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Karachi
Karachi, the largest and the most
populous city of Pakistan presents an interesting and colorful
combination of the old and new. The narrow twisting lanes and alleys
of the old city throb with life along-side the wide metal led roads
and elegant modern buildings. Within the city, talented artisans
with age-old skills produce handicrafts of exquisite beauty.
Karachi offers a variety of pleasant attractions: wide sunny
beaches, deep-sea fishing, yachting, golf and horse racing all-year
round. Its restaurants provide a wide choice of Pakistani and
Western cuisine. Its markets and bazaar offer and endless variety of
exciting shopping including indigenous handicrafts, rugs and carpets
of rare design and beauty. Karachi's recorded history goes back to
the 18th century when it was a small fishing village known as
Karachi-jo-Goth. With the development of its harbor it gradually
grew into a large city and an important centre of trade and
industry.
Its selection as capital of Pakistan in 1947 added to
its importance and tremendously boosted the rate of its growth and
development. Although the seat of Government has now been shifted to
Islamabad, Karachi still remains the epicenter of commerce and
industry.
Located on the National Highway, 27 kms from Karachi, Chaukundi tombs comprise of innumerable sandstone graves with strangely-carved motifs, date back to 16th-18th centuries in Sindh. The Chaukundi Tombs are archaeologically interesting. The tombs are constructed out of slabs of rocks stacked into elongated pyramids of cubical stones and carved with exquisite designs, the origin of which remains a mystery.
Banbhore
About 64 kms (40 miles) east of Karachi is Banbhore, an archaeological site which some scholars identify with Debal, the port of city where the Arab General Mohammad Bin Qasim landed in 712 AD. This site is believed to be the port city of Daibul which flourished in 8th century AD. The museum at the site houses a rich collection of painted pottery, coins and beads etc. Banbhore is one of the Pakistan's old and most popular folk- stories Sassi-Pannu.
Haleji Lake
Situated 70 kms (about 52 miles) from Karachi. Haleji Lake is considered to be largest water fall sanctuary in Asia, and is the main reservoir for Karachi. Its 1-1/2 km off the Thatta road from the village of Gujjo. Thousands of birds of over seventy species migrate here in winter from Siberia and stay through January and February. The birds include flamingoes, pelicans, pheasant-tailed jacanas, herons, ducks, partridges and egrets. It is a paradise for those who love birds.
Thatta
Thatta, about 98 kms (61 miles) east of
Karachi. At one time Thatta was important as Sind's capital city and as a
centre for Islamic arts. From the 14th century four Muslim dynasties ruled
Sindh from Thatta, but in 1739 the capital was moved elsewhere and Thatta
declined. It was believed that this was the place where Alexander the
Great rested his legions after their long march.
The town is dominated
by the Great Mosque built by the Moghuls Emperor Shah Jehan which has been
carefully restored to its original condition. The mosque's 33 arched domes
give it superb acoustics and the tile work, a whole range of shades of
blue, is equally fine. Situated on the outskirts of the new town it is
surrounded by narrow lanes and multi-story houses made of plaster and wood
which are top by badgers, the wind catchers designed to funnel cool
breezes down into the interiors of buildings. They are also quite common
in Hyderabad.
The bazaars of Thatta are known for hand-printed
fabrics, glass bangles and Sindhe embroidery work in laid with tinny
mirrors, one of the more world known handicrafts of Pakistan. Thatta is a
fascinating town which appears to have scarcely moved out of the 18th
century and is only slowly catching up with the modern world.
Hyderabad, 164 km north of Karachi the second largest
city in Sindh and one of the largest in Pakistan. Hyderabad is five km
from the eastern bank of the Indus changed its course away from Khudabad,
at that time the capital of the region, the new capital was shifted to
Hyderabad. In 1766 the Kalhora ruler constructed a fort half a square km
in area and it still stands today. In 1843 the British arrived and
defeated the Talpurs, completing their conquest of Sindh.
In the old
city, buildings are topped by badgers that look like chimneys on roof
tops. They catch the cool breezes which blow steadily in a south-west
direction for 40 days from late April each year. Hyderabad is hot for most
of the year, although in autumn and winter the temperature dips down to
around 24 C . In the old sections of the town, cows still roam the streets
giving it a distinctly mediaeval atmosphere.
On the northern side of
the hill on which Hyderabad is sited there are tombs from the Talpur and
Kalhora periods. The tomb of Ghulam Shah Kalhora is one of the finest,
although its dome collapsed and has now been replaced by a flat roof.
Also worth a visit is the Institute of Sindhology's museum at the
University of Sindh. It has displays on all aspects of Sindhi history,
music and culture depicting the lifestyles of the desert tribes.
Infrequent GTS buses go to the campus, otherwise take a miniwagon to
Jumshero, across the river from Hyderabad, and walk the 1-1/2 km to the
university.
At Moenjodaro (Mound of dead) in the west bank
of the Indus in Sindh have been found the remains of one of the earliest
and a most developed urban civilizations of the ancient world. Discovered
in 1922 Moenjodaro once metropolis of great importance forming part of the
Indus Valley Civilization. Moenjodaro 4,000 years old brick ruins of the
Indus Valley Civilization city of Moenjodaro.
The Indus Valley
Civilization flourished from 3,000 to 15,00 BC, making it contemporary
with the ancient civilization of Egypt and Mesopotamia. At its height, it
comprised at least 400 cities and towns along the Indus and its
tributaries, covering most of the present-day Pakistan and stretching
north-west as far as modern Kabul and east as far as modern Delhi. The
water ways were the main highways connecting the empire, and flat bottomed
barges almost identical to those still use today plied the rivers from
city to city. Few of the cities have been excavated.
The most imposing
remains are those of the great bath which consisted of an open quadrangle
with verandahs on four sides, galleries and rooms at the back, a group of
halls on the north and a large bathing pool. It was probably used for
religious or ceremonial bathing. Nearby are the remains of the great
granary, possible public treasury where taxes were paid in kind.
Testifying to the high developed and artistic sensibility of the
Moenjodaro people is discovery of necklaces pendants of beads ear rings
and anklets of ivory and mother-of-pearl, vessels of silver, copper and
browns and polished stones weights and measures which suggest the
existence of strangest civic regulations.
From coins and poetries
discovered, archaeologists believe trade and cultural links existed
between Moenjodaro and the contemporary civilizations of Mesopotamia and
Egypt. Various objects d'art found at Moenjodaro include burnt clay male
and female figurines, and models of the bird, steatite bust of a noble man
or a priest- king, wearing a loose robe on which the trefoil pattern is
engraved and small dancing girls in the browns with slim figures and flat
Negroid features. Figural art is best illustrated by steatite seals
bearing life like representations of animals and mythological creates such
as is the unicorn. The ruins of this Indus Valley Civilization face
eminent danger from the rising water tables and salinity. Government of
Pakistan in cooperation with UNESCO is making all possible efforts to
avert this danger and save Moenjodaro.
North of Larkana the
landscape becomes luxuriant, and in Sukkur the railway line and the
highway split up, with a road and rail tracks leading north-west to
Quetta via Sibi and Jacobabad, while another highway and railway
line go via Rahimyar Khan and Sadiqabad straight to Multan. Sukkur
is a sprawling town, with beautiful mosques, gardens, shrines and
madrazhis (Muslim religious schools). A desert oasis town, similar
to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, it also boasts many havelis, however,
unlike those of Jaisalmer, the Sukkur variety are decorated with
geometric, floral designs and painted in a variety of bright,
contrasting colors. Just across the Indus is Rohri, also fairly
prosperous and an important rail and road junction.
The two
towns, 5 km apart and 544 km north of Karachi are linked by the
Landsdowne and Ayub bridges, which are extremely beautiful. There is
a medieval mosque with porcelain-tiled walls, and eight km away are
remains of the ancient city of Aror where Alexander the Great is
said to have camped.
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