HARIPUR: Noted archaeologist and chairman of the Department of Archaeology of the Hazara University Dr Shakirullah has claimed that all the 52 tombs he visited in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were not in good state of preservation.

He also insisted that the province’s oldest known graves date back to the time of the arrival of Aryans in around the middle of the second millennium BC when both inhumation and cremation of the human bodies were in practice and that the evidence of numerous rectangular pits shaped graves was found in Swat and Dir districts by an Italian mission.

The author made the claims in his book titled ‘Evolution of Tomb Architecture in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’, which was launched during a special ceremony in the Hazara University last week.

Dr Shakirullah launches book on tomb architecture

The 211-page book with five chapters discussed in detail 52 domical monuments of the province, which included pre-Muslim, Ghaznavid, Sultanate, Mughal and British periods from eighth century AD to 19th century AD, which he surveyed in DI Khan, Charsadda, Peshawar, Swat, Mardan, Nowshera, Kohat, Bajaur, Peshawar, and Mansehra.

In a chapter, the author insisted that Muslims reached KP in the early years of 11th century when stupas had already decayed and that they introduced an altogether new way of burying the dead.

“The dead body was placed in a pit dug in the ground and covered with soil, forming a small rectangular mound. Enclosing this mound was raised a square room having very often domical roof. The room embellished in many different ways is called tomb although such ornate burial was not recommended by Islam,” he said.

According to Dr Shakirullah, Mahmud of Ghazni laid the foundation of Muslim architecture in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent after invasion by the end of the 10th century and that the Muslim architecture is an expression in beautiful building forms of the desire of Muslims to achieve their spiritual and mundane goals through the fascinating structure.

He said the buildings were made in accordance with the resources and technological abilities available at the time and that the material resources and engineering skills were the basic factors that transformed social and spiritual needs into aesthetically pleasing creations.

“The Muslim architecture of the northwest of Pakistan encompasses various buildings, which are associated with different phases of history and may be divided into two groups, namely religious and secular. The religious buildings included mosques and tombs and the secular ones consisted of houses, inns, gardens, forts, and palaces.”

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2021