Sindhi

Sindhi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Sindhi people of the Sindh region in southern Pakistan and by diaspora communities in India and around the world. The term Sindhi also designates the people who identify with the language and the culture of Sindh.

Linguistically, Sindhi belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. It has a long literary tradition and has absorbed influences from Persian and Arabic through historical contact. In Pakistan, Sindhi is written in an extended Perso-Arabic script with additional letters; in parts of India, it is also written in the Devanagari script.

Sindhi exhibits regional varieties, including northern and southern dialects, and other local forms. It is the majority language in Sindh and is spoken by communities in neighboring regions and in the Sindhi-speaking diaspora worldwide.

Sindhi has a rich cultural and literary heritage, with celebrated poetry and a strong Sufi tradition associated with writers such as Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. The language reflects influences from Islamic and Hindu communities and the broader regional culture.

In Pakistan, Sindhi is an official language of the Sindh province and is taught in schools there. In India, Sindhi is recognized as one of the 22 scheduled languages. The language is also maintained by a global diaspora across the Middle East, Europe, North America, and beyond.