Photo: Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of PakistanField guides / Sindh / Karachi / Lakho Shaikh (Graveyard)
Field guide · Heritage
Malir Karachi
Malir Karachi District · Sindh, Pakistan
Lakho Shaikh (Graveyard)
A graveyard of carved sandstone tombs of 16th- and 17th-century warriors and notables, part of lower Sindh's chain of stone cemeteries.
Similar tombs are also found at other places all around Karachi, Lasbela and southern Baluchistan.
Why go
- ✦An extensive graveyard of sixteenth and seventeenth-century tombs
- ✦Burials of warriors and local notables
- ✦Part of a tomb tradition running through Karachi, Lasbela and southern Balochistan
History
Sindh's carved sandstone necropolises were built between roughly the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, their style arriving under the Sammas with a strong Gujarati influence, and spreading along the coastal belt.
Historical Significance
One site in a coastal chain of carved-stone cemeteries that is unique to lower Sindh and Balochistan.
Architecture
A graveyard spread over a wide area, holding the tombs of warriors and other notables who settled here during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Similar tombs are found across Karachi, Lasbela and southern Balochistan — this is one node in a regional tradition.
Why Visit
See it with Chaukhandi, which is the best known of the group and easiest to reach from Karachi.
Interesting Facts
- Sindh's carved-stone graveyards form a distinct regional tradition found nowhere else
Planning tip
Best Time to Visit, November to February, when the coastal heat eases.
Getting there, Within Karachi's metropolitan area.
Allow, An hour or less at each site.
What to Do
Nearby
Straight-line distance from Lakho Shaikh (Graveyard), within 5 km.
Nothing else genuinely close by (within 5 km of Lakho Shaikh (Graveyard)) is published yet.
