GHULAM RASOOL MEHR AND THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SINDH: A STUDY OF TĀRĪKH-I-SINDH: KALHORA DAUR

Abstract

This study examines Maulana Ghulam Rasool Mehr’s seminal work, Tārīkh-i-Sindh: Kalhora Daur, evaluating his contribution to the historiography of 18th-century pre-colonial Sindh. Historically, the study of the Kalhora Dynasty (1701–1783) suffered from a pronounced methodological divide, caught between royal Persian panegyrics that exaggerated courtly virtues and British colonial logs that reduced the region to an object of territorial conquest. Mehr’s scholarly intervention transformed this landscape by pioneering a multi-source, archival framework that synthesized Persian royal decrees (farmans), local Sindhi accounts, European travelogues, and administrative gazetteers. By cross-examining indigenous records against foreign observations, Mehr established an empirical baseline that corrected long-standing discrepancies in political chronologies, revenue records, and treaties. Furthermore, his narrative moved past traditional dynastic political history to emphasize socio-economic history and state-building mechanics. He detailed the Kalhoras' extensive irrigation works along the Indus River and analyzed local socio-religious movements, including the agrarian revolt of Shah Inayat of Jhok. Re-evaluating Sindh’s position amid the decline of the Mughal Empire, Nadir Shah’s invasions, and Afghan incursions, Mehr framed the region as an active, independent frontier state rather than a passive province. Ultimately, Tārīkh-i-Sindh: Kalhora Daur remains a foundational text in South Asian regional historiography, proving that post-colonial scholarship can achieve empirical rigor while honoring native historical perspectives.