The Med, Medh or Meid are an indigenous Sindhi fishermen community[1] found in the coastal areas of Balochistan, Pakistan, mainly in the regions of Makran, Las Bela, Hub and southern Sindh,[2] and the Makran region of Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran.[3][4]

Origin

The Meds are an ancient community of Sindh and Balochistan,[5][6] being mentioned by Arab, Persian and Greek writers,[7] the Arabs have written meds as "Maid or Meo".[8] Al-Biladuri and Ibn Hawqal mentions two Sindhi tribes "Zutts (Jats) and 'Meds". He says that the Meds are water dwellers and notorious dacoits, seafarers and pirates, living on the banks of the Indus.[9][10] In the Chachnama chronicles the meds are written as one of major community of Sindhi people of ancient Sindh.[1][11] The Greek wrote about a community as Ichthyophagi which also represents modern Med people.[12][13] According to their own tribal traditions, the Med originate from Gandava in the Kacchi region of Balochistan. It is likely that the Med are one of the earliest settlers of the Makran coast, and this is reinforced by the fact that the Meds are mentioned in the chronicle of ancient Sindh, the Chachnama, as one of the tribes that inhabited coastal Balochistan. The Med speak Makrani dialect of Balochi and Jadgali languages. The Med consider themselves as Baloch. However, in both Makran and Las Bela, they are seen as a distinct tribe by both the Sindhi and Baloch. Some tribes of Mohana community of Sindh and southern Punjab claim to be of Med origin.[14][15]

Social organization

In Lasbela District they are found mainly in the cities of Miani and Ormara, and villages in between these towns, while in Makran they are found in the cities of Gwadar and Sonmiani, and also in the villages in between. The Med are divided into four clans, the Chilmarzai, who claim descent from the Numrio tribe of Sindh, the Jalalzai and Gazbur, who claim Baloch ancestry and then finally the Olmari who claim Pashtun ancestry. This suggests that the Med community is of diverse origin, absorbing different groups which migrated to Makran. In recent times, the Med have absorbed groups of African ancestry such as the Siddi. Meds are Muslims and like many other Makran communities, they are also divided along sectarian lines. Many Gwadar Meds belong to the Zikri sect while the vast majority of Meds are Sunni Hanafis.[16] Along coastal Balochistan, fishing is entirely in the hands of the Med, with an individual fishing boat owned by a particular lineage. The Med also form an important element within the Baloch population of Karachi.[17][18]

In Iran, the Med settlements cling to the coastline of the Makran region of the province of Sistan and Baluchestan. They are largely engaged in fishing, but some of their settlements on the banks of the various seasonal streams also engage in agriculture. The Med have vague traditions which are said to be originated in Sindh, but now they consider themselves and are looked to by others as Baloch. Like other Iranian Baloch, the Med are Sunni, as distinct from the majority in Iran, who are Shia.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Khushalani, Gobind (2006). Chachnamah Retold : An Account Of The Arab Conquest Of Sindh. Bibliophile South Asia. ISBN 978-81-85002-68-2. Meds: One of the old tribes of Sindh.
  2. ^ Coastal Makran as Corridor to the Indian Ocean World by Sabir Badalkhan in Eurasian Studies (2002): 1/2 pp 257-262
  3. ^ Nomadism in Baluchistan by Brian Spooner in Pastoralists and nomads in South Asia by Lawrence S Leshnik pages 172 & 175 ISBN 3-447-01552-7
  4. ^ The Jats: Their Role & Contribution to the Socio-economic Life and Polity of North & North-west India. Originals. 2004. ISBN 978-81-88629-51-0. On the authority of Ibn-Hauqal, we know with certainity that the Indian races like Mede and Zutt were the inhabitants of the country lying between Mansura and Makran...
  5. ^ Allānā, G̲h̲ulām ʻAlī (1986). Sindi Culture: A Preliminary Survey. Indus Publications. p. 3.
  6. ^ Malik, Jamal (2020-04-06). Islam in South Asia: Revised, Enlarged and Updated Second Edition. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-42271-1. Med and Jat, the two major groups inhabiting Sindh. The Med were know for their piracy and were considered robbers...
  7. ^ Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Harmatta, János (1999). History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-1408-0.
  8. ^ The Panjab Past and Present. Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University. 2001. p. 42. The Arab history states that in the Arabian countries, many Indians resided with the name of Zatt (Jat), Med (Meo), Takakra (Thakur) etc.
  9. ^ Saḥrāʼī, Tāju (2012). Lake Manchar: The Most Ancient Seat of Sindhu Cultures. Culture Department, Government of Sindh. p. 42.
  10. ^ Tate, George Passman (1912). Seistan: A Memoir on the History, Topography, Ruins, and People of the Country, in Four Parts. Superintendent government printing. p. 378.
  11. ^ Bukhari, Mastoor Fatima. ""Development of Buddhism and its Cultural Influence on the Religious Beliefs and Practices of Successive Periods in Sindh"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2024-02-22.
  12. ^ Bellew, Henry Walter (1891). An Inquiry Into the Ethnography of Afghanistan: Prepared for and Presented to the 9th International Congress of Orientalists (London, Sept. 1891). Oriental Univ. Inst. p. 182.
  13. ^ "Internet History Sourcebooks Project: Ancient History". sourcebooks.fordham.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  14. ^ Conservatism and Change in Desert Feudalism: The Case of Southern Baluchistan by Carroll Pastner pages 247 to 260 in The nomadic alternative : modes and models of interaction in the African-Asian deserts and steppes / edited by W. Weissleder The Hague : Mouton, 1978
  15. ^ Balochistan District Gazetteer Makran pages 105 to 107
  16. ^ Coastal Makran as Corridor to the Indian Ocean World by Sabir Badalkhan in Eurasian Studies (2002): 1/2 pp 257-262
  17. ^ Conservatism and Change in Desert Feudalism: The Case of Southern Baluchistan by Carroll Pastner pages 247 to 260 in The nomadic alternative : modes and models of interaction in the African-Asian deserts and steppes / edited by W. Weissleder The Hague : Mouton, 1978
  18. ^ Balochistan District Gazetteer Makran pages 105 to 107
  19. ^ Nomadism in Baluchistan by Brian Spooner in Pastoralists and nomads in South Asia by Lawrence S Leshnik pages 172 & 175 ISBN 3-447-01552-7

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