Uch is an important historical city of Pakistan, located at 75 km from Bahawalpur in the southern part of the Punjab Province. Whichever route you choose it is worth making a detour to visit this place and admire the Muslim tombs of the 13th and 14th centuries, among which many are considered master pieces of Islamic architecture. Near the confluence of the Chenab and Sutlej rivers, Uch has been largely bypassed by the 20th century, and is now just a small country bazaar surrounded by mud houses, but in the 13th and 14th centuries it was the capital of a rich kingdom and, with its sister city Multan, a centre of political, cultural and literary activity. The independent Kingdom of Uch was short-lived, as the river changed course and the town declined, but it still continued to attract the pious and saintly. Today it is always referred to as Uch Sharif (Holy Uch).
Uch was famous long before the advent of Islam and was apparently founded by Alexander the Great who arrived there in 325 BC. Arrian, the second-century AD military historian, records that “Alexander ordered a city to be built at the confluence of the two rivers, imagining that by the advantage of such a situation, it would become rich and prosperous.” The locals sent Alexander 100 men as hostages and 500 war chariots with the drivers and horses fully caparisoned; according to the legend Alexander was so touched by this gesture that he returned the hostages.
At the beginning of the eight century Uch was part of the Kingdom of the Brahmin ruler Chach, author of the Chach Nama, who is believed to have invented and given his name to chess. It then fell in 711 to the Arab Muhammad bin Qasim after a siege of seven days. Five centuries later it reached its height as a great religious centre.
Today Uch is famous for the tombs of its saints, the most exquisite ruins in Pakistan. The most aesthetically pleasing one is undoubtedly the blue and white tiled Tomb of Bibi Jawindi, a lady famous for her piety. Sadly 200 or so years ago it was partly destroyed in a flood; yet the proportions and colouring of the tomb are still visible on one side. Built in 1498, it features two octagonal tiers surmounted by a white dome which are very similar in design to the earlier Rukn-e-Alam Tomb in Multan. The ruined tombs of Bahawal Halim, Ustad Ladla and Syed Jalaluddin Surkh Bukhari are not to be missed either. Saint Jalaluddin, who came from Bukhara (Uzbekistan) in the 13th century, was a charismatic religious leader and is still greatly revered today. Don’t forget to visit the tombs of Shaikh Saifuddin Ghazrooni – thought to be the oldest Muslim tomb in the subcontinent – and Makhdoom Jahanian Jahangasht. Saifuddin Ghazrooni came from Baghdad in 980 and was the first Muslim saint to settle in Uch. Jahanian Jahangasht spent his life travelling (his second name means Great Traveller); he was the grandson of Jalaluddin Bukhari.
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