The Chaukhandi Tombs lie on the outskirts of Karachi, at the end of a street in an industrial area where truckers park their vehicles in between trips. It’s a surprising location for an archaeological site, but it has a formal entrance gate, a local caretaker/guide and amenities such as toilets. There’s no entrance fee. The state of conservation has improved since the last review that we have available (from 2013): the tombs lie now in a neat park with flowering plants and walking paths marked by white stones. The decorated tombs look like they have been cleaned and certainly do not suffer from any vandalism such as graffiti – this is the result of renovations in 2020.  

About 1,500 of these sandstone tombs lie close together in a graveyard. It’s worth looking at them closely one by one, as the mostly geometric motifs used in the decoration vary greatly. There’s a somewhat Hindu/Indian feel about the site, which might be explained by the Hindu Rajput descendence of the (Muslim) Jokhio tribe who created the tombs.

Most are single tombs for individuals, some are family graves grouped on a platform and probably the richest family had their members buried in a kind of pavilion. You can also see tombs at the far end of the site, but the guide told us that they were not historical but recent ones and we could not go there.

Overall, it’s a site that definitely should be part of your Pakistan itinerary. The WHS of Makli has tombs in Chaukhandi style too, but I found the ones here more impressive in their details. Could it ever become a WHS? I am quite positive: of course, it’s a small site at only 2 square miles (we spent half an hour there), with a single focus, but we have the Holy Trinity Column or the Madara Rider on the List as well. Scholars have named it "a most original and independent contribution to Islamic sepulchral architecture and ornamental sculpture".