Makli Necropolis

Makli is a burial ground on a plateau above Thatta that ran for around four hundred years from the fourteenth century, and the scale is difficult to convey: hundreds of thousands of graves spread across several square kilometres, from simple carved slabs to monumental domed mausoleums of stone and glazed brick. The carving is the reason to come. Sindhi stonemasons covered tomb chambers and canopies with geometric interlace, floral panels and calligraphy of extraordinary density, and the mixture of Hindu, Persian and Mughal motifs in the same panels records exactly where this place sat culturally. Nearby in Thatta, the Shah Jahan Mosque is roofed with blue and white tiled domes and has an acoustic that carries a speaking voice across the hall.

History

The Sufi saint, poet and scholar Shaikh Jamali set up a khanqah at Makli and was buried there, and the 14th-century Samma ruler Jam Tamachi, who revered him, asked to be buried near him, starting the use of Makli as a burial ground; it grew into a great necropolis under the Samma dynasty, whose capital was near Thatta, and its finest tombs date from the Mughal era, between 1570 and 1640. Legend says a pilgrim on the way to Mecca declared the place his Mecca and Shaikh Jamali named it Makli, little Mecca, though the historian Ali Ahmad Brohi traces the name to an ancient temple of Mahakali. With some 500,000 to a million tombs built over 400 years across 10 kilometres, it became a World Heritage Site in 1981 (Wikipedia, Makli Necropolis).

What's there

• The royal mausoleums - domed stone tombs of the Samma and Tarkhan rulers.
• Carved slab graves - dense geometric and floral stonework across the plateau.
• Shah Jahan Mosque, Thatta - tiled blue domes and a famous acoustic.
• The scale itself - kilometres of graves, best appreciated on foot at either end of the day.

When to go

November to February; Sindh is brutally hot the rest of the year and the plateau has no shade at all. Early morning and late afternoon give raking light that shows the carving properly.

What to expect

Conservation has been a struggle and many monuments are in poor condition, with collapsed domes and eroded carving; it has spent time on watchlists for that reason. The site is enormous and unstructured, with no marked route, so a guide makes the difference between wandering and understanding. There is no shade or water on the plateau.

Nearby

Thatta and its mosque are adjacent; Karachi is around two hours west.

Key facts