Type: Monument - Building
Province: Sindh
District: Thatta
Period: Historic
Relative Chronology: 14th-16th Century CE
Description: It is located in an island inside Kheenjar Lake about 4 km from the bank of the lake in the middle of the lake, Thatta. There are two graves, one that of Shah Hondro – the spiritual reformer of Mai Noori and the other that of Mai Noori. Mai Nuri was a fisherwomen with whom the local ruler of the Samma dynasty namely Jam Tamachi fell in love and married her. Folklores are divided in opinion concerning the graves. Some believe that both Jam Tamachi and Noori were buried here, while other believe that both were buried at Makli, while the physical evidence shows that only Nuri was buried inside the lake, while the tomb of Jam Tamachi is famously identified near the mausoleum of Jam Nizamuddin and Sheikh Hammad Jamali. According to "Tuhfat-ul-Karam", "the grave of Jam Tamachi (and Noori too) is towards the south of the grave of Sheikh Hammad, and enclosed in a dome." But it is fact that Jam Tamachi had built a wonderful palace for Noori on the bank of Keenjhar, but there is no sign of this palace now. According to one popular tradition, Jam Tamchi and the fisherwomen Noori, whom he made his queen, are laid in two old tombs at that end of Makli Hill. Noori belonged to the Gundra sub caste of Mohana tribe. Therefore, a well-known historian M.H. Panhwar asserts that, this makes the said grave of Noori, now in the keenjhar Lake and preserved as a monument by the Irrigation Department, an archaeological forgery of later times. Now, there has been a shrine in the middle of the Keenjhar Lake, marking Noori`s grave. Noori Jam Tamachi is a famous tale of Prince Jam Tamachi` sof the Samma dynasty falling in love with the charming fisherwoman Noori. Noori makes Jam happy with her perfect surrender and obedience which causes him to raise her above all the other queens. Noori is said to have died during lifetime of Jam Tamachi and was buried on the mound near the lake where Jam Tamachi had first seen her before marriage and then this mound was not surrounded by water. It is believed that when the Kheenjar Lake was being expanded to accommodate more water for supply to Karachi during the Ayub Khan regime, the tombs on the mound were given special attention and the surface of the mound was elevated about 100 feet further giving it the shape of a circle where the two graves were again erected so that water cannot reach the graves. Hence the graves are reconstructed of modern material and are of ordinary character with no decorative elements. The stairs leading to the graves above are mostly under water and are secured by iron fence for safe journey up. Both the graves are covered with colourful cloths and are being visited by devotees in large number every day, mostly the Fisherwomen of the locality to refresh the love between a ruler and a fisherwoman.
Latitude: 24.911461111
Longitude: 68.073511111
Ownership: Private
Legal Status: Not Protected
Title of Publication: Inventory of Cultural Property in the Province of Sindh, Pakistan, 2015
Published In: Government of Sindh, Vol 4
Year of Publication: 2015
Bibliography/Reference: Jansen, Michael, Yasmeen Lari
