Contribution of M.H Panhwar in literature and History: A Research Analysis

Abstract

There are some eminent scholars, got fame throughout Sindh and abroad due to their outstanding endeavors in different fields. M.H Panhwar is one of them, who were born on 25th December, 1925 in village Ibrahim (Kachi), Taluka and District Dadu. M.H. Panhwar has contributed a lot on Indus Civilization, History & Archeology and in other fields too. He explored the hidden facts of Indus Civilization on the basis of scientific Research. The first aspect of his research was compilation of history of Sindh, it’s Geography and Archeology on scientific basis. This research consists of Geography, Archeology, Languages, and norms of primitive Sindh. He did work on the trade, harbors, neighboring states of India to Sindh particularly Kach and also relations of Sindh to European continent. He also pens down about the Soomra and Kalhora regimes in Sindh, rampant languages in Sindh, Sindhi language, Rani Kot Fort, struggle of Sindh against feudalism, the cities and settlements in Sindh, etc. He worked on political and historical personalities also and documented the life and services of G.M-Syed, Muhammad Ibrahim Joyo, Henry Cousins, Jam Nizamuddin Samo, Peer Hassamuddin Rashdi, Abdullah G Memon etc. The second aspect of his research was agriculture, horticulture and environment. He wrote hundreds of articles on agriculture engineering, pre and post harvest, ground water, sea erosion, water falls in mountainous areas, rivers, water logging & salinity problems in Sindh etc. He also introduced new variety of fruits i.e. mangoes, grapes etc. After Mr. Pithawala, M.H Panhwar was the first Sindhi scholar who used maps and charts in his research work. Seventeen (17) books of M.H Panhwar has been published up to-date including (1) An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Soomra Kingdom of Sindh (2) Source Material on Sindh (3) Groundwater in Sindh (4) Six Thousand Years of History of Immigration of Sindh (5) Water Requirement of Riverian Areas of Sindh (6) Chronological Dictionary of Sindh (7) Sindh-Kuchh relations (8) First Ten Years of my Life (Autobiography) etc. He has mostly written in English, most of which has been translated into Sindhi. A large number of his un-published articles are available in his personal library. M.H Panhwar died on 21 April 2007 and buried in his farm house near Tando Jam. In this research article I have focused on the contribution of M.H Panhwar in the fields of literature, Archeology and historiography.