Paat
Paat, also known as Pat or Goth Pat, is a small town in the Dadu District of Sindh, Pakistan. It is located at 20°28'0N 48°68'0E with an altitude of 25 metres (82 ft) Pat is on the right bank of Indus river, known as cultural educational and commercial hub of midland Sindh. During Sama dynasty Shaikh Tahar and shahar Ramadhan from the family of Shaikh Shahabuddin Saharwardi of Baghdad migrated to Sindh on the invitation of Sindh's celebrated King Jam Nizamuddin known as [Jam Nandho]. Jam Nizamuddin welcome them they settled in Patt notified the village as Qabilaul Islam Patt sharif in their respect.
Paat lies between the west bank of the Indus River and the Dadu Canal. Its climate has been recorded as one of the hottest places in the world, with temperatures reaching 53.5 °C (128.3 °F) on 26 May 2010. The town is surrounded by fertile agriculture land, which is irrigated by water from the Dadu canal. The local people have limited access to potable drinking water. The farming of livestock is common in Dadu, especially in Kachho, an area largely inaccessible due to the lack of a good road infrastructure. Paat, has a mainline railway station named Piyaro Goth.
History
Paat is close to Sehwan, an ancient city of the Indus Valley Civilization. A mound known as Lohum-jo-Daro near the Piyaro Goth railway station was first discovered in 1925, and subsequently excavated by the archaeologist Majumdar. He recovered several objects typical of Indus culture along with pottery from the Mohenjo Daro period. There is evidence that the conditions in Baluchistan and Sindh five thousand years ago were more favourable for human habitation than they are today.
There are various views about the origin of the town and the popular one is that it was initially called 'Patar' after the maharaja who built it. Patar in Persian means the crown. Hence, it is envisaged that either it was important to the crown or else it is so named after its shape being like a crown. In 1785 the river changed its course and the town had to shift on the other bank leaving 'old paat' and constructing 'new paat'.
Lal Shahbaz Qalander of Sehwan (1177 - 1274) visited Paat between 1196 and 1224 and met a Sufi nobleman there named Pir Haji Ismail. The two contemporaries became friends and often met to exchange ideas on religious preaching, tolerance, and cohesion among their communities. A shrine to Pir Haji Ismail was subsequently built in Paat, and is still regularly visited today. In view of the links with Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and the services rendered by the locals to the spread of the Sufism and religion, it was bestowed the title of 'Paat Shareef' to honour the town.
In the sixteenth century, the Mughal Emperor Humayun fled to Sindh after his defeat by Sher Shah Suri. He met and fell in love with Hamida Banu, daughter of Shaikh Ali Akbar Jami, a Persian Shia and a friend and preceptor to Mirza Hindal, the youngest son of first Mughal Emperor and Humayun's father Babur, and married her at Paat in 1541. She gave birth to Akbar, who wet on to become the next Emperor. Also the wedding of Humayun's brother Kamran who married the daughter of emperor of Sindh, Shah Arghun, was held in Paat.
In 1915, the reformist educationalist Kazi Ahmadi established, with the help of the British government, a co-educational Model School in Paat, which now bears his name. Education of girls in Sindh was a bold step in those days, and met with a lot of opposition. The school has since been completely rebuilt by the government of Sindh, who have managed it since Pakistan's independence.
Current status
Most of the original residents belonging to the sayed, Ansari, Junejo, Memon, Siddiqui, Kazi, Soomro, Mangi, Palh and Channa families have settled in Karachi, and those remaining in Paat suffer under poor economic conditions and low living standards.