The Thul Hairo Khan ( Sindhi: ٺلھ هيرو خان) is a

Buddhist stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and ''śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and medit ...

, built possibly between the 5th and 7th centuries CE near the modern-day town of

Johi Johi may refer to: * Jahi, a Zoroastrian demoness * Johi, Dadu, a town in Sindh, Pakistan * Johi, Croatia, a village near Bosiljevo, Croatia * Jonah Hill (born 1983), American actor {{Disambiguation, geo ...

, in

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It was constructed using cheroli and mud mortar to combine mud bricks and baked bricks. The stupa is high and wide in size. The stairs on the north side of the stupa lead to its top. The stupa has an arched tunnel from north to south at ground level. It is believed that stupas such Hairo Khan were built in Sindh between the 5th and 7th centuries CE. Thul of Hairo Khan appears to be part of a series also discovered in other regions of Sindh.

History

According to some accounts, Buddhism spread in the Sindh in the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Emperor

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

of the

Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (Sanskrit: elp:IPA/Sanskrit, t̪͡ɕɐn̪d̪ɾɐgupt̪ɐ mɐʊɾjɐ (reigned 320 BCE – c. 298 BCE) was the founder and the first emperor of the Maurya Empire, based in Magadha (present-day Bihar) in the Indian ...

was the founder of the Maurya Empire and who was supported by the kingdoms of

and

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, defeating Greek dominance there. Sindh became a division of the Maurya Empire in 305 BCE; and during the Maurya Empire, Buddhism thrived in Sindh at large, particularly throughout the realm of Ashoka the Great. During the time of Mauryan rule, Sindhi monks ( Bhikshus) attended the second and third Buddhist councils held in 278 BC and 253 BC. The Chinese monk

Faxian Faxian (337–), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Fa-hien and Fa-hsien, was a Han Chinese, Chinese Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist bhikkhu, monk and translator who traveled on foot from Eastern Jin dynasty, Jin China to medieval India t ...

came to Sindh in 641 CE and recorded that there were eighty-eight thousand stupas up to the borders of Sindh. Sindh was a hub of Buddhism during the

Rai dynasty The Rai dynasty (–632 CE) was a Buddhist dynasty that ruled the Sindh region. All that is known about the dynasty comes from the '' Chachnama'', a 13th-century Persian work about Sindhi history. Nothing particular is known about the first thr ...

Chach of Aror Chach ( 631–671 AD, ) was a Hindu Brahmin king of Sindh region of the Indian subcontinent in the mid-7th century AD. He was in service of the court of Rai Sahasi II and became a close confidate of the king and the queen. When Rai Sahasi died, ...

was a pioneer of the

Brahman dynasty of Sindh The Brahmin dynasty (), also known as the Chacha dynasty or Silaij dynasty, was a Sindhi Hindu dynasty that ruled the Sindh region, after usurping and overthrowing the Buddhist Rai dynasty of Sindh. Most of the information about its existence com ...

. His brother Chandra was Buddhist. According to the ''

Chach Nama ''Chach Nama'' (; ; "Story of the Chach"), also known as the ''Fateh nama Sindh'' (; "Story of the Conquest of Sindh"), and as ''Tareekh al-Hind wa a's-Sind'' (; "History of Hind and Sind"), is a historical source for the history of Sindh. The ...

'', the first source material on the history of Sindh, written during the monarchy of the Rai kings together with Brahmans, Buddhiya country was a part of Sindh. Buddhism flourished side-by-side with

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

in every part of Sindh up to the 13th century CE, during the

Soomra dynasty The Soomra dynasty () was a late medieval dynasty of Sindh ruled by the Soomro tribe of Sindh, and at times adjacent regions, located in what is now Pakistan. Sources The only extant source is the ''Diwan-i Farruhi'', a Persian chronicle by ...

of Sindh. Stupas were considered as sacred and religious remains of Buddhism.

Construction

The construction of Thul Hairo Khan is of a rectangular type. The round top of the stupa measures with a circumference of . The baked bricks used in the base of the stupa are 11"x 6"x 2" in size. Meanwhile, the baked bricks used in the round top are 11.6"x 2"x 5" in size.

Location

Thul Hairo Khan is located at 26°49'40.3" north latitude and 67°28'28.81 east longitude, which is walking distance west of the village of Hairo Khan, north of the village of Haji Khan Laghari in ( Kachho) Taluka Johi,

Dadu District Dadu District (), () is a Districts of Pakistan, district of Sindh, Sindh Province, Pakistan. With headquarters in the city of Dadu, Pakistan, Dadu, the district was created in 1931 by merging Kotri and Mahal Kohistan (later Jamshoro) tehsils fro ...

, Sindh, and northeast of

town.

References

{{reflist Stupas in Pakistan History of Sindh Archaeological sites in Sindh Ruins in Pakistan Tourist attractions in Sindh Dadu District