Manora ( sd, منهوڙو, ur, ) is a small peninsula that forms a protective barrier between

Karachi Harbour Karachi Harbour is a narrow bay and river estuary located west of the Indus River Delta in Karachi, Pakistan. The harbour lies between the Lyari River delta and Chinna Creek to the north, and the Arabian Sea to the south. Since 1886, sections of ...

to the north and the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

to the south. Manora, having a total population of 4,273 local residents (as per 2017 census), was formerly an island, but due to silting is now connected to the mainland by a 12 kilometer long natural sandbridge known as Sandspit. The entrance to Karachi was once guarded against pirate raids by the Manora Fort built in the 1790s, which was later upgraded by the British, and then the Pakistan Navy.

Geography

Manora and neighboring islands form a protective barrier between

to the north and the

to the south. The western bay of the harbor contains mangrove forests which border the Sandspit and Manora island. The coastline is also home to the ''Peelu'' tree (

Salvadora persica ''Salvadora persica'' or the toothbrush tree is a small evergreen tree native to India, the Middle East and Africa. Its sticks are traditionally used as a natural toothbrush called ''miswak'' and are mentioned by the World Health Organization f ...

) that protects Manora's coast from erosion.

History

The area of Karachi was known to the ancient Greeks. Nearchus, who commanded Alexander the Great's naval fleet, mentioned a hilly island by the name of

Morontobara Morontobara was an ancient name for Manora Island, located In Karachi, Pakistan. Alexander the Great camped to prepare a fleet for Babylonia after his campaign in the Indus valley; 'Morontobara' island (ancient Manora Island near Karachi Harbour), ...

and an adjacent flat island named ''Bibakta'', which colonial historians identified as Karachi's Manora Point and

Kiamari Keamari ( sd, ڪياماڙي, ur, کیماڑی ) is a neighbourhood in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Keamari was originally an independent settlement that was built on a sandy ridge on the eastern side of Karachi Harbour. History Keamari was a l ...

(or Clifton), respectively, based on Greek descriptions. Both areas were island until well into the colonial era, when silting in led to them being connected to the mainland. According to the British historian Eliot, parts of city of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

and the island of Manora at

port of Karachi The Port of Karachi ( ur, , ''Bandar gāh Karāchī'') is one of South Asia's largest and busiest deep-water seaports, handling about 60% of the nation's cargo (25 million tons per annum) located in Karachi, Pakistan. It is located on the Kar ...

constituted the city of

Debal Debal (Urdu, Arabic, sd, ) was an ancient port located near modern Karachi, Pakistan. It is adjacent to the nearby Manora Island and was administered by Mansura, and later Thatta. Etymology In Arabic history books, most notably in the early ...

. Manora was mentioned by the Ottoman admiral,

Seydi Ali Reis Seydi Ali Reis (1498–1563), formerly also written Sidi Ali Reis and Sidi Ali Ben Hossein, was an Ottoman admiral and navigator. Known also as Katib-i Rumi, Galatalı or Sidi Ali Çelebi,Danışan, Gaye. 2019. “A Sixteenth-Century Otto ...

, in his 1554 book Mir'ât ül Memâlik. Manora Fort was built by the

Talpur dynasty The Talpur dynasty ( sd, ٽالپردور) were rulers based in Sindh. Four branches of the dynasty were established following the defeat of the Kalhora dynasty at the Battle of Halani in 1783: one ruled lower Sindh from the city of Hyderabad, ...

in 1797 in order to protect the port, which handled trade with

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

and

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. The fort was used to repel attacks by Qasimi pirates who threatened and sometimes raided Karachi Harbor in the early 19th century. Accounts of piracy have been contested, and piracy may have been simply used as a '' casus belli'' excuse for the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

to seize control of the Persian Gulf region. On 1 February 1839 a British ship,

HMS Wellesley (1815) HMS ''Wellesley'' was a 74-gun third rate, named after the Duke of Wellington, and launched in 1815. She captured Karachi for the British, and participated in the First Opium War, which resulted in Britain gaining control of Hong Kong. Thereaf ...

, anchored off the island of Manora. On 3 February the ship opened fire on the fort. When British troops stormed the fort, they reportedly found it guarded by 4 or 5 men, who had no gun to fire back with, and so the fort was quickly surrendered, and Karachi captured. St. Paul's church was built in the immediate vicinity of Manora Fort in 1865. In 1888, the old fort was mostly removed, and the battery was reinforced. The Manora Point Lighthouse was designed by Canadian engineer Alain-Chartier-de-Lotbiniere Joly de Lotbinière, and completed in 1889 to assist vessels approaching Karachi harbor. After Pakistan's independence from Britain, the island of Manora was selected as a main base of the Pakistan Navy, with berths for naval vessels located along the eastern edge of the island, and has been governed as a military cantonment. The opening of the new

Jinnah Naval Base Jinnah Naval Base ( ur, ) is a strategic naval base of the Pakistan Navy located at Ormara, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is named after Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It is Pakistan's second largest naval base. Location Jinnah Naval Base ...

Ormara Ormara ( Balochi, ur, ), is a town in Gwadar District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is a port on the Makran coastal region. It is located west of Karachi and east of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. This port is also mentioned in ' ...

, 250 kilometers away, has meant that approximately half of the naval vessels have moved away from Manora.Artfiend: Reclaiming Manora
Dawn (newspaper), Published 14 March 2010, Retrieved 14 August 2020

Tourism

Manora's long sandy beaches, which merge into the beaches of the Sandspit and then extend several kilometers to the beaches at Hawkesbay, are a popular destination for Karachiites. At the southeastern end of Manora island is the Manora Point Lighthouse with a tower high it is one of the tallest in Pakistan. Keeping in view the daily turnover of tourists and travelers,

Government of Sindh The Government of Sindh ( sd, حڪومت سنڌ) ( ur, ) is the provincial government of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, in which 30 Districts of 7 Divisions u ...

has upgraded the infrastructure of the island (through construction of driveways, restaurants, hotel accommodations, golf course, kids’ play area etc.) and has equipped it with modern features (recreational facilities and watersports activities) with a total cost of Pak Rupees: 650 Million. The latest Manora Beach Resort was finally inaugurated by

Murad Ali Shah Syed Murad Ali Shah ( ur, , ; born 8 November 1962) is a Pakistani politician and structural engineer who is the 29th and current Chief Minister of Sindh province of Pakistan and has been a member of the Sindh Assembly. Early life and edu ...

( Chief Minister of Sindh) in October 2021.

Infrastructure

Manora Beach Road, connecting Manora to

Kakapir Kakapir ( ur, ) is a fishing village in Karachi Harbour, 15 kilometers to the west of Karachi, Pakistan. It is located at the western end of Sandspit Beach, near Hawke's Bay Beach. Mauripur lies to its north. Kakapir is named for a saint, whose s ...

across Sandspit, was upgraded in 2020. KPT is planning to link Manoro island with a Harbour Crossing Bridge which will link the West and East Wharfs of KPT. This bridge will reduce the difference between Manora and the areas of

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

and Clifton by almost 30 km.

Demography

There are several ethnic groups in Manora Island including Punjabis,

Sindhis Sindhis ( sd, سنڌي Perso-Arabic: सिन्धी Devanagari; ) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the province of Sindh in Pakistan. After the partition of British Indian empire in 1947, man ...

Kashmiris Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language, living mostly, but not exclusively, in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern ...

, Seraikis,

Pakhtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

Balochis The Baloch or Baluch ( bal, بلۏچ, Balòc) are an Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region, located at the southeasternmost edge of the Iranian plateau, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. There ar ...

, Brahuis,

Memons The Memon are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group that originated in the Sindh region of Pakistan. The majority of the Memon people around the world follow the Hanafi fiqh of Sunni Islam. The Memon people have cultural similarities with the Khoja, Khat ...

, and Bohris.

Gallery

File:Lighthouse, Manora-4.JPG , Manora harbour- view from lighthouse File:Manora Beach, Karachi Pakistan.jpg, Manora Fort File:Lighthouse, Manora-3.JPG , Manora beach- view from lighthouse File:Manora Beach 1100641.jpg, Manora beach File:Manora karachi 2.jpg, Manora cliffs File:PK Manora near Karachi asv2020-02 img3.jpg, St Pauls Church File:Shri Varun Dev Mandir Manora Karachi.jpg, Varun Dev Temple File:Mandir tower.JPG , Varun Dev Temple File:Karachi map 1911.jpg , Map from 1911

References

External links

* Karachi-Wikioyage
Pakistan Export Promotion Bureau mention of Manora

Lighthouse Depot listing of Manora
{{Authority control Sindh Beaches of Karachi Neighbourhoods of Karachi Peninsulas of Pakistan Pakistan Navy bases Islands of Sindh Lighthouses in Pakistan