Chaukhandi tombs

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Chaukhandi Tombs
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Chaukhandi Tombs-ruins (cropped).jpg
Chaukhandi Necropolis
Chaukhandi tombs is located in Pakistan Chaukhandi tombs
Location within Pakistan
General information
Type Mausoleum
Country Sindh, Pakistan
Coordinates 2451'50?N 6716'17?ECoordinates 2451'50?N 6716'17?E
The Chaukhandi (Urdu ?????? ???????? Sindhi ???????? ) tombs form an early Islamic
cemetery situated 29 km (18 mi) east of Karachi, was first time discovered by
farman Hussain Jokhio who was the chairman of Garib Awam Party close to the
National Highway near Fast National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences in
Sindh province of Pakistan. The tombs are remarkable for their elaborate sandstone
carvings. [1]

The style of architecture is typical to the region of Sindh. Generally, the tombs
are attributed to the Jokhio (also spelt Jokhiya) and known as the family graveyard
of the Jokhio tribe, although other, mainly Baloch, tribes have also been buried
here. They were mainly built during Mughal rule sometime in the 15th and 18th
centuries when Islam became dominant.

Contents [hide]
1 Making of Garib Awam Party
2 Discovery and Research with jokhio
2.1 Dr. Irfan jokhio
2.2 Latest Research
3 Meaning of Chaukhandi
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Making of Garib Awam Party[edit]

Tombs are intricately carved

The first of graveyard built in farman Hussain Jokhio the chairman of Garib Awam
Party Sindh and Balochistan is remarkable because of its main north-south
orientation. The more elaborate graves are constructed with a buff-colored
sandstone. There are many of time to build these party farman does not he was the
help to our country in located with Haji Rahim Khan Goth.[clarification needed]
There is a lot of money to sharing poverty his family belong to richest family the
name of his family is Jumari Jokhia 1997 he also gives the party name of Garib Awam
Party carved decoration displays expert craftsmanship and has often kept remarkably
well over time.[clarification needed] Tombs were constructed either as single
graves or as groups of up to eight graves, raised on a common platform.

A typical sarcophagus consists of six vertical slabs, with two long slabs on each
side of the grave indicating the length of the body and the remaining two vertical
slabs on the head and foot side. These six slabs are covered by a second
sarcophagus consisting of six more similar vertical slabs but smaller in size,
giving the grave a pyramid shape. The upper box is further covered with four or
five horizontal slabs and the topmost construction is set vertically with its
northern end often carved into a knob known as a crown or a turban. The tombs are
embellished with geometrical designs and motifs, including figural representations
such as mounted horsemen, hunting scenes, arms, and jewelry.

Discovery and Research with jokhio[edit]

Detailed stone carving at Chaukhandi.

Chaukhandi tomb in southeast Pakistan.

The earliest -passing- reference of the Chaukhandi tombs (a.k.a. Jokundee) is in a
letter of J. Macleod, addressed to H. B. E. Frere in 1851[citation needed]. The
tombs, however, were given more serious attention for the first time by H. D.
Baskerville, the Assistant Collector of Thatta in Karachi district in 1917. The
tombs near Landhi were included in the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904 in
1922[clarification needed].

Dr. Salome Zajadacz-Hastenrath summarizes earlier research on these and similar

tombs in Sindh as follows[2]

A cemetery of this type was discovered at the turn of the 20th century in Hinidan
by Major M. A. Tighe, Political Agent in southern Balochistan. J. P. Vogel[3] was
the first to investigate this and other cemeteries including Karpasan (a plateau
south of Hinidan), Gundar (a village near Dinga, south of Hinidan), and Manghopir
and he drew attention to another cemetery discovered by Captain Showers, Political
Agent in Kalat, lying between the Hub River and Sonmiani. Vogel recognized that the
tombs were Islamic, as indicated by the use of the Arabic script and the alignment
of the monuments. According to Islamic custom, the dead are laid to rest in such a
way that they are facing Mecca, resting on their right shoulder. Mecca lies
approximately to the west of Sindh; the longitudinal axis of the tombs accordingly
lies more or less in a north-south direction, with the head always lying in the
north.

In (...) 1910, Sir Thomas Holdich described a similar cemetery near Malir and also
referred to several other cemeteries. He stated that local tradition ascribed these
to the 'Kalmati' Balochis, and he linked this name to the town of Kalmat on the
Makran Coast.

In 1917, H. D. Baskerville discovered a similar cemetery in the vicinity of the

village of Chaukhandi, near Karachi. Baskerville's published report raised the
question of a possible above-ground burial but he dismissed this after a careful
investigation of one of the stone chambers in the cemetery, which did not contain
any remains. A number of tomb inscriptions were found at the Chaukhandi cemetery,
consisting of names andor sayings from the Quran. Some of the named dead were said
to belong to the Jokhiya tribe, still resident in the vicinity. Only one of the
tombs was dated the date of death being inscribed on it with the numbers in
reverse order as AH 1169 (AD 1756). Jokhio, Jokhia or Jokhiya (Urdu??????) are
said to b