SUKKUR is the third largest city of Sindh. There are a lot of historical monuments in this city. One of them is that of Mir Masoom Shah Jo Minaro (Mir Masoom Shah’s minaret), which is famous.

This minaret was completed in AD 1617.by Syed Nizamudin Shah, commonly known as Mir Masoom Shah. He was the governor of Sukkur during Mughal emperor Akbar’s era.

This minaret is erected at the top of a hill. It has four storeys. Each storey of the minaret has one arch type of ventilation slot. It is decorated with floral work and poetry of Mir Masoom Shah on main entrances. There is also a shrine called Faiz Mahal or ‘aramgah’. The shrine is octagonal and has four arched entrances and four arch-type blind covered arches.

Near the minaret there is Mir Masoom Shah’s shrine and his family’s graves. Around the minaret, there are several graves of Mir Masoom Shah’s ancestors. The pavilions are exquisitely decorated with Quranic verses and Persian inscriptions. The material used consists of red sandstone, red bricks, marble and glazed tiles.

From the top of the minaret, one can have a bird’s-eye view of Sukkur city and the Indus. This minaret is under Sindh’s Auqaf Department, and needs to be preserved for our future generations.

Hamid Ali Gadhi
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2015