Chaukhandi Tombs

The Chaukhandi Tombs, beside the N-5 National Highway near Landhi on the outskirts of Karachi, are a necropolis of elaborately carved sandstone tombs built primarily between the 15th and 18th centuries by the Jokhio and Baloch tribes of the region. The tombs are constructed in tiered, pyramid-like stone structures, with the sandstone surfaces covered in dense relief carving depicting geometric rosettes, floral motifs, weapons, jewelry, and, on some tombs, horse-and-rider figures marking the graves of warriors. Male and female graves are distinguished by their carved motifs: men's tombs typically feature horses, weapons, and shields, while women's tombs are carved with jewelry and floral patterns. Unlike Makli Necropolis, Chaukhandi is a smaller, self-contained tribal burial ground rather than a royal or dynastic site, offering a distinct regional style of Sindhi funerary stone-carving found across lower Sindh and parts of Baluchistan. The site has no indoor museum; visitors walk among the freestanding tiered tombs to view the carved reliefs directly. Highway proximity and urban expansion around Karachi have placed some pressure on the site's surroundings, and stone weathering has eroded finer carving details on the oldest tombs, though Sindh's antiquities department has carried out periodic conservation work. Chaukhandi is significant as one of the best-preserved examples of the distinctive tribal necropolis stone-carving tradition of lower Sindh and Baluchistan.