SHAH INAYAT OF JHOK

Named Sartaj-i-Sufian (crown head of mystics) and Sardar-i-Ashkan (leader of all lovers), Shah Inayat was born at village Miranpur, a mile away from Jhok in Thatta district, in 1660. He belonged to a family with Suhrawardy connections at Uch but he spent many years studying under Qadiri saints at Burhanpur. He returned to Jhok and made many disciples both among Hindus and Muslims.

Almost 100 years before the French Revolution, Sufi Shah Inayat endeavoured to demolish the authority of autocrats and feudal lords in Sindh, and in doing so, he invited their enmity and aversion. Shah Inayat went to his rent-free lands which had been given to his ancestors near Jhok and worked on them together with his disciples. The community gained a reputation for social and economic equality which attracted people from many surrounding villages.

The poor folks slowly, but gradually entered, into his clan. In him, they saw a saviour. They clustered around him, and looked to him for their emancipation from misery. The ever increasing popularity of Shah Inayat, not only enraged the feudal lords, but also infuriated the pirs, who prior to the advent of Inayat had exercised considerable influence on the masses. The Syeds of Bulri found themselves losing followers as well as tenants and labourers who had previously worked their lands.

Ultimately a complaint against him was sent to the Mughal Emperor who instructed Nur Mohammad Kalhora, the then Ruler of Sind, to destroy him. The latter accordingly besieged "Jhok" with a large force, but Shah Inayat's fakirs were too strong for him. Nur Mohammad made peace with the saint but this was a ploy to gain time. The saint was assassinated in 1717 A.D. According to a local tradition his head was cut off and sent to Delhi.


SHAH MARDAN

The shrine of Shah Mardan is situated between Kishan and Johan on the Kalat Bolan road. The shrine of Shah Mardan, who is called popularly called Shah-a-Mardan-na-Ziarat, is the most important shrine in the Shahwani tribal areas of Balochistan.

According to an indigenous oral tradition, Shah Mardan was a warrior saint, who came to the area where the present shrine is located in search of infidels. He propagated a message of peace and love, but the infidels responded with cruelty. The warrior saint was forced to give us his verbal persuasion and took up arms against the infidels. Here a fight took place, and it is said that the camel which Shah Mardan was riding climbed over the rock in two successive jumps. The locals pointed out a spot with the foot-prints of a camel, thus giving credibility to their version of the oral tradition.

The shrine consists of a stone enclosure, around five feet high, erected at the foot of the rock. The shrine has neither domes nor elaborate walls; it is a representation of tribal austerity.

The shrine is greatly venerated by the Brahuis, who gather in large numbers from all over Balochistan at the time of the annual urs. All sorts of prayers are offered at the shrine, and a huge number of animals are sacrificed during the celebrations.


SHAH MURAD SHERAZI

His tomb is at Makli necropolis near Thatta. It is said that he was a born Hafiz-e-Quran. Members of Jokhio tribe living around Karachi and Thatta are his followers, Shah Murad Sugar Mills in Thatta district is named after the saint. On every 14th night of moon people throng the tomb in big numbers to celebrate the full moon.


Sheikh Bahauddin Zakariya

On the northeastern fringe of the high mountain where once stood the ancient fort of Multan is the eternal abode of Sheikh al-Kabir Sheikh al-Islam Baha al-Din Abu Muhammad Zakariya al-Qureshi, one of the greatest saints of the Suhrawardiya line.

According to Ibn Battuta, his ancestor, whose name has been recorded as Muhammad al-Qasim al-Qureshi, came to Sindh along with the Arab conquerers and settled there permanently. Sheikh Bhatra al-Din was born on Friday 27 Ramazan 566 (3 June 1171). He lost his father when he was twelve. He received his initial education in Kot Karor, where he learned the Holy Quran by heart, then went on to study at several great centres of Islamic civilization: Khursan, Bukhara, and Medina. After completing his formal religious education, he went to Baghdad and became a disciple of Sheikh Shahabudin Suhrawardi. After just seventeen days, the Sheikh appointed him as his successor and ordered him to go to Multan and establish a Suhrawardi Khanqah there.

This establishment soon turned into a great centre of preaching. The Sheikh married and, unlike most other saints, led a life of opulence and plenty. He had several sons and daughters, and some followed in his line, such as Sheikh Sadruddin Arif. After leading a long and productive life, he died on 7 Safar 661 and was buried in a tomb he had erected for himself during his lifetime.

The shrine occupies the centre of a vast oblong area, measuring 260 feet north-south by 203 feet east-west. It is enclosed by a perimeter brick wall, now much decayed and crudely repaired in places. In 1853, Cunningham visited the shrine and made the first record of its architectural details. He said the tomb had been reduced to a mere wreck during the siege of 1848 by the British army, but later repaired by means of public subscriptions. According to Cunningham, Sonipat (India) is the only similar specimen of architecture of that time.

No original inscription indicates the date of the shrine's construction, but judging from the date of the great saint's death, it probably dates back to the early decades of the 13th century. Several inscriptions in caustic glazed tiles give details of its later repairs and restorations. Experts assumed that the shrine was originally constructed in three diminishing proportional stages, with a total height of 77 feet, 6 feet inches. Tall cylindrical turrets placed at the corners of the two lower stories add to the serene grandeur of the proportions.

Architects have noted that the low front pavilion is probably a later addition. The austere simplicity of the lines of the shrine has been emphasized by the continuous application of plaster and whitewash, which, however, has obscured much of the detail on the external surfaces. However, the essential from of this early example of a mausoleum, with its square plan, octagonal drums, central dome, and corner minarets, was to endure in the lower Indus Valley for 700 years.

The saint and many of his descendants are buried at the shrine, including his son Sadruddin, who is said to have distributed the enormous wealth left by his father to the poor. Opposite the door of the mausoleum is the small grave of Nawab Muzaffar Khan, who died defending himself against the Sikhs


SHEIKH RUKN-I-ALAM

The mausoleum of the celebrated Suhrawardy saint, Shah Rukn-ud-din Alam, the grandson of the spiritual Sheikh Bahauddin Zakariya has been called one of the most splendid memorials ever erected in the honour of the dead.

It is located in Multan. Shah Rukn-ud-din was the son and successor of Sadr-al-Din Arif. Born at Multan in 1251, he was brought up in a house dominated by a spiritual and religious atmosphere. At the age of sixty, on the demise of his father in 1309, he succeeded to the Suhrawardy faith, and due to his scholastic and spiritual attainments, he became the most important and celebrated personage of his times.

He visited Delhi several times and enjoyed a very influential position in the imperial circles. During his times, the Suhrawardy silsila at Multan reached its peak. He died at the age of 86 in 1335, after supervising the spiritual life of his numerous disciples and devotees at Multan. He was buried in the mausoleum of his grandfather. His mausoleum has been admired by chroniclers and travellers who visited this historical city as well as by almost all art historians and archaeologists interested in the history of the architecture in the subcontinent.

According to popular belief it was built by Ghiyasuddin Tughluq during his governorship of Dipalpur for himself. It was later given away by Firuz Shah Tughlaq to the descendants of Sheikh Rukn-ud-din for the latter's burial. The mausoleum is octagonal in shape with an interior diameter of about 52 feet, with perpendicular sloping towers at the angles. This is surmounted by a smaller octagon about 26 feet in exterior and 27 feet in height.

Above this is a dome with an exterior diameter of 58 feet. The total height the tomb is a little over 100 feet, but as the building stands on high ground, its height above the road is 150 feet, which makes it most striking feature of the landscape. It is visible from 12 to 15 miles away. It is built entirely of red

brick, and the exterior is ornamented with glazed tiles of dark blue and white contrasting with the deep red of the polished bricks. The grave of the saint is of plain brick covered with plaster. The dome is reputed to be the second largest in the world after Gol Gumbad of Bijapur in India, which is the largest.


SULEIMAN SHAH’S TOMB

The shrine of Taunsa Sharif is the burial site of Muhammad Suleiman Shah, who belonged to the small Pathan tribe called Jafar in the upper valley of Saugrah. The descendents of the saint came down from the valley and settled at Taunsa at the invitation of the nawab of Bahawalpur. The nawab requested the descendents to spread the principles of Islam in the area. Khawaja Suleiman Shah was the holiest one of these descendents, who spread the message of Islam throughout the state of Bahawalpur. He devoted his entire life to serving the masses and preaching the universal message of brotherhood. The shrine is unparalleled. It was built by the orders of the nawab of Bahawalpur in 1272. A.H.

The building was gradually improved further, both internally and externally by the custodian Mian Ali Bakhsh, Sajjada Nasheen of the shrine, who also happened to be the grandson of the saint. The dome from the outside has been covered with Jaipur marble and its beauty enhanced by the contrast to the dry desert country surrounding it. It can be seen from a distance of several miles. The tomb beneath the dome is made of white marble and the inside of the dome and the walls supporting it are ornamented with tiles of blue and white from Multan. A finely built mosque, with white and blue marble tiles and decorated with verses of the Quran, has been attached to the shrine. The urs, or celebration of the anniversary of Suleiman Shah's death, comes in the beginning of the Muslim month of Safar. The urs lasts for three days and is attended by multitudes from all parts of NWFP, Bahawalpur and rural Sindh.

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