MULTAN: Multan Archaeology Department has sent proposals to the high ups for the conservation and restoration of eight monuments in south Punjab under the annual development plan 2018-19.
According to an initial assessment, the tentative cost for the conservation of the monuments would be around Rs170 million, official sources said.
The monuments included around two centuries old Harand fort in district Rajanpur, tomb of Hazrat Sheikh Ladhu in Muzaffargarh, the palace of Nawab Muzaffar Khan Saddozai in Shujabad (Multan), tomb of Shah Hussain Saddozai in Multan, tomb of Hazrat Sheikh Saddan Shaheed in Muzaffargarh, tomb of Fateh Khan Joiya in Fatehpur, tehsil Mailsi, district Vehari, shrine of Hazrat Sultan Manjhan in Muzaffargarh, and the tomb of king Tahir Khan Nahar in Muzaffargarh.
Harand fort is located in district Rajanpur, about 60-km west of Jampur to Dajal town, on the border of Punjab and Balochistan. It is facing decay and the cost of the project has been assessed at around Rs 90 million.
The Fort was originally built opposite historic Chachar Pass in Suleman Range. The fading signs of the edifice are still there in the form of debris and bricks scattered around the old site. Sikh Governor Sawan Mal used the material of the old fort and rebuilt it on a new location in 1831. The fort had seen three different periods including Hindu period, the Macedonian and the Muslim period.
The tomb of Hazrat Sheikh Ladhu belongs to Salateen period and resembles with the tomb of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya Multani. It is located about 20 km from Muzaffargarh toward north-west.
The project is proposed to be completed in two years and cost has been assessed at around Rs 15 million. The palace of Nawab Muzaffar Khan Saddozai is decaying inside the historical fortification wall of Shujabad. Shujabad fortification wall has already been conserved by 80 per cent and the rest left unattended due to encroachment.
The cost of the project has been assessed at around Rs 25 million and it would be completed in two-year period subject to final approval by provincial government.
The shrine of Shah Hussain Saddozai is located near Abdali Masjid, Multan. Shah Hussain Saddozai was the first among Saddozai rulers to reach Multan in 1652. He built a beautiful mosque and a palace called Shish Mahal which was surrounded by a garden in Multan city but it does not exist today. The project, once approved, would complete in three years at a cost of Rs 9 million.
The tomb of Sheikh Saddan Shaheed is located about 35 km from Muzaffargarh toward north, in a graveyard on the fringes of sand dunes in floody area. The saint buried here is said to be a descendent from Tamim Ansari, one of the companions of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). His ancestors came to Multan with Muhammad Bin Qasim. The tomb stone on the grave indicates that the monument belong to Sheikh Saddan Shaheed (674 A.H.).
Tomb of Fateh Khan Joyia is located in Fatehpur village, tehsil Mailsi, district Vehari. The village is named after Fateh Khan Joiya.
The cost of the project has been assessed at Rs 8 million and once approved it would be completed in two years. The tomb of Hazrat Sultan Manjhan is located in Muzaffargarh district and resembles over 700 years old mausoleum of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya in Multan.
It is located about 30 km from Muzaffargarh toward north in a village that is named after him as Manjhan Sultan. In Seraiki language, people call buffalo as ‘Manjh” and they believed that the saint had saved them from cattle lifters.
The proposed restoration would complete in a year and would cost around Rs 7 million.
The tomb of Tahir Khan Nahar, once the king of Seetpur, is located 120 km from Muzaffargarh city towards north, and 20km from tehsil Ali Pur.
Entitled as `Sakhi’ or the liberal, Tahir Khan built the tomb and mosque at Seetpur in his life time at the close of fifteenth century AD. In 1455 AD, Bahlol Khan Lodhi granted a vast area to his relative Islam Khan Lodhi. This tract comprised what is now the southern part of Alipur tehsil, the southern part of Dera Ghazi Khan district and the northern part of Sind. Islam Khan took title of Nahar and established an independent kingdom. Tahir Khan Nahar was his grandson who had extended the boundaries of his territory considerably.
The project, if executed after final approval from Punjab government, would be completed in two years at a cost of around Rs 7 million.
