Thatta (Sindh)
Thatta is located on the right bank of the Indus River at the distance of 103 km from Karachi on the National Highway N5. It is a historical city of Sindh and was the medieval capital of Sindh in different dynasties of the past.
Thatta was remained capital city in three successive dynasties of Sindh as well as ruled by the Mughal. These dynasties are Samma, Arghun, and Tarkhan. In 1739, the capital of Sindh dynasty was moved from Thatta to Hyderabad in the Kalhora dynasty. The exact location of the ancient Thatta is difficult to discern due to shifting nature of the Indus River. But meaning of Thatta is small settlement on riverbanks. So it was remained as populous and important trading post. Local people often call it as Thatta Nagar. After the end of the Mughal Empire in Sindh in 1736, it became part of the Kalhora and Talpur Dynasties.
Thatta has boundaries with Karachi, Sujawal, Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, and Jamshoro districts. The National Highway N-5 runs across the center of the district and connects all of the towns in the district. The Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway M-9 also touches the eastern part of the district, that connects with the National Highway N-5 via Hyderabad. The Gharo-Keti Bandar Highway N-110 is an important road that runs along the Indus Delta to access the important port Keti Bandar in the district. Thatta is also connected with railway on Karachi to Badin track.
South side of the district is the part of the Indus Delta as well as the Arabian Sea. The Indus Delta on the right side of the Indus River is the main part of the district. The Indus River Delta forms a scattered flow of the Indus River before entering into the Arabian Sea. The most of part of the Indus Delta in Pakistan with a small part in the Kutch region in India. It has an area of 41,440 km square from which only 6,000 km square is active, The Indus River Delta has the largest arid mangrove forests as well as a variety of birds and fish especially the Indus dolphin. The Indus Delta is best place for the migratory birds from Siberia and Russia.
The Keti Bandar Port was an old port on the Arabia Sea, where Muhammad Bin Qasim arrived, but it is not properly developed in these days. Most of the peolple living in the Keti Bandar completely rely on fishing in the Arabian Sea, so it a big fish market in the Thatta district.
Khathore and Hayat Gaho forests are located in Ghorabari town in the Thatta district. The area is good for the cultivation of palm oil tree and there thousands of palm tree in the acres of the land.
Makli Necropolis is an ancient historical site in the Town of Makli in the Thatta district. It is one of the largest funerary sites in the world covering an area of 10 square km at a distance of 6 km from the Thatta city. It has nearly one million tombs including tombs of royals, scholars, and Sufi saints of the last 400 year period. It was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. It has various tombs related to Samma rulers as well as during the Mughal era between 1570 to 1640. Tombs of various dynasties presents the architectural and layout of that period. Large size tombs are associated with the various rulers and kings of particular dynasty ruling over the Sindh.
The Shah Jahan Mosque, also known as Jamia Masjid of Thatta, is a 17th century Mughal era building in the Thatta city. It shows the most elaborate display of the title work and fantastic geometric brick work. It was build during 1644 to 1647 near the Makli Necropolis in the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Mosque was built initially in wrong direction of Kabba. Due to the prayer of the Sufi mystic name Makhdum Nooh who was a Muslim scholar related to period of first Islamic Caliph Hazrat Abu Bakar, its direction aligned with the Kabba. Mosque was built in Timurid style and has a four-iwan layout with thirty-three arches around the rectangular shaped courtyard. There is large dome built with white marble in the center of each wall built with red bricks. There are total 93 domes in the mosque without any minaret, that make it any unique construction of mosque in Pakistan. The mosque has acoustics features, a person speaking at the end of the dome can be heard from the other end, so Quranic verses can be heard from the central prayer chamber to other parts of the mosque without any device. The main prayer chamber's interior is designed with elegant tile work in blue color.
Keenjhar Lake, also known as Malik Lake, is located at a distance of 36 km from the Thatta city in the district of Thatta. It is the largest fresh water lake in Pakistan. The main source of the lake water is the surrounding streams flowing from the Kirthar Mountain Range. It is also declared a ramsar site and a wildlife sanctuary. It is a homeland of various local as well as migratory birds such as geese, flamingos, gulls, ducks, goose, heron, etc. It is a breeding location of various of these birds. It is also a well developed tourist spot that has facilities of boating, swimming, fishing, etc. There is also a shrine in the middle of the lake, knows as Noori's grave, related to a famous folklore of a fisher-woman known as Noori Jam Tamachi. Jam Tamachi was a Samma prince and fallen in love with a charming fisher-woman Noori. He had married with her finally.
Haleji Lake is also a fresh water lake in the Thatta district surrounded by marshes and brackish saline lagoons. A canal was constructed to feed the water in the lake to reduce the saline effect. Lake is also a breeding site of different species of birds.
Hadero Lake is an important brackish wetland and was declared as wildlife sanctuary for protection of local and migratory birds including crane, swan, etc. It is natural lake located on the edge of stony desert of Kirthar Mountain Range.
Bundal Island is small island situated in the Arabian Sea in the Thatta district. There is only shrine of Yousuf Shah, an old saint, is located, and it is visited by thousands of people on its annual celebrations. Buddo and Khiprianwala islands are also located near it in the Thatta district.
The weather of Thatta district is moderate throughout the year due to flowing breeze from the Arabian Sea, it becomes little warm in the summer season but evening becomes pleasant again. The winter season is also moderated due to sea, but nights are much colder. It also receives considerable amount of rainfalls in the monsoon period as well as due to breeze coming from the Arabian Sea.