Sindh

Sindh is Pakistan's southernmost mainland province, a 141,000 sq km triangle bounded by the Arabian Sea, the Thar Desert to the east, the Kirthar range to the west, and Punjab and Balochistan to the north. It is the ancient heartland of the Indus Valley Civilisation, with Mohen-jo-Daro (built around 2500 BCE) as its most famous ruin, and one of the earliest points where Islam entered the subcontinent (Muhammad bin Qasim landed at Debal in 711 CE). Karachi, the province's capital and Pakistan's largest city, sits at the mouth of the Indus and is the country's principal port. Local people speak Sindhi (an Indo-Aryan language with an unbroken literary tradition going back to the 8th century), Urdu (dominant in Karachi), and Balochi in the western belt.

Karachi is the entry point and cultural anchor (Mohatta Palace, Frere Hall, Burns Road food, Quaid's Mausoleum, Fish Harbour). Interior Sindh holds the essential heritage circuit: Mohen-jo-Daro (Indus Valley), Makli Necropolis (world's largest necropolis of ancient tombs), Shah Jahan Mosque in Thatta, Bhit Shah (Shah Latif shrine), Sehwan Sharif (Lal Shahbaz Qalandar), and Ranikot Fort. The Kirthar National Park protects the arid mountain range in the west and holds Sindh ibex, urial and jackal populations along with the Great Wall of Sindh and Gorakh Hill Station. Keenjhar Lake north of Karachi is a Ramsar wetland with a Sindhi folk-romance shrine.

Sindh carries some of the oldest continuously lived-in cultural layers on the subcontinent. Mohen-jo-Daro (2500 BCE) and the Kot Diji culture predate it. Muhammad bin Qasim's conquest of Debal in 711 CE brought Islam to the region 300 years before it reached the rest of the subcontinent. Sufi saints like Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (18th century, Shah jo Risalo poetry) and Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (13th century, Sehwan shrine) shaped a distinctive Sindhi Sufi tradition centred on music, ecstatic dance (dhamaal) and poetry. Sindhi cuisine features Sindhi biryani, sai bhaji, pallo (Indus hilsa fish, seasonal November to February), and thick wheat rotis. Craft traditions include Ajrak block-printed cloth in indigo and madder, and the mirror-worked Sindhi topi cap, both still made in villages around Bhit Shah and Matiari.

Foreign nationals need a No Objection Certificate arranged in advance through your operator for travel outside Karachi and Hyderabad, plan a week's notice. Karachi city itself does not need a permit. Interior travel is safe with a competent operator but drivers and local guides make a significant difference to the experience. Cash is important outside Karachi and Hyderabad, ATMs are limited. Phone signal is generally reliable on the main highways. Best to plan Interior Sindh only between November and February.