THATTA
Thatta is a historic town of 36000 inhabitants in Pakistan. Situated in the south, in the province of Sindh, in the vicinity of the lake Keenjhar. Thatta History of the town dates back to medieval times. In the 14th century was the capital of Lower Sindh, for the three dynasties of governance. Thatta is a unique city with preserved monuments.
They are a unique mosques, tombs and necropolis. These relics come from the 14 - 18 century. The most important mosque is one of Shah Jahan and Badshahi.
In addition to the tombs of Jam Nizamuddin and Satihoo. The UNESCO World Heritage List, the city was Thatta registered in 1981.
The Shah Jahan Mosque was built during the reign of Mughal King Shah Jahan, also known as the builder King.
Foundation stone laid by Emperor Shah Jehan in 15th century.
it is said that one night he saw a dream in which he was ordered by Almighty Allah to build a mosque in this area and in a very short span of time he build this great mosque. After defeat by Sher Shah Suri he escaped towards Iran, and on the way to Iran he stayed here for six month to just build this mosque.
This mosque was built by the constructor of Taj Mahal in 1647 A.D. Build towards the middle of the 17th century, this sets a glorious example of Muslim architecture and heritage. This mosque was build by Mir Abdullah under the order of The Mughal emperor, Shah Jehan.
Shah Jehan mosque is a superb example of crafty tile work. Its 93 domes and 33 arches with varying sizes add to their architectural beauty.
The domes have been exquisitely laid in a mosaic of radiating blue and white tiles. Thatta with so much offering poses to be a prime choice of visitors.
The mosque is built with red bricks with blue coloured glaze tiles probably imported from another Sindh's town of Hala. The mosque is world's largest mosque having such number of domes.
It has been built keeping acoustics in mind. A person speaking inside one end of the dome can be heard at the other end.
Makli Hills
One of the largest necropolises in the world, with a diameter of approximately 8 kilometers, Makli Hill is supposed to be the burial place of some 125,000 Sufi saints.
It is located on the outskirts of Thatta, the capital of lower Sind until the seventeenth century, in what is the southeastern province of present-day Pakistan.
Legends abound about its inception, but it is generally believed that the cemetery grew around the shrine of the fourteenth-century Sufi, Hamad Jamali.
The tombs and gravestones spread over the cemetery are material documents marking the social and political history of Sind.
Imperial mausoleums are divided into two major groups, those from the Samma (1352–1520) and Tarkhan (1556–1592) periods.
The tomb of the Samma king, Jam Nizamuddin II (reigned 1461–1509), is an impressive square structure built of sandstone and decorated with floral and geometric medallions.
Similar to this is the mausoleum of Isa Khan Tarkhan II (d. 1651), a two-story stone building with majestic cupolas and balconies. In contrast to the syncretic architecture of these two monuments, which integrate Hindu and Islamic motifs, are mausoleums that clearly show the Central Asian roots of the later dynasty.
An example is the tomb of Jan Beg Tarkhan (d. 1600), a typical octagonal brick structure whose dome is covered in blue and turquoise glazed tiles. Today, Makli Hill is a United Nations World Heritage Site that is visited by both pilgrims and tourists.
