DADU, March 21: There are no more Buddhists in Sindh, but remains of their unique fortress-like settlements are scattered across the province. However, like archaeological sites of Indus valley civilization and the Hindu era, the Buddhist settlements are also on the verge of extinction due to apathy of the federal archaeology department.

One such settlement is that of Siranikot, about 10 kilometres away from New Jatoi town, on the left bank of Indus River in Moro taluka.

Spread over three acres, it has a big stupa in its middle which is surrounded by 15-foot high and 10-foot wide courtyard.

No research has been done on Sindh’s Buddhits settlements said to be 12 and 13 in different parts of the region extended from Kutch in the south to Multan in the north.

At the time of the Arab invasion, Sindh was ruled by the Brahmin Hindus while most of the people belonged to Buddhist and Jain religions.

The double-storey Siranikot stupa is 25-foot high and made of clay and mud. It has four gates and four watch towers.

At present, the entire archaeological site is ‘owned’ by Buriro clansmen who had built eight houses on the settlement in 1970s.

The stupa and walls of the fort are in the worst condition as no repair work has ever been undertaken.

Rains have caused major damage to the parts of stupa and walls of the fort.

The people have built a village on the site, but they have not dismantled the ancient remains. However, their cattle roam freely around the site.

The local people have found over 25 different historical items from the site time to time, including engraved bricks, beads (perhaps of monks), terracotta figurines, sculptures and coins.

Some wooden pillars have also been found which might had been used for supporting locking the fort’s gates.

The interesting thing is that the villagers having no experience of conservation have kept all these things in a cupboard of the local primary school.

Village notable Moli Rakhio Buriro told Dawn that the historical site was in their custody as the archaeology department had not claimed authority on it.

He said that only a few historians had visited the site and the villagers welcomed them.

Mr Buriro said that the government should construct a museum in their village and they were ready to handover all items found from the site.

He demanded that the government should protect the historical site.

Writer Aziz Ranjhani said that the stupa was quite different from other stupas found in Sindh and bigger than the others.

He said that originally the stupa was 31-foot high, but local people had destroyed 6-foot so it was now 25 feet.

Archaeologist Dr Hakim Ali Shah Bukhari said that Siranikot site was 900 to 1,000 years old and it was a monument of the Buddhist era.

He said that Sirani was Sindhi word meaning protection and Kot means fort.

He said that two kinds of forts were found in Sindh, those constructed at strategic places for protection from enemies during battles and others for protection of religious places.

He said that Siranikot was constructed for protection of a religious place and its inhabitants because a stupa was found there.

Mr Bukhari demanded that the federal archaeology department should take the site into their custody under Antiquity Act 1975 and protect it. He said that the place, if preserved, could be made important tourism point.

He said that repair of the site and research on it were also necessary. He said that rains had damaged the site and if preventive measures were not taken, the site might vanish.

Mr Bukhari disclosed that human skeletons were also found at the site by few years ago.

He said that the skeletal remains were evidences that before the construction of the fort and stupa, people lived there.

Mr Bhkhari said that he and another archaeologist Badar Abro had visited the site.