Aror (
Sindhi: اروهڙ) or Alor or Arorkot (Sindhi: اروهڙ ڪوٽ) is the medieval name of the city of
Rohri
Rohri (Sindhi: روهڙي; ur, ) is a city of Sukkur District, Sindh province, Pakistan. It is located on the east bank of the Indus River, located directly across from Sukkur, the third largest city in Sindh. Rohri town is the administrative ...
(in
Sindh, modern
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
).
Aror once served as the capital of Sindh.
History
As Roruka, capital of the
Sauvira Kingdom, it is mentioned as an important trading center in early Buddhist literature. Little is known about the city's history prior to the Arab invasion in the 8th century CE. Sauvīra was an ancient kingdom of the lower
Indus Valley. Aror was the capital of the Arorh Dynasty, which was followed by
Rai Dynasty
The Rai dynasty (c. 489–632 CE) was a polity of ancient Sindh.
Scholarship
Pre-Islamic Sindh has been the subject of voluminous scholarship concerning the eve of Arab conquests; otherwise, the paucity of source materials remains a severe hi ...
and then the
Brahman Dynasty that once ruled northern Sindh.
Aror is the ancestral town of the
Arora Community.
In 711, Aror was captured by the army of
Muslim general
Muhammad bin Qasim.
Arab historians recorded the city's name as ''Al-rur'', ''Al-ruhr'' and ''Al Ror''.
In 962 it was hit by a massive earthquake that changed the course of the
Indus River and ruined the town's mud brick building, thereby setting into play the city's decline, and eventual re-settlement at
Rohri
Rohri (Sindhi: روهڙي; ur, ) is a city of Sukkur District, Sindh province, Pakistan. It is located on the east bank of the Indus River, located directly across from Sukkur, the third largest city in Sindh. Rohri town is the administrative ...
,
along the modern-day shores of the Indus.
Ruins
Most of Aror's ruins have been lost, though some arches of a mosque built shortly after the 8th century Arab invasion remain standing.
[ The ]Kalka Cave Temple
The Kalka Devi Temple, Kalka Devi Cave Temple or Kalka Devi Mandir is one of the holiest Hindu temples in Pakistan. It is situated inside a natural cave in the Kalka hills in Rohri, Sindh province, Pakistan. The temple is known as the Asthan of ...
, Hindu temple dedicated to ''Kalkaan Devi'' still exists near the ruins, and are still used.[ The ''Chattan Shah ji Takri'' shrine is built atop a high rock outside the city, and is traditionally believed to be a companion of Ali, cousin of the ]Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...
.[
]
See also
*
* Rohri
Rohri (Sindhi: روهڙي; ur, ) is a city of Sukkur District, Sindh province, Pakistan. It is located on the east bank of the Indus River, located directly across from Sukkur, the third largest city in Sindh. Rohri town is the administrative ...
* Muhammad bin Qasim ath-Thaqafī
Ottomano C. and Biagi P. 1997 - Palaeopedological observations and radiocarbon dating of an archaeological secyion at Aror (Sindh-Pakistan). Ancient Sindh, 4: 73-80
References
{{reflist, 2
Sukkur District
History of Pakistan
History of Sindh
Chach Nama