Karachi, the lovely city of Pakistan, has a rich history. It got ruins of some ancient civilisations for Harrapa period. Some of the places of the city (Rama Bagh now Aram Bagh) have been mentioned in old books like Ramayan, etc.
Lets share some historical facts about Karachi in this thread.
Whats the origin of the name of ‘Karachi’?
What were the different names used by historians for the area?
Mai Kolachi is said to be a Baloch woman living near today's Lyari (probably near khadda Market). It is believed that she owned a neaeby portion of the delta (locally known as Kunn) which was full of fish and sea species. Mai Kolachi used to spent income from Kunn on the guests coming from remote area.
But the name Karachi seems to have other roots too. Greek historians of Alexander time called the area Krolota/ Crolota (some thing related to Crocodiles). It is said that in ancient Sindh, crocodiles were wrshipped. Its alive in one or other form in Manghopir (oldest area of Karachi) today :)
Mai Kolachi is said to be a Baloch woman living near today's Lyari (probably near khadda Market). It is believed that she owned a neaeby portion of the delta (locally known as Kunn) which was full of fish and sea species. Mai Kolachi used to spent income from Kunn on the guests coming from remote area.
But the name Karachi seems to have other roots too. Greek historians of Alexander time called the area Krolota/ Crolota (some thing related to Crocodiles). It is said that in ancient Sindh, crocodiles were wrshipped. Its alive in one or other form in Manghopir (oldest area of Karachi) today :)
It was his own area. I went to drop him. It was not as dangerous as its today. BTW, Manghopir is the most ancient area of the Karachi and if proper excavation is made, many historical facts can be known. Manghopir is famous all over Sindh due to Shah Latif’s poetry where he covered story of Morero Meer bahar.
Kolachi was the name of a part of the area, but there were many small areas which lost their separate identity and merged in Kolachi and Karachi. I don't know the exact date when Kolachi became karachi, but its a recent phenomon and not old than more than 2-3 centuries. I'm saying this based on Shah Latif's poetry (written in 18th Century), where he use words Kalachi / Kolachi for the area.
Kolach is also a famous tribe in Balochistan and the traders from those tribes were frequent in visiting the area and had relationships with locals living in the areas forming part of today's Karachi.
will let you know, when I reach home. It was given to Khan of Qallat from the local rulers (probably Talpurs) as a qisas for murder of a relative of Khan of Qallat
Most of the rulers of Sindh I believe were Baloch, maybe Muqawee can explain better like Talpurs.
There is a problem with the identity of rulers in Sindh as is the case with the rulers in other areas. From Sammas to KalhoRas, all the rulers linked themselves with the foreign invaders. Soomras prefered linking them with Arabs, Arghoon and Tarkhans were from Persian origins, Sammas also linked them Arabs. Talpur and KalhoRas had links with Balochs, but even today we find Kalhora tribe in both Sindh and Balochistan. Almost half of the population of today's Sindh is from Baloch origin. These tribes, however, assimilated their identity with locals. They speak Sindhi and consider Sindh as their homeland.
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