Uch

Uch, frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf, is an historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch is renowned for its collection of shrines dating from the 12-15th centuries that are dedicated to revered Muslim mystics, and which are considered masterpieces of South Asian Islamic architecture. Uch was also an important centre in medieval Islamic India, and was an early stronghold of the Delhi Sultanate during the Muslim conquest of the subcontinent.HistoryIt is believed that in 325 BCE Alexander the Great founded a city called Alexandria on the Indus (Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ ἐν Ἰνδῷ) at the site of the last confluence of Punjab rivers with the Indus. Nevertheless, some historians believe that Uch predates the advent of Bikramjit when Jains and Buddhists ruled over the area, and that Mithankot or Chacharan Sharif was the true settlement of Alexandria. In 712 CE, Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the city and during the Muslim period Uch was one of the centres of Islamic studies of South Asia. Following the schism between the Nizari and Musta'li sects of Ismaili Shi'ism in 1094, Uch became a centre of Nizari missionary activity for several centuries, and today is home to several tombs of prominent Nizari pīrs.