi architecture from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries, this paper explores the nature of these regional connections and the mechanisms of cultural exchange, highlighting the mobility of ideas and people in shaping artistic expression.