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Muhammad Tur, Thatta

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The ruins of Mohammad Tur are situated on the route of Badin-Sujawal road, near Ghari Wah about three kilometers away, in tapo and deh Shah Kapur, in south in Jati taluka. The spots of old Gungro Wah (channel) are clearly open to the elements. It was built by the Princes of Soomra dynasty and was a capital city of that dynasty. There are different views about constructions of this city; and consequently historians are not fully satisfied on this subject. There are diverse versions of the name of concerned city and fort, no similarity in name. Mir Tahir Mohammad describes it as Maaham Tur. Mir Mohammad Masum explains it as Mohammad Tur. Mir Ali Sher Qani states it as Mohammd Tur. 'Beglarnama' states it as Muhatam Pur (city or fort). Maaham and Muhatam signify no meaning in Sindhi accordingly no one can define it. Mir Ali Sher Qani explained it as Mohammad Tur, and he said that, "this city was built by Mohammad Tur, who ruled over that territory for nearly fifteen years." But given genealogy of Soomra dynasty, there is no mention of Mohammad Tur. No historians such as Syed Tahir Mohammad, Mir Mohammad Masum or Beglarnama have mentioned that name. Some may consider that historians called it "Mohammad" only due to religious chauvinism, but actually it is "Maha Mathur", which has a definite meaning. Those words also are of Sindhi language, and signify the meaning of- "great and extensive valley". It is also a sensible approach to define the name of that city. Mir Ali Sher Qani writing about the construction of this city has said that "Mohammad Tur Soomro built this city in 654 A.H/ 1256 A. D." Mir Mohammad Masum claims that, "Sanghar had died as childless, his wife Hamu appointed her own brothers to the governorship of the cities of Mohammad Tur and Tharai." Syed Tahir Mohammad Nisyani states, "Their capital was Maaham Tur, in the pargana of Dirak." When he also visited there and observed, it was in a ruined condition at that time;" The writer of Beglarnama asserts that, "Soomra Dynasty continued to be the seat of government for 505 years. Lastly their capital was being Muhatam Pur." Sir H. M. Elliot is of the view that, "this fort was built in between the periods of 900 A.D. to 1000 A.D." H. T. Lambrick is of the opinion that, "after the dried up of Puran, Soomro princes built that city on the brink of Gungro Wah, which is generally called Tur." Henry Cousens give his opinion about this matter that, "Mohammad Tur was built on the bank of great channel of Gungro." In the neighborhood of Shah Kapur, in the delta, are the ruins and sites of several old towns. There is a mound, at a place called "kakeja" or "Kakeyja", 30 miles south-west of Jheruck. Another ruined site is at "Katbaman," of the maps, 24 miles east-south-east of Jheruck; a third at "Shah Toorail," 9 miles north-north-east of Badin, and rather less than two miles from the recent west bank of the Guni branch of the Indus; and a fourth collection of ruins at "Nindimanee," 5 miles east of Muhabbat Dero. It is said that this city and fort was destroyed due to shortage of current waters when major changes in the course of river Indus took place in the years between the periods of 1334 to 1350 A.D. The River Indus shifted westwards; the Western Nara became an important channel. Larkana and Upper Dadu districts up to Sehwan became fertile. Western Puran was abandoned; Kalri became main branch and Baghar a less important branch of Lower Sindh. Thatta was established. Ghungro branch declined and so did the Soomra capital Mohammad Tur. This time, native people called that ruins "palaces (marion) of Maham Tur". Nearby village of Shah Kapur, on the western side of the ruins of this city are scattered in the four to five kilometers, and many mound of sands are still exposed. From the eastern side of the Haveeli of Syed Dur Mohammad Shah, there starts the series of mounds. Because of new settlement, many mounds have been collapsed to ground, one of them is a particularly the ruins of a mosque, which is an entity of magnitude in this obscured city. The width of the mosque is 1520 feet, and length is 216 feet. The walls of mosque are four feet thick. Southern side of the village, is occupied by the magnificent graveyard of Amir Pir Ismail Shah Bukhari. There is a mound near the Haveeli of Syed Dur Mohammad Shah, which is called "the mound of Hamir Soomro" by native people. There is also a temple of Hindus. Population of this settlement was three thousand souls in 1821 A.D. of which mainly were Hindus. Various kinds of coins have been found from those mounds, but being too old, the inscription can not be read easily. There is an abundance of many kinds of stones- white, yellow, green and red colors, which weigh half and quarter tola to six tolas.

[Source: Text and Photographs: Thatta A Historical Reflection by District Government Thatta | Coordinates: EFT]