Jasarat Ilyas Jokhio
Malmari is an ancient historical valley of Sindh located in the far and flung area of Kohistan (presently in union council Kohistan 7/4) of Taluka and district Thatta Sindh, Pakistan near the famous town of Jungshahi at the distance of 40 Kilometers in north. Malmari village is famous due to its rich history, culture, archeology, education, traditions, geography, ecology and being the only remote village of Kohistan Thatta Sindh where the people of all the fields of knowledge with richest inheritance of generation to generation history of folklore as well as religious, modern and liberal education are found. In this article, for the first time ever in the history of Sindh, a detailed account of the various aspects about Malmari and its history has been highlighted in English while as previously there are various writers who have given some literature in Sindhi language on this topic. 1. INTRODUCTION: All about the basic information of Malmari is given here. A) THE ETYMOLOGY OF “MALMARI”: As narrated by my father Muhammad Ilyas “Hamgham” Jokhio who is currently the most senior writer of Malmari since 1994 (his maternal uncle Abdul Aziz Jokhio is known as the first writer of the village), the name of Malmari has eventual routes in Sindhi language words, Mal (cattle) + Mohari (location) and Malmari Khooh (Khooh means well). During the rainy days, it was tradition of the hill men to migrate towards mountains for the proper and continuous food supply of their cattle (cows, goats and other animals). As this village is situated on the water mainlines of Karo Jabal which flow from all directions of the village towards Arabian Sea, hence make the village a fertile valley during monsoon. This is why people came here and used to call the region as Mal Mohari means the place of cattle to get feed. The words Mal Mohari became Mall Mari and nowadays popularly spelled as Malmari. The second reality behind its etymology is the presence of a well (Khooh) which is located near Murr Buthi towards the western parts of the valley, known as Malmari Khooh. This is an ancient well which dates back to around 1750 A.D. People called the valley with this name as Malmari and today it is popular with this spelling. B)DWELLING PEOPLE OF MALMARI: People here have been living for many centuries whose most ancient record on paper is not found. However archeological monuments and fossil records reveal the age of the valley which is ancient even older than 1200 A.D (As per Carbon Dating Test Results given by a private lab during the research of an oil company drill in 1997 which was available in a NGO Survey Reports and reproduced by Prof. Dr. Jan Muhammad Mengal of Quetta during his research along with Florian Maldonado, Shahid Hussain Khan and Peter D. Warwick; 2011). Such old people who were living here in the valley were extending their relations with Taung, Kirthar and nearby valleys. Many of the Hindu and Muslim tribes were living here in past like; Dewan, Wannya, Shaikh, Noomrya etc. Later the Jokhia tribe lived here for migratory purposes who became the local inhabitants of the region. Kalmati Baloch people were also invited by Jokhia during 1800 AD who lived here temporarily and went back to their areas near Mirpur Sakro coast. People lived here for livelihood and food security due to the presence of water, seasonal fruits, rainfall, river streams, variety of plant species, route, transport, business and caves. 2. MALMARI IN THE LITERATURE: Malmari being topper historical village in the Kohistan of Thatta district which has been discussed in the narrative history of Sindh written by Seth Naumal of Karachi during post-Britain era i.e. 1843. He is known as the first person who published the book and mentioned Malmari valley in his book “Yadgeeryon” (written in 1843, published in English during 1910) in which he discussed the location of Malmari, route, hard hills, mountains, people, nature of the region and people lifestyle in detail. One century later in the beginning of 1950s, Master Abdul Aziz Son of Sukhia Khan Jokhia is known as the second writer whose literary work was published in the post-partition magazines in Sindhi language. During the 1959, Muhammad Ilyas “Hamgham” Jokhio’s book “Fullo-a-Ji-Shaadi” was published by RH Ahmed Brothers Hyderabad, which became the very first book of any local villager of Malmari as author. After that, there were so many writers, authors and compilers in the last century who worked on Malmari whose list is so long and still many of them are writing while most of them have retired too. Malmari has also been discussed by few of the British army officers in their write ups like Outram and Preddy etc. In this way from 1843 up to now, there have been 180 years since Malmari was introduced in the literature and mentioned by various writers. A)MALMARI AND INVADERS: Malmari has been the center of invaders’ attack for a long time. It might be attacked by Arghun, Tarkhan due to the rich valley of natural resources in the Kohistani belt (hypothesis). However, it was attacked by the British Army under the leadership of Captain Preddy in the month of April 1843 A.D while conquering Sindh and the indo-pak subcontinent. They raided on Malmari in connection to attack the then Jam of Malir Jam Mehar Ali Jokhio (the then chief of Jokhia clan of Sindh) who concealed himself from British Army and was living here along with Malak Ibraheem Kalmati (the then chief of Kalmat) while as Malak Ahmed Khan (the then chief of Burfat) was also living near Thano Bula Khan (located at upper side of Malmari). During this invasion on Malmari, local inhabitants’ wealth, property, food, dowry and pennies were looted brutally and black history was recorded. Notwithstanding the fact of later decision and mutual agreement of Jam Maher Ali Jokhio (the then chief of Jokhia) with British Army, people of Malmari were affected a lot in terms of security and so many of local people migrated from here towards various regions of the then India (Junagardh, Kutch, Balochistan and Karachi etc). There are still few of the archeological clues and on ground evidence of that attack near Murr hills, Malmari Naien (rainfall river stream) and adjoining areas of Malmari. B)THE MALMARI ROUTE; FAMOUS AND ANCIENT TRANSPORT ROAD: As Malmari village is situated in a direct direct direction from Karachi on the location so it gives Malmari an important place in the transport. That is the reason for the prominent structure of “Malmari Gass” in history. It is the famous pathway of not only various invaders but also visitors, travelers, refugees, temporarily migrant people during rainfall season, scholars and folklore figures who used to cross and use this route for various purposes on camels, horses, donkeys and later on motorbike, car and various vehicles etc. Additionally, Malmari has an important position due to its “oldest” aerospace and air traffic route because the airplanes cross Malmari hills and Karo Jabal while taking off or landing on earth near Karachi. Currently, Malmari is connected to Jungshahi, Thatto, Gujjo and Karachi through its main road (which needs to be repaired as a mega project). In this way, National Highway is around 50 Km away from Malmari towards Makli and the Motorway M9 is just 13 KM away from Malmari on its main road opposite direction which makes Malmari location as the hub of the area centering it on the entrance of various districts like; Malir, Thatto and Jamshoro. 3. NATURE OF THE PEOPLE OF MALMARI, THEIR IMMIGRATION & MIGRATION: People of this valley originating their forefathers’ existence here are nowadays living in many of the countries, states and cities of the world such as; Engr. Muhammad Shaban son of Prof. Dr. Engr. Muhammad Hayat Jokhio is the first one who migrated from Pakistan and living permanently with his family at the city of Auckland, in New Zealand. Later on, his cousin Engr. Salahuddin son of Prof. Engr. Sirajdin Jokhio also got shifted from Pakistan to Canada whom another son of Prof. Dr. Muhammad Hayat named Engr. Naveed Baig Jokhio has also joined to live with family. In this way, the families of Malmari started living abroad permanently in the last two decades. They have their children who were also born there. Hence, the children of the mentioned families of Malmari might be unable to know more about their grandfathers’ village and its culture in near future. Simultaneously, there are many families of Malmari living in various cities of Pakistan and abroad as well, whose generation will not be able to move back to Malmari in near or far future. Here a big question arises that how the future of Malmari is revitalized if such a great number of population has been migrating from Malmari to the various cities and is not getting back to their homeland? The people of Malmari are simple by look, not so much problematic, loving in nature and the past generation was highly educated but the present generation is not much sound in education due to continuous migration and settlement in so called cities which have lack of education facilities as well as the interest of villagers on investing education is not so good which results in the less quality production of human resources during the past and current decade. Culturally Malmari was the centre of traditions in the past but religious extremism totally banned the customs of centuries ago in the village. In spite of this, various Sindhi cultures are found in the village to some extent. However, due to lack of arranging wedding ceremonies in the village has impacted a lot because most of the people celebrate their events in prepared “Shadi halls” instead of “Tamboo (tent)” in village where different traditions were used to practice such as aesthetically well maintained camels instead of decorated cars, singing folklore songs and Molood Shareefs instead of currently edited songs etc. This shifting of culture is noted by seniors but they become silent and just watch the changed culture of their generation. A) RELIGION IN MALMARI: Malmari may have religious connections with many religions in past like; Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam as well as unknown religions. Such can further be explored by visiting the ancient monuments and heritage sites of the region and nearby localities. Karo Jabal has prominent fossils as well as pro-prints on the walls of mountains and adjoining hills with clear evidence and sessile structures which clearly disclose the presence of certain religions in the area with wall prints of symbols. Additionally, Malmari Route has also been famous for centuries, so people of various religions might have come here for preaching/ visiting and travelling purposes. Currently, all people living here are Muslims while there are various schools of thought found here which were created with manipulated ideas during the last decades of the twentieth century when many people followed various religious leaders of Sindh. B) MALMARI AS THE VALLEY OF EDUCATION: Though the present condition of education in Malmari is not as it was qualitatively good in the last century, still we are hopeful for the reformation forthcoming in the era of technology! Notwithstanding the concerns over few thoughts and thinkers on technology and its applications, it is evident to know that Malmari was center of excellence in education where so many educationists, writers, poets, social workers, engineers, philosophers, teachers and officers were born so it was known as “the village of teachers” in past. Among those great names, this was Master Abdul Aziz Jokhio whose name is top in the list of writers, Sir Jahan Khan Jokhio is also famous and pioneer teacher whose student Molvi Ziauddin Jokhio is known as religious teacher of the village while as the first author whose book was published in 1959 A.D is Muhammad Ilyas “Hamgham” Jokhio. In this way, Sir Jan Muhammad “Janbaz” Jokhio, Sir Allah Nawaz Khan Jokhio, Sir Muhammad Ramzan Jokhio, Sir Rabnawaz Jokhio and later on Prof. Dr. Muhammad Hayyat Jokhio are very much known as leading teachers of the village. C) THE INSTITUTIONS OF MALMARI: There are various institutions of Malmari which began to work as functional public and private institutes in the late 1940s when Sir Jahan Khan was appointed as first government school teacher to perform his duties at the remote area of Kohistan. However there were people of Jalalji (the then a small cluster colony of Malmari and nowadays a separate village in the border-line of district Thatta and Jamshoro) who nurtured and supported Abdul Aziz Jokhio son of Sukhia Khan of Malmari in securing primary education in Karachi. Such men are; Allahdad Khan, Muhammad Suleman, Izzat Khan and others. Abdul Aziz Jokhio was teacher throughout his service in the Kohistan region of Karachi (Golimar and Mauripur etc) while as Jahan Khan Jokhio was appointed as government school teacher in his village Malmari where first ever government institution was established (which is still known as Government Boys Primary School Malmari) where he taught the famous religious teacher of the village; Molvi Zia-uddin Jokhio and others, which created the unstopped series of the production of various teachers and writers who created many private institutions such as Bazm—e—Janbaz (established by Muhammad Ilyas “Hamgham” Jokhio under the supervision of Abdul Aziz Jokhio and in the leadership of Jan Muhammad “Janbaz” Jokhio in 1954 A.D, a literary society of poets and thinkers) etc. Public sector institutions are also important to mention here. The historical first school of Malmari is Government Boys Primary School Malmari which was without building until the end of 20th century when famous social worker of village Muhammad Ilyas Jokhio gave a written application to the officers for its building. Later the then Member Provincial Assembly Jam Bijar Khan Jokhio granted the fund of the building and it was constructed after a meeting of Mr. Bisharat Ilyas Jokhio who gave application to Jam Bijar Khan Jokhio requesting him for application. Muhammad Ilyas Jokhio did not only request for this building but also did a lot of struggles for Malmari such as he tried to establish and get success in creation of: a. Govt. Middle School Malmari b. Govt. Girls Primary School Malmari c. Govt. Dispensary d. Public Call Office (PCO) e. Branch Post Office of Jungshahi at Malmari f. Water Supply Scheme g. Tube well Scheme Except the above institutions, the two of the memorial libraries were established by two legends is worth-mentioning here. The first one is Izzat Khan Jokhio Memorial Library Jalalji which was established by the learned advocate of the region Mr. Izzat Khan Jokhia in early 1950s (which is presently owned by staunch revenue department expert Khan-sahib Darya Khan Jokhio and his son Asif Ali Jokhio). Later on, in the beginning of 1990s, another library was established in the village named as Sonharo Faqir Memorial Library Malmari (owned by Kohistan Welfare Association created by: Hafiz Muhammad Jokhio) 4. EXTREMISM IN MALMARI: Extremist thinking is present at peak level nowadays in Malmari which started on a few “concerns” and has reached up to the climax. Majority of people here belong to Sufi school of thought while as newly certified villagers who got their religious education in the madrasa of Afghani, Pathan tribes deobandi school of thought are more extremist in their mission. At the same time, some sufi people belonging to the Barelvi school of thought are also extremist in their practices. Both extremist groups are intending to light the light against culture, traditions and even the heritage. In the far past, people used to dance and follow all of the cultural traditions of Kohistan such as; Laau’n, Daa’wan, Akhyo etc but slowly after the religious resistance, there was a great opposition which has been a reason for cultural demise and decline in the village. Moreover, extremist thinking is also present in feudalism and non-feudalist people as well. Their societal problems are resolved with the help of Wadera culture (in spite of having many wrong practices of history) but again people are against this. At the same time, feudalist thinking people of capitalist thought are worst against any opposition in their lives. It is so sad to know that Kohistan is known as the center of religious peace, harmony and interfaith but currently there is zero tolerance found against others’ religious thoughts among the people of Malmari. Many of the highly educated people are found to be religious extremists while I have been meeting with many less educated or totally illiterate people who are not religious extremists. Reasons behind such religious extremism are blind faith and such followers who do follow their religious trends without studying and they just rely on their leaders. Whatever so called the leaders instruct and guide them; either right or wrong but the blind followers act upon it at extreme level. Such people are not sound in tolerance. Hence, religious extremism is found at peak level which needs to stop through love, care, and wisdom and peace education. This also creates a lot of issues in the socio-economic condition of the village which may also harm the future achievements of Malmari and can also damage the image and existence of this historically important valley of Sindh Pakistan. 5. ICONIC IDENTITY OF MALMARI: There are various iconic identities of Malmari and its adjoining areas which are famous in the region such as: A) WILDLIFE OF MALMARI: Mali and its ecosystem is rich in wildlife, where you can find many of brown francolins, Partridges, Phasianidae birds, Sparrows, Quails, Pigeons and great number of wild crows, cats, ruminants, bustards, fox and large number of butterflies and insects’ rich variety. However, if we take a glance at the past of Malmari, my uncle Haji Sherdil Jokhio (Senior, whose age was 101 years) told me that when they were young and wondering in Karo Jabal, they used to see black deer, black partridge and many species which are extant nowadays. In this way, a good number of parrots was also seen in past years. Such a rich diversity of wildlife village Malmari needs a great focus and attention by the Sindh Government to preserve the animals of this region. B) ROCKS OF MALMARI: Malmari is located in the hugging beauty of rocks, hills and natural rainfall streams. A few of the rocks are known as Nundh, Lakaro, Tar’a ji buthi etc while as hills are Lucky, Murr, Murrho, Phatt, Kerry ji buthi, lemy ji buthi etc. These rocks and hills are so beautiful and heart-catching they look after monsoon rainfall on them while a dress of green is seen wearing due to seasonal plantation. While goats go over it to feed these plants, the charming voices are heard during sunset and sunrise time, it looks like all the beauty of nature is this! We need to save, protect and preserve this heritage. C) WATER RESOURCES OF MALMARI: Malmari had faced a permanent shortage of drinking water up to 1996 A.D when the first water tube well was successfully installed here which gave sweet water for drinking. Before that, many generations had died thirsty due to drought in hilly areas. The progressive works were continued by some social activists of the village named; Muhammad Ilyas “Hamgham”, Naimatullah Jokhio, Hafiz Muhammad Jokhio and others whose efforts to provide sweet water for village are appreciated and shall remember in the history forever. Hafiz Muhammad Jokhio donated thousand rupees in the collection of funds to provide water to the villagers. He owned his village with honesty and without personal interest or greed etc. At present, tube wells are present in Malmari near Jama Masjid and in Sukhiani goth of Malmari near the famous “Malmari Khooh”. D) HERITAGE OF MALMARI: The heritage of Malmari is ancient. Nevertheless it has not been scientifically discussed by any of the scholars along with solid evidence of history, just approximations with possible significant efforts have been attempted to enumerate the historical monuments located in the vicinity. Beautification is though seen in post-monsoon days in Malmari where the graves of heritage with standing rocks are totally found in grass. Few of the local people from the village Allah Rakhia Jokhio are deputed on the duty of cleaning and taking care of these graves recently. Despite this all, still we need to preserve the great heritage. E) THE FRESH WINDS OF MALMARI: If you want to live in the cool tied winds, fresh air full of the blossom perfume of herbs, shrubs and seasonal plants of Kohistan, then you must visit Malmari to live at least one night during post-monsoon days. Honestly, you will feel the winter of December in the month of July or August during rainfall. If you go into “Dhorro” (rainfall river stream), you will hardly manage yourself and can drown into water! I have seen many healthy and fatty men and women falling on earth and into flowing water like flood floating and crying….! Such a fantasy is the fresh wind of Malmar which gives life to old people, refreshes minds, souls and bodies, nurtures intelligence, and gives an immense mental peace to the hurt people who want to spend their time under shelter and clouds. F) MALMARI AND POLITICS: Malmarians have political wisdom, maturity and an excellent growth in the political scenario of the district and even Sindh, Pakistan. It is the socio-political struggle of a great son of Malmari named Muhammad Ilyas “Hamgham” Jokhio who invited the honourable President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Mr. Rafiq Ahmed Tarrar in ???????????? to donate some funds to the people of the village. When he came to Malmari, Governor Sindh, few of the ministers of some viable portfolios, the Commissioner Hyderabad Division and many of the other stakeholders were also accompanied with him. Jan Muhammad Janbaz Jokhio and Muhammad Ilyas Hamgham Jokhio wrote an application collectively to the election authorities and granted polling station in the GBPS Malmari during the start of 1980s. Soon Nabi Gul Jokhio was also nominated as “Union Council Jungshahi” and he was the first person from Malmari who got success in local government. As far as the political wisdom and awareness is concerned, this was Mr. Sukhio Khan Jokhia (II) who tried to mainstream the political awareness in the village during the late 1980s. Nowadays, most of the villagers are supporters of PPP through Wadero Hamzo Khan Jokhio and Jam Awais Bijar Jokhio (MPA) whose relatives’ village Allah Rakhyo Jokhio alias Lihar Bandh is also near. Political support of villagers is always seen unconditionally but it should be done on certain terms and conditions which may give benefit to the village as whole. G) MALMARI AND SPORTS/ GAMES: Traditional games like “Malh”, “Itti Dakkar”, “Likk Lekotei” and “Satoolya” are played in the region as the old games of Sindh. Many people used to play various other such games in the village but Malmari and modern sports/ games got connected in late 1980s when famous educationist of the village Sir Allah Nawaz Khan Jokhio was appointed as the Headmaster of GBHS Malmari. He gave awareness of modern gaming/ sports to the students. Soon many of his students became good cricketers. A few names who started playing tennis ball cricket in the village are Allahnawaz Khan, Unnar Khan, Rahim Khan, Haq Nawaz Khan, Muhammad Yaseen, Maqsood Ahmed and then a big list comes in this category. Still cricket is the most famous and popular game in the village, every child knows how to play and how to get success in it? There are various wide grounds where villagers are seen most of the time engaged in this healthy activity. H) MALMARI AND MUSIC: Music and mountains are interlinked together. If there is calmness in mountains, if people are with the herds of cattle feeding in the jungle, if the cattle charmers are tiredness and looking towards any shelter of tree to sit behind to rest then it would be the most suitable time for them to engage in music i.e. Moro which is the traditional music of Kohistan. The person who sings Moro is called “Morai”. Moro poems reflect the culture, ground realities, traditions, monsoon rainfall and related topics about Kohistan which are their identity. Moro has been the popular music of Kohistan for many centuries. Few of the famous Morai of Kohistan are Mr. Waryam Palari and Mr. Talib Palari etc of Nooriabad and adjoining areas. Moro is also the music of Malmari since long which was thought bad by religious people but later nowadays again it seems that it is going to be popular in the village. Few of the names who are popular Morai are; Noor Zaman Jokhio, Gul Nawaz Jokhio and others of Malmari. Lines of Moro as sample are given here which say like; Moro sitting and singing! My country is Karojabal! Moro sitting and singing! My motherland is Karojabal! Moro sitting and singing! Goat is running over a mountain! Moro sitting and singing! Bye Bye sorrows of Karojabal now! Moro sitting and singing! I) MALMARI AND EDUCATION: a. Religious: Malmari and religious education is like “Greeks and Philosophy” or “Athens and Philosophy”. Likewise, there are many religious scholars in the village which makes it sometimes saturated. However, such extensive presence of various sects, colours and creeds in religion to have their own mission makes the youth of the village sometimes “extremist” rather ”religious”. Few of the tender age people are also seen as “moderate” rather than “extremist” in the village. This can be controlled by working on “mysticism” among young people rather than pushing them to love only their own religious thoughts. Religious variety of the schools of thought is not bad but we should stop any extremist steps. Educating youth regarding wide thinking and making them “love-spreader” can bring a positive change. Religious people with Hafiz-e-Quran are increasing but “religious scholars” are decreasing. Historically in past, there were “scholars” rather “Hafiz” which started to be in the late 19th century when Molvi Muhammad Ismail Jokhia who was known as Qazi Ismail was educated by various Maddarsa of Hala and Thatta. After that Molvi Zia-uddin Jokhio opened “center of excellence” in the village around 1949 A.D. Sufi Abdul Sattar Ghaffari Naqshbandi was also his cousin who supported him and made him his spiritual student. Molvi Zia-uddin left this world at the end of 20th century and later another good scholar and teacher of the village became his successor. He was Sain Haji Muhammad Hashim Jokhio who nurtured many of young people. Sufi Abdul Hannan Jokhio Tahiri is nowadays working as spiritual leader in the village, who loves all but hates none. b. Art: History of arts education in the village is also old. It started in the early 20th Century when many people got educated here in the various fields of arts like; language and literature, religious studies, Adeeb Faazil, Adeeb Aalim, S.V, Primary Teacher Certificate and took interest in working for the betterment of the village. c. Science and Technology: Science education has not been new here as it was initiated in the second half of 20th century when few of the people educated their siblings and children in Science education. Mr. Abdul Jalil Jokhio was first and Mr. Darya Khan Jokhio was second who completed their Matriculation in Science and then many of the people were motivated to get education in Science. As so far as the higher science education is concerned, Mr. Muhammad Hayat Jokhio secured his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Metallurgy) whom his brother Mr. Siraj Din followed with Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Civil). Later on various scholars continued the same educational career in Science. 6. PUBLIC HEALTH STATUS OF MALMARI: Notwithstanding the increasing threshold of cancer and few cases of leukemia in the village, it is however certain that the fresh air blooming in Malmari is still healthy but the prevalence of consanguineous marriages is crossing red light of life that has been creating severe mental, physical, physiological and endemic diseases and illness in the current generation of Malmari. Such diseases are Schizophrenia, Bipolar manic disorder, unknown syndromes (may be down’s or tuner’s) etc. If such marriage traditions and ceremonies are practiced in present and forth filial generations, more severe diseases may be found in future which may create death and a very bad situation. There is a lack of water supply but drilling of water resources with rich sweet water already exists here which may provide a security of life. Common diseases found here among the villagers are flue, fever, diarrhea, ENT infections, ulcer, psychological disorders, malnutrition and cancer (a few cases recently reported) etc. Generally, the Malmari Ecosystem is well maintained by nature, which gives a fresh and soothing smell after every moment. Hence, the health status of Malmari is not well maintained.
