Notes Prepared for Reference during Curzon’s Tour of the Persian Gulf, and Other Papers on Persia and the Persian Gulf [‎231r] (461/678)

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The camp was pitched in a hollow, a mile and a half beyond the thana,
but this ground is a swamp in wet weather, and the water from the well is bad
and full of worms.
24th January -1902. —Hab, 18 miles.—Three miles out the road has a steep
sandy ascent up the hills that here border the coast and then it runs up and
down across waste cactus covered country till it descends into the Hab valley
some three miles from Hab. At three places along this road at the 6th, 10th
and 14th mile we came across the carved sandstone tombs that are such a
peculiar feature of this country. The first consisted of only four or five tombs,
the second had eight or ten, but the third is a large cemetery full of these tombs
and different varieties are to be seen. That they are Muhammadan tombs is
clear as they lie north and south and some of them have Musalman names, such
as Haji Ishak, Malagh Jaru, Ramzan Rangu, Jassi Setu, Toku Setu, Isa Dazu.
There are no dates and no inscriptions, nothing but the bare names, and this
only on some.
The general feature of these tombs is the carved slabs of sandstones
alternately laid flat and on edge, thus forming hollow spaces which look like
sarcophagi and give the idea that these spaces were meant to contain bodies,
but so far as I could judge this was not the case. The lowest tier on the
ground is often open, formed of carved slabs, say four to six inches thick, set on
edge and cut out into arches. Above this is a flat horizontal slab. Then came
four more slabs set on edge forming the sides and ends of what looks like a
sarcophagus, but the space inside is so narrow that nobody could have been laid
in it, at any rate not flat on its back. In some a corpse might have been put
in on its side, but there were no bones or anything to be found to suggest this.
Above the second layer sometimes came a third and sometimes simply a
succession of slabs, one on the top of the other, each smaller than the last and
culminating by an upright stone to the north surmounted by what apparently
was intended to represent a crown.
Mr. Vogel, Archseological Surveyor for the Punjab Circle, wrote to me
on 22nd June 1901, describing his inspection of certain tombs of this
description at a place called Hinidan, four marches up the Hab River from
Karachi. These tombs are described by him as follows : —
“ They consist of sandstone slabs plainly carved, built up so as to form
sarcophagi placed one above the other. Now the above ground form of burial
is, as far as I have been able to ascei’tain, quite unknown in any other part of
India. Another curious feature of these tombs is the top slab on which, in
many cases, the figure of a horseman armed with lance, sword and shield is
carved. Yet there can be no doubt that the tombs are Muhammadan. ’*
The Las Bela Vakil Elected representative or attorney, acting in legal matters such as contracting marriage, inheritance, or business; a high-ranking legal official; could also refer to a custodian or administrator. , Haji Ishak, stated that he had visited these tombs at
Hinidan and that he had himself seen the bones and skull of a man in them.
I myself could find no such bones in the present case.
The names on the tombs are badly engraved and not in keeping with the
rest of the carving, but the spelling of the word Malagh would give the idea
of Arab origin.
It is curious that these tombs are all on the side of the road and away
from any traces of former habitation.
25th January 1902. —Karachi, 17 miles.—The road crossed the bed of the
Hab River and ran through sandy waste country all the way in.
CHARLES E. YATE, Colonel,
Agent to the Governor-General.
G. I. C. P. O.—No. 1043 F. D.—20-2-1902.—90.—G. R.