PAKISTAN – As Not Seen On TV!
Minar-e-Masoomi, (Masoom Shah Minar) Sukkur
Today's edition would take you to Sindh's third largest city, Sukkur, and to its one of the most significant landmarks, the minar-e-Masoomi (The Tower of Masoom)
The architecture of this tower is probably ungainly but there are few details that make it unique in Pakistan. The number 84 is significant with the architecture here as the tower is 84 ft. (26 meters) high. The number of steps to reach the top of the tower is 84. The circumference of the base of tower is also 84 feet. However, why is 84 so significant in the structure is unknown.
The tower's historical significance arises from the fact that it was built in 1605 - 1610 AD which makes it a watchtower, a sanctuary, an observatory and a landmark which has attracted millions for more than last 400 years.
It was built by Masoom Shah of Bukkur (an island on River Indus between Sukkur and Rohri).
Masoom Shah was the Governer of the area in times of Mughal Emperor Akbar. The tower was built with the purpose of keeping a watch on the area. On top of the tower is an observation balcony which is now covered with iron railing.
Next to the tower is a pavilion made of sandstone which has graves of Masoom Shah and his family. The sarcophagi are carved in the tradition of the Chaukundi tombs (near Thatta, Sindh). Photo above shows the view of these tombs from the top of the Minar-e-Masoomi.
Following two photos show the stair work and brickwork inside the tower.
Photo below is from British library archive and it shows the tower of Masoom in 1896. Photographer was Henry Cousens.
Cousens wrote in The Antiquities of Sind,
"The most conspicuous feature in the landscape is the tall minar of Mir Ma'sum…Its dropsical proportions, and uncertain undulating outline suggest putty or dough as the material of its construction rather than brick and mortar. Its lantern top, surrounded with an iron cage, make it look more like an antiquated lighthouse perambulating through the country… It rises to a height of about a hundred feet, is eighty-four feet in circumference at the base, and is somewhat out of the perpendicular…Under the shadow of the minar rest the remains of Mir Muhammad Ma'sum Shah, his father, and other members of his family, the Ma'sumi Sayyids… Over the graves are open canopies supported on square, flat and octagonal stone pillars whose shafts are covered with Persian writing in relief and other ornamental tracery… Between Mir Ma'sum's grave and the base of the minaret is a domed octagonal building, apparently intended as a rest house, which was built in A.H. 1004 (Plate LXXVIII). It has four arched entrances, those on the east and west having a cut-stone ornamental balconied window above each of them. It is built of brick and is decorated with colored tiles."
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