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Sehwan ( sd, سيوهڻ شريف, ur, ; also commonly referred to as Sehwan Sharif or ''Noble Sehwan'') is a historic city located in
Jamshoro District Jamshoro District ( sd, ضلعو ڄام شورو, ur, ), is a district of Sindh province, Pakistan. Jamshoro city is the capital while Kotri is the largest city of the Jamshoro District. The district borders Dadu district to the north. To the e ...
of
Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
province in Pakistan and on the west bank of the
Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
north-west of
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...
. The city is renowned for being home of one of Pakistan's most important
Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
shrines, the
Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar The Shrine of Lal Shabaz Qalandar ( ur, ; sd, لال شهباز قلندر جي مزار) is a shrine and mausoleum dedicated to the 13th century Muslim and Sufi saint, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. The shrine is located in Sehwan Sharif, in the Pakist ...
.The city also holds the status of taluka under
Jamshoro District Jamshoro District ( sd, ضلعو ڄام شورو, ur, ), is a district of Sindh province, Pakistan. Jamshoro city is the capital while Kotri is the largest city of the Jamshoro District. The district borders Dadu district to the north. To the e ...
. It was previously under Dadu District however, after establishing the
Jamshoro District Jamshoro District ( sd, ضلعو ڄام شورو, ur, ), is a district of Sindh province, Pakistan. Jamshoro city is the capital while Kotri is the largest city of the Jamshoro District. The district borders Dadu district to the north. To the e ...
, Sehwan was linked with Jamshoro District. Owing to the popularity of its
Sufi shrine A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, ofte ...
, the terms "Sehwan" and "Qalandar" are often used interchangeably in Pakistan. Sehwan is one of Pakistan's most important spiritual centres, along with other shrines such as the Shrine of
Abdullah Shah Ghazi :''See also Ghazi and Gazi (disambiguation)'' Abdullah Shah Ghazi ( ar, عبد الله شاه غازي, ʿAbd Allāh Shāh Ghāzī) (c. 720 - c. 768) was a Muslim mystic and Sufi whose shrine is located in Clifton in Karachi, in Sindh provi ...
in
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
,
Data Durbar Complex Data Darbar (also spelt Data Durbar; ), located in the city of Lahore (Punjab, Pakistan), is the largest Sufi shrine in South Asia. It was built to house the remains of Ali Hujwiri, commonly known as ''Data Ganj Baksh'', a Sufi saint from Ghazni ...
in
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...
,
Bari Imam Syed Abdul Latif Kazmi , often referred to as Barī Imām or Barī Sarkār (1617 – 1705), was a 17th-century Sufi ascetic from Punjab who was one of the most prominent Sufi of the Sunni school of thought. He is venerated as the patron ...
in Noorpur Shehan near
Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...
, and the lustrous tombs of the Suhrawardi Sufis in
Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the ol ...
.


History

Sehwan is probably the most ancient place in Sindh. Some historians say that this town is as ancient as the period of Prophet Shees, son of
Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
. Hence it was named as Sheestan, Sewistan and then Sehwan. According to Syed Muhibullah, author of "A brief history of Sind", Sehwan was the name of great grandson of
Ham (son of Noah) Ham (in ), according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was the second son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan. Ham's descendants are interpreted by Flavius Josephus and others as having populated Africa ...
. But there are various other views about the nomenclature of Sehwan as well. William Dalrymple says that the name is derived from Shivistan after Lord Shiva. This place in Sind saw amalgamation of Hinduism and Islam.Notable historian Molai Sheedai writes in his book "Tarikh e Tamadan e Sind" that Sehwan was built by the Sewi Aryas and hence was called Sewistan. Another view is that its name was Sindomana, a name which is well mentioned in Greek literature. Sindhu-mán is
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
word, which means "the possessor (the capital, or Raja) of Sindh, with which Sindhu-vàn is synonymous, the latter may have been softened in common speech to the modern Seh-wan. Sindomana was the capital of King Sambos, who was defeated by
Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
in 326 BC. A large tell called Kafir Qila (castle of the pagans) is located at the centre of the city. Sehwan was conquered by
Muhammad bin Qasim Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqāfī ( ar, محمد بن القاسم الثقفي; –) was an Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh (part of modern Pakistan), inaugurating the Umayy ...
in 711 from son of the King Dahir, and three centuries later by
Mahmud of Ghazni Yamīn-ud-Dawla Abul-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sebüktegīn ( fa, ; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi ( fa, ), was the founder of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 998 to 1030. At t ...
in 1026. In all the subsequent dynastic struggles of Sindh, Sehwan continued to feature prominently. It was held successively by the Sumrahs, the Summas, the Arghuns and the Tarkhans. It was the capital of Thatta Kingdom, when an abortive attempt was made by the Mughal emperor
Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...
to capture it on his way to Umarkot in 1542, but it finally fell to his son
Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
in 1590s. After the
Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
, it was ruled by Kalhoras and Talpurs. The city is known for its
Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
patron saint
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Hazrat Sayyid Usman Marwandi, (1177 - 19 February 1274) popularly known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (), was a Sufi saint and poet of present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was born in Marwand, Sistan to a family from Baghdad ...
who lived there in the 13th century. The
Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar The Shrine of Lal Shabaz Qalandar ( ur, ; sd, لال شهباز قلندر جي مزار) is a shrine and mausoleum dedicated to the 13th century Muslim and Sufi saint, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. The shrine is located in Sehwan Sharif, in the Pakist ...
attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Shrine of Murshid Nadir Ali Shah, a notable spiritual descendant of
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Hazrat Sayyid Usman Marwandi, (1177 - 19 February 1274) popularly known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (), was a Sufi saint and poet of present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was born in Marwand, Sistan to a family from Baghdad ...
is also located in Sehwan, where large number of people are served free meals round the clock. Another famous place is the inverted city. Manchar Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Pakistan, which is at a short distance from Sehwan Sharif.


Incident

On 16 February 2017, a suicide bomber triggered an explosion at the Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, killing at least 83 people and injuring almost 250. The attack occurred during a praying session. The bombing took place at an 800 year old Shrine. Later the
ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...
claimed responsibility for this terrorist attack stating that their 'martyr' had detonated a vest at the popular Shia gathering at the shrine.


See also

*
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Hazrat Sayyid Usman Marwandi, (1177 - 19 February 1274) popularly known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (), was a Sufi saint and poet of present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was born in Marwand, Sistan to a family from Baghdad ...
* Bodla Bahar * Nadir Ali Shah * Sehwan Sharif Airport


References


External links

*http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31812&articlexml=FOR-THE-RECORD-Outcome-of-the-Sufi-Salafi-19022017016019 {{authority control Populated places in Jamshoro District Talukas of Sindh Lal Shahbaz Qalandar