Uch (;

), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf (;

; "Noble Uch"), is a historic city in 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. and became refuge for Muslim religious scholars fleeing persecution from other lands. 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, to Islam. Upon her conversion, Jalaluddin Bukhari requested her to build a fortress which he named Uch, or "High." Uch was not universally recognized as the area's name for quite some time, and the city was not referred to by early Muslim historians by the name Uch. and was located at the confluence of the Acesines river with the Indus. and the confluence of the two rivers has shifted approximately 40 km (25 miles) southwest.

Medieval

In 712 CE, Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Uch. Few details exist of the city in the centuries prior to his invasion. Uch was probably the town recorded as Bhatia that was conquered in 1006 by Mahmud of Ghazni. and today the town and surrounding region are littered with numerous tombs of prominent pīrs,

The region around Uch and Multan remained centre of Hindu Vaishnavite and Surya pilgrimage throughout the medieval era.

Muhammad of Ghor conquered Uch and nearby Sultan in 1176 while it was still under the influence of the Ismaili Qarmatians. The town was likely captured from the Soomras based in Sindh. Sindh's various dynasties had for centuries attempted to keep Uch and Multan under their sway.

Mamluk era

thumb|The mosque of Makhdoom Jahanian was built in the late 1300s, and is embellished with the blue tile-work typical of southern Punjab.

thumb|The mosque of Mahboob Subhani is decorated in the region's vernacular style.

Soomra power was eroded by the advance of Nasir ad-Din Qabacha of what would later become the Mamluk dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. Qabacha was declared Governor of Uch in 1204, he also controlled Multan and Sindh regions. Under his rule, Uch became the principal city of Upper Sindh. Following the collapse of Qabacha's sultanate at the hands of Mongols and Khwarazmians, and the degradation of Lahore from years of conflict there, Muslim power in north India shifted away from Punjab and towards the safer environs of Delhi. Following the 1305 invasion, Uch came under the governorship of Ghazi Malik the governor of Multan and Depalpur, who would later seize Delhi and come to be known as Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, founder of the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. allowing Khizr Khan to regain control of the area, before joining with the forces of the elder Tamerlane to sack Delhi and establish the Sayyid dynasty in 1414.

Langah sultanate

Uch Sharif then came under the control of the Langah Sultanate in the early 15th century, founded in nearby Multan by Budhan Khan, who assumed the title Mahmud Shah. Following the death of Shah Husayn, Uch's Samma rulers quickly allied themselves with Baloch chieftain Mir Chakar Rind.

Mughal

Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, is believed to have visited Uch Sharif in the early 1500s, and left behind 5 relics, after meeting with the descendants of Jalaludin Bukhari. In 1525 Uch was invaded by rulers of the Arghun dynasty of northern Sindh, before falling to the forces of Pashtun king Sher Shah Suri in 1540.

Mughal Emperor Humayun entered Uch in late 1540, but was not welcomed by the city's inhabitants, and was defeated by the forces of Sher Shah Suri. The city reverted to Arghun rule following the expulsion of Humayun, and the fall of Sher Shah Suri's short-lived empire. It was assessed at 1,910,140 dams in revenue and supplied a force of 100 cavalry and 400 infantry. In 1751, Uch was attacked by Sardar Jahan Khan, general in the army of Ahmad Shah Durrani.

Under the State of Bahawalpur

thumb|Several of Uch's monuments were damaged in flooding in the early 19th century, leaving their interiors exposed.

Uch Sharif came under the control of the Bahawalpur princely state, which declared independence in 1748 following the collapse of the Durrani empire. Bahawalpur had become a vassal of the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, before becoming a dependency of the British Empire defined under an 1833 treaty. By 1836, the ruling Abbasi family stopped paying tribute to the Sikhs, and declared independence. Bahawalpur's ruling Abbasi family aligned themselves with the British during the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars, thereby guaranteeing its survival as a princely state.

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 part of Bahawalpur state, Uch Sharif was acceded to the new Pakistani state, but remained part of the autonomous Bahawalpur state until 1955 when it was fully amalgamated into Pakistan. Uch remains a relatively small city, but is an important tourist and pilgrimage destination on account of its numerous tombs and shrines.

Demographics

Population

The population of city in 1998 was 20,476 but according to the 2023 Census of Pakistan, the population has risen to 98,852.

Geography

Uch Sharif is located 84 km away from Bahawalpur. Formerly located at the confluence of the Indus and Chenab rivers, the river shifted course, Monuments are scattered throughout the city, and are connected by narrow lanes and winding bazaars.

|date=January 2013

Uch Monument Complex

thumb|Some of the monuments are undergoing restoration work.

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,

Parliamentarians

  • 2018 (Current)
  • Syed Sami ul Hassan Gilani Member National Assembly PTI
  • Makhdoom Syed Iftikhar Hussain Gillani Member Provincial Assembly PTI
  • 2013
  • Syed Ali Hassan Gillani Member National Assembly PML(N)
  • Makhdoom Syed Iftikhar Hussain Gillani Member Provincial Assembly(BNAP)
  • 2008
  • Arif Aziz Sheikh Member National Assembly PPPP
  • Makhdoom Syed Iftikhar Hussain Gillani Member Provincial Assembly PML(Q)

See also

  • Tomb of Bibi Jawindi
  • List of mausolea

References

</references>

  • Henry George Raverty, Notes on Afghanistan and Baluchistan; (1878) [http://www.wasaib.com/uchch-in-1878-a.d.html]
  • Uch Sharif
  • Uch Sharif : New Photographs on Uch Sharif
  • Uch : A detailed photographic description of all famous places of Uch Sharif
  • Shrine of Bibi Jawindi, Uch Sharif
  • UNESCO World Heritage Foundation - Tomb of Bibi Jawindi, Baha'al-Halim and Ustead and the Tomb and Mosque of Jalaluddin Bukhari
  • Photographs
  • Bibi Jawindi Tomb-ArchNet
  • Livius Uch Picture Archive