The Shrine of Khalid Walid ( ur, ) is a Sufi shrine located in the village of Nawan Shehr, near the

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

i city of Kabirwala. The shrine is dedicated to the 12th century warrior-saint Khaliq Walid, popularly known instead as Khalid Walid (not to be confused with

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

Khalid ibn Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially headed campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career i ...

of Arabia). The shrine dates from the period of the medieval

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

, and may be the earliest Muslim funerary monument in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

. The shrine represents the first stage of evolution of funerary monuments in southern

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

which would later culminate with the

Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam (Punjabi and ur, ) located in Multan, Pakistan, is the mausoleum of the 14th century Punjabi Sufi saint Sheikh Rukn-ud-Din Abul Fateh. The shrine is considered to be the earliest example of Tughluq architecture, ...

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

History

The tomb dates from between the last quarter of the 12th century, and the early decades of the 13th century. The shrine bears an inscription stating that the shrine was built by Ali bin Karamakh, who served as Governor of

during the reign of Muhammad of Ghor. The tomb was rediscovered and identified as the shrine of Khalid Walid by Dr Ahmad Nabi Khan and Kamil Khan.

Architecture

Shrine_of_Warrior_Khalid_Waleed_(Back_side_Image)

Exterior

The shrine assumes the form of a fortified rectangle measuring 70 by 90 feet, and is capped by a low and sloped dome, with an exterior made of plain brick and inward sloping walls that may derive from Seljuk architecture from Central Asia. The use of wooden bands horizontally across the shrine, and use of both glazed and cut brick also represents the influence of Central Asian Seljuk architecture. The shrine reflects elements of military architecture, with semicircular

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s in each of the shrine's corners, as well as in the middle of 3 of the 4 walls. The western wall of the shrine features a small projection, indicating the location of the ''

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...

''. The roofline is decorated with crenellations - a feature commonly employed in fortified structures such as the

Rohtas Fort Rohtas Fort or Rotas Ghur ( Punjabi, ur, ; ''Qila Rohtas'') is a 16th-century fortress located near the city of Dina in Jhelum district of the Punjab province of Pakistan. An Afghan warlord turned Padishah, Sher Shah Suri built the fort, w ...

. Similar influence of military architecture is found at the

Interior

The shrine's interior is square shaped measuring 24 feet on each side, with entrance on each side that open to vaulted galleries, and rectangular shaped chambers on the east and west side of the shrine. The interior space is divided into a series of galleries The shrine's interior walls are decorated with cut-brick designs. The shrine is notable for its exceptional ''

'' made of cut and molded brick, decorated with Kufic calligraphy, capped with a hood similar to a baldachin. Decorative cut-brick patterns on the ornate mihrab differ from patterns on the rest of the shrine.

References

{{Cultural heritage sites in Punjab, Pakistan , state=autocollapse Mausoleums in Punjab, Pakistan Tombs in Punjab, Pakistan Indo-Islamic architecture Sufi shrines in Pakistan Khanewal District