Jam Jaskar Goth

Deep in the mudflats of the Indus Delta this unnamed fort remains submerged most of the year, emerging from the water only during the low tide for a few months. The local name for the site is Jam Jaskar Goth, named after the local chief of the area. However, its historical name and identity remains a mystery.

Where is it located in Sindh

See the location of Jam Jaskar Goth in Thatta district, approximately 16 km south east of Port Qasim

History of the Site

archaeological methods have had limited success here. Further investigations using maritime archaeological techniques may be required to help resolve the site’s true identity.

There are a number of theories about the origin of the site. One suggests that it is a sister city to the famed 8th century city of Debal, called Damrilah. Another is that this is a late stage relocated version of Debal itself. Excavating this site has proved challenging as it is mostly submerged and therefore standard terrestrial archaeological methods have had limited success here. Further investigations using maritime archaeological techniques may be required to help resolve the site’s true identity.

Description of the Site

found at the site indicate a possible age around the late 12th to early 13th century. While surface remains such as these are useful for identifying a period when the site was likely occupied, it does not necessarily indicate an earliest period of occupation. For that archaeologists need to scientifically excavate, a significant challenge given the site’s location in the inter-tidal zone.

Accessing the site today is challenging as deep creeks have cut across the mudflats making the area hard to reach by land. Access by boat is also difficult as one can only access the site during high tide, but one has to wait for low tide for it to be exposed. The visible parts of the site include a square shaped fort, a graveyard, a kiln, and what appears to be a large mosque. Stone slabs with Kufic inscriptions found at the site indicate a possible age around the late 12th to early 13th century. While surface remains such as these are useful for identifying a period when the site was likely occupied, it does not necessarily indicate an earliest period of occupation. For that archaeologists need to scientifically excavate, a significant challenge given the site’s location in the inter-tidal zone.

Theories about the Site

Damrilah or Debal in his writings on his travels in Sindh during the 1330s, indicating that the significance of these cities may have diminished by that time. Why was Damrilah then still mentioned in the Catalan Atlas in 1375? Does this weaken the assertion that this site could have been Damrilah, or could it be that the Atlas draws on information from an earlier period, before the city’s decline?

While the site is known as Jam Jaskar Goth today, different scholars have postulated various names for it: one hypothesis, that the site is the port city Damrilah, is based on the European Catalan Atlas (a mediaeval world map from 1375) as an historical source that suggests that the site may be the city of Damrilah. In the Atlas, the site has been given the name Damonela, which some archaeologists believe may be a corruption of the name Damrilah. Curiously, Ibn Battuta mentions nothing of Damrilah or Debal in his writings on his travels in Sindh during the 1330s, indicating that the significance of these cities may have diminished by that time. Why was Damrilah then still mentioned in the Catalan Atlas in 1375? Does this weaken the assertion that this site could have been Damrilah, or could it be that the Atlas draws on information from an earlier period, before the city’s decline?

postulated that Debal does not refer to any single location but to a region in the delta (Ibrahim & Lashari, 1993).

An alternate theory is that this may be a late stage version of the city of Debal itself, one that emerged after the primary site was no longer accessible due to the gradual siltation of the Indus river creeks, leading to its eventual abandonment. It is also postulated that Debal does not refer to any single location but to a region in the delta (Ibrahim & Lashari, 1993).

The Mosque

There exists a large mosque to the south east of the main fort. Archaeologists believe that the mosque could have been built by Jalal al Din Mingirini in 1222, the last king of the Khwarazmian dynasty (1077-1231), as he fled from Chenghis Khan and captured areas of Punjab and Sindh (Jackson, 1990). He is believed to have stayed in the delta, near Thatta, where he built a large Jami Masjid (Kervran, 2013). Could this be the mosque at Jam Jaskar Goth?

Two tiles of baked clay were discovered at the site with Kufic script and carved ornamentations that may have been part of a frieze decorating the qibla wall of the prayer room of the mosque. The Knotted Kufic style appears to be similar to finds in eastern Iran and Central Asia from the 10th century. The maturity of the style, however, suggests that it was made between the late 12th and early 13th centuries by craftsmen trained in Khorasani artwork (Kervran 2013).

Two tiles of baked clay were discovered at the site with Kufic script and carved ornamentations that may have been part of a frieze decorating the qibla wall of the prayer room of the mosque. The knotted Kufic style appears to be similar to finds in eastern Iran and Central Asia from the 10th century. The maturity of the style, however, suggests that it was made between the late 12th and early 13th centuries by craftsmen trained in Khorasani artwork (Kervran 2013).

Climate change impact

sections of the structural remains being washed away. The gradual sinking and subsidence of the land, coupled with an accumulation of silt deposited by the river, will undoubtedly, in the face of climate change induced sea-level rise contribute to accelerated impacts on the site.

Of all the sites included in the Lost Cities of the Indus Delta heritage trail, Jam Jaskar Goth is perhaps the one most affected by environmental change. Originally built on dry land, the site is now almost entirely underwater, emerging for short periods of the year during seasonally low tides. Deep scouring by water channels is apparent across the fort and the mosque sites resulting in large sections of the structural remains being washed away. The gradual sinking and subsidence of the land, coupled with an accumulation of silt deposited by the river, will undoubtedly, in the face of climate change induced sea-level rise contribute to accelerated impacts on the site.