HERITAGE: THE NEGLECTED NECROPOLIS OF SOONDA
About 20-22 kilometres from Thatta, on the Thatta-Hyderabad Highway, lies a small, ancient and crumbling graveyard whose tombs remind one of the yellow sandstone structures of Chowkandi. This is the Soonda graveyard. Not much is known about it, although it receives a steady stream of visitors.
According to Mir Ali Shair Qane, author of Tuhfat-ul-Karam, the village Soonda was founded by Jam Tamachi in the third quarter of the 14th century. It is said that, before the town was founded, a saint lived here who had affection for raga Sondra, which is how the village derived its name.
According to the Antiquity and Cultural Department’s web portal, “Soonda village was held in high regard by Muslims as a noble family of saints, known as Makhdums, lived there. Makhdum Ramzan Vedani, Mullah Ari, Mullah Bayazid and Mullah Abu Bakar are known for their pious lives.
Along the Thatta-Hyderabad Highway lies another unique but dilapidated and vandalised graveyard
“People would come to the graveyard to visit their graves but, over time, the graves have deteriorated and there is not much left of the carving and geometrical patterns.”
Just like the Chowkandi, Pir Lutfullah, Palejani and Makli graveyards, the spectacular graves in Soonda are made of yellow stone that was probably extracted from the nearby mountains. However, at present the graves are in a poor condition.
Human representations of horseriding soldiers, warriors and archers on these graves are one of the unique features. Snakes and swords carved on the graves perhaps also indicate that the graves are of warriors and soldiers. Some also represent their rank. Six to seven feet long vertical slabs placed on some graves, depicting a warrior on a horse brandishing a sword, portrays a tribute to the warrior and his martyrdom.