Shikarpur, Sindh

History

Shikarpur was founded in 1677 as the hunting ground of Mahars. Shikarpur, the seat of civilisation, culture, trade and commerce acquired political and economic importance because of its strategic location on the map of Sindh, being directly accessible to those who came from Central and West Asia through the Bolan Pass.

In the early 17th century this emerald city in the northern Sindh province of Pakistan became the nucleus of a historical trade center on a caravan route through the Bolan Pass into Afghanistan. Shikarpur became the core of manufacturing including brass and metal goods, carpets, cotton cloth, and embroidery. Its great bazaar (covered because of the summer heat) is famous throughout Turkistan and southern Asia. The city's economic prosperity was underpinned by the concentration of several Shikarpuri Bania communities known as the Multanis (though not all of them actually hail from Multan). They were instrumental in increasing the importance of Shikarpur in the 18th century as the financial capital of the Durrani Empire.

Like many urban areas in Sindh, the city of Shikarpur was predominantly populated by Hindus prior to the partition of India. However, the predominantly Muslim population of Sindh supported Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the Sindhi Hindu minority migrated to India while the Muslims from India, called the Muhajirs, settled down in the Shikarpur District.

Demographics

Population

According to 2023 census, Shikarpur had a population of 204,938. The population of Shikarpur District was estimated to be 1,231,481 in 2017. The predominant population is Sindhi. There are significant Urdu, Baloch, Brahui, speaking communities in Shikarpur. The population is mainly Muslim. There is a small Hindu minority in the city as most Hindus migrated to India after independence in 1947.

Language

According to the 2023 Census of Pakistan, Shikarpur City has an overwhelmingly Sindhi-speaking population. Sindhi is the dominant language, spoken by 98.89% of residents, and Urdu speakers form the second largest group at 0.47%. The remaining 0.64% of the population consists of a multitude of different languages spoken in Pakistan (mostly Brahui and Balochi).

Geography

Shikarpur District has an area of 2640 square kilometers, divided into four "talukas":

• Shikarpur, Sindh.
• Lakhi.
• Garhi Yasin .
• Khanpur, Sindh. Its borders meet with districts of Larkana, Jacobabad, Khairpur, and Sukkur. Two national highways (N-65 & N-55) intersect in the city of Shikarpur, so it can well be termed as one of the junction points of the four provinces.

The district has a total road length of 920.0 kilometers, including 125.0 kilometers of National Highways and 195.0 kilometers of provincial highways. It is, thus, deficient in road density (0.35 km/Km2) compared with recognized international parameters of development (1 km/Km2). During the last few years, creeping development activity has taken place and 71.0 kilometers of road, 94 schools and a number of schemes in drainage, health and other sectors have been completed, under various programs. Basically, agrarian economy of district Shikarpur is dependent upon non-perennial irrigation system, so the district is always in semi-drought conditions. The last spell of drought is particularly notable as it created heavy unemployment and unsustainable poverty, which without any doubt created serious law and order situations.

Boundaries

The District is bounded on the north and east by Jacobabad District in the south by Sukkur District on the west by Indus River and Larkana District.

Gates of Shikarpur

The town consists of seven gates named Lakhi-dar, Hathi-dar, Hazari-dar, Civi-dar, Karan-dar, Wagono-dar, Khanpur-dar, and one window named Siddiqui Mari.

Covered Market or Dhak Bazar

Located in the center of the old city, Dhak Bazaar or covered market is a long, narrow street with shops on either sides. It is covered with woodwork of pure teak. It has been serving as a cool shade during the hot summers. Shikarpur along with other contemporary cities like Bukhara, Samarkand, and Istanbul at that time had a covered street market.

Healthcare

• Rai Bahadur Udhaudas Tarachand Hospital (Civil Hospital)
• Hiranand Gangabai Ladies Hospital

Education

Notable educational institutes located in Shikarpur include Shaikh Ayaz University and Chellaram and Seetaldas College. Institutes have their own libraries, but there is only one public library in Shikarpur named "Qadir Bux Bedil Library".

Notable people

• Agha Siraj Khan Durrani
• Aftab Shaban Mirani
• Ali Gohar Khan Baloch
• Allah Bakhsh Soomro
• Badam Natawan
• Bedil Masroor
• Chainrai Bachomal Sami
• Elahi Bux Soomro
• Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah
• Khialdas Fani
• Naseem Thebo
• Rahim Bux Soomro
• Shaikh Ayaz
• Sufi Budhal Faqeer
• Sumaira Zareen
• Ram Jethmalani
• G. V. Desani
• Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh
• Haji Abdul Ghaffar Siddiqui
• Khan Bahadur Muhammad Daim Khan Siddiqui
• Jamal M Siddiqui Advocate}}

Gallery

File:Shikarpur.jpg|Old building architecture of Shikarpur File:Deewan hotel.jpg|Deewan Ramchand's historical restaurant is very famous for its Sweets and Kulfi-Falooda File:Samosa Making at Hathi dar Shikarpur.jpg|Samosa Making at Hathi dar Shikarpur File:SHIKARPUR SAIF PLAZA.jpg|Shikarpur Saif plaza File: Shahi_Bagh.jpg| Shahi Bagh

Notes

References

General references

• Markovits, Claude The Global World of Indian Merchants 1750-1947 Traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 65–217.

References

1. (11 January 2020). "The Paris of Sindh". The Express Tribune (newspaper).
2. "Sindh: Province and Major Cities, Municipalities & Towns". Citypopulation.de.
3. (22 October 2020). "Shikarpur". Oxford University Press.
4. Ghias, Shehzad. (2015-02-06). "Memories of Shikarpur, the Paris of Sindh".
5. Markovits, Claude. (2000). "The Global World of Indian Merchants, 1750–1947: Traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama". Cambridge University Press.
6. Lambrick, H. T. Census of India, 1941 VOL. XII SIND (Tables). Delhi: Published by the Manager of Publications
7. "Population by administrative units 1951-1998". [[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]].
8. "Population and household detail from block to district level".
9. "First Digital Census: Understanding Its Importance and Process - Pakistan Bureau of Statistics population".
10. [https://www.pbs.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/census_tables/tables/table_11_sindh_districts.pdf TABLE 11 : POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023]
11. Khan, Naimat. (2025-04-02). "In Pakistan’s Shikarpur, an arms dealer by trade and storyteller at heart".
12. Ahmed, Naeem. (2018-07-15). "Shikarpur – The Once Paris of the East".
13. Memon, Sarfaraz. (2012-05-01). "Becoming history: The plunder of Shikarpur by its very own sons".
14. Abdul Rasheed, Shaikh. (2019-04-09). "Historic library in need of government attention".