The water heritage of Koh Sulaiman
Siri | An Oasis in Arid wilderness
Baloch Elders often talk about an advanced water channeling system once existed in Koh Sulaiman, so efficient that it used to deliver waters to every home and farm. In those medieval times, Luni tribe of Pashtuns used to live here in Koh Sulaiman and they too inherited that splendid water system and rich lands. When these fertile valleys nurtured by that system was captured by Baloch tribes, Lunis fled westwards to Pashtun mainland, destroying most of the channels and that rest of them were not maintained by the Baloch pastorals as they relied on their herds instead of farms and orchards.
After a long quest we have finally found a valley full of life, named Siri an oasis of Orchards, trees and farms Nurtured by that very ancient water-channeling system that not only survived but maintained properly by the inhabitants of the valley. Surprisingly in that valley, land was terraced in a time unknown, layered by the red silt from the adjacent hills.
The elders attribute the system to a lost civilization and people they don’t remember and most certainly, we have discovered a proto-site of the Indus Valley Civilization that is still alive and functional. And this is supported by an evidence that another proto-IVC site has been unearthed two decades back in Fazla Kach valley, some 90km ahead in north in very same hill range.
This is general view of the lower hills terrian of Koh Sulaiman, widely barren with a sparse vegetation dotting the rugged landscape.
The secret behind this Arid paradise is an ingenious water-channeling system that diverts Black Waters (fresh mineral rich water streaming from the mountains) from its natural path toward the valley and every household and estate receives it’s share of water, all the year long.
To uncover the factors behind this extraordinary transformation, we ventured deep into the valley. What we discovered was astonishing, before the water channels were constructed, the land was meticulously prepared. Terraced steps and stone boundaries were built to capture fertile red silt from the surrounding hills, creating rich, arable soil. Only then were the water channels introduced, irrigating every estate and corner of the valley, turning it into a flourishing haven.
Perhaps the only living IVC site?
Curious about the origins of this marvel, we spoke with village elders, asking if their ancestors were responsible for this feat. To our surprise, they explained that their forebears were not the creators of this system. Instead, it was crafted by an earlier people, whose legacy the current inhabitants have carefully preserved. This extraordinary geographic heritage, left by a long-gone civilization, continues to sustain the valley.
Who were those forgotten people? It’s very certain that they were the ancients of Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), renowned for their mastery of water management. And the evidence that supports this is a proto-IVC site in very same range near the town of Fazla Kach. Elders recounted that a similar water-channeling system once existed there in Fazla region too when their Baloch ancestors arrived, though it has since vanished.
Another evidence of the valley’s ancient roots lies in the clusters of centuries-old Jaal (Salvadora oleoides) trees, revered as sacred by the people of the IVC. These ancient tree clusters stand as a testament to the valley’s deep historical significance, suggesting it may be one of the oldest preserved settlements in the region.
The word Siri means Head in most of the Sanskrit derived languages. According to the Legend, there was a time when the streams dried up and the people begged for help from a holy man. The sage asked people to slay a black bull at the place from where the Black water (fresh waters from stream) was being born (term used in Balochi for water emerging from land or rocks). At the time the bull was slain the sage inserts his hand in the big rock and his hand submerged inside as if it was Wax not rock. As he took off his hand out of the rock, a stream of water sprouted from there. While doing all this that sage was doing the Jhand, an ecstatic trance-like oscillating of head, and it became that intense that and his head separated from his body and fell far away. This was the price of bring back the stream of life. There is a shrine where his head has been buried by the ancients.
Roots of this ecstatic oscillating can be traced back to a most ancient traditions related to Shiva worship that has been preserved by the Sufi saints and its still performed in the shrines of Sufi sages in Indus valley mostly in Sindh province of Indus basin. Here is a video of the ritual of Jhand that is called Dhamal in Punjabi and Sindhi.
