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Featured Pakistan: The Archaeological Marvel

The archaeologists have discovered the most ancient Buddhist apsidal temple of Pakistan in Bazira area of Barikot tehsil in Swat.
The site was discovered by archaeologists of Ca’ Foscari University and Italian Archaeological Mission in collaboration with the provincial department of archaeology and museums.

Italian Ambassador to Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese told Dawn that he was excited that the new discovery was also made by Italian archaeologists.

“It is so impressive to find something common between the archaeology of Pakistan and that of Italy. It is something that shows that even in antiquity we have a kind of globalisation where people had exchange of certain techniques and ideas of culture and religions which is astonishing. The more we search for the past, the more we find that we have future together,” he said.

According to Prof Luca M Olivieri, the director of Italian Mission, it is possible to date the foundation of the Buddhist sacred structure to the Mauryan period, certainly to the 3rd century BC.




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MAKLI: OUR OWN CITY OF SILENCE


Spanning nearly 12 square kilometers, Makli is one of the world’s largest necropolises.

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BY SHAZIA TASNEEM |


PUBLISHED DECEMBER 26, 2021

The meaning of heritage is profoundly symbolic. In a recent Instagram activity, the husband of Britain’s princess Beatrice Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi shared few photos of the Acropolis and the magnificent Parthenon of Athens in Greece showing the grandeur structures seen by many as a representation of the origins of Western civilization.

At home, the enormously outsized area of the Makli necropolis is as amazing as its scheme dimension. Covering nearly 12sqkm, Makli is one of the world’s largest necropolises, performing as the final resting place of a debatable figure of more than half a million people, including kings, queens, saints, and scholars.

Presumably, from 14th-18th century, enrolled as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1981, Makli is admired for its imposing tombs and intricate artwork. Monuments are congregated as clusters with some visible chronological arrangement of construction layout.

The structures seem more like an upscale property project than graves. Also branded as the ‘city of silence’, it is one of the finest examples of a grave town found in the history of necropolises. Auspiciously, Sindh owns this quintessential funerary site that saw building activity for over 400 years till recently now restricted due to its heritage status.


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Traveling through time

In the lower Sindh’s district of Thatta, a medieval river port city of the Indus, the necropolis developed as a burial site and exhibits the grandeur of an affluent class. Numerous ancient historical pieces of literature provide adequate testimony about geography, natural wealth, navigation, and trade of Sindh with reference to the river Indus and endorse that a powerful and influential history of Sindh’s river basin what some researchers attribute to Samma Dynasty rulers, who positioned their government at Thatta as their capital.

The grave city has a concept of a confluence between the living and the dead with a well planned construction based on social and religious traditions, and the thorny legacy of who is included in this extravagantly adorned resting place. An examination of the delicate artwork and use of poised construction material suggest that there was no toxic tangle of priorities or segregation. The necropolis has an effective design. Six types of monuments can be found across Makli. They include tombs, canopies, enclosures, graves, mosques and khanqas or learning spaces, where saints would teach and preach to their disciples. Many of the newer monuments are located at southern part.

Two of the most impressive monuments from this period are the tombs of Dewan Shurfa Khan, who died in 1638, and of Isa Khan Tarkhan II, who died in 1644. Both men ruled as Mughal governors in Thatta. The tomb of Isa Khan Tarkhan II, has two-storey stone building with majestic dome and balconies.

The tomb of Jam Nizamuddin, a Samma ruler between 1461 and 1508 is an outstanding monument. The tomb of Darya Khan, referred by scholars as a brave Samma general, is a well-designed fort like protective structure. It is assumed that he was adopted by Jam Nizamuddin, and had defeated Arghun army in battle. On the north of the hill, about 6km from Makli’s southern entrance the cluster of Samma monuments are turning point for the researchers. The origins of the Samma Dynasty are not clear. Many scholars maintain that the rulers were native people belonging to the Rajput clan.


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Identity crisis

Although the grave scheme is being attributed to Samma rulers, the identity of the architects of this classic necropolis remains shrouded in the mists of history. Yet its unique art and designing are indicative of a class typically comprising people of noble birth and holding hereditary titles and positions. Scholars suggest that 14th-century Samma prince Jam Tamachi laid Makli’s foundation.

A cluster of monuments were presumably raised during Arghun, Tarkhan and Mughal rulers of Turko-Mongol origin who invaded Sindh between 1524 and 1739. Then the influx of migrants or travelers, who visited the region during mediaeval time, brought along diverse fine arts to this region. The fantastic creativity expresses that the country itself had a colorful and vibrant picturesque environment ready for the impressionists to copy-past the nature’s elements to their works. This was the case in the designs and patterns of Makli’s funerary architecture that seemingly grew parallel to the Chaukandi’s creative show.

The delicate floral art, geometric patterns, and designs adorning the architecture, and stone carvings found in Makli are drastically similar to those of found in Chaukandi. The basic difference between the two sites is at Makli there are dates inscribed on some of the structures, while Chaukandi lacks any such record.


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Craftsmanship on display


The photos shared by Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi on Instagram show architectural features of the acropolis are characterised by simple and Doric order columns of classical Greece having no decoration at the base and a simple capital at the top. Doric columns tapered so they were wider on the bottom than at the top.

But here at Makli, pillars are exuberantly decorative and perhaps belong to Corinthian order, an advanced Greek order following Doric and ionic orders. Later, this order was copied by Romans and rest of the world in different styles of adornments. While plans for protection and restoration are underway, the fact that the monuments have lasted this long is a testament to the quality craftsmanship of the architects of that time.

Lavishly decorated structures testify the artistry of the craftsmen who created the ornamental décor of the necropolis. The rosette has been used extensively. Intense scrutiny demonstrates designs of 4-18 or more fold petals, stars and leaves. Interestingly, free shapes are dictating almost all the stone canvas while geometric motifs and spiraling leafy themes inlaid in circles are typical arabesque that were borrowed from Persian and Mughal era. There is an exquisite display of delicate relief work accentuated by calligraphic carvings.
 
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Mankiala Stupa in Rawalpindi, built in the 2nd century is a sacred site of Buddhism.
It was built to commemorate the sacrifice of Buddha to feed the starving tiger cubs.
This site encompasses a rich ancient history of Pakistan which deserves a definite visit.


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Malot Fort and it's Shivette temple, a site of Al-biruni Heritage Trail in the Salt Range.

It was built in the 10th century by Janjua King, Raja Mal Khan.


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The mysterious Pattan Minara in Rahim Yar Khan, is a monumental attraction for students of archaeology and history.

Its architecture is attributed to Alexander the Great, Mauryans and Hindu Dynasty.


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Remains of Giri Fortress, Taxila. It has remains of a stupa & a monastery which used to provide shelter for monks in the region during hours of need.

Pic : Tariq Amir

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Remains of Islam Garh Fort, Rahim Yar Khan. It was built by Rawal Bhim Singh in 1665. The Fort is situated in the Cholistan area of Tehsil Khanpur.



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Sangni Fort is a Sikh period fort near Kallar Syedan, Rawalpindi.
It was used to keep prisoners, is also believed to have been built by Mughals and later occupied by Dogras of Kashmir & Sikhs.



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Over 4000 years ago, people of Pakistan constructed high standard, locally adaptable & sustainable Dams.
Irrigation system thus created is akin to hydraulic cultures of the era. Only an advanced socio-economic organisation could enable construction of such monumental structures.


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Preservation works ongoing at Kafir Kot temples, D.I.KHAN, KPK
circa 6 / 7th AD,


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Remains of Bhir Mound, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Taxila. It dates back to the 6th century B.C. as an earliest settlement of ancient Taxila. It is located nearby the magnificent Taxila Museum.
Pic.... Ibn Azhar


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The Royal Necropolis of Derawar also known as the Royal Abbasi Graveyard.
This marvelous architecture for cemetery was constructed by Nawab Mohammad Bahawal Khan (1772-1809) for the burials of Royal family .

Pic ........... Ayesha Gul.


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Archaeologists have found one of the oldest known Buddhist temples in the city of Barikot, in the Swat region of Pakistan.​

Excavations were conducted as part of an Italian mission in collaboration with the International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies (ISMEO).

The team was exploring Barikot’s ancient acropolis, where they decided to excavate an area previously plundered by looters which was littered with robber trenches.

This revealed the remains of an ancient Buddhist temple measuring up to three metres tall, built on an apsidal podium on which stands a cylindrical structure that houses a small stupa.

On the temple’s front is a minor stupa and the podium of a monumental pillar or column, in addition to a series of vestibule rooms which used to lead to an entrance that opened onto a public courtyard overlooking an ancient road.

The temple dates to roughly the second half of the 2nd century BC, but may be even older from the Maurya period in the 3rd century BC (yet to be confirmed through carbon-14 dating).

Excavations also revealed that the monument was built on the remains of an earlier structure flanked by a small, archaic stupa which precedes the Indo-Greek period. This dates to around 150 BC during the reign of the Indo-Greek King Menander I or of one of his first successors, for which according to Indian Buddhist tradition Menander I converted to Buddhism.

In the final days of the mission, the researchers found that parts of the Indo-Greek monument had been built on an even older structure whose strata included pottery materials and terracotta figurines which are likely to have been used in Barikot during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.

Professor Luca Maria Olivieri of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice said: “The discovery of a great religious monument created at the time of the Indo-Greek Kingdom testifies that this was an important and ancient centre for cult and pilgrimage. At that time, Swat already was a sacred land for Buddhism.”

 
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Baoli (stepped well) in Jandiala Sher Khan, Sheikhupura built during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar by a noble by the name of Sher Khan.


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Khudabad II near Hala of Sindh.
Khudabad II was capital of Talpurs before they moved to Hyderabad.
There are some tombs and a mosque which tells it’s own history. Well preserved historical place by Govt of Sindh.


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