Thread by @meemainseen

Suhagan & Duhagan of Aror
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Few years back I returned to Pakistan on short trip
There I drove parents from Karachi to my sister's at Fort Abbas
We made a brief stop at Daewoo Terminal Sukkur
In a hurry to reach destination in same day's journey I missed a landmark by few miles

From Daewoo's Terminal if we take a flight heading east across the scorched 'Rohri Heights', which now has turned into a quarry, in 5 miles we reach the Ancient Seat of Hindu Kings, Aror
There on a barren hilltop under giant power lines stand two peculiar tombs as if hand-placed

Now if you have read @MahimMaher's beautiful article she'd tell of a caretaker of these tombs and his grief
'At night Mohanlal talks to Duhagan-Suhagan. How were you built, he asks them. How can I fix you? The tombs do not speak.'
The tombs do not speak, but the folk ballads do

In MBQ version 2.0 we are told of a boat of Muslim immigrants afloat the peaceful waters of Mehran near Aror when it was attacked by pirates who killed men and held women & children captive
Of these two women prayed for divine protection and were swallowed by the hills of Aror

In our folk tales of sensitive issues where there's a foul play sensed we happily let our ladies to be interred alive (and well)
May it be Sassi of Bhanbhore or seven friends of Satiyan jo Asthan
Ironic that in this 'Land of Pure' being pious is actually being six feet under!

Back to our live burials on the hills of Aror
One of the women was a happily married lady, so we are told, hence Suhagan and other was a grieving widow, a Duhagan
So on the fair estimate of site of burials people of Aror raised two tombs to commemorate both Suhagan and Duhagan

'A Gazetteer of the Province of Sindh' published 1876 tells that these are the tombs of two syeds, Shakar Ganj Shah and Khatal-ud-Din Shah
The former "a plain white sepulcher is a site of frequent pilgrimage"
Nothing much is revealed on the identity of saints interred here

Mystic tradition offers another interpretation of our words of interest here
There are two sorts of people in the world, the ones devoted to their creator hence merry, Suhagan and the other kind devoted to one's own self 'Manmukh' hence grieved, Duhagan

Although not linked to actual repute of our saints an unexplained tradition places the tomb of Shakar Ganj, the one towards north as Suhagan
Popular legend puts him to be contemporary of Sehwan's Qalandar but that would be misleading to deduce an estimate on date of construction

Our architect historian Kamil Khan Mumtaz while expressing his interest in learning more about these structures places them in the Sultanate Period, somewhere between Nausherwani Baluch monuments and Lal Mahra Sharif

We talked of the latter in another thread, as for the former, it brings to life that evergreen legend of Nikodar and, dear readers, when it comes to #storytelling who would settle less than best of the best, our very dear @odysseuslahori

Salman while taking a trip to funerary monuments known as Nausherwani Tombs on the verge where Baluchistan meets Iran, tells us the legend of Nikodar
in a 13th century tale of bandits
Swift was their outreach, fierce was their plunder and legendary their chief Nikodar or Nogodar

Now the band disintegrated after Nikodar was killed
The tombs they left in the valley of Kharan with an evidence of mass burial are still a puzzle piece
Made of exposed brickwork these if related to our tombs of Suhagan and Duhagan put their timeframe around 13th Century CE

So much for our tale of Suhagan and Duhagan
My readers interested in Mazar e Nikodar (Nausherwani Tombs) will find this from @odysseuslahori an interesting read

odysseuslahori.blogspot.com/2014/08/Mazar-…

Icing on the cake: @odysseuslahori is holding onto a photograph of a tablet from Mazar e Nikodar that "depicted a man with a jazail, long-barrelled muzzle-loading gun, in pursuit of a trio of fleeing ibex"
This puts the timeline estimate of these tombs into considerable doubt

The tablet on the tomb as per Salman is long gone, as for the photograph it's secretly guarded in Salman's den
Those interested to lay their eyes may visit @odysseuslahori , he is a warm host
pro tip: bring along some chocolates

My readers will also find this beautiful piece on Suhagan - Duhagan tombs by @MahimMaher a fascinating read
thefridaytimes.com/saving-the-nak…