Shah Jahan Mosque, Thatta

Thatta has seen better days. Once the flourishing capital of Lower Sindh, its heyday was between the 14th and 16th centuries. Within the town little remains of that glory, though the inscribed Makli Necropolis on a hill a few kms outside provides an indication of what once was. Today Thatta itself is going the way of so many small/medium sized towns in Pakistan with uncontrolled expansion alongside minimal provision of infrastructural services and its vernacular architecture crumbling or being destroyed. Within however, 1 undoubted “gem” survives, albeit not in the best of condition – the Shah Jahan Mosque or Jamia Masjid. This was placed on Pakistan’s T List in 1993.

But, wait a minute – doesn’t the UNESCO Web site description of the Makli inscription indicate that the Shah Jahan Mosque was already a part of that inscribed site? Certainly – but see my Forum article trying to set out the history and identify the current “de jure” and “de facto” situation – http://www.worldheritagesite.org/forums/index.php?action=vthread&forum=8&topic=1774&page=0#msg7836. In this I concluded that, whatever the nature of the original Pakistani nomination for Makli/Thatta, for reasons and in steps which are unclear, the Shah Jahan Mosque is "probably" no longer regarded as being a part of it by Pakistan and UNESCO also, whatever its web site says! I asked ICOMOS Pakistan what their understanding of the situation was and received a reply which included this

“the question you have regarding status of Thatta in the WHS inscription does in actuality present the …