Dodo Bin Khafef Soomro III

Dodo Bin Khafef Soomro III urdu دودو بن خفيف سومرو سوم: Dodo Soomro Was the famous ruler of Sindh.

History

It has been mentioned in a previous chapter that in the year 720 A.H. (1320 A.D.), Ghází Malak took the army of Sind and Multán to Dehlí, dethroned Khusró Khán the last of the Ghazní kings and proclaimed himself the king of Dehlí, with the title of Ghayásuddín Taghlak Sháh. About that time, a large number of the Súmrah tribe assembled in the vicinity of Tharrí and taking a man by name Súmrah, as their leader, proclaimed him to be an independent chief of their tribe and country. With their assistance Súmrah soon secured a firm grasp of his princi­pality and cleared the surrounding country of rebellious people. He then managed to marry a daughter of a big zamindár of the place. Her name was Sád. He got a son by her and he named him Bhúngar. At the death of Súmrah, Bhúngar succeeded him as the chief of his tribe. Bhúngar was again succeeded by his son Dódá, who extended his rule to Nasarpúr. After a successful reign, he died leaving a grown up daughter by name Tárí and a minor son by name Sanghár. For the time Tárí took the reins of Government. When Sanghár reached the age of maturity, he replaced his sister on the throne. This young chief made some invasions in the direction of Kachh and brought the country up to Nánaknai* into his possession. At his death, as he had no issue, his widow Hímú, who was ruling in the fort of Adak managed to put her own brothers in possession of the towns of Muhammad Tùr and Tharrí.

About this period, the Súmrah chief Dódá was ruling his people at the castle of Dahkah. Considering the opportunity very favourable, he collected his kinsmen and caste-fellows, invaded the country of Hímú’s brothers, and defeated and killed them. But soon afterwards, one Dádú Phattú, of the descendants of Dódá collected a large number of men and made himself the master of his fore­father’s country. After a quiet reign of some years he died and was succeeded by a chief named Khairá. After Khairá, one Armel became the ruler of the place. Some people of revolted against him and killed him in conspiracy with his ministers. The head of Armel was hung on the top of the gate of the fort and Unar was proclaimed their ruler. This occurred in 752 A.H (1351 A.D.). Thus the Govern­ment of Sind passed away from the hands of Súmrahs to those of Sammahs. According to the Muntakhib Tawá­ríkh it was in 445 A.H. (1053 A.D.)

Dastan-e-Dodo Chanesar

The Khaljis now not only wanted to replace Dodo by Chanesar; they also wanted Bhagi, Bhungar Rao's daughter by a third (regular) wife, for Alauddin. However, the Soomras would not agree to either demand. Rejecting the idea of a matrimonial alliance, they said: ``Tu Turk asee Soomra, ahri jor na jugai (``You are a Turk and we are Soomras; such a union will not be right). In the fight that ensued, both sides suffered heavily. Dodo's son Bhungar Jr. and even Chanesar s son Nangar ``Nehro, fought heroically for Dodo --- and fell. Sabar Abro, a Samma chief on the Soomra side, killed Alauddin's son Syed Ghazi Salar. When Dodo was speared and raised high, he told Chanesar standing by: ``Even now I am above you!

Meanwhile the Khalji attack on his own land and people had induced second thoughts in Chanesar. He now began to hate Alauddin for his excesses against Sindh. He is believed to have died fighting Alauddin.

The most important aspect of this episode is that in Sindh it became a people's war. Even peasants, shepherds, cowherds, bards, faqirs, fishermen, potters and weavers joined the fray. They all said: The sword is our plough.

The Soomra ladies secretly left for the safety of Samma protection in Kutch, and Alauddin found the palace deserted. He left Sindh disgusted and disappointed.

References

This article includes content derived from "History of Sind - translated from Persian books" by Mirza Kalichbeg Fredunbeg (1853-1929), published in Karachi in 1902 and now in the public domain.