Thatta Location: 98 Kms East of Karachi. Civilization: Indus Valley Civilization. Accessibility: Thatta is 98 kms away from Karachi. It is easily accessible from Karachi through road and train. Plan a day's delightful excursion. A fast comfortable drives through 98 km, of interesting countryside from Karachi to Thatta. Thatta is also called Thatto in local language. It is a town in Sind Province, ninety-eight kms (60 miles) East of Karachi, on the national Highway. Just west of the Indus River and the Arabian Sea coast. Once Called the El Dorando of the east. At one time Thatta was important as Sind's capital city and as a center for Islamic arts. From the 14th century four Muslim dynasties ruled Sind from Thatta, but in 1739 the capital was moved elsewhere and Thatta declined. Thatta have the very rich heritage of Muslim architecture of era of 16th and 17th century. The history of Thatta goes back some two thousand-year. It is now a mere vestige of its former greatness as 16th-century capital of the Samma dynasty in Lower Sind. Incorporated as a municipality in 1854. It was believed that this was the place where Alexander the Great rested his legions after their long march. The remains of Thatta include the tombs, mausoleums and mosques. Some of them are in a good state of preservation. Remains of Thatta civilization shows that how civilized were those peoples. The surrounding region includes the barren and rocky Kohistan area and the swampy deltaic land of the Indus. Sugarcane is the chief crop; camel breeding is significant. Nearby excavations reveal occupations dating from the first century BC. Shah Jehan's Mosque: 3.22 km away from Thatta the Shah Jehan mosque is the masterpiece of mughal construction. This mosque was build by the constructor of Taj Mahal in 1647 AD This mosque was build towards the middle of 17th century. This was really the glorious example of Muslim architecture. This mosque was build by Mir Abdullah under the order of Mughal emperor Shah Jehan. Shah Jehan mosque is the beautiful example of tile work. Its 93 domes and 33 arches have varying sizes have their architectural beauty. The domes have been exquisitely laid in a mosaic of radiating blue and white tiles. Makli: The Makli hill near Thatta is the world largest grave yard spread over 15.5 sq. kms, having millions of graves. Here in eternal sleep lie kings, queens, Scholars, Philosophers and soldiers of a by-gone era-an era renowned for its culture and learning.We can see the masterpieces of stone carvings over the gravestones and mausoleums. These grave stones and mausoleums stones are representing the different era's and dynasties. There are monuments of Summa period (14th to 16th centuries), the Tarkhan & Arghun period (16th century), and the Moghul period (16th to 18th centuries). You can examine the minute and delicate workmanship on the tombs of famous Mughal governor's. The quality of this structure is that these are strong as well beautiful. The main stone using in the construction of these monuments are marble and granites which are generation's lasting. You can see the rhythm of construction in these monuments. The largest and most impressive tomb among the tomb's is tomb of Isa Khan Tarkhan who died in 1644. Isa khan had constructed this tomb in his lifetime. After the completion of some part of of that tomb Isa khan cut off the hand's of most talented craftsmen, so that no other emperor could engage them to copy the same monument again. Beside the most preserve, monuments are the tomb's of Mirza jani Beg, Mirza Tughral beg and Diwan Shurfa Khan. © Copyright, 2008 ABNTV :: News and Entertainment | All rights reserved