The Kalhora or Kalhora Abbasi () is a Sindhis Sindhi Sammat clan in Sindh, Pakistan.
Etymology
According to the natives of Sindh, the word
Kalhoro originates from the (/ Kalho) meaning
Alone.
Origin
The Kalhora belong to the Indigenous
Sindhi Sammat group. They were ashrafized over time and started to claim
Arab Abbasi origin after asserting they had received spiritual inheritance from the
Sayyid Pirs. However, their claims to Arab descent have been refuted and the author of
Kalhora Dour-e-Hukoomat suggests their center was originally at
Bukkur,
Sindh.
According to
Sarah Ansari, they were likely
Jamote People who had lived for many years in what are now the districts of Shikarpur and
Larkana District in Sindh. She traces their origin to a religious
mendicant of the 16th century, called Adam Shah Kalhoro, and says that the legitimacy which his religious role gave to them was significant in their subsequent veneration by many Sindhi inhabitants.
The colonial
British Raj officer Burton believed that Kalhora were Channa.
History
With Kalhora success in taking control of lands from local
zamindars, the
Delhi Sultanate eventually considered it necessary to put a stop to the growing power. After defeating them, the Sultanate brought them inside the fold by offering an amnesty, recognising that the Kalhoras were widely respected in the province. This process resulted in the Kalhora leader around the start of the 18th century, Yar Muhammad Kalhora, being appointed
subahdar of the Upper Sindh area and holding the title of Khuda Yar Khan. His son, who succeeded to the position in 1719, was granted further areas of control such that virtually all of Sindh came under the control of what was now the
Kalhora dynasty. The dynasty retained its role, in large part by balancing the interests of influential Sindhi groups such as
and
Baloch people, when the Sultanate lost control to the Persian
Afsharid dynasty, and again when the Persians were supplanted by the Afghan
Durrani Empire. The amount that was paid as
tribute to their overlords gradually reduced. Kalhora control of the area eventually came to an end when they were challenged by what became the Balochi
Talpur dynasty.
See also
Bibliography
