A Divine Dawn
The Uch Goddess
___
Thousands of years ago, as they came and made this land their homestead, our forefathers in an awe inspiring frenzy of their discovery sang hymns personifying nature to their spiritual beliefs, their gods
This poetic wonder reaches us as Rig Veda

Rig Veda brings to us Usha, only goddess to have entire hymns devoted to her, 20 in total
Usha, the celestial goddess of dawn, ever youthful, yet very ancient

"Usha devi, the shine of your carriage of light is immortal

Your steeds in their might carry a golden hue around them"

Usha: daughter of Deyaus Pita (sky) & Prithvia Maata (earth), elder sister of Ratri (night), the lover / bride of Surya (the sun)
A symbol optimism & hope

"Her heavenly illumination is the bearer of truth and firm light

From Dawn as it meets you o Agni, brings utmost delight"

Now Dr. Ahmad Nabi Khan in his "Uchchh: History & Architecture" tells us the name of Uch Sahrif is a derivative of Ushas*, Vedic Goddess of Dawn
This puts the city into existence back in 2nd millennium BCE
Today's Uch Sharif does not have much presence of people from other faith

Manan Ahmed Asif in his essay "A Demon with Ruby Eyes" studied the coexistence of religious communities in Sind
He made a few interesting discoveries at Uch Sharif
A grave of Rana Rai Tulsi Das, a devotee of Makhdum Jahania Jahan Gasht who upon conversion adopted name Kaleemuddin

He came across a temple in the Koocha Mandar Darwaza of Uch city converted to residential quarter and surviving in its original form

Outside the city of Uch in a sandy graveyard a few Hindu graves, note the markers of language, both Urdu and Devanagari scripts

Usha of Vedic hymns, Alexandria - Ussa of Greek writers, Basmad (also Saawandi) of our Arab chroniclers, Chachpur or Asklanada of Chachnama, Uchchh of Masum Shah's Tarikh-e-Masumi, Bhatiya of Ghaznavid historians

#Uch_Sharif rich in history persevered through different times

The historical accounts of each era record both Muslims and Hindus dwelt in harmony up until recent history, when their colonial masters took on 'divide and rule'

It was the time of British annexation of Sind but, that dear reader, would be beyond the scope of this thread