The Chowkhandi tombs are situated 29 km east of Karachi near Landhi Town in Sindh province, Pakistan.
The Chowkhandi tombs are remarkable for the elaborate and exquisite stone carving and belong to Muslim tribe living in 18th and 19th century in this area, Photo By Yasir Kazmi, Karachi, Pakistan.
Some of the greatest and most-preserved archaeological artifacts of history that Pakistan possesses are situated in the unlikeliest and most neglected of places
The tombs are attributed to the Jokhiya and known as the family graveyard of the Jokhio tribe, although other, mainly Baloch tribes have also been buried here. They were mainly built during Mughal rule sometime in the 15th and 18th centuries when Islam became dominant.
This type of graveyard in Sindh and Baluchistan is remarkable because of its main north-south orientation. The more elaborate graves are constructed with a buff-colored sandstone, which has often kept remarkably well over time in the arid local climate. Tombs were constructed either as single graves or as groups of up to eight graves, raised on a common platform.
A typical sarcophagus consists of six vertical slabs, with two long slabs on each side of the grave indicating the length of the body and the remaining two vertical slabs on the head and foot side. These six slabs are covered by a second sarcophagus consisting of six more similar vertical slabs but smaller in size, giving the grave a pyramid shape. The upper box is further covered with four or five horizontal slabs and the topmost construction is set vertically with its northern end often carved into a knob known as a crown or a turban. The tombs are embellished with geometrical designs and motifs, including figural representations such as mounted horsemen, hunting scenes, arms, and jewelry.
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