Another Time, Another Place

It is easy to identify the exact location of the Karachi fortifications and the position of the gates. The walls were pulled down by the British in 1849 and replaced to the south and west by what is known as Rampart Road, to the north by River Road (recently renamed Aga Khan Road) and to the east by Haji Abdullah Street. The thirty-five acres surrounded by these roads are even today known as the Old Town Quarters and are a good ten to fifteen feet higher than the surrounding areas.

The exact location of Kharadar was at the junction of what are now Rampart Road and Elias Street, leading to Machee Miani Road. The latter, which was then known as the Bunder, took off from the gate and terminated at the port at what is now the Native Jetty. Mithadar was at the north-eastern edge of the town, at the junction of River Road and Gao Gall. The River Lyari which flowed along the northern wall of the city, was diverted to a channel further north after the British conquest, as its annual floods threatened the old town.
By the time the British occupied Karachi, the fortifications were in a bad state of repair. However, in 1772 and 1773 they withstood two long sieges successfully, and it was only after the third siege, in 1794, that the old town surrendered after prolonged negotiations, and its keys were handed over to Mimi Fakiro, the commander of the besieging Talpur army. Thus Karachi ceased to be a Kalat possession and passed into Talpur hands.

The Talpurs were very conscious of Karachi’s strategic position, and so in 1779 they built the fort at Manora to guard the entrance to the harbour. Near the fort, facing the entrance, they erected around watchtower. Both these buildings were of stone. The fort was a square building, with a quadrangle in the centre and bastions at the angles, and was strengthened by “a kind of semi-circular redoubt.” The parapet around it had holes for musketry. At the time of the British conquest it was guarded by twenty Jokhios and ten other Baluch, who were paid a total of Rs 120 per month.

Part of Manora Fort was destroyed in the bombardment that preceded the British occupation of Karachi. The part that survived was converted into the residence of the Master Attendant and again, in 1888, it was remodelled to house the port officers. The Round Tower, however, has completely disappeared. The line of the west groyne now passes through the spot where it formerly stood.

The most impressive building in Karachi before the British occupation was the Chabutra, or Custom House. It was situated at the end of the Bunder at what is now the commencement of the Native Jetty flyover, and consisted of a large hall raised on five impressive arches. All visitors to Karachi disembarked here, and then took the bullock cart to Kharadar. The Chabutra continued to be used with various additions until the present Custom House was constructed. Photographs or sketches of the Chabutra must certainly exist in at least one of the various archives on India.

We are told by more than one visitor to Karachi that near the Chabutra there was a mosque and a Hindu temple dedicated to Daryalal, the water deity. The temple, however, had no idol in it, but an oil lamp burned constantly. No Hindu ship ever left or came in through the “Chirini Nar,” or Chinna Creek as it is now called, without making a small present to the person who owned it. This shrine received 7-1/2 seers of oil monthly from the Talpur administration, a tradition which was continued by the British for some years.

Today, the only mosque near this site is the one behind the Custom House; it was constructed in 1983. 0bviously the old mosque site was taken over by the British and the building destroyed. There are, however, two Hindu temples in the vicinity. The Lakshami Narain Mandir at the Native Jetty is constructed on a spot where offerings have been made to the sea deity since ancient times. The other mandir is on West Wharf Road, and is known as Daryalal Mandir. The present building was built in 1928 and is also supposed to have been built on the site of an earlier temple. No descriptions of the mosque or the temples have come down to us, except that the mosque was white.

At the time of the British occupation there were 21 mosques, 13 Muslim pirkhanas, and 34 Hindu temples and dharamsalas within and around the town. Most of them can still be identified, although many of the Hindu places of worship, especially in the Old Town Quarter, are now used as residences, godowns and schools.

Another important building in the town was the gambling house run by the Talpur government. It was the only place where games of chance were allowed. No descriptions of its architecture have come down to us, but like all other Karachi buildings o the time, it must have been a mud structure with timber bracing. It was closed down by the British in 1843.

The general character of the town and its domestic architecture has been described by many European visitors, including John Porter, who visited Karachi in 1774. The houses were flat-roofed and consisted of a timber frame plastered over with mud mixed with large quantities of grass. On the roof there were wind-catchers facing west, to catch the monsoon winds. Many of the houses were two or three storeys high. A number of buildings in the Old Town still meet this description, but they are fast disappearing.

Some of the domestic architecture of Karachi must have been impressive, for the Hindu merchants were very affluent, owned a large number of big boats, and carried on trade with China, Africa and central Asia. Descriptions of their social and religious life tell us of month-long pilgrimages, lavish birthdays and weddings, opium smoking, and elaborate travel arrangements.

The industrial area of Karachi was situated outside the old town, in what is today Lyari, and consisted of tanneries, textile units and small factories for the manufacture of cottonseed oil, asafoetida and dyes. All we know about this area is that it was noisy and the stench from the tanneries was unbearable. Ruins of the British factory constructed in 1799 lay to the north-east of Lyari, where Gandhi Garden is situated today.

As illustrated, almost nothing survives of Karachi’s pre-British architecture, and the little that does is either changing its appearance or disappearing. However, one consolation remains. Pre-British Karachi will continue to live in the town plan of the Old Town Quarter, with its narrow lanes, where “two horsemen can barely pass each other,” small squares, and variations in the levels of streets, emphasised by steps. Even if the buildings disappear, names such as Kharadar, Mithadar, Chinni Nar, Lyari and Khadda will speak of the origins of our city, provided we record its history and pass it on to future generations.