Type: Monument - Building
Province: Sindh
District: Thatta
Period: Historic
Relative Chronology: 1526 - 1857 CE
Description: It is located inside the Makli Hills necropolis of Thatta, to the south of Jani Beg Tarkhan and to the north of Baqi Beg Uzbek tomb enclosures. Among the various unique and imposing structures at Makli Hill, Satcharni is one of the foremost pertinent buildings, which is undoubtedly invites the scholar`s interest in order to solve the mystery regarding the origin of this enigmatic and folkloristic structure. As per local traditions, this building was built for the family of Khusrau Khan Charkas (1555-1613 CE) an eminent figure of Thatta, during the Tarkhan period. As per traditions this enigmatic building has owed its name, which gained tremendous fame, during the succeeding centuries. Khusrau Khan Charkas also constructed a grand mosque known as Masjid-e-Dabgaran or Dabgir Mosque at Thatta in 1588 CE, which is an exquisite precedent, showing the aesthetic sense and engineering skills of the building. Sat, defines seven and Chrurni, means ascending. Another view is that each comer is yielding two stair cases, which obviously means that the present structure is possessing eight stairs cases instead of seven steps. Furthermore, each stair case is accommodating more than eight steps. Therefore, opine that perhaps initially this building was known as Hasht Chrurhni (eight staircases). However, the locals with the passage of time, instead of pronouncing Sha properly, they replaced it with Sa thus, it became as Hast, thus slowly and gradually evolved into Sat, which apparently came to be known as satcharni. Some scholars define it in term of stylistically approach, adopted in this building. They opine that in the lndo-Pak subcontinent, the concept of chamfered plan can be noticed for the first time in the mausoleum of Humayun (1564 CE) was introduced for the first time in the mausoleum of Khusrau Khan Charkas alias Satcharni, which may be dated to the last decade of the 16th century CE. They believe that the amalgamation of various cultural traditions have generally caused for the glorification of the in Satcharni monument. Moreover, the stylistically approach adopted by the masons in its architectural composition has altogether made it a very unique and exquisite specimen of art and architecture in the whole of Makli Hill necropolis.
Latitude: 24.752927778
Longitude: 67.566611111
Ownership: Private
Legal Status: Not Protected
Title of Publication: Miscellaneous
Published In: Miscellaneous
Year of Publication: Miscellaneous
Bibliography/Reference: Anonymous
