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Uch Sharif I City of Saints I Shrine Culture Began Here I Home of Syeds I English Subtitles
Videography: Waqas Gul
@explorepakistanbywaqasgul2776
Music: Binu Kumar, Kerala, India [Sound SFX]
Uch frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexander the Great during his invasion of the Indus Valley. Uch was an early stronghold of the Delhi Sultanate during the Muslim conquest of the subcontinent. It is also known as the home for the Naqvi/Bukhari’s after the migration from Bukhara. Uch was a regional metropolitan center between the 12th and 17th centuries, and became refuge for Muslim religious scholars fleeing persecution from other lands. Though Uch is now a relatively small city, it is renowned for its intact historic urban fabric, and for its collection of shrines dedicated to Muslim mystics (Sufis) from the 12-15th centuries that are embellished with extensive tile work, and were built in the distinct architectural style of southern Punjab. Uch was under the possession of a chief of Bhatti Jats as recorded by H.G. Raverty in his book Notes on Afghanistan and Baluchistan.
Uch was previous known by the name of Deogarh ("Stronghold of Giants") until the 12th century. The origins of the city's current name are unclear. In one legend, Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari, the renowned Central Asian Sufi mystic from Bukhara, arrived in Uch and converted the daughter of the town's ruler, Sunandapuri. Upon her conversion, Jalaluddin Bukhari requested her to built a fortress which he named Uch, or "High." According to another version of the legend, the princess converted by Bukhari was actually a Buddhist princess named Ucha Rani, and the city's name derives from her. In another version of then legend, Ucha Rani and her sister Sita Rani, rulers of Uch and Sitapur, both married Bukhari.
The name Uch for the area was not universally recognized for quite some time, and the city was not referred to by early Muslim historians by the name Uch. Uch, for example, is likely the town recorded as Bhatia that was invaded by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1006.
In the mid 1400s, Muhammad Ghaus Gilani, a descendant of Hazur Ghaus Pak Syed Abdul Qadir Gilani, established a Khanqah monastery in Uch, thereby establishing the city as a center of the Qadiriyya Sufi order which would later become the dominant order of Punjab.
17 tiled funerary monuments and associated structures remain tightly knit into the urban fabric of Uch. The shrines, notably the tombs of Syed Jalaluddin Bukhari and his family, are built in a regional vernacular style particular to southern Punjab, with tile work imported from the nearby city of Multan. These structures were typically domed tombs on octagonal bases, with elements of Tughlaq military architecture, such as the addition of decorative bastions and crenellations.
Three shrines built over the course of 200 years are particularly well known, and along with an accompanying 1400 graves form the Uch Monument Complex, a site tentatively inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites. Of the shrines, the first is said to have been built for Sheikh Baha’al-Halim by his pupil, the Suharwardiya Sufi saint Jahaniyan Jahangasht (1307-1383), the second for the latter’s great-granddaughter, Bibi Jawindi, in 1494, and the third for the latter’s architect.
Flooding in the early 19th century caused serious damage to many of the city's tombs, including structural problems and the deterioration of masonry and finishes. As the problems have persisted, the Uch Monument Complex was listed in the 1998 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund, and again in 2000 and 2002. The Fund subsequently offered financial assistance for conservation from American Express. World Bank to give Punjab govt $500m to restore religious sites including the tomb of Bibi Jawindi, Uch Sharif Bahawalpur for restoration and uplifting.
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