Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
Abdullah is a pre islamic name and was famous among non muslims before islam descended on earth.
Just like we use word God for the supreme being without thinking too much in to it, Allah was and is name of god in local languages for non muslims in arabic lands.
it is understandable for non-Muslim Arabs in Arabia, but a Jew whose family was expelled from Spain in 1490s carrying such name is an interesting aspect
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
What about goli maar :p?!?!
We have a Golibaar maidaan in Pune, India. It is right in middle of the cantonment area so I am assuming that it had some relevance during the british era. I dont see any fauji activities in this area now...
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
This guy also built Sasoon hospital in Pune…the biggest sarkari hospital in Pune:
Sassoon Hospital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
Give us few names please..:D
Laal ji Saand ka rasta.
Panch bhaiyo ki kothi
Gujjar ki thadi
Ghaat ki guni
And final one which surpasses any name in the entire sub continent
"Chatori Randon ka chauraha" :D
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
Kaka you should correct your misunderstanding regarding islam.......
Islam does not claim to be a new religion...its extension of old monotheist religion....
Thanks for the correction, i always thought Muhammad laid the foundation of Islam. But then it is not my subject of expertise :)
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
at last name. there is this kanwari colony in Karachi (so shareef as compared to Jaipur’s names)
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
We have a golimar village near jaipur as well. People from that area have last name "Goli", name has to do with the biggest cannon on earth which was fired only once and its shell landed in that area creating a pond.
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
Story behind the names Khara dar / Meetha dar Karachi
Kharadar Mithadar | Whispers & Screams
Cities emerge, flourish, change their nomenclature and die, but the myths they leave behind live forever.
Karachi is probably the youngest of its kind on the world’s cosmopolitan map with a history of not more than 200 years, but it has its own myths although its cultural and ethnic configuration has entirely changed.
http://hasanmansoor.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/kharadar.jpg?w=300&h=206
The city’s boundaries were not as endless before it was made the capital of a new country in the subcontinent 64 years ago. Its centre was Saddar with the middle class living in certain planned areas carrying the suffix of ‘Quarters’ with their names and elite lived in the then peaceful localities of Soldier Bazaar and Gurumandir. However, most Karachiites believe the areas of Kharadar and Mithadar have a history as old as that of the city itself.
**The legend relating to the names of these twin localities is interesting and older people born and nurtured there tell it to others assertively. An elderly lady is one of them. “There were wells of fresh (Mitha) and brackish (Khara) water in these areas that gave them their names,” she says.
The suffix of ‘dar,’ meaning gate, to their names has another legend the authenticity of which has not yet been fully explored. People think due to the city’s original status of a garrison town there was a fort established there during the Mirs’ rule, which existed even at the time when Sir Charles Napier conquered Sindh in 1843. The fort had two main gates: one was near the freshwater wells and the other close to the wells of brackish water.
**
A sizable part of the two localities that begins from Sarrafa Bazaar (jewellery market) in the east and ends at Achchi Qabar in the west with an equal breadth from Kaghzi Bazaar to Maulana’s (Edhi) Hospital is said to have housed the fort of yore. This portion has numerous entry points now called streets and each street takes the entrants to the upper levels through concrete stairs or slopes.
The old inhabitants called these streets kot joon ghitioon (streets of the fort in Sindhi). This huge and congested locality is still full of Victorian-style old buildings despite the fact that scores of precious buildings have vanished because of greed of the builders’ mafia and have been replaced with ugly structures. Structures as old as time are still there – in pathetic condition though – but none of them reflects something leading to the remnants of the fort.
The information that has been passed through generations clearly tells about the fort’s existence, but it needs scholarly exploration. “My grandma had been telling about the fort in this area which she had heard from our ancestors,” Hasan Ali, 80, who lives near the legendary Madras Hotel, says.
He says the localities of Kharadar and Mithadar were Hindu majority areas and reminisces the celebrations on Holi and Diyari (Diwali), which were equally celebrated by Muslims and Hindus as the two communities celebrated the two Eid festivals together. “My father used to take me along to show the illuminations on Diyari and buy me colours to sprinkle it on my Hindu friends on Holi. The Hindus would equally participate in our festivals,” Ali says.
The twin localities are now the most congested localities of Karachi. They have even changed their nomenclature and have been converted mostly into commercial areas.
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
story of ‘Cheel Chowk, Lyari’ which was part of the news a few months back during Lyari operation.
Cheel Chowk: For Lyari, only a bird of prey is a fitting symbol – The Express Tribune
KARACHI: ** **
The left wing is damaged, not from the fighting last week, but from as far back as the Baloch-Mohajir clashes two decades ago. But despite the drooping feather, Cheel Chowk’s cheel or eagle still guards the entrance to the heart of Lyari.
Actually, its proper name is Ibrahim Chowk, named after Ibrahim Hussain Baloch, a prominent social worker of Nawa Lane, who died shortly after Partition.
“Khan bhai (the slain Rehman alias Dakait) and my martyred brother Zahid Hussain Baloch decided on it as a decoration,” explained Ibrahim Hussain Baloch’s grandson Shahid.
**The people decided on an eagle after some discussion. “The Baloch are like the Arabs, who like the falcon and are fond of hunting,” Shahid said. “Then my cousin Abdul Sattar Baloch was killed alongside Shaheed Murtaza Bhutto in those days. And he was proud and beautiful like a falcon, so we were inspired by that.” The bird went up during the last tenure of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
**
“After that people just started calling it Cheel Chowk.” He thinks people have been calling it a vulture but stresses that they take it as a falcon. The monument looks more like an eagle, however.
Shahid Baloch is unhappy that the media has kept calling it Cheel Chowk instead of Ibrahim Chowk. “The media should first know the history,” he said.
The chowk or intersection has a 20-foot pillar decorated half-way up by stones. It has fish at the base and used to have coloured lights and a fountain but neglect set in and repairs have not been ever undertaken.
“The broken wing has been like that since the 1990s,” said Ishaq Baloch, a shopkeeper nearby. “The government sadly never paid attention.”
According to Shahid Baloch, the bird’s metallic body weighs more than 100 kilogrammes and a crane placed it on top of the pillar. “It’s difficult to say how much it cost but perhaps it was around Rs500,000,” he guessed. “And this isn’t the only one. There are other ones in Lyari that were similarly decorated, like Kashti Chowk, Teen Talwar Chowk and Gabol Chowk.”
Residents are now quick to grandly stress that they plan an even bigger and better replacement. “Even its colour has faded,” said Akhtar Baloch. “It was also hit by bullets. But now we’ll gather funds to resurrect it.”
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
Like
Seven sisters, three kings pond, five ways, blackheath (people who died in plague were buried there) so on so forth.
Oxford itself which means a town across a shallow river though which oxes cross!
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
were there three shops? what happened to those shops?
I was also thinking why Hyderabad's 'Thandi Sadak' called so?
When it was Lulu Khet - before Pakistan came into being - there were three shops of Punjabies there, they used to be called Tin Hatti!
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
The natives' jetty (and not netty jatty)
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
The name Manchester is derived from the ancient Roman name for a major fort in that area, called 'Mamuciam' (a Latin word, meaning "a breast-shaped hill"). And Chester means fort where Romans left 1000 troops - like the 1000 troops of Changez Khan - the Hazras of Afghanistan and Pakistan!
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
Three Cocks, Breconshire, Wales, UK
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
Names have also been given on places of their former colonial rule:
Cabul Road
Khyber Road
Afghan Road
Candahar Road
All in the Battersea, London
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
who was Zeb u Nisa, on whose name Karachi's famous shopping street is named?
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
No idea. Never thought! Here in UK every town has its own history museum so one can get the local knowledge. But in Pakistan we have lack of these things.
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
some people say its behind the name of Zeb u Nisa (daughter of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb). Some says its behind the name of Begum Zeb u Nisa, who was the editor of 'Mirror' - first fashion magazine in Pakistan.
Old name of Zeb u Nisa street was Elphinstone Street and common men used to call it Elphy. Thanks God, they didn't make Zeb u Nisa as Zebi :p
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
Names have also been given on places of their former colonial rule:
Cabul Road Khyber Road Afghan Road Candahar Road
All in the Battersea, London
There is Hindustan, Delhi, Baghdad, Algeria etc in USA as well.
Re: Stories behind the names of areas in Karachi
machar colony, geedar colony aur bhains colony shouldn't need explanation : p there are plenty of these "animals/insects" at those places
khadda market, as you may know is a market place. "nasheebi ilaqa" hay defense ka, hence "khadda" market
mukka chowk had a monument of "mukka" at the center of round about
Im more curious about names like Landhi, Korangi, Orangi, Malir, Gizri. what do these words mean? what language?
