KHAIRPUR is a large district of Sindh with many historical places. One of them, Kotdiji fort, is located in Kotdiji city. The early origins of the fort are obscure with traces of the earliest fortifications going as far back as 3,000BC. The structure that stands now and about which I have penned these lines was built during the reign of the Talpur dynasty.

Mir Sohrab Ali Khan Talpur was the founder of the kingdom of Khairpur state. It took five years to complete the construction around 1785 A.D. The splendid sights of this fort are its high walls and turrets which can be seen from the old National Highway.

The fort is constructed on a limestone hill with kiln-baked bricks. It is half kilometre long and its walls are segmented by about 50 bastions.

This priceless cultural heritage is fast turning into ruins. I visited the fort recently and was saddened to see the careless attitude of the people as well as the fort administration towards this rare archaeological site. People were climbing and jumping on the walls and burning bricks which were falling in pieces and nobody seemed to care for the loss and damage.

Being a student of archaeology, I request the Sindh culture and tourism department to save the site from further decay.

Hamid Ali Gadhi

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2017