Editing Karachi (section)

==History==

{{Main|History of Karachi|Timeline of Karachi history}}

===Early history===
[[File:PK_Chaukhandi_Necropolis_near_Karachi_asv2020-02_img08.jpg|thumb|The 15th–18th century [[Chaukhandi tombs]] are a Tentative [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]].]]

The region around Karachi has been the site of human habitation for millennia. [[Upper Paleolithic]] and [[Mesolithic]] sites have been excavated in the [[Mulri Hills]] along Karachi's northern outskirts. These earliest inhabitants are believed to have been [[hunter-gatherer]]s, with ancient [[flint tools]] discovered at several sites.

The expansive Karachi region is believed to have been known to the [[ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]], and may have been the site of [[Barbarikon]], an ancient seaport which was located at the nearby mouth of the [[Indus River]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Whitfield |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Whitfield |title=Silk, Slaves, and Stupas: Material Culture of the Silk Road |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHBdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT118 |year=2018 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-95766-4 |page=118}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tan |first1=Chung |last2=Geng |first2=Yinzeng |title=India and China: twenty centuries of civilization interaction and vibrations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wx1uAAAAMAAJ |year=2005 |publisher=Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture, Centre for Studies in Civilizations |isbn=978-81-87586-21-0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QkAaAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA159 |title=The Month |date=1912 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sun |first1=Zhixin Jason |last2=Hsing |first2=I-tien |last3=Liu |first3=Cary Y. |last4=Lu |first4=Pengliang |last5=Tseng |first5=Lillian Lan-ying |last6=Hong |first6=Yang |last7=Yates |first7=Robin D. S. |author7-link=Robin D. S. Yates |last8=Zhang |first8=Zhonglin Yukina |title=Age of Empires: Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X6RODgAAQBAJ&pg=PR14 |year=2017 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-1-58839-617-4 |page=14}}</ref> Karachi may also have been referred to as ''Ramya'' in ancient Greek texts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/174828-from-rambagh-to-arambagh |title=From Rambagh to Arambagh |last1=Hasan |first1=Arif |date=7 May 2009 |website=[[The News International]] |location=Karachi |access-date=17 April 2020 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802193927/https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/174828-from-rambagh-to-arambagh |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The ancient site of [[Krokola]], a natural harbour west of the Indus where [[Alexander the Great]] sailed his fleet for [[Achaemenid Assyria]], may have been located near the mouth of Karachi's [[Malir River]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kapoor |first=Subodh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JggZAQAAIAAJ&q=krokola |title=Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography |date=2002 |publisher=Cosmo Publications |isbn=978-81-7755-298-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pithawalla |first=Maneck B. |title=An Introduction to Karachi: Its Environs and Hinterland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlrlBTOs2jUC |year=1950 |publisher=Times Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pithawalla |first=Maneck B. |title=A Physical and Economic Geography of Sind: The Lower Indus Basin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rKA9AAAAMAAJ |year=1959 |publisher=Sindhi Adabi Board}}</ref> though some believe it was located near [[Gizri]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Samad |first=Rafi U. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAxuAAAAMAAJ&q=krokola |title=The Greeks in ancient Pakistan |date=2002 |publisher=Indus Publications |isbn=978-969-529-001-9 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McCrindle |first=John Watson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioE2AAAAMAAJ&q=alexander+great+karachi&pg=PR22 |title=The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great as Described by Arrian, Q. Curtius, Diodoros, Plutarch and Justin: Being Translations of Such Portions of the Works of These and Other Classical Authors as Describe Alexander's Campaigns in Afghanistan, the Punjâb, Sindh, Gedrosia and Karmania |date=1896 |publisher=A. Constable and Company }}</ref> No other natural harbour exists near the mouth of the Indus that could accommodate a large fleet.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pithawalla |first=Maneck B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFA1AQAAIAAJ&q=bibakta |title=Identification and description of some old sites in Sind and their relation with the physical geography of the region |date=1938 }}</ref> [[Nearchus]], who commanded Alexander's naval fleet, also mentioned a hilly island by the name of [[Morontobara]] and an adjacent flat island named ''Bibakta'', which colonial historians identified as Karachi's [[Manora, Karachi|Manora Point]] and [[Keamari (locality)|Kiamari]] (or [[Clifton, Karachi|Clifton]]), respectively, based on Greek descriptions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vincent |first=William |author-link=William Vincent (priest) |title=The Voyage of Nearchus from the Indus to the Euphrates, Collected from the Original Journal Preserved by Arrian ...: Containing an Account of the First Navigation Attempted by Europeans in the Indian Ocean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5deAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA180 |year=1797 |publisher=T. Cadell jun. and W. Davies |page=180}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Houtsma |first=M. Th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CP7fYghBFQC&pg=PA729 |title=E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936 |date=1993 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-09790-2 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lambrick |first=H. T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFFJAAAAIAAJ&q=bibakta |title=Sind: A General Introduction |date=1975 |publisher=Sindhi Adabi Board |isbn=9780195772203 }}</ref> Both areas were island until well into the colonial era, when silting in led to them being connected to the mainland.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pithawalla |first=Maneck B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlrlBTOs2jUC&q=manora+island+silting |title=An Introduction to Karachi: Its Environs and Hinterland |date=1950 |publisher=Times Press }}</ref>

In 711 CE, [[Muhammad bin Qasim]] conquered the [[Sindh]] and Indus Valley and the port of [[Debal]], from where he launched his forces further into the Indus Valley in 712.<ref>{{cite web |title=Karachi History |website=www.houstonkarachi.org |publisher=Houston Karachi Sister City Association |url=http://www.houstonkarachi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44%3Akarachi-history&catid=3%3Aabout-hksca&Itemid=11 |archive-date=7 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107194206/http://www.houstonkarachi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44%3Akarachi-history&catid=3%3Aabout-hksca&Itemid=11}}</ref> Some have identified the port with Karachi, though some argue the location was somewhere between Karachi and the nearby city of [[Thatta]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cunningham |first=Alexander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kT5JvRZCixQC&q=karachi+debal&pg=PA297 |title=The Ancient Geography of India: The Buddhist Period, Including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang |date=28 March 2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-05645-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Elliot |first=Henry Miers |author-link=Henry Miers Elliot |title=Appendix to the Arabs in Sind, Vol.III, Part 1, of the Historians of India &#91;sic&#93; |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZ2SHSk3k6cC&pg=PA222 |year=1853 |publisher=S. Solomon & Company |page=222}}</ref>

Under [[Mirza Ghazi Beg]], the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] administrator of Sindh, the development of coastal Sindh and the [[Indus River Delta]] was encouraged. Under his rule, fortifications in the region acted as a bulwark against [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] incursions into [[Sindh]]. In 1553–54, [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[admiral]] [[Seydi Ali Reis]], mentioned a small port along the Sindh coast by the name of ''Kaurashi'' which may have been Karachi.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Jonathan |author-link1=Jonathan Bloom |last2=Blair |first2=Sheila |author-link2=Sheila Blair |title=Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4LrAAAAMAAJ |year=2009 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=978-0-19-530991-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Baillie |first=Alexander Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7tIwAQAAMAAJ&q=kaurashi+karachi&pg=PA20 |title=Kurrachee: (Karachi) Past, Present and Future |date=1890 |publisher=Thacker, Spink |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204062652/https://books.google.com/books?id=7tIwAQAAMAAJ&q=kaurashi+karachi&pg=PA20#v=snippet&q=kaurashi%20karachi&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Balocu |first=Nabī Bak̲h̲shu K̲h̲ānu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PZtAAAAMAAJ&q=kaurashi+karachi |title=Sindh, Studies Historical |date=2002 |publisher=Pakistan Study Centre, University of Sindh |isbn=978-969-8135-13-3 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204062540/https://books.google.com/books?id=7PZtAAAAMAAJ&q=kaurashi+karachi |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Chaukhandi tombs]] in Karachi's modern suburbs were built around this time between the 15th and 18th centuries.

===Kolachi settlement and the first port===

[[File:Manora Beach, Karachi Pakistan.jpg|thumb|The [[Manora Fort, Karachi|Manora Fort]], built-in 1797 to defend Karachi, was captured by the British on 3{{nbsp}}February 1839 and upgraded 1888–1889.]]

The first port was established by the [[Kalhora]]s near Karachi in the mid-18th century, known as Kharak Bander.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=J. |last2=Blair |first2=S. |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-530991-1 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195309911.001.0001/acref-9780195309911-e-467 |language=en |chapter=Karachi}}</ref>
19th century Karachi historian [[Seth Naomal Hotchand]] recorded that a small settlement of 20–25 huts existed along the Karachi Harbour that was known as ''Dibro'', which was situated along a pool of water known as ''Kolachi-jo-Kun.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haider |first=Azimusshan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xA0rAAAAMAAJ&q=karachi+1729 |title=History of Karachi: With Special Reference to Educational, Demographical, and Commercial Developments, 1839–1900 |date=1974 |publisher=Haider |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204062540/https://books.google.com/books?id=xA0rAAAAMAAJ&q=karachi+1729 |url-status=live }}</ref>'' In 1725, a band of [[Baloch people|Baloch]] settlers from [[Makran]] and [[Khanate of Kalat|Kalat]] had settled in the hamlet after fleeing droughts and tribal feuds.<ref name="Gayer-2014b">{{Cite book |last=Gayer |first=Laurent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BklRBAAAQBAJ&q=manora+fort+karachi&pg=PA128 |title=Karachi: Ordered Disorder and the Struggle for the City |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-935444-3 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204062541/https://books.google.com/books?id=BklRBAAAQBAJ&q=manora+fort+karachi&pg=PA128#v=snippet&q=manora%20fort%20karachi&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

A new settlement was built in 1729 at the site of ''Dibro'', which came to be known as ''Kolachi-jo-Goth'' ("The village of ''Kolachi").''<ref name="Studies on Karachi" /> The new settlement is said to have been named in honour of [[Mai Kolachi]], a resident of the old settlement whose son is said to have slain a man-eating crocodile.<ref name="Studies on Karachi" /> Kolachi was about 40 hectares in size, with some smaller fishing villages scattered in its vicinity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Karachi (Pakistan) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEErAAAAMAAJ&q=karachi+denso+hall |title=Brief Sketch of Karachi, the Nerve Center of Pakistan |date=1984 |publisher=The Corporation }}</ref> The founders of the new fortified settlement were Sindhi [[Bania (caste)|Baniyas]],<ref name="Gayer-2014b" /> and are said to have arrived from the nearby town of Kharak Bandar after the harbour there silted in 1728 after heavy rains.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ap8IAAAAQAAJ&q=karachi+kharak+bandar&pg=PA396 |title=A Gazetteer of the Province of Sindh |date=1874 |publisher=G. Bell and Sons |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204062653/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ap8IAAAAQAAJ&q=karachi+kharak+bandar&pg=PA396#v=snippet&q=karachi%20kharak%20bandar&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Kolachi was fortified, and defended with cannons imported from Muscat, [[Oman]]. Under the Talpurs, the ''Rah-i-Bandar'' road was built to connect the city's port to the caravan terminals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Preserving cultural assets |url=http://beta.dawn.com/news/826915/preserving-cultural-assets |date=10 February 2008 |website=DAWN.COM |access-date=13 April 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803014019/http://beta.dawn.com/news/826915/preserving-cultural-assets |url-status=live }}</ref> This road would eventually be further developed by the British into Bandar Road, which was renamed [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah Road]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tixuAAAAMAAJ&q=karachi+%22Rah-i-Bunder%22 |title=Sampark: Journal of Global Understanding |date=2004 |publisher=Sampark Literary Services |access-date=5 May 2020 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204062649/https://books.google.com/books?id=tixuAAAAMAAJ&q=karachi+%22Rah-i-Bunder%22 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=URnrr_A5wZ8C&q=karachi+%22Rah-i-Bunder%22 |title=The Herald |date=1993 |publisher=Pakistan Herald Publications. }}</ref>

The name ''Karachee'' was used for the first time in a [[Dutch language|Dutch]] document from 1742, in which a merchant ship ''de Ridderkerk'' is shipwrecked near the settlement.<ref name="The Dutch East India Company">''The Dutch East India Company (VOC) and Diewel-Sind (Pakistan) in the 17th and 18th centuries'', Floor, W. Institute of Central & West Asian Studies, University of Karachi, 1993–1994, p. 49.</ref><ref name="resources.huygens.knaw.nl-2015">{{cite web |url=http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/das/detailVoyage/95544 |title=The Dutch East India Company's shipping between the Netherlands and Asia 1595–1795 |date=2 February 2015 |access-date=14 June 2015 |archive-date=26 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226084239/http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/das/detailVoyage/95544 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1770s, Karachi came under the control of the [[Khan of Kalat]], which attracted a second wave of Balochi settlers.<ref name="Gayer-2014b" /> In 1795, Karachi was annexed by the [[Talpur dynasty|Talpurs]], triggering a third wave of Balochi settlers who arrived from central Sindh and southern Punjab.<ref name="Gayer-2014b" /> The Talpurs built the [[Manora Fort, Karachi|Manora Fort]] in 1797,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murray (publishers.) |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vg0IAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA475 |title=A handbook for India. Part ii. Bombay |date=1859 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HpKhAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA20 |title=The Persian Gulf Pilot |date=1875 |publisher=J. D. Potter. }}</ref> which was used to protect Karachi's Harbour from [[al-Qasimi]] pirates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Charles E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tGboFK2QPUwC&pg=PA162 |title=The Blood-red Arab Flag: An Investigation Into Qasimi Piracy, 1797–1820 |date=1997 |publisher=University of Exeter Press |isbn=978-0-85989-509-5 |access-date=14 April 2020 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063149/https://books.google.com/books?id=tGboFK2QPUwC&pg=PA162#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1799 or 1800, the founder of the Talpur dynasty, Mir Fateh Ali Khan, allowed the [[East India Company]] under Nathan Crow to establish a trading post in Karachi.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Huttenback |first=Robert A. |url=https://archive.org/details/britishrelations0000hutt |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/britishrelations0000hutt/page/3 3] |title=British Relations with Sind, 1799–1843: An Anatomy of Imperialism |date=1962 |publisher=University of California Press }}</ref> He was allowed to build a house for himself in Karachi at that time, but by 1802 was ordered to leave the city.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sunderlal |first=Pandit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XcpmDwAAQBAJ&q=nathan+crow+sindh&pg=PT138 |title=British Rule in India |date=1 August 2018 |publisher=SAGE Publishing India |isbn=978-93-5280-803-8 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063200/https://books.google.com/books?id=XcpmDwAAQBAJ&q=nathan+crow+sindh&pg=PT138 |url-status=live }}</ref> The city continued to be ruled by the Talpurs until it was occupied by forces under the command of [[John Keane, 1st Baron Keane|John Keane]] in February 1839.{{sfn|Laurent Gayer|2014|pp=42}}

===British control===

[[File:A street in Old Town, Karachi, India. Photograph, 1897. Wellcome V0029261.jpg|thumb|An 1897 image of Karachi's Rampart Row street in [[Mithadar]]]]
[[File:Mules_Mansion_01.jpg|thumb|Mules Mansion]]
[[File:Frere Hall Karachi. Pakistan.jpg|thumb|Some of Karachi's most recognized structures, such as [[Frere Hall]], date from the [[British Raj]].]]
[[File:Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) Head Office at M.A Jinnah Road - Photo By Aliraza Khatri.jpg|alt=|thumb|Karachi features several examples of colonial-era [[Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture|Indo-Saracenic architecture]], such as the [[Karachi Municipal Corporation Building|KMC Building]].]]

The [[British East India Company]] captured Karachi on 3{{nbsp}}February 1839 after {{HMS|Wellesley|1815|6}} opened fire and quickly destroyed [[Manora Fort, Karachi|Manora Fort]], which guarded Karachi Harbour at [[Manora, Karachi|Manora Point]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Recollections of Four Years' Service in the East with H.M. Fortieth Regiment |last=Neill |first=John Martin Bladen |year=1846 |url=https://archive.org/details/recollectionsoff00neilrich |access-date=27 November 2009}}</ref> Karachi's population at the time was an estimated 8,000 to 14,000,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baillie |first=Alexander Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7tIwAQAAMAAJ&q=denso+hall+sandstone+1886+rupees |title=Kurrachee: (Karachi) Past, Present and Future |date=1890 |publisher=Thacker, Spink |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063154/https://books.google.com/books?id=7tIwAQAAMAAJ&q=denso+hall+sandstone+1886+rupees#v=onepage&q=denso%20hall%20sandstone%201886%20rupees&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> and was confined to the walled city in [[Mithadar]], with suburbs in what is now the [[Serai Quarter]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://beta.dawn.com/news/826915/preserving-cultural-assets |title=Preserving cultural assets |date=10 February 2008 |website=Dawn |location=Pakistan |access-date=13 April 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803014019/http://beta.dawn.com/news/826915/preserving-cultural-assets |url-status=live }}</ref> British troops, known as the "Company Bahadur" established a camp to the east of the captured city, which became the precursor to the modern [[Karachi Cantonment]]. The British further developed the [[Karachi Cantonment]] as a military garrison to aid the British war effort in the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]].<ref name="Oxford University Press" />

The [[Old Goa|Portuguese Goan]] community started migrating to Karachi in the 1820s as traders. The majority of the estimated 100,000 who came to [[Pakistan]] are primarily concentrated in Karachi.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 April 2022 |title=Celebrating Karachi's Goan connection {{!}} The Express Tribune |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2352894/celebrating-karachis-goan-connection |access-date=24 April 2022 |website=tribune.com.pk |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510114007/https://tribune.com.pk/story/2352894/celebrating-karachis-goan-connection |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sindh's capital was shifted from [[Hyderabad, Sindh|Hyderabad]] to Karachi in 1840 when Karachi was annexed to the [[British Empire]] after Major General [[Charles James Napier]] captured the rest of Sindh following his victory against the [[Talpur dynasty|Talpurs]] at the [[Battle of Miani]]. Following the 1843 annexation, on 17 February the entire province was amalgamated into the [[Bombay Presidency]] for the next 93 years, and Karachi remain the divisional headquarter. A few years later in 1846, Karachi suffered a large [[cholera]] outbreak, which led to the establishment of the Karachi Cholera Board (predecessor to the city's civic government).<ref name="shehri.org-2018">{{Cite book |url=https://shehri.org/publications_html/2018%20-%20Local%20&%20City%20Govt.pdf |title=LOCAL AND CITY GOVERNMENT HANDBOOK – PROVINCE OF SINDH AND KARACHI CITY |year=2018 |editor-last=Anwar |editor-first=Farhan |location=Karachi |publisher=Shehri - Citizens for a Better Environment |isbn=978-969-9491-14-6 |access-date=6 April 2020 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802200751/http://shehri.org/img/Local%20%26%20City%20Govt%20FINAL%20File.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The city grew under the administration of its new Commissioner, [[Henry Bartle Edward Frere]], who was appointed in the 1850s. Karachi was recognized for its strategic importance, prompting the British to establish the [[Port of Karachi]] in 1854. Karachi rapidly became a transportation hub for British India owing to newly built port and rail infrastructure, as well as the increase in agricultural exports from the opening of productive tracts of newly irrigated land in [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] and [[Sindh]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blood |first1=Peter R. |title=Pakistan: A Country Study |date=1996 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |isbn=978-0-7881-3631-3 |page=96}}</ref> By 1856, the value of goods traded through Karachi reached £855,103, leading to the establishment of merchant offices and warehouses.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bowden |first=Rob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=prF_ZLZKtggC&q=%22Indus+steam+flotilla%22+%22orient+inland%22&pg=PA35 |title=Settlements of the Indus River |date=2005 |publisher=Capstone Classroom |isbn=978-1-4034-5723-3 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063056/https://books.google.com/books?id=prF_ZLZKtggC&q=%22Indus+steam+flotilla%22+%22orient+inland%22&pg=PA35#v=snippet&q=%22Indus%20steam%20flotilla%22%20%22orient%20inland%22&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The population in 1856 is estimated to have been 57,000.<ref name="Heitzman-2008">{{Cite book |last=Heitzman |first=James |url=https://archive.org/details/cityinsouthasia0000heit |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/cityinsouthasia0000heit/page/129 129] |title=The City in South Asia |date=31 March 2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-28963-9 }}</ref> During the [[Sepoy Mutiny]] of 1857, the 21st Native Infantry, then stationed in Karachi, mutinied and declared allegiance to rebel forces in September 1857, though the British were able to quickly defeat the rebels and reassert control over the city.

Following the Rebellion, British colonial administrators continued to develop the city's infrastructure, but continued to neglect localities like [[Lyari]], which was home to the city's original population of Sindhi fishermen and Balochi nomads.<ref name="Narayanan-2015">{{Cite book |last=Narayanan |first=Yamini |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwUBCwAAQBAJ&q=post+partition+karachi&pg=PT242 |title=Religion and Urbanism: Reconceptualising sustainable cities for South Asia |date=19 November 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-75541-8 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063159/https://books.google.com/books?id=dwUBCwAAQBAJ&q=post+partition+karachi&pg=PT242#v=snippet&q=post%20partition%20karachi&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> At the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]], Karachi's port became an important cotton-exporting port,<ref name="Heitzman-2008" /> with ''Indus Steam Flotilla'' and ''Orient Inland Steam Navigation Company'' established to transport cotton from rest of Sindh to Karachi's port, and onwards to textile mills in England.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clarke |first=S. H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iew2AQAAMAAJ&q=Indus+steam+flotilla&pg=PA41 |title=The Scinde Railway and Indus Flotilla Companies: Their Futility and Hollowness Demonstrated, Also an Exposure of the Delusion which Exists Respecting the Five Per Cent Guarantee, which Insures No Dividend Whatever to the Respective Shareholders |date=1858 |publisher=Richardson Brothers |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063212/https://books.google.com/books?id=iew2AQAAMAAJ&q=Indus+steam+flotilla&pg=PA41#v=snippet&q=Indus%20steam%20flotilla&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> With increased economic opportunities, economic migrants from several ethnicities and religions, including Anglo-British, [[Parsis]], [[Marathi people|Marathis]], and [[Christianity in Goa|Goan Christians]], among others, established themselves in Karachi,<ref name="Heitzman-2008" /> with many setting-up businesses in the new commercial district of [[Saddar]]. [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], the founder of Pakistan, was born in Karachi's [[Wazir Mansion (Karachi)|Wazir Mansion]] in 1876 to such migrants from [[Gujarat]]. Public building works were undertaken at this time in [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic]] and [[Indo-Saracenic architecture|Indo-Saracenic]] styles, including the construction of [[Frere Hall]] in 1865 and the later [[Empress Market]] in 1889.

With the completion of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869, Karachi's position as a major port increased even further.<ref name="Heitzman-2008" /> In 1878, the British Raj connected Karachi with the network of [[British Raj#Railways|British India's vast railway system]]. In 1887, [[Karachi Port]] underwent radical improvements with connection to the railways, along with expansion and dredging of the port, and construction of a breakwater.<ref name="Heitzman-2008" /> [[Magain Shalome Synagogue|Karachi's first synagogue]] was established in 1893.<ref>{{cite book |title=Studies on Karachi: Papers Presented at the Karachi Conference 2013 |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-8450-1 |editor1-last=Askari |editor1-first=Sabiah |pages=325}}</ref> By 1899, Karachi had become the largest wheat-exporting port in the East.<ref>[Herbert Feldman [1970]: ''Karachi Through a Hundred Years: The Centenary History of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry 1860–1960''. 2. ed. Karachi: Oxford University Press (1960).]</ref> In 1901, Karachi's population was 117,000 with a further 109,000 included in the [[Karachi Municipal Committee|Municipal area.]]<ref name="Heitzman-2008" />

Under the British, the [[Karachi Municipal Committee|city's municipal government]] was established. Known as the ''Father of Modern Karachi'', mayor [[Seth Harchandrai Vishandas]] led the municipal government to improve sanitary conditions in the Old City, as well as major infrastructure works in the New Town after his election in 1911.<ref name="Paracha-2014" />{{Failed verification|date=November 2024}} In 1914, Karachi had become the largest wheat-exporting port of the entire British Empire,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgMeAQAAMAAJ&q=karachi+1914+largest+port |title=Ansari's Trade & Industrial Directory of Pakistan |publisher=Ansari Publishing House. |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063604/https://books.google.com/books?id=UgMeAQAAMAAJ&q=karachi+1914+largest+port |url-status=live }}</ref> after large irrigation works in [[Sindh]] were initiated to increase wheat and cotton yields.<ref name="Heitzman-2008" /> By 1924, the ''Drigh Road Aerodrome'' was established,<ref name="Heitzman-2008" /> now the [[PAF Base Faisal|Faisal Air Force Base]].

Karachi's increasing importance as a cosmopolitan transportation hub leads to the influence of non-Sindhis in Sindh's administration. Half the city was born outside of Karachi by as early as 1921.<ref name="Gayer-2014a">{{Cite book |last=Gayer |first=Laurent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0BeBAAAQBAJ&q=post+partition+karachi&pg=PA23 |title=Karachi: Ordered Disorder and the Struggle for the City |date=1 July 2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-023806-3 }}</ref> Native Sindhis were upset by this influence,<ref name="Heitzman-2008" /> and so on 1 April 1936, Sindh was established as a province separate from the Bombay Presidency with Karachi was once again made capital of Sindh. In 1941, the population of the city had risen to 387,000.<ref name="Heitzman-2008" />

===Post-independence===
[[File:Lord Mountbatten and his wife Advena in Karachi 14 August 1947.jpg|thumb|[[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Mountbatten]] and his wife [[Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma|Edwina]] in Karachi 14 August 1947]]
At the dawn of independence following the success of the [[Pakistan Movement]] in 1947, On 15 August 1947 Capital of Sindh shifted from Karachi to Hyderabad and Karachi was made the national capital of Pakistan.

Karachi was Sindh's largest city with a population of over 400,000.<ref name="Penguin Publishing Group" /> The city had a slight Hindu majority, with around 51% of the population being Hindu. Partition resulted in the exodus of much of the city's Hindu population, though Karachi, like most of Sindh, remained relatively peaceful compared to cities in Punjab.<ref name="Markovits-2000">{{Cite book |last=Markovits |first=Claude |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2vu7Odjz6kC&q=karachi+riots+1948+muslim+refugees&pg=PA278 |title=The Global World of Indian Merchants, 1750–1947: Traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama |date=22 June 2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-43127-9 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063708/https://books.google.com/books?id=M2vu7Odjz6kC&q=karachi+riots+1948+muslim+refugees&pg=PA278#v=snippet&q=karachi%20riots%201948%20muslim%20refugees&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Riots erupted on 6{{nbsp}}January 1948, after which most of Sindh's Hindu population fled to India,<ref name="Markovits-2000" /> with assistance of the Indian government.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zamindar |first=Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2u_IU-aoNhwC&q=karachi+riots+1948+muslim+refugees&pg=PA53 |title=The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories |date=14 November 2007 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-51101-8 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063709/https://books.google.com/books?id=2u_IU-aoNhwC&q=karachi+riots+1948+muslim+refugees&pg=PA53#v=snippet&q=karachi%20riots%201948%20muslim%20refugees&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

Karachi became the focus for the resettlement of middle-class [[Muslim]] [[Muhajir (Urdu-speaking people)|''Muhajir'']] refugees who fled India, with 470,000 refugees in Karachi by May 1948,<ref name="Zamindar-2010">{{Cite book |last=Zamindar |first=Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n5c9ta97GeoC&q=post+partition+karachi |title=The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories |date=2010 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-13847-5 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063605/https://books.google.com/books?id=n5c9ta97GeoC&q=post+partition+karachi#v=snippet&q=post%20partition%20karachi&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> leading to a drastic alteration of the [[Demographics of Karachi|city's demography]]. In 1941, Muslims were 42% of Karachi's population, but by 1951 made up 96% of the city's population.<ref name="Gayer-2014a" /> The city's population had tripled between 1941 and 1951.<ref name="Gayer-2014a" /> [[Urdu]] replaced [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]] as Karachi's most widely spoken language; Sindhi was the mother tongue of 51% of Karachi in 1941, but only 8.5% in 1951, while Urdu grew to become the mother tongue of 51% of Karachi's population.<ref name="Gayer-2014a" /> 100,000 Muhajir refugees arrived annually in Karachi until 1952. Muhajirs kept arriving from different parts of [[India]] until 2000.<ref name="Gayer-2014a" />

Karachi was selected as the first capital of Pakistan, and was administered as a federal district separate from Sindh beginning in 1948,<ref name="Zamindar-2010" /> the capital of Sindh shifted again Hyderabad to Karachi until the national capital was shifted to [[Rawalpindi]] in 1958.{{sfn|Barbara A. Weightman|2011|p={{page needed|date=February 2023}}}} While foreign embassies shifted away from Karachi, [[diplomatic missions in Karachi|the city is host to]] numerous [[Consul (representative)|consulates]] and honorary consulates.<ref>{{cite book |title=Party, Government and Freedom in the Muslim World: Three Articles Reprinted from the Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2d Ed., V. 3, Parts 49–50 |date=1968 |publisher=Brill Archive |page=37}}</ref> Between 1958 and 1970, Karachi's role as capital of Sindh was ceased due to the [[One Unit]] programme enacted by President [[Iskander Mirza]].<ref name="Paracha-2014" />{{Failed verification|date=November 2024}}

Karachi of the 1960s was regarded as an economic role model around the world, with [[Seoul]], South Korea, borrowing from the city's second "Five-Year Plan".<ref>Planning Commission, The Second Five Year Plan: 1960–65, Karachi: Govt. Printing Press, 1960, p. 393</ref><ref>Planning Commission, Pakistan Economic Survey, 1964–65, Rawalpindi: Govt. Printing Press, 1965, p. 212.</ref> Several examples of [[Modernist architect]] were built in Karachi during this period, including the [[Mazar-e-Quaid]] mausoleum, the distinct [[Masjid e Tooba|Masjid-e-Tooba]], and the [[Habib Bank Plaza]] (the tallest building in all of South Asia at the time). The city's population by 1961 had grown 369% compared to 1941.<ref name="Gayer-2014a" /> By the mid-1960s, Karachi began to attract large numbers of [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]], [[Punjabi Muslims|Punjabis]] and [[Kashmiris]] from northern Pakistan.<ref name="Gayer-2014a" />

The 1970s saw a construction boom funded by remittances and investments from the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf States]], and the appearance of apartment buildings in the city.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gayer |first=Laurent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BklRBAAAQBAJ&q=karachi+1970s&pg=PA40 |title=Karachi: Ordered Disorder and the Struggle for the City |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-935444-3 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063606/https://books.google.com/books?id=BklRBAAAQBAJ&q=karachi+1970s&pg=PA40#v=snippet&q=karachi%201970s&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Real-estate prices soared during this period, leading to a worsening housing crisis.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rurrAAAAMAAJ&q=karachi+1970s+boom |title=Population Growth and Policies in Mega-cities: Karachi |date=1988 |publisher=UN |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063714/https://books.google.com/books?id=rurrAAAAMAAJ&q=karachi+1970s+boom |url-status=live }}</ref> The period also saw [[Karachi labour unrest of 1972|labour unrest in Karachi]]'s industrial estates beginning in 1970 that were violently repressed by the government of President [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] from 1972 onwards.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Nichola |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C28sDwAAQBAJ&q=karachi+1970s&pg=PT205 |title=Cityscapes of Violence in Karachi: Publics and Counterpublics |date=15 July 2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-086978-6 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204063608/https://books.google.com/books?id=C28sDwAAQBAJ&q=karachi+1970s&pg=PT205#v=snippet&q=karachi%201970s&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> To appease conservative forces, Bhutto banned alcohol in Pakistan, and cracked-down of Karachi's discotheques and cabarets - leading to the closure of Karachi's once-lively nightlife.<ref name="Udupa-2017">{{Cite book |last1=Udupa |first1=Sahana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jwlDwAAQBAJ&q=karachi+1970s+zia&pg=PA41 |title=Media as Politics in South Asia |last2=McDowell |first2=Stephen D. |date=14 July 2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-351-97221-5 }}</ref> The city's art scene was further repressed during the rule of dictator [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|General Zia-ul-Haq]].<ref name="Udupa-2017" /> Zia's Islamization policies lead the Westernized upper-middle classes of Karachi to largely withdraw from the public sphere, and instead form their own social venues that became inaccessible to the poor.<ref name="Udupa-2017" /> This decade also saw an influx of more than one million [[Bihari Muslims|Bihari]] immigrants into Karachi from the newly made country [[Bangladesh]] which separated from Pakistan in 1971.

In 1972, the [[Karachi district]] divided into three districts, [[Karachi East District|East]], [[Karachi West District|West]] and [[Karachi South District|South]] districts.

The 1980s and 1990s saw an influx of almost one million [[Afghan people|Afghan]] refugees into Karachi fleeing the [[Soviet–Afghan War]].<ref name="Gayer-2014a" /> This was followed by refugees escaping from post-revolution [[Iran]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=C8D0B7394F7D074D6832875766C3D91E.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=1636848 |title=Afghan refugees population in Pakistan |journal=Journal of Biosocial Science |date=July 1990 |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=269–279 |publisher=Journals.cambridge.org |doi=10.1017/S0021932000018654 |access-date=6 May 2010 |last1=Yusuf |first1=Farhat |pmid=2169475 |s2cid=33827916 |archive-date=5 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805060453/http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=C8D0B7394F7D074D6832875766C3D91E.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=1636848 |url-status=live | issn=0021-9320 }}</ref> At this time, Karachi was also rocked by political conflict, while crime rates drastically increased with the arrival of weaponry from the [[War in Afghanistan (1978–present)|War in Afghanistan]].<ref name="violentEnd" /> Conflict between the [[Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan|MQM party]], and ethnic [[Sindhis]], [[Pashtuns]], [[Punjabis]] and [[Balochis]] was sharp.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lSCMAgAAQBAJ&q=mqm+pashto+punjabi+sindhi+conflict |title=Mohajir Militancy in Pakistan: Violence and Transformation in the Karachi Conflict |last=Khan |first=Nichola |date=5 April 2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135161927}}</ref> The party and its vast network of supporters were targeted by Pakistani security forces as part of the controversial [[Operation Clean-up]] in 1992{{snd}}an effort to restore peace in the city that lasted until 1994.<ref>{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups Around the World |volume=3 |year=2002 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-313-32111-5 |pages=1277–78}}</ref> Anti-Hindu riots also broke out in Karachi in 1992 in retaliation for the demolition of the [[Babri Mosque]] in India by a group of Hindu nationalists earlier that year.<ref>{{cite news |title=PAKISTANIS ATTACK 30 HINDU TEMPLES |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/08/world/pakistanis-attack-30-hindu-temples.html |access-date=1 December 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=8 December 1992 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225202434/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/08/world/pakistanis-attack-30-hindu-temples.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1996, two (02) more districts created in the [[Karachi Division|Karachi division]] named [[Karachi Central District|Central]] and [[Malir District|Malir]] districts.

The 2010s saw another influx of hundreds of thousands of Pashtun refugees fleeing [[War in North-West Pakistan|conflict in North-West Pakistan]] and the [[2010 Pakistan floods]].<ref name="Gayer-2014a" /> By this point Karachi had become widely known for its high rates of violent crime, usually in relation to criminal activity, gang-warfare, sectarian violence, and extrajudicial killings.<ref name="Narayanan-2015" /> Recorded crimes sharply decreased following a controversial crackdown operation against criminals, the MQM party, and Islamist militants initiated in 2013 by the [[Pakistan Rangers]].<ref name="New York TImes" /> As a result of the operation, Karachi went from being ranked the world's 6th most dangerous city for crime in 2014, to 128th by 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Imtiaz |date=7 February 2020 |title=Karachi jumps 22 points since last year on global crime index |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1533023 |access-date=4 March 2020 |website=Dawn |location=Pakistan |archive-date=4 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304072617/https://www.dawn.com/news/1533023 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2022 at least one million [[2022 Pakistan floods|flood affectees]] from [[Sindh]] and [[Balochistan]] took refuge in Karachi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan – Pakistan Flood Response Baseline Assessment - Balochistan Province (October 2022) {{!}} Displacement Tracking Matrix |url=https://dtm.iom.int/reports/pakistan-pakistan-flood-response-baseline-assessment-balochistan-province-october-2022 |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=dtm.iom.int}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rising from the Waters: Sindh Navigates Recovery after the 2022 Floods |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2023/06/28/rising-from-the-waters-sindh-navigates-recovery-after-the-2022-floods |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=World Bank |language=en}}</ref>