Spread over an area of two miles, the Chaukhandi tombs near Karachi in Pakistan’s Sindh contain graves of warriors of the Saloch family settled in the area between the 17th and 18th century AD. However, due to a dearth of dated inscriptions, the time of construction of the graves is debatable.
Famous for their intricate yellow sandstone carvings, the funerary architecture of Chaukhandi tombs is typical of lower Sindh. A video of a tour through the Chaukhandi tombs was posted on Twitter by architect and researcher Maria Waseem. As can be seen in the video, the tombs contain carvings of, among other things, weapons used by soldiers, men on horseback, people in Turkish costume.
The narrator in the video also points out grammatical errors in the poetry carved on to one of the tombs, arguing that the Salochs were mostly nomadic people who did not care enough about grammar. The grave of the possible chief of the tribe carries cravings of a figure resembling the Christian cross, but is unrelated to any religion.
Some graves also feature stories carved on to them. A gazebo situated within the Chaukhandi complex might have been used as a shop selling flowers to be offered at the graves, the narrator says.
A part of the area is still used for burying the dead.
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