May 17, 2003

I squinted my eyes against the blinding white rays of the sun trying to get a bird’s eye view of the assortment of graves spread out in an ominous array before me. The scene reeked of melancholy, and forced anyone even most worldly to philosophize and think of the much-avoided angel of ‘death’. I stood approximately 80 km from Karachi on a low ridge along the Indus River in an expanse christened ‘Makli Hill’.

I stood on the land of Thatta, which had been the capital of Sindh in the era of the domineering Mughals. I stood amidst more than one million graves of Makli Hill wherein lay in eternal sleep, over an expanse of 15.5km, kings, queens, saints, scholars, philosophers and soldiers of a bygone era — an era renowned for its culture and learning. I had beneath my feet the world’s largest necropolis where lay silently the remains of people who had lived through the Summa period (14th to 16th centuries), the Turkhan & Arghun period (16th century) and the Mughal period (16 to 18th centuries). Awe — that’s what I felt as I ran my fingers along the stone carvings and netted stone work etched painstakingly on the grave-stones and mausoleums at Makli; representing different eras and dynasties; distinguishable by the styles of their ornamentation.

Thatta remained the capital city of Sindh during the Mughal period, and the Makli Hill (Makli standing for ‘Little Makkah’) became the graveyard of the rulers, saints, noblemen and noblewomen. Its importance, however, declined after the downfall of the Mughals, when, during the Kalhoras and the Talpurs, the capital shifted from Thatta to other places. The new rulers’ interest lay in building their own monuments to assert their authority. This neglect was the first cause of the deterioration of the buildings at Makli.

A number of European travellers who visited Makli Hill have left their impressions. Richard Burton, in his book Unhappy Valley, writes: “Behind it, is an infinite variety of mausoleums and sepulchers, many reduced to ruins by the earthquake, many crumbling to decay beneath the touch of time; a few, but very few, preserved by the pious hands of descendants and disciples. Vaulted domes, arches, and towers; porticos, gateways, and vast colonnades, rise in apparently endless succession above shapeless mounds of ruins... If we enter a mausoleum, the noise of our footsteps return by the hollow ground, disturbs the hundred tenants of the porticos, the niches, and the projections of the domes.”

The Samma period is important in the history of Sindh, because during this period, on the one hand, the Mughals defended themselves from the onslaught of the Delhi Sultans and on the other they held out against the Arghuns. However, in spite of the war expenses, they were able to spend huge amounts on building the mausoleums, mosques and khanqahs in their own lives. An example is the splendid tomb of the Mirza Isa Turkhan, Governor of Thatta, between 1627 and 1644. This tomb was designed by Mirza during his lifetime and was presumably ready for him when he died at the ripe age of 92.

The richness of the tombs was a contrast to the lives of the common people, who lived in poverty and misery. But this also reflects the creativity of the artists, engineers, builders and artisans who were patronized by the rulers. Craftsmen migrated from Central Asia and Iran, as it was the Samma period when Sindh became a sanctuary of refugees who came from Central Asia on the eve of the Mongol invasion.

At Makli also lies, in an unfinished tomb, the legendary Summa ruler, Jam Tamachi who fell in love with a low caste yet beautiful girl called ‘Nuri’, the daughter of a mere fisherman and made her his queen.

Makli boasts not only of the tombs of rulers but also the mausoleums of saints and sufis like Abdullah Shah Ashabi, Maulvi Mohammed Hashim Thattvi, Mulla Luttar and Mai Makli — a unique blend of religion and politics even after death. This subsequently proved to be a blessing in disguise for the rulers, because when the devotees and disciples of later generations came to visit the shrines, they also offered fateha at the graves of rulers and noblemen. Many devotees are buried here, only to be near their ‘Pirs’.

The Makli graveyard and two beautiful mosques in the city centre are the main attraction for visitors to the once bustling city of Thatta. The most conspicuous amongst the tombs of Makli Hill are those built from the 16th to the 17th century AD by Turkhan and Mughal rulers and Amirs. These buildings are distinguished by the presence of coloured enamel tiles which were lavishly used in the form of dados, panels, spandrels etc.

Thatta, through centuries, has witnessed a rich historical past, full of interesting events. The famous Moroccan traveller, Ibn-i-Battuta, describes the presence of a large busy trading port near Thatta (AD1332). The richness and wealth was so prominently present in Thatta that it was named as the El-Dorado of the East. Thatta’s known history is at least 600-years-old, though some experts argue that this was also the ancient city of Pattala where Alexander the Great rested his troops on his way back home in 325BC. It was from the 14th to the 16th century that lower Sindh and Thatta were controlled by Sammas who were independent of the Delhi Sultanate.

At the far end of the Makli hill, the tomb of Jan Nizamuddin, the Summa ruler (AD1461-1509), presents a unique architectural style. The tomb depicts Hindu culture in the construction of dome which is flat in shape, contrary to later buildings built by Mughal princes in the 17th century AD.

The tomb of Mirza Jani Beg (AD 1601) and Mirza Tughril Beg (AD1679) deserve attention for their elaborate construction. The corners of these square structures have been cut to form an octagon. The colourful tile work on the Jani tomb is worth seeing.

In AD1555, a Portuguese fleet of 28 ships arrived in Thatta, burned and sacked the city and took much of the wealth. This was the time when Turkhan rulers took control of the area and eventually in AD1591 the last Turkhan ruler Mirza Jani Beg handed over the control of Thatta to Mughal Emperor Akbar, thus bringing Thatta under the control of Mughal rulers. This led to the construction of beautiful buildings by the rulers in the city.

Following this Thatta became busier and progressed in business. Alexander Hamilton (AD 1699) has mentioned Thatta as a large, densely-populated and very rich city which boasted of some 400 educational institutions where more than 80,000 students from all over Asia and the Muslim world learnt philosophy and politics.

The transformation of Thatta into a graveyard started in AD1739 when Nadir Khan sacked the city and entrusted its administration to Mian Noor Mohammad Kalhora. The capital of Sindh was moved to Khundabad near Dadu and the population was reduced to merely 20,000 due to migration of a large number of people to other areas.

In October 1981 Thatta and Makli were included in the world heritage list of historical monuments by UNESCO. About time, wouldn’t you say?

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