Uch Off The Beaten Path

The historical period of Uch starts with the invasion of Alexander of Greece. It was than named Askaland Ussah or Alexandria Uchcha. A famous tourist Ibn Batoota calls it Uja, Cunnigam, Alexendria and Raverty, Bhatia. In local books, it is variously written as Dev Garh, Hod, Hoj, Hoch, Uja, Oujah. It is also believed that present name Uch was imported from Turkistan (Central Asia) by syed Jalal-ud-Din. In Turkistan, Uch Kargan and Uch Utchak were, and still are two important towns.

Alexander came to Uch after conquering the northern parts of India, Cunningham says: As his army marched towards the south-west of Punjab, Alexander caught glimpse of the town and its surroundings captivated him so much that he ordered his army to halt. When the sun had gone down and the city on the elevated plain was completely drenched in multi-colored lights. The great warrior was so my impressed by the greatness of the city that next morning he permitted many soldiers of his army to have the much deserved rest and relaxation. In all Alexander spent over a fortnight in the city and renamed it Alexandria. Uch has undergone great vicissitudes. It was captured by Mahmood of Ghazni and later the Muhammad Ghori. And than it was under the rule of a Hindu Raja. And than came sultan Shihab-ud-Din who made some underhand deals with the wife of Raja and able to murdered him. Sultan Shihab-ud-Din entrusted the governorship of Uch to Ali Karmakh. After Ali Karmakh’s death started the rule of Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha.

Under Qabacha, Uch was the capital of Sindh and a great seat of Muslim learning. Qabacha reigned over Sindh, Uch and Multan for 22 years. Uch afterwards remained subject to Delhi for a long period of time.

The real ruler who ruled the hearts and souls and still ruling for almost 900 years, came into Uch Sharif in 12th century is “Sher Shah Syed Jalal-ud-Din Surkhposh Bukhari” also known as “Durr-i-Jalal” and “Second Adam”. According to local writings, the ruler of Uch at that time was Raja Deo Singh and Uch was known as Deo Garh.