The Sindhi Bhil are an ethnic group that primarily resides in the Sindh region of Pakistan, as well as some areas of India. They are considered to be one of the largest tribes in Sindh and are known for their distinct cultural traditions and way of life.
Sindhi Bhil
Population in the Project Area :
57,000
The People
Pakistan
The Sindhi Bhil people are an important and vibrant part of the cultural landscape of Sindh and Pakistan as a whole. They are found in the Badin, Matlu, and Thatta areas of the Sindh province. The Sindhi Bhil community has been engaged in agriculture since the second half of the nineteenth century. They are involved in other jobs like importing & exporting red chilly, cotton and herbals, Cattle rearing, Farming fruits, and different kinds of work. The Sindhi Bhil are known for their unique traditional clothing, which includes colorful skirts and blouses for women and loose pants and shirts for men. They are also known for their music, which often features traditional instruments such as the dhol and shehnai. Sindhi Bhil has a rich and unique culture. Ghoomar is a traditional folk dance of the tribe. Ghoomar is the symbol of womanhood. Sindhi Bhil weddings are generally lavish affairs with lots of razzle-dazzle involved. It is typical for weddings to include quite a number of rituals and customs that involve a lot of fun and merriment. While the element of fun is ever-present in a Sindhi Bhil wedding, traditions hold equal importance to having a good time. Sindhi Bhils are Sanatani Hindus and Sindhi Bhil weddings reflect a blend of Hinduism and Sufism. The biggest celebration for the community is the harvest festival. The community also conducts cultural festivities in which local cultural forms and arts are performed.
The Project
Mother-Tongue literacy.
The Sindhi Bhil people believe their language is unique and has its own linguistic structures. They call their language Sindhi Bhil or Meghwar Bhil. The language belongs to the Indo-Iranian subbranch of the Indo-European language family. There are almost four dialect regions within the language group. Badin is the most spoken dialect. Other dialects include Mohrano, Nuclear Sindhi Bhil, and Sindhi Meghwar Mohrano. These dialects are spoken in Tando Allahyar, Noor Naga, Kunri, and other villages.
The language is found in a contact situation with the Urdu and some neighboring minority languages. However, in this community, only literate people can adequately understand the Urdu. Unfortunately, the literacy rate in the community is just around 10%. The rest of the population is not fluent in the Urdu. The mother tongue is spoken in eight major villages and a few small villages as well. People use their ethnic language for all intra-community interactions including family interactions, local markets, community gatherings, etc. Children acquire their community language as their first and the mother tongue and use it among themselves. There are significant differences between the mother tongue and Urdu. Even though the mother tongue is spoken in different villages with slight vocabulary differences and pronunciational variations, people from different regions can understand each other.
Our organization has launched literacy initiatives among the Sindhi Bhil community. Through extensive research, we have assessed the language proficiency of the community, and identified skilled individuals from within the community to join our efforts. Our next step is to collect cultural materials and develop a curriculum for teaching basic literacy and life skills in the Sindhi Bhil language.
In order to ensure the success of our program, we plan to conduct an orientation for the selected candidates. Our long-term vision is to provide the community with the necessary tools to become proficient in basic literacy and life skills using their own mother tongue. We believe that this approach will not only enhance the language capabilities of the community but also help preserve their cultural heritage.
Progress
As of March 2023
Our organization conducted a comprehensive Sociolinguistic Survey among the ethnic language groups in question. The primary objective of this survey was to identify the language abilities of the community people, assess the vitality and stability of their mother tongue, and identify different dialects and their mutual intelligibility across dialect regions. Additionally, the survey aimed to identify the ideal literacy staff from the respective communities.
The survey was conducted by a team comprising a trained field Sociolinguist from the country, as well as a survey expert from Nepal. Each language group was also assisted by mother tongue speakers. Data collection was carried out through a questionnaire and word and sentence lists.
Through this survey, we were able to gather valuable insights into the language dynamics of these ethnic communities. The results will serve as a foundation for our literacy initiatives, as we aim to provide basic literacy and life skills education in the mother tongue of these communities.