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In Bahawalpur District, at the confluence of the Sutlej and the Chanab, is the historic town of Uch Sharif. With Muslims it was the most important cultural religious center in the 13th century. It is also famous for its beautiful shrines ornamented with blue mosaic and other embellishments done on stucco and other materials. Most of the tombs have been erected on the pattern of shrine of Rukn-e-Alam at Multan with certain local architectural additions. Some of them also have been engraved and raised to make calligraphic patterns in the Arabic language. Some of the earlier shrines are in a sad state of decay but do reveal the remnants of their original splendor and glory.
Uch Sharif is the most ancient and historically important place, situated about 9 miles from Punjab. Its old town still commands, a great reverence not only of the local people. But in other parts of South Asia as well as, in Iraq and Iran, because the town once used to be one of the important centers of the Islamic education, and was a city of renowned saints. Uch is even older than Islam itself. A conservative estimate puts it a hundred years before Christ. Historical records are available which reveal that Uch was there before the advent of Bikramajit when the Jains and the Buddhists ruled over the sub-continent, during the Islamic period, many famous spiritual leaders made Uch the city of their teachings.
The tombs are either square or domed. The tomb of Bibi Jawindi is the most complete, octagonal in shape decorated with blue and white tiles. The later tomb of Jalal Surkh Bukhari is unusual with a superb wooden roof painted in lacquer, predominantly red and blue. The tomb of Baha'al Halim has horizontal stripes of blue and white faience tiles, although little of it remains.
in the year 641 A.H Hazrat Jalal-ud-Din Bokhari Surkhposh (saint in red robes) of Bokhara came to Multan in response to a spiritual call of Hazrat Baha-ud-Din Zakaria Multani and was bestowed the Khirqa-i-Khilafat (robe of the spiritual viceroyalty of Hazrat Zakaria) and he moved to Uch. He did not only impart knowledge to the population of this area but also established a large circle of his disciples and thousands of people benefited spiritually from the -treat saint.