Karachi: From Annals of History

History in Pakistan is regularly altered, re-framed, re-written, purposely forgotten and even erased... and nowhere is this more apparent and tragic than the complete erasure of the history of Karachi from our cultural consciousness.

I’m not even speaking in contemporary terms of the erasure of British-ruled Karachi, and the countless contributions of Sindhi Hindus, Parsis, and Christians that have been wiped clean out of the pages of our history books. I'm talking about the middle ages and ancient history: all left to be forgotten.

The legend we repeat over and over again is that Karachi was a small fishing village established by a Baloch fisherwoman named Mai Kolachi. Another lesser-known legend says the name is a tribute to a Hindu woman who jumped into the sea to save her son from a fish.

These myths and stories have some nuggets of truth in them, but they are essentially constructed, and they are constructed to serve specific purposes of narrative-building. Much like how we are fed deliberately constructed history of partition, of ideologies and the purpose of the Pakistani state.

The history of Karachi literally goes back to thousands of years. One of the oldest names for the port of Karachi is Krokola, mentioned in ancient Greek texts. Alexander the Great camped to prepare a fleet for Babylonia here after conquering Indus valley. The Greeks called the modern-day Island of Manora as “Morontobara”. Texts written in mid-3rd century BC mention Karachi and Manora as Krokola and Morontobara, and this pre-dates the Mai Kolachi myth by 2000 years.

In the 1st century AD, another port called Debal came into being. We must understand that every river delta is unpredictable and is constantly changing, and the floodplain around the delta shifts with rains, floods, and the general flow of the river. We can safely presume that usage of these ports would keep shifting and changing over time, based on environmental conditions, but the people using these ports - mainly Sindhi merchants - remain the same.

As per our best guesses, Debal would be situated some 50 kms east of Manora. Debal became the second capital of Sindh besides Aror (modern-day Rohri). Aror was the main capital because the Brahmin kingdom extended much farther north towards Multan, but the main port of Sindh, where all the trade was carried out, was Debal.

In 712 AD, Debal was invaded by Arabs. Mosques were constructed in place of temples - the remains of this mosque are theorized to be in Banbhore (Bhambore), situated a little bit ahead of Port Qasim in modern-day Karachi.

Debal was supposedly destroyed further in an earthquake in 893 AD, and then completely wiped out of existence because of a massive flood in the Indus in 1226 AD. As we see repeatedly, changes in flood plain cause the port cities to be shifted. In the place of Debal, Lari Bundar (or Lahari Bandar) became the biggest port of Sindh (situated near Thatta). The famous traveler Ibn-e-Battuta was fascinated by Lari Bundar (which he mistakenly called Lahori Bundar), as its stone architecture was likely built from the remains of Debal.

Around this time, Karachi existed as a port/harbour distinct from Debal and Lari Bandar, albeit less active. The Arab navigator Sulaiman al Mahri (born 1511 AD) references Karachi in his book as "Ras al Karazi" and "Ras Karashi". Ottoman captain, Seydi Ali Reis also mentions Karachi as "Kaurashi" in the sixteenth century Turkish treatise Mirat ul Memalik. Both describe the location which matches with modern day Karachi.

By the time of Mughal conquest, Sindh was divided into north and south. Mughal emperor Akbar (born 1542 AD) made a deal with the Sindhi rulers and took control of Thatta and Lari Bandar as it gave him access to the Arabian Sea.

Akbar's governor Mirza Ghazi Beg (born 1588 AD) is famous for protecting the port of Karachi, which was attacked by the Portuguese Admiral Fernão Mendes Pinto in an attempt to capture or destroy the Ottoman vessels anchored there. The port was heavily damaged, and a large Mughal force armed with muskets was deployed on the shores to avoid such attacks and landings by the Portuguese.

In 1728, Lari Bandar (by that time known as the port of Kharak) became silted by heavy rainfall and flooding, and the merchants had to relocate to another nearby port, and the closest port would be Karachi (Kolachi or Kalachi or Kolachi-jo-Kun or Kolachi-jo-Goth).

Seth Bhojumal, a rich Sindhi merchant, built a fort in Karachi surrounded by a 16-foot high mud and timber-reinforced wall with mounted guns and two gates called Kharadar and Mithadar. Today, these are the names of localities around Lyari. The port was run by Bhojumal and his other merchant associates.

Around this time, the Dutch also mention Karachi in their records which is often taught to us as the first time the name "Karachee" was coined. This is inaccurate - we know for a fact that the name “Karachi” was used by Arabs and Turks more than two hundred years before this point.

The 1700s were a turbulent century for the subcontinent in general. In Sindh, Baloch tribes started to expand their dominion into what was traditionally Sindhi territory, such as Talpur Mirs taking over Sindh in 1783.

Karachi continued to function as the major port of Sindh. During this time, the British built a factory there, but due to conflicts with the Talpur Mirs, the factory closed. The British eventually annexed Sindh from the Talpurs in 1843 and made Karachi the capital of Sindh under British India.

So, what does this tell us about Karachi? The legend of “Mai Kolachi” could be true, honestly, we cannot be sure. There is a tribe in the Makran region called the Kulachi tribe. There is also a tribe called Kulanch tribe near Gwadar, with the people called Kulanchi. Did these people originate from Karachi? Or did the name Karachi originate from these people? I’m inclined to believe the former.

There are a lot of stories and legends we tell to make sense of history, because often history is too complex to understand. But it’s important to note who told these stories, and how did they benefit from it, and at the cost of whom? The answer unfortunately might be much more complex than I can fit into this article. But one thing’s there for sure, the history of Karachi is as old as civilization in Sindh itself.