Near Sann is what the reputable guidebooks claim to be the longest
known fortification in the world - Rani Kot. It is longer than the
wall of China, rather wide extending umpteen feet at one height and
perhaps six feet at its peek, its height soars hundreds of feet in
places capitalizing on the natural hilly terrain. Visiting Sann in the heat of the day in June - air temparatures in the shade
soaring to 120F, close to as hot as it gets anywhere in the world (not
that there was any shade besides the sleek noon shadow of the
fortification wall) and the ground much hotter. The fort extended as
far as the eye could see. At one point our jeep got stuck in the
sandy road (which I discovered is worse than getting stuck in the
snow). And we ran out of water fast. But the views were fascinating
and spectacular - enough that we had no desire to turn back.
Interestingly, Rani kot showed up in a travel guide to Pakistan of a
Japanese travel agency homepage on the web when I did a netsearch on
the subject (5 out of the 9 significant places to visit they list are
in Sindh).
No one seems to know for sure who build the fort, when or why. The
current guestimate seems to be that it dates to the time of Alexandar
"the Great" who was badly beaten in his invasion of Sindh although he
made it to Thatta to the South before aborting his mission.
Sann is a town in Dadu district of Sindh. Here one of the
beloved sons of Sindh, Saeen G.M. Syed was born.
Sann is on the banks of the mighty Indus on its "dry" side (the other
side has lower altitude). It is hard to imagine the power of the
river before it was tamed by the barrages that brought both prosperity
and a curse to Sindh. Yet Indus retains a beautiful, natural
unspoiled charm with quiet wooden boats plying it, boats that one
could believe look the same as they did for the last 2000 years, and
mud huts on its banks. The stars shine bright above as only they can
in a desert away from modern city lights and the moon reflects
buoyantly on the river. The topography dramatically changes as one
gets away from the river into the mountaneous range.. with changing
colors of sand. A mountains range begins here.
Sindh : My Motherland My Fatherland
Makhdoom's Quest For The Truth
Makhdoom's Quality Quest