Dadu (Sindh)
Dadu district is located on the right bank of the Indus River at a distance of 331 km from Karachi on Indus Highway N-55. The western part of the district is the hill torrents of the Kirthar Mountain Range, whereas eastern part is fertile flat and alluvial plains along the Indus River.
Dadu district is bounded by Khuzdar, Jamshoro, Larkana, Naushahro Feroze, Qamber Shahdadkot, Shaheed Benazirabad, and Lasbela districts. The Indus Highway N-55 runs across the district and povides access to all of the towns in the district. It is also connected with railway track.
On the fertile plains of the Indus River, number of cash crops are cultivated such as wheat, cotton, rice, gram, and sugarcane. The lands in the district are irrigated through two important canals and branch canals of the Sukkur Barrage and Kotri Barrage. District is also enrich in the reserve of gas and petroleum in the town of Johi.
Gorakh Hill is the situated in the Kirthar Mountain range at an elevation of 5,689 feet at a distance of 94 km from the Dadu district. It has pleasant and cool weather in the summer season, therefore it attracts thousands of tourists from the surrounding areas. There are some rest houses on the hill for tourists and can be easily accessed from Sehwan Sharif.
Kirthar Mountain Range is a natural boundary between Sindh and Balochistan provinces. It starts from the Mula River in Sulaiman Mountain Range and stretches toward the Cape Monze on the Arabian Sea. Zardak Peak at an elevation of 9,498 feet is the highest peak in this mountain range. It consists of a series of parallel rock hill ridges with alluvial plains located between ridges with dry riverbeds. The Khasa Hills and Mulri Hill near the Arabia Sea are the sub-ranges of the Kirthar Mountains. The Gaj River and the Hub River are the main rivers flow these mountain ranges.
Manchar Lake is a largest natural freshwater lake in Pakistan. It is located near on the western side of the Indus River at a distance of 18 km from Sehwan Sharif. The main sources of its water are numerous small streams coming from the Kirthar Mountain Range, then its water discharges into the Indus River. It was created due to a branch of the Indus River flowed from Kashmore. Its water level depends mostly on the rainfalls in the surrounding hills. If there are heavy rainfalls, then its size extends to 500 square kilometers. Overflow of the Manchar Lake becomes main cause of flood in the Dadu district.
Jamia Mosque Khudabad, also known as Badshahi Mosque, is located in Khudabad village in the Dadu district. It was built in the reign of Yar Muhammad Kalhoro between 1700 and 1718. It is beautiful designed mosque with large prayer chamer with three entry gates. The front side is decorated with motifs and geometrical design on the dark bluish grey background color. In the front of the prayer chamber, there is large size courtyard bounded by walls with main entry gate.
Tomb of Yar Muhammad Kalhoro is located at one kilometer from the Khudabad in west. He was the founder of Kalhora dynasty in Sindh. He was the ruler of Sindh from 1701 to 1719.
Ghazi Shah Mound is an ancient archaeological site in the town of Johi in the Dadu district. It is an oldest site of Indus Valley civilization dated back to 4000 to 6000 years. Ali Muran Mound is another archaeological Harappan site at 13 km from the Ghazi Shah Mound to the south of Johi town. At the top, there was also an ancient hamlet surrounded by defensive walls built with stone blocks.
The Ancient Graves related to Zoroastrianism or Parsis, an oldest organized faiths an Iranian religion, are found on the top of the hills in the Kirthar Mountain Range in Wahi Pandhi. These columned graves built with large slabs of stone on ground. The graves are open from northern and southern sides and covered with slabs from the top. The corpse was placed on ground in the graves. The bones can be seen in the graves. The word Behdin is inscribed on the stone on one of the grave.
Thul Hairo Khan was built between 5th to 7th century by Emperor Ashoka of Maurya Empire near the village of Hairo Khan in the Johi tehsil at a distance of 15 km. Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of Maurya Empire and ruled on Sindh in 305 century. Faxian, a Buddhist monk, came to Sindh from China in 641 and he had recorded 88 thousands stupas up to Sindh. Sindh was a center of Buddhism during Rai Dynasty. Buddhism was everywhere in Sindh till 13th century in Soomra dynasty. Thul of Hairo Khan is a Buddhist stupa constructed with baked and unbaked bricks fixed with mud. It is 50 feet high and 30 feet wide in size. It also has stair to lead its top. An arched tunnel was used to cross from north to south.
Several sites of ancient rock carvings have been discovered in the Kirthar Mountain range. Different art and designs are engraved on rocks. These carvings includes animal drawings, flower and tree designs, shape of Buddhism stupas, shapes of male and female performing various activities, etc. It also includes ancient inscriptions of Brahman scripts and Kharosthi scripts. Dadu district has several ancient rock carvings of Sindh.
Nai Gaj Dam is situated on the Gaj River at a distance of 65 km from the Dadu city. It is used to control the flow of water in the Manchar Lake. It also has capacity to produce 4.2 MW electricity.
Tomb of Mir Allahyar Talpur is situated in Drigh Bala and built in 1731. He belonged to Mankani tribe of the Talpur dynasty, which ruled on the Southeastern Sindh area. He also founded the Tando Allahyar city, where remains of his clay fort still exists. He has a distinguished place in art, architecture, and irrigation in Dadu. Tomb is squared shape building with a large dome in its center and small domes on its four corners. The outer wall is artistically design with various designs and paintings.
Graveyard and Tomb of Mian Nasir Muhammad Kalhoro is situated in the town of Kahirpur in the Dadu district at a distance of 12 km near a village of Garhi. He was a poiner and main ruler of Sindh in the Kalhora dynasty during 1657 to 1692. He participated Mianwal Movement against Mughal Empire. He was also a spirtual leader of the Mianwal Movement. He was also imprisoned by Mughals in Gwailor Jail and then released on certain conditions.
The Shiva Mandir built in 1850, is located in the center of the town of Johi in the Dadu district near the Desert of Kachho. It has two domes, one is high and rigidly upright up to 70 feet and second is little in round shape. It was constructed with iron and idols were also fixed with iron on outer side around the round domed construction. Those were destroyed after the partition of India in 1947. The remaining parts of destroyed idols can be seen there. There are 35 rooms near the temple.
The weather of the Dadu district is extreme hot and dry in the summer season, whereas the winter season is pleasant with mild cool weather. It receives negligible amount of rain in the monsoon season, but sometimes unexpected heavy rain may be expected that causes heavy flood in the district.