HER: The dying tombs of Manghopir

[Saghir Shaikh <saghir@UNLIMITED.NET>]

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The dying tombs of Manghopir

By M. Nabeel Ghayur


                         Conservation of heritage is one of the many
areas of study which has not been given the due attention, that it
deserves, in Pakistan. There are so many heritage sites in Pakistan
but most of them have been the target of constant negligence. So many
people have worked and researched on these archaeological sites but
the government is still not ready to shed off funds for reconstruction
and restructuring of these sites.

One of the major division of these past time treasures is of the
carved tombs or 'Gharayun' as expressed in Sindhi or 'Rumi' in Balochi
languages. These unusual tombs are found at more than a hundred sites
in Sindh and Balochistan along the Makran coast to Indus River and
upto Sehwan. Areas like Chawkhundi, Makli, Manghopir, Memon Jo Goth,
Pir Patho, Sondha, Karachi, Haji Turab, Rajmulk etc in Sindh and
Gumbads, Hinidan and Bawany in Balochistan are locations that have
been of prime interest for people of this field to work on.

Scholars like Prof. Ahmed Hasan Dani, Ali Ahmed Brohi, Kaleem Lashari,
Sheikh Khurshid Hasan, Dr Nabi Buksh Khan are only some who have
devoted their lives to reveal the truth and endeavours that took to
construct these fabulous and breathtaking pieces of art that have
withstood for centuries with only negligible signs of deterioration.

These tombs with delicately decorated stones dates back, in general,
to the 15th century A.D. According to some studies, this practice of
stone carving started with the construction of the tomb of Hammad
Jamali by Jam Tuglaq. The stone used is obtained from Jangshahi, a
small railway station near Thatta. This yellow sand stone is soft
unlike its appearance which facilitates the process of carving. The
trend of carving continued from 15th to the 19th century A.D, or being
more precise from 1468 to 1843 AD after when it was shunned. These
tombs display some exquisite work of art including carving of floral
figures, jewellry, geometric shapes as circles, squares, lines,
triangles, crosses and figures of weapons. These graves are attributed
to be resting places of Baloch and Rajput tribesmen as Kalmati,
Jokhia, Numria and Burfat. The grave craftsmen and the tribes were all
Muslims but the display that is seen on the graves is not a Muslim
custom. These people inherited this trend from their pre-Islamic
religions.

After practising this art for centuries it was abandoned in the 19th
century. Although a lot of conservation work has been done on the
graves of Makli and Chawkhundi but the tombs at Mangopir, a locality
near the outskirts of Karachi and about 34 km from North Nazimabad are
in a complete disaster.

Manghopir is originally a place of pilgrimage for many people due to
the grave of a hermit who settled here in the 13th century. He was
Kamaluddin but later became to be known as Manghopir. The graves at
Manghopir are said to be of the Burfat tribe, of Rajput origin, who
came to the areas of Sindh as a very powerful force and controlled the
lands between Indus and Hub River and also Malir River.

These graves are primarily grouped into two clusters. Some graves
around 7 or 8 are built along the Manghopir shrine and are in better
condition as the larger stones are cemented together to avoid from
falling. Besides this group of graves, two tombs are situated a
kilometre away from the first group of graves and right into the
premises of Peoples Steel Mill.

The state of these tombs is quite depressing. These tombs, also of the
Burfat tribesmen, rests on a plateau loft high above the ground. One
of the larger tomb has a canopy (chawkhundi) that is supported on
eight pillars. This tomb has four graves in it out of which three have
sunken into the ground. One of the grave is of the Burfat tribe chief,
Sardar Khan Burfat, who was killed in a battle with Jokhia tribe at
Allah Buna (16 km from Mangopir village).  The other graves are of
Malik Safdar, Malik Duha and Bula Khan. There is some controversy over
the dates to which these tombs belong to as A.D 1506 or A.D 1744. The
pillars of this tomb are full of attractive engravings of flowers,
geometric designs etc. The side slabs have fallen and the dome of the
canopy has kissed the earth too. There is no one to come for their
rescue as this canopy tomb is supposed to be the earliest one with a
date of A.D 1744 on it. It is also said that the tombs with canopies
are of the 'royal ones' and so are very rare.

The other tomb with this one is a tomb composed of two graves supposed
to be of women due to the carving of different jewellry items on
it. The two graves are built on a brilliantly carved basement showing
neck jewellry and sun flowers. This tomb is also in a pathetic
condition with no symmetry or so at all. Comparing these two tombs
with their original forms of architecture shows the mammoth change
time has brought about in them for which the concerned authorities are
responsible.

Usually most of the graves are of pyramidal shape which is achieved by
keeping stone slabs one over the other until the desired form is
attained. The talent of the craftsmen can be seen from the work done
on these tombs.

When the Directorate of Archeology and Museums was informed of
Mangopir's tombs-turned-rubbles, first they were not sure of any tombs
in the Peoples Steel Mill premises but later expressed their interest
in exploring out the site. It was shocking as to why the concerned
were so oblivious about such an important archaeological spot - even
though so much has been written about it. There are people at the
vicinity of the graveyard who tell of instances when people come and
take away the stones with them that have fallen off from the
graves. In order to prevent this a watchman must be employed or
warning signboards displayed as in Chawkhundi - which warns of a three
month jail term or a fine of Rs 5000 for anyone caught stealing away
the precious stones.

The explanation I got from the Archaeology Department was that the
funds are insufficient and the staff is inadequate to meet the
needs. Inspite of some very good brains at the directorate, the
situation is sorrowful and the sites are in ruins. These carved tombs
are very unique in the whole of the Islamic world and have evolved
purely from our home traditions. Their contribution to the Islamic
architecture is immense for which something for their conservation
must be done before its too late.