Name of Monument: Mazar Baha ud Din Zakriya
Location: Multan
Date of Construction: 1262 AD
Material and Method of Construction: Brick construction, Finished in Glazed tiles and fair face brickwork.
The tomb of Baha Uddin Zakariya (1170-1262 AD) stands in the northeast corner of Multan fort. It is the oldest domed mausolea and establish a Multan style of architecture which endured in the lower Indus valley for the next 700 years. It was destroyed by British shelling during the siege of Multan in 1848 but restored faithfully by the Department of Archaeology. The saint brought Suharwardiya order of Sufiism to Multan. The tomb comprised of three basic architectural forms, the square base, octagonal drum, and hemispherical dome. It was believed that the tomb was built soon after the death of the saint but no documentary evidence exist to prove this argument. Internally the square base is converted into square base with the help of squinch arches which rest on wooden beams. The arches incorporate muqarnas which enhance the beauty of the interior. The tomb features the fair face brickwork along with earliest use of blue tilework on the Indian subcontinent; a tradition that may have been imported from Khorasan or perhaps Central Asia where blue tiles were beginning to be used in Bukhara and other nearby areas in the decades prior to the Mongol conquests. Close to the shrine is small mosque also decorated with glazed tiles.
Baha ud din Zakariya travelled widely around the Islamic world and visited Khurasan, Bukhara, and Medina. He later reached Baghdad and studied under the Sufi master Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi (c.1145-1234), the nephew of the founder of the Suhrawardiyya order, Abu Najib Suhrawardi. Abu Hafs Umar saw such great potential in him that he cut short Zakariya’s studies after 17 days and ordered him back to Multan to set up a Suhrawardiya khanqah there.
Naqoosh-e-Javidan 