Sukkur District Information

Major H. G. Raverty, the author of The Mehran of Sindh, tells us that no such place as Sukkur is mentioned in any history of the subcontinent down to the time of Syed Mir Masoom alias Bukkare. It is not mentioned in the Am-i-Akbari, although Bukkur, Rohri, and Arore are. Henry Cousens, author of The Antiquities of Sindh, thinks Sukkur was originally Bukkur before the latter was separated from the fort by the river. He has no idea of what the name Sukkur means. Sir H.M. Elliott, in The History of Sindh as told by its own Historians, offers; embankment; as the meaning, and says the place is better known to its inhabitants as Chi pry Bandar. Abdul Razak Sheikh, the author of Sukkur Past and Present, gives the following genealogy for the name ‘Sukkur’: There are many divergent versions about the name of Sukkur and none appeals to the mind.. It is said that Mohammad bin Qasim after passing through thick forest, reached a hilly plain and uttered the word shukr meaning thanks, which was in time transformed into Sukkur; but others say that the Muslim general uttered the word sakkar (In Sindh sukkur write ), hell, due to the intense heat and suffocation of the place. Some are of the view that the word has been taken from sukh, meaning happiness. It is further argued that there was cultivation of sugar-cane surrounding the place and it was therefore named shakar, meaning sugar. Some are of the opinion that it is the degenerated shape of Bakhar and ‘B’ was changed into ‘S’.Parsam V. Masand, in his book Sukkur the Sweet, published in 1940, has repeated the same history. In 1910, G.N. Mehta was appointed as Special Investigation Officer of Government Title to Cantonment Land, Government of Bombay. In his report of 24 March 1910 he wrote that the old town of Sukkur was said to have been founded about AD 375 by a Hindu Brahmin named Verbham (Birmanji) and was first named after him. In AD 492 its name was changed to Shukar to perpetuate the memory of Birmanji;s death, which took place on a Friday, Shukar in Sanskrit. The name was gradually corrupted to Sukkur. As regards the creation of New Sukkur, Mehta;s report stated that officers; houses were being built on the ridge of small hills situated to the south, south-east, and south-west of Native Infantry Lines, while below the ridge and to the south of the Lines, on the low ground on the river bank, a Saddar Bazar; supplying the soldiers; needs had also begun to spring up. This Saddar Bazar quarter is now known as New Sukkur

Sakhar is situated about ninety Kilometers north of Hyderabad, and is famous for its numerous old monuments. There is a prominent minerat of MirMaasum Bakhri and adjecent to this there is Musamman Gumnbadi. The graveyard of Mir Maasuni family is next to Musamman Gumnbadi. There are several persian inscriptions in this regiqn. Many buildings in Sakhar are attributed to MjrMaasurn period. There is a Jamia Masjid in old Sakhar, which was built by the father of Mir Maasuni Mir Safai. Mir Maasum,belonged to the .jahan girl reign. He spent freely on buildings and gardens.Minerat of Mir Maasum is famous for its height and architectural design.