Medieval Studies Faculty Colloquium – Necropolis as Palimpsest: the cemetery of Makli (Sindh, Pakistan), ca. 1380-1660

Join Medieval Studies for our next faculty colloquium with Fatima Quraishi, Assistant Professor in Art & Archaeology.

Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP.

Established in the late fourteenth century, the Makli necropolis, in what is now Sindh province, Pakistan, grew over three centuries to a site of more than 70 monumental tombs and mosques, and hundreds, if not thousands, of graves. Tracing its history from a modest Ṣūfī site in the late fourteenth century to a monumental site that stretched over four kilometers in the late seventeenth century, this talk explores how South Asian funerary spaces are dynamic spaces of sociability, deeply integrated with their surrounding communities and landscapes. Makli’s architectural affiliations are diverse from the lithic architecture of medieval Gujarat and Rajasthan in India to monumental brick tombs of Timurid Central Asia and Iran, reflecting its proximity to the Arabian Sea, a threshold into the Subcontinent. Untangling the necropolis’ temporal and stylistic layers reveals how funerary sites were reshaped by accretional building and the influx of new artistic practices and technologies. Simultaneously, Makli was also transformed by the emotional investments of visitors engaged in religious rituals and recreational activities. Thus, rather than separating elite patronage from more humble devotions, I argue that these were mutually constitutive practices, necessary for sustaining historic monuments. In so doing, this talk reframes long-standing perceptions of funerary monuments as isolated, static containers of the past, exemplified by iconic mausolea such as the Taj Mahal, instead highlighting their vibrant lives and afterlives.

This event is open to Princeton University faculty, students, and staff only.