Makli Necropolis is located approximately 6 kilometres from the city of Thatta, Sindh. The Sufi saint Sheikh Hamad Jamali is then said to have named the site “Makli”, or “Little Makkah”, after hearing the story of the pilgrim. Makli is one of the largest funerary sites in the world, spread over an area of 10 kilometres. The site houses (no. of graves) approximately 500,000 to 1 million tombs built over the course of a 400 year period. Makli Necropolis features several large funerary monuments belonging to royalty, various Sufi saints and esteemed scholars.
By the 15th century, decorated rosettes and circular patterns began to be incorporated into the tombs. More complex patterns and Arabic calligraphy with biographical information of the interred body then emerged. Larger monuments dating from later periods included corridors and some designs inspired by cosmology. The most architecturally significant tombs at the site date from around the time of the Mughal era, between 1570 and 1640 .It stretches from Pir Patho at the southern end of the Makli Hills, northward in a roughly diamond shape. The earliest tombs displayed three to six slabs of stone stacked on top of one another into the shape of a small pyramid. Evolving funerary architecture then incorporated small plinths. The site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 as an “outstanding testament” to Sindhi civilization between the 14th and 18th centuries.
Location
| Makli, Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan |