distinctive feature of Sindhi wall painting is the variety of subjects that artists chose to portray. Murals painted during the Kalhora (1700-1783) and Talpur (1783-1843) periods and later under colonial rule, offer glimpses into the social and cultural life of the times. Soldiers, hunters, rulers, musicians, animals and different modes of transport appear alongside scenes of everyday life on tomb walls, preserving visual details of a world that has largely disappeared. Almost every popular romance of Sindh and the Punjab found a place on the painted walls of Sindhi tombs. Sindhi painters rendered stories of Sasui and Punhun, Suhni and Mehar (Sohni and Mahiwal), Moomal and Rano, Leela and Chanesar, Nuri and Jam Tamachi, and Umar and Marvi in rich colours. These familiar tales formed an important part of the repertoire of subjects available to the artists.

Local romances were not the only stories represented. During the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Sindhi painters also drew upon romances that had travelled into the region through other literary traditions. Among those were the stories of Laila and Majnun, Gur and Dilaram, and Saiful Muluk wa Badi’ al-Jamal. Circulating through Arabic and Persian literary traditions, these tales gradually entered the visual repertoire of Sindhi artists, who gave them a local presence on tomb walls.

Apart from folktale paintings, hunting was the most recurrent theme in Sindh’s tombs. The hunters are shown hunting deer, leopards and birds. Deer and leopard hunting was the pastime of rulers and nobles, whereas ordinary people hunted birds. The royal hunters are always shown on horseback.

Some of the earliest paintings are found in the tombs of Mian Nasir Muhammad Kalhoro (1657-1692). These depict leopard and deer hunting scenes. Two tombs in the Muridani Jamali necropolis in Johi taluka in Dadu district, bear impressive hunting scenes. In one tomb, three panels show hunters on horseback pursuing deer. The hunters are depicted with firearms. The second tomb also has three panels depicting deer hunting. Deer are found in large numbers in the Khirthar Range. These tombs lie very close to the Khirthar Range, and the inspiration likely came from times when rulers hunted there.

Deer-hunting scenes also appear in the tombs of Muridani Jamalis, Mir Allahyar Khan Talpur, Mian Nasir Muhammad Kalhoro and the Jalabani Lagharis as well as Shahani near Chhini, Rodnani near Thull village in Johi taluka of Dadu. They also feature in the tombs of Abras and Marris in Nawabshah and Sanghar districts, respectively. The Chandia tombs, particularly Dau-Ja-Quba in Kamber-Shahdadkot district, also show leopard-hunting scenes. One finds a particularly impressive leopard-hunting scene in the tomb of Sahib Faqir Shahani near Chhini in Johi taluka. In all these tombs, hunters are shown on horseback.

There is only one exception, in which a noble is shown hunting a wild boar. The tomb of Sultan Marri in the Tilla Shah graveyard in Sanghar district has two panels. The first shows the noble hunting a wild boar with the help of attendants and dogs. The dogs attack the wild boar from the filed; the noble and attendants attack with guns and spears. The second panel depicts the noble’s attendants carrying the hunted quarry on wooden planks. No similar painting is found in any other tomb of the Kalhora (1700-1783) and Talpur (1783-1843) periods.

Leopard-hunting scenes also appear in Kalhora, Talpur and British-period tombs. The earliest appears in the tomb of Bego Faqir Awan in the necropolis of Mian Nasir Muhammad Kalhoro. Some later paintings are found in the Muridani Jamali tombs in Dadu district. The most beautiful of these paintings is in a tomb at the necropolis of Muridani Jamali. A noble is shown attacking a leopard with a spear. Behind the noble’s horse is an attendant or hunting helper carrying a firearm.

In addition to hunting scenes in the Sindhi tombs, one also finds battle scenes. The earliest battle murals are found in the tombs of Mian Nasir Muhammad Kalhoro. Five tombs in the necropolis of Mian Nasir Muhammad Kalhoro depict battle scenes. Babar Faqir’s tomb is particularly prominent. The tomb lies south of Mian Nasir Muhammad Kalhoro’s shrine. It has ten painted panels, three of which depict warriors. One large horizontal panel shows warriors on horseback. It also shows foot soldiers ready to join the war party. In the middle of the panel, the foot soldiers are accompanied by cavalry. However, the weapons depicted here are bows and arrows, spears and swords. The second panel depicts warriors on horseback armed with bows and arrows, swords, shields and spears. The third shows two mounted warriors preparing to join the war party.

Apart from folktale paintings, hunting was the most recurrent theme in Sindh’s tombs. The hunters are shown hunting deer, leopards and birds. Deer and leopard hunting was the pastime of rulers and nobles, whereas ordinary people hunted birds.

The tomb of Shadman Laghari in Johi taluka, the earliest structure, depicts battle scenes. Panels of varying size show warriors on horseback and on foot. A large panel in the arched recess on the western wall depicts a battle scene. A ruler is also shown seated on an elephant. He may be a royal figure moving ahead to join the war party on the battlefield. Soldiers are escorting the royal figure on horseback and on foot. Some soldiers hold flags. Corresponding to this battle scene are three panels on the northern wall of the tomb depicting three soldiers: one on horseback and two on foot. Foot soldiers are depicted hoisting flags. Three panels within an arched recess on the southern wall also show soldiers. The central panel shows a royal figure seated on an elephant in a prestigious posture, escorted by two foot soldiers.

An imperial figure seated on an elephant appears in several tombs in Dadu and Sanghar districts. The most impressive panel depicting battle scenes is found on the western wall of Mir Allahyar Khan Talpur’s tomb. A large horizontal panel depicts folk romances and battle scenes. This panel is the most impressive depiction of battle scenes. Two royal figures fight each other while seated on their elephants. The elephant on the right appears smaller than the one on the left, emphasising the stately figure’s power and authority.

The painting depicts the Battle of Samityani, or Sanni. The Battle of Samityani was fought between the Panhwars and Kalhoras, in which Mian Yar Muhammad Kalhoro defeated Qaisar Khan Panhwar, who had annexed certain regions of Mian Yar Muhammad Kalhoro’s estate (1701-1719) when he was in Kalat. When Mian Yar Muhammad Kalhoro returned from Kalat with the army of his disciples, he gathered his forces and recaptured the regions that were under the dominion of Mian Din Muhammad Kalhoro and defeated Qaisar Khan in the Battle of Samityani.

The painting depicts the Battle of Samityani, in which two royal figures, Qaisar Khan Panhwar and Mian Yar Muhammad Kalhoro, seated atop elephants, face each other on the battlefield, with Mian Yar Muhammad Kalhoro aiming his spear at Qaisar Khan in a show of vengeance. Qaisar Khan is shown surrounded by Mian Yar Muhammad Kalhoro’s troops. In retaliation, Qaisar Khan attacks Mian Yar Muhammad Kalhoro with his spear, but the latter’s elephant grabs the weapon in its trunk.

The second possibility is that the painting represents the Battle of Sanni, fought between the troops of Mian Noor Muhammad Kalhoro (1719-1753) and Abdullah Khan Brohi at Sanni, near Jhal Magsi. Kalhora troops killed Abdullah Khan Brohi in the Battle of Sanni. Mir Allahyar Khan Talpur is known to have taken part in the Battle of Samityani.

The Abra tombs in Nawabshah district also depict battle scenes. Two tombs in Muhammad Khan Vighio village were erected during the Kalhora period. Both tombs are square in plan and surmounted by a hemispherical dome. The interior of one tomb is adorned with paintings depicting hunting and folk romance scenes. The battle scene is painted on the tomb’s arched panel. The painting is an interesting representation in which only frontline warriors are shown fighting each other, without any horsemen or royal figures. The warriors fight with swords and shields; spears and guns are also depicted. The right corner of the painting features a gun, an important battlefield symbol. Below the gun, a musician plays an instrument, probably signalling the start of the battle. Standing directly in front of the musician is a giant figure holding a letter above the warriors’ heads, probably instructing the troops.

The tomb of Ghazi Khan, also known as Jangi Qubo, at Dau-Ja-Quba near Gebi Dero in Kamber taluka, also depicts a battle scene, probably fought between two clans of the Chandia tribe.

Apart from the battle scenes, some tombs depict combat between two warriors. Several tombs in Dadu, Larkana, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Nawabshah and Sanghar districts bear fighting warriors. The tomb of Sultan Marri in Sanghar depicts two warriors on horseback. Both are shown fighting with swords. Visitors have vandalised one figure. The other warrior figure is in immaculate condition. Similar paintings appear in several other tombs in Dadu and Kamber-Shahdadkot districts. All the figures depicted in these tombs have prominent features with headgear. All the figures sport beards and have almond-shaped eyes, reflecting that folk painters meticulously rendered each detail.

The writer is an anthropologist and associate professor at PIDE, Islamabad. He has authored 19 books on Pakistan’s cultural heritage and anthropology. He tweets @kalhorozulfiqar.He may be contacted at [email protected]