Sammas were the people who overthrew the rule of Soomras in Sehwan under the leadership of Unar. It is said that” From the time of Khafif Soomro dynasty gradually waned in power, and at length during the reign of Urrah Mehl, the last of line of the Sammo tribe, which had some time before come from Cutch and settled in Sindh, conspired against and killed him placing Jam Unar of their tribe on the thrown of Sindh.”. (16) All the kings of Samma dynasty bore the title of Jam because they claimed to have been the descended from Jamshed which is considered the fourth son of Noah A.S.(17)
Sammas of Sindh accepted Islam but those who had left for cutch remained Hindus as they had close affinity with the Jams of Cutch and Kathiawar. There are sixteen Samma rulers who ruled over Sindh under this dynasty. [18]
Jam and Banhbina were Joint rulers of lower Sindh, particularly of Thatta . At that time Feroz Shah was busy in his expedition in Bengal.(19)
Samma rulers had good relations with Delhi Sultans and the governors of Multan. Politically, both of them jointly rule over Sindh which is strange phenomenon. They were oppressive during soomra rule and left Sindh and set out for Cutch. They were given land by the ruling tribe and carried on for peaceful living.(20)
Sammas stood for local independence. “they gained control of Thatta in the Southern Sindh from Soomras around 1335, and expanded their territory northward to Bakkar and beyond”. Their attitude was bound to bring them into conflict with Delhi Sultanate. The cause of conflict between Delhi and Thatta was a mystery for the past 600 years but Insha-e-Mahru ( letters of Mahru of Multan) shows that Sammas and Gujrat rulers were helping Mongols against Delhi Sultanate. Therefore, subduing of Sammas was essential for Delhi.
Form imperial government ‘parwana’ ( an official authority order addressed to the jam and Banhbina was written) in order to demand loyalty from the two.
This is partly due to the position of vassalage which the Samma rulers had accepted temporarily and partly to the admonitory and threatening tone of the contents.
As 14th century was considered the Sufi’s saints time period, two of the popular sufi saints namely Sayyid Jalaludin Bukhari, popularly known as Makhdum-i-Jahanian Jahangasht and Seikh Sadruddin ( Sheikh ul Islam) made arrangements in order to restore the peace between Imperialist and Samma rulers which they did not abide by . Because, Feroz Shah decided to led campaign in Thatta. Samma rulers attacked him from mud fortress. The town was situated on the bank of the main channel of the Indus and spread on both side of the river Indus. In this war Sindhis suffered a lot , about 4000 were captured. Again in order to maintain peace syed Jalauddin Bukhari of Uch was called. Here in 1368 A.D. Afif reports that as the imperialists had seized the cultivated fields, Thattians were faced with Famine and starvation. Banbhiniyo made overtures for peace through sayyid Jalaluddin to Feroz Shah and Sindh was submitted to Delhi Sultanate.
While going through the pages of history of Samma Rule, we find that, though, the religion was allowed to play its role in power politics, but no any religion was used or misused to divide society and create any communal problem. Hence, we find no any incident of Hindu-Muslim differences. It is on record that during Soomra Rule, local Hindu Chiefs were recognized as local rulers and they were given free hand to look after their social and administrative affairs. Hindus remained in same position and they were able and capable to use their power in their respective areas. Samma Rulers never interfered in their affairs. It was the reason that Hindus reciprocated properly. That is why, we find Hindus extending their cooperation and serving in Samma Rule in various capacities. In the rule of Jam Nando, there were two Hindu ministers namely Chagla and Lakhidar in his Government (21). In defending sovereignty of Sindh, we find that while fighting with Feroz Tughluq, Ramanmal Sodho and his tribe men lost their lives.(22)
