Tatta, an ancient and celebrated city, and capital of the above district, situated near the banks of the Indus, about 130 miles by the course of the river from the sea. It was formerly a rich and commercial city, but is now greatly decayed, exhibiting, instead of the bustle and animation of its ancient trade, long streets of ruinous and uninhabited houses. The situation is in a valley formed by a range of low rocky hills, which, during the freshes of the Indus, is inundated; but being placed on an eminence, apparently formed by ancient ruins, Tatta has the appearance of an island when the adjacent flat is inundated by the rains. The streets are narrow and dirty; but the houses are superior to the low huts commonly seen in native towns. They are built on a peculiar plan. The walls are made hollow by [7:21:92]small pieces of sticks, from eight to sixteen inches long, being nailed across each other, from the outer edges of a small frame of wood. They are placed diagonally, and thus form a strong frame on both sides, which is plastered over with mud or mortar, and afterwards has the appearance of a solid wall. They are frequently four stories high, with heavy flat roofs. Many of the better sort are built with brick and mortar on a frame of timber; and all, from the governor’s house to the lowest hovel, have a sort of ventilators like chimneys, down which the wind blows cool and refreshing in the most sultry weather; at which time every aperture is shut to exclude the hot wind and the dust. The old English factory purchased by the company in 1751 still remains, and may be reckoned the best house in the place. To the southward, within the town, are the remains of an old fort.

The town was formerly defended by a strong brick wall with round towers. These are now heaps of ruins; and the mosques and pagodas that remain exhibit symptoms of rapid decay. The town is, however, estimated by Colonel Pottinger to be still six miles in circumference, exclusive of the ruins, which extend a great way on either side. No trace exists of the origin of this city, or by whom it was founded. The earliest mention of it occurs in the year 677, when it was fortified, and made some slight resistance to the victorious armies of the caliphs of Bagdad. Its site is supposed to be that of the Pattala of the Greeks; but the lower districts of Sinde have undergone such remarkable changes even within the memory of man, that all such conclusions rest on mere conjecture. The native princes of Sinde, when they shook off the Arab yoke, fixed on Tatta as their capital, which, from its favourable situation between India on the east, and Asia to the north and west, became a great commercial emporium, and one of the richest cities of Asia. No labour or expense was spared in beautifying the city with handsome buildings and the establishment of fine gardens; while the more important objects were attended to of affording facility to trade by cutting canals from the Indus, which runs four miles to the east of the town; through which goods were brought and landed from boats at the very doors of the merchants’ houses. All traces of these ornamental improvements are now almost entirely obliterated, and the only aqueduct that yet remains is choked with rubbish, and is nothing superior to a common drain. The decline of this city may be dated from its subjection to the empire of Hindustan; still, at the time that it was visited by Nadir Shah on his return from Delhi, it was estimated to contain 40,000 weavers of calicoes and silk stuffs, with artisans of every other class and description to the number of 20,000 more; besides bankers, money-changers, shop-keepers, and sellers of grain, who were estimated at 60,000. The population has now dwindled down to less than 20,000; and the annual revenue of the city does not exceed one lac of rupees, or L. 12,500, which is not equal to the monthly collections during the period of its former grandeur. The only manufactures now carried on in Tatta are a few white cloths, and coloured loongees, which are cloths for sashes, turbans, &c. of silk or cotton. The streets are deserted; the few shops that remain open are scarcely worthy of the name, and the whole bazaar exhibits a deplorable picture of poverty and depressed commerce. The chief exports are ghee, bdellium, potash, oil, raisins, saltpetre, aniseed, musk, chintzes, shawls from Shikarpoor, carpets, and a variety of drugs. The imports are cocoa-nuts, pepper, cardamoms, betel-nuts, nutmegs, cinnamon, silk raw and manufactured, cochineal, broad cloth, quicksilver, tin, iron, steel, copper, lead, black wood, sandal wood, and sandalwood oil. The Indus is in general shoal opposite to Tatta; and in consequence trading boats lie off a small village named Begurah, distant five miles, with generally two, but sometimes four fathoms of water, and the breadth of the river about one mile. The boats used here on the Indus are generally square at both ends, low forward, high abaft, flat-bottomed, and drawing only a few inches of water; they are either pushed along with poles, or dragged, and when the wind is fair sails are used. There are four routes from Tatta to Hyderabad, two by land, and two by water; the shortest of which may be estimated at fifty-three miles. The country around Tatta, with the exception of the hill of Mukulee, about three miles to the west, is a perfect level. These hills, as well as the plain, are covered with a thick jungle, principally of the tamarisk and a species of bastard myrtle. The heat, when Colonel Pottinger was at Tatta, was excessive, the thermometer ranging from 91° to 102°; but towards the middle of July the atmosphere was refreshed by copious rains, and by strong southerly gales, which rendered the air cooler towards the middle of July. The hill of Mukulee, already mentioned, is covered with a number of graves and mausoleums, the habitations of the dead, the only remaining melancholy memorials of ancient magnificence, greatly exceeding those of the living. The tomb of Mirza Eesa Toorkhan, which is supposed to have been erected in 1622, is uncommonly magnificent and well executed. It consists of a large building, eighty-five feet square, and two stories high, with a cupola seventy feet high, partly hid by two balconies, the fronts of which are supported by pillars. It is enclosed by a high wall, the stones of which are neatly engraved and inlaid. The whole is of a yellow freestone; and inside, under the centre of the dome, is a mound of black stone, on which are engraved the names of the inmates of this gloomy dwelling. Several tombs are built of the same kind of stone; and there are others highly ornamented with enamelled tiles of beautiful green, purple, and blue colours; but “the exquisite engraving,” says Pottinger, “of chapters of the Koran on the stone door-frames, surpassed every tiling else that we found worthy of observation in these sepulchres.” On the southern side of the hill there is also dug out of the solid rock a very remarkable well, with a chamber all round it, about twelve feet below the surface, to which the descent is by spiral steps. The water of this well has a strong medicinal taste. On the banks of the Indus, seven miles above Tatta, is another hill covered with white mosques and tombs of deceased Mahommedans, some of the latter of considerable size. Travelling distance from Bombay 741 miles, from Calcutta 1602 miles.^[1. Pottinger’s Journey through βeloochistan and part of Persia. Rennell’s Memoir of a Map of Hindustan. Hamilton’s East Indian Gazetteer, &c. ] (f.)