The History Of Karachi

The History of Karachi – earliest account of the area where Karachi is located can be found in the record books of one of Alexander-the-Great’s admirals, who sailed back home from the Greek expedition to India, from a harbor by the Indus delta, known as Krokola. According to widely held belief though, the city of Karachi started its life as a small fishing settlement by the Indus Delta known as Kolachi-jo-Kun (the ditch of Kolachi), named after an old fisherwoman, Mai Kolachee who took up settlement here.

Karachi originally was a small fisherman village settled by the Baloch tribes from Balochistan and Makran. Their first settlement was near the delta of the Indus River which they named as ‘Kolachi’ village. The people of the original communityyet inhabit the area on small island of Abdullah Goth situated near Karachi Port. The well-known neighbourhood ‘Mai Kolachi’ of Karachi still reminds the original name of the city.

At the end of 1700 century, the settlers of Kolachi village started trading across the sea with Muscat and the Persian Gulf region. Later, the village started to grow as the commercial hub and a port for trade. For the protection of this developing area, a small fort was constructed. This fort was handed over to Talpurs of Balochistan by the Khan of Kalat in 1795.

The British recognized the importance of the city as the trade post. So they captured the city in February 1843 under the command of Sir Charles Napier and the city was annexed as a district