Makli Hill

One of the largest necropolises in the world, with a diameter of approximately 8km. Makli Hill is supposed to be the burial place of some 125,000 local rulers, Sufi saints and others. 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.^[1] It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981^[2] under the name, Historical Monuments of Thatta.

Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

History

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.
The impressive imperial mausoleums are divided into two major groups, those from the Samma (1352–1520) and Tarkhan (1556–1592) period. In total four historical periods are represented architecturally, namely the Sama period, the Arghun, the Tarkhan and the Mughals. 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 synthetic 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. Pavilion or canopy tombs are another typical architectural feature, as well as enclosure tombs. Today, Makli Hill is a United Nations World Heritage Site that is visited by both pilgrims and tourists, but in strong need of conservation and maintenance. The 2010 flooding's added to the deterioration of the site