Past Watch Site

Located about 100 kilometers east of Karachi, this windswept World Heritage Site in the Indus Valley was once a well-watered and revered destination for medieval worshippers and celebrants. Thatta was controlled by Samma rulers in the fourteenth century when the earliest Sufi monasteries and mosques at the site were built, several of which still stand. In time, numerous tombs and funerary monuments were added to the complex.

The monuments, which are spread over more than ten square kilometers and located on a ridge, are exposed to harsh winds and rain while shifting of the local riverbed has caused a loss of ground water and topsoil erosion. Despite its designation as a World Heritage Site, the government lacks the resources to conserve or effectively manage Thatta.

Last update: December 2010