Polo Ground, Karachi, also known as Gulshan-e-Jinnah or Bagh-i-Quaid-i-Azam (), is a park located on Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road and Aiwan-e-Sadar Road in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. This park is spread over 20 acres and has a football ground, Japanese garden, children's recreation area, bird

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where Bird flight, they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flig ...

, and jogging tracks. A baradari is also located there. It also has two five-star hotels nearby. The ground also hosts the biggest Eid congregation in Karachi. Although the ground is officially known as Bagh-i-Quaid-i-Azam, the former name 'Polo Ground' is still widely used by the people of Karachi.

History

Bagh-e-Quaid-e-Azam has historic significance. It was the venue of the first official march-past of the military parade in front of Pakistani political leaders after

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation th ...

in 1947. This parade was held here and

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

took the salute here as the first

Governor General of Pakistan The governor-general of Pakistan () was the representative of the Pakistani monarch in the Dominion of Pakistan, established by the Indian Independence Act 1947. The office of governor-general was abolished when Pakistan became an Islamic repu ...

in 1947. The first Eid prayers were organized by the

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Karachi Metropolitan Corporation () is a public corporation and governing body to provide municipal services in most of Karachi, the capital of Sindh. History 1846 Karachi Conservancy Board was established to control cholera epidemics in ...

at the ground in 1958. The ground sees a multitude of

tape ball cricket A tape ball is a tennis ball wrapped in electrical tape that is often used in informal games of cricket such as backyard cricket, street cricket, also called tape ball cricket. First pioneered in Karachi, Pakistan, the tape ball acts as an impro ...

matches being simultaneously being played in it. It is said that

Hanif Mohammad Hanif Mohammad PP (21 December 1934 – 11 August 2016) was a Pakistani cricketer. He played for the Pakistani cricket team in 55 Test matches between the 1952–53 season and the 1969–70 season. He averaged 43.98, scoring twelve centu ...

and his four brothers learned the game there in the 1940s and early 1950s. This park was used as a

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

ground Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the solid terrestrial surface of the Earth * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical circ ...

before the 1970s. On 26 March 2022,

Administrator Karachi The Administrator Karachi is an Officer in the Pakistan Administrative Services, usually of the elite rank of BS-20 (Grade 20). Incumbent Dr. Saif-ur-Rehman, an officer of PAS (BS-20), was appointed as Karachi Administrator on 8 December 20 ...

Murtaza Wahab Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui is a Pakistani politician who is the current mayor of Karachi. He was a member of the Senate of Pakistan from August 2017 to March 2018. Early life and education The son of the late senior PPP politician Fauzia Wahab ...

inaugurated a bird aviary at the ground. The 100-foot-long and 45-foot-wide enclosure houses 315 birds, including three pairs of African and Australian parrots.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polo Ground Parks in Karachi Gardens in Pakistan Memorials to Muhammad Ali Jinnah Eidgahs