History
| Folklore | Zamindars of Umerkot
Umarkot or Umer Kot, also known as Omarkot, (Urdu:
عمرکوٹ ) is town in the Umerkot District in Sindh, Pakistan. The city is well connected with the
other large cities like Karachi, the provincial capital and Hyderabad
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Umarkot on Satellite Map
Places of Interest
| Hotels |
Eating &
Dining | Parks &
Gardens |
Educational Institutes |
Hospitals |
Sport Centers |
Banks |
ATM |
Fuel Stations |
Police Stations |
Shopping /Trade
History
After the 1843 invasion by Charles Napier, Sindh was divided into provinces
and was assigned a Zamindars, also known as Wadaras, to collect taxes for
the British.
Formerly known as Amarkot, it was the capital of Greater Sindh Province,
including some parts of present Rajasthan state of India. It also became
prominent during the time of the Mughals and during the British Raj. The
great Mughal king Akbar was born in Umerkot when his father Humayun fled
from military defeat at the hands of Sher Shah Suri. Amir Hussein of Umarkot
who had risen to power with the help of the Mirza clan had given refuge to
Mughal Emperor Humayun and it was there Hamida Bano Begum gave birth to
young Akbar. Later the Mughal Emperor Akbar became the Shahenshah of Hind
and was a popular figure with both Hindus and Muslims. Umerkot has many
sites of historical significance such as Mughal emperor Akbar's birthplace
at Umarkot Fort on 15 October 1542. Rana Chandra Singh (1931-2009) was the
Rana of the former Amarkot jagir after 1947, and remained a member of
National assembly many times and also a federal minister.
Folklore
Another significant story relating to Umarkot is that of Umar Marvi. Marvi
was a young Thari girl abducted by Umar, then-ruler, who wanted to marry
because of her beauty. Upon her refusal she was being imprisoned in the
historic Umerkot Fort for many years until her ultimate release. Because of
her courage, Marvi is an ideal for the local people.
Great city has a very beautiful fort, nice shopping streets, more than 20
schools, 5 colleges and one mono technical college.
People of Umerkot are very gentle and progressive. Most spoken language is
Dhatki which is actually mixture of several local languages.However,Urdu is
also understood and the local people welcome the guestes.
Zamindars of Umerkot
In Umerkot, there are only two Waderas of genuine authority, due the lesser
density of the population. Syed Rashid Shah, who has more popularity as
compared to his Pir Makhdoom Hamid Ali, left the political scene after the
demise of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and was a major critic
of military ruler General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. His son Syed Haroon Shah
takes care of the vast amount of land. Conversely Makhdoom Hamid Ali is
still affiliated with the Pakistan Peoples Party