History of Karachi

Page 2

        Karachi was a mere fishing village called Kalachi after an elderly fisherwoman during the Kalohra period. There was a pool of water on this barren piece of land which was known as Kalachi-jo-Kun. Kalachi was the name of fisherwoman whereas Kun meant a deep ditch. Therefore, "Kalachi-jo-Kun" meant the deep ditch of Kalachi, the fisherwoman.

        Later Karachi emerged as an important port of the region. There were other important sea ports in Sindh so Kallachi was not too famous. Kalachi was however mentioned by Shah Latif Bhitai in his poetry in the Sur 'Ghattu' which narrates the story of Moriro and his fishermen brothers and their fight with the big Crocodile. Kalhoras had given away the village to Khan of Kalat as a gift.
        During British rule, the Hindu and Muslim families from nearby localities such as Thatta, Lasbella, and Hyderabad moved to Karachi and started to build this port town. The town flourished due to location importance duly acknowledged by the local traders. In 1843, population of Karachi was 15.000 which were increased to 400,000 in 1947 before partition.

        After partition the city was honored as Capital of new country Pakistan. This turned Karachi into a metropolitan city of Pakistan. This new status gave further boost to the economic activity of the city. After couple of years, the capital of Pakistan was shifted to Islamabad even then the city maintained its pace of growth and continued to serve as a commercial capital of the country

        One day she will be the Queen of the East", said Charles Napier a hundred year ago about Karachi. It was then only a small village. Today Karachi bursts upon the visitor as a vast commercial and industrial centre, a sea of people teeming with human activity, its population having already exceeded nine million marks and still growing