Currently, in the province of Sindh in Pakistan, the city of Amarkot is home to a Pakistani Hindu royal family. Karni Singh Sodha, the Rana of Amarkot, is a political figure as well as the current ruler of the Royal Sodha family of Pakistan. He is the son of Rana Hamir Singh, who was the ruler of the royal family before him. The Sodha family is known to be the branch of Parmar dynasty, which has a rich historical background.
They got involved in politics following the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. Chandra Singh, father of the previous Rana Hamir Singh, is also known to be a founding member of Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Karni Singh’s father Rana Hamir Singh had also been a political leader and had also been to the National Assembly of Pakistan several terms over and had been very close to the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He has been a member of the National Assembly and held ministerial positions before, but in 1990 they left the PPP to found Pakistan Hindu Party. Members of the Sodha family are still holding political power, and Karni Singh himself is involved in politics and social networks campaigning for the rights of minorities.
In 2015, Karni Singh married Padmini Rathore who was belonged to the royal family of Rajasthan from where the relationship between India and Pakistan rooted. The wedding was celebrated with a border-crossing “barat”.
The Sodha Family still has command and respect in Umerkot, as despite being a Hindu minority, they still foster friendly relations with the majority of Muslims in the area. While being the minority political leader and a Hindu King, they cultivated strong relations to the majority and held mutual respect with them. This relationship depicts the privileged position of the Sodha family in a Muslim-dominated country to be the ‘keepers of history’.
