www.ijsrp.org Crafts of Cholistan (Bahawalpur Punjab Pakistan)

Abstract- Cholistan is locally known as Rohi.This famous desert is 30 km from Bahawalpur. East of Bahawalpur is the Cholistan Desert which covers an area of about 15,000 km and extends into the Thar Desert of India. The region was once watered by the Hakra River, known as the Saravati in vedic times. At one time there were 400 forts in the area and archaeological finds around the Derawar Fort, the only place with a perennial waterhole, indicate that it was contemporaneous with the Indus Valley Civilization. The average annual rainfall is only 12 cm, and the area's scant cultivation is made possible by underground wells, drawn up by camels. The water is stored in troughs, built by the tribes, between sandhills and din waterholes called tobas. The people are racially similar to those in Rajasthan- tall, with sharp features. They live in large, round, mud and grass huts, usually built on the top of sandhills. On the whole, they are pastoral an