Ruins of ancient fort 'accidentally' discovered after two decades of research.

Byline: Ghulam Hussain Khawaja

THATTA -- Historian Prof Dr Mohammad Ali Manjhi and his team of history lovers have succeeded in discovering and identifying the site of the fort of Doolah Darya Khan, the great warrior of Sama dynasty (1350-1520), after two decades of exploration and research on the many archaeological sites scattered in and around Makli.

An exuberant Dr Manjhi told Dawn on Thursday that he had learnt from a research paper The origin of Thatta by Dr N.A. Baloch and Bheru Mal's book Sindh jo selani that the fort was somewhere in Makli but they did not know exactly where.

He then embarked on research and exploration work to identify the exact site of the fort and at last stumbled on it one day 'thanks to builders' mafia, who accidentally exposed the fort's remains while trying to extract mud from a foothill site.'

He said that he had gone there out of his way to protest against the illegal extraction and then noticed a brick plinth where they had dug up. He removed mud and dug deeper and found to his great amazement it was the very site of the fort he had been searching for years, he said.

He said that he approached the then deputy commissioner of Thatta to help protect the site and...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT