Nanakpanthi Sindhis

There was a time when to be a non-muslim sindhi was synonomous with being a sehajdhari sikh. During the first decades of this century the Chief Khalsa Diwan of Amritsar sent out missionary groups once a year to Sindh to work amongst the sehajdhari sindhis. Over a period of 30 years with scarce resources this missionary actively resulted in a increase from 1000 keshdhari sindhis in 1901 to over 39,000 in 1941. The bond of the sehajdhari sindhis with sikhism is legendary. Like the Sikhs in Punjab the sehajdhari sikhs of sindhi also left behind their homeland and are now dispersed all over india and abroad. There are about 1.3 million sindhis in Sindh province of pakistan and about 2.5 million in india. Their main pilgrimage centres are Nankana Sahib and Dehra Sahib in Pakistani punjab and Sadh Bela near sukkur in Sindh. Sadh Bela is an udasi shrine built in 1823.