Matiari (Sindh)

 

Matiari district is situated on the left bank of the Indus River at the distance of 230 km from Karachi on National Highway N-5. Matiari is one of the oldest territories of Sindh province. Matiari is famous for Ajrak that is the most famous part of traditional Sindhi dressing.

Matiari is bounded by Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, and Tando Allahyar districts. The National Highway N-5 runs across the center of the district and gives access to all of the towns of the district. Indus Highway N-55 just runs outside of the district and it connects the district via Hyderabad to the National Highway N-5. It also connects with the railway with main Karachi-Lahore track.

Matiari is also famous for a number of religious scholars, educators, and intellectuals. Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, a great Sufi poet, was belonged to Matiari. The shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai is situated in the town of Hala at a distance of 20 km from the Matiari city. Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai was a Sindhi Sufi mystic and poet of Sindh language. His ancestors have lineage back to the fourth caliph Hazrat Ali and Fatima. In later part of his life, he spent his life on a sand-hill few mills from Hala Haweli, which became known as Bhit Shah after that. After his death, he was buried at the same place and tomb was built over there by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro in 1754. His poems were published in Shah Jo Risalo first in 1866. The annual three-days ceremony is held on 14 Safar, the second month of the Islamic calendar.

Matiari is land of fertile alluvial Indus plains and suitable for cash crops of cotton, rice, wheat, sugarcane, etc. It also produces various fruits such as banana, mango, etc. Rohri canal is one of the main canal used to irrigate the land of Matiari district. Along the Indus River, there are patches of dense wetland forests. Matiari is also famous for producing Ajrak that is the traditional dress in Sindh province.

Miani Forest is located near the National Highway N-5 that hosts thousands of trees and homeland for various animals, birds, and reptiles. It is also a place of war between the British and the Talpurs in 1843 that was won by the British.

The weather of Matiari district is hot and dry in the summer season, whereas winters become more pleasant and cool. In the period of monsoon, it receives considerable amount of rainfalls during July to September.