Mirpur Khas ( Sindhi and ; ''meaning "Town of the most-high

Mirs Hot Mobile (, formerly known as Mirs Communications Ltd. until May 2012), is a wireless telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using e ...

"'') is a city in

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 ...

province,

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# ...

. The city was built by Talpur rulers of Mankani branch. According to the

2017 Census of Pakistan The 2017 Census of Pakistan was a detailed enumeration of the Pakistani population which began on 15 March 2017 and ended on 25 May 2017. It was the first census taken in the country in the 21st century, nineteen years after the previous one i ...

, its population was 205,913. Mirpur Khas is known for its

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

cultivation, with hundreds of varieties of the fruit produced each year - it is also called the “City of Mangoes,” and has been home to an annual mango festival since 1955. After the completion of Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas dual carriage way, the city has become hub of commercial activities.

History

Early

The Mirpur Khas region has been inhabited for millennia, as evidenced by the excavation of the Buddhist-era settlement of Kahoo Jo Daro and various hindu temples.The remnants of them still remain. The famous

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

of hindu believed god

brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

from gupta dynasty (5th or 6th century

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

) has been excavated from here It is the earliest known metallic image of

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

, and the only known representative of the school it represents. It has been described as "an immense artistic creation" of the Gupta period. In 712 CE, the region was conquered by the armies of

Muhammad Bin Qasim Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqafī (; –) was an Arabs, Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh (and Punjab, part of ancient Sindh), inaugurating the Umayyad campaigns in India. His m ...

Founding

The

Talpur dynasty The Talpur dynasty () was a Baloch people in Sindh, Baloch dynasty that ruled the Sind State (present-day Sindh, Pakistan) after overthrowing the Kalhora dynasty in 1783 until British conquest of Sindh in 1843. A branch of the family continued ...

conquered Sindh in 1784, and under Mir Fath Ali Khan, Sindh was divided into three smaller regions to be ruled by members of the Talpur family. The three regions were centred around Hyderabad, Khairpur, and Mirpur Khas. The Mankani branch of the family under Mir Ali Murad Talpur inherited the region around Mirpur Khas in 1801, and founded the new city of Mirpur Khas in 1806 to serve as the new capital.

Mirpur Khas State

Mir Sher Muhammad Talpur Mir Sher Muhammad Talpur was the last Mir of Mirpur Khas who belonged to the Manikani house of the Talpur dynasty. The son of Mir Ali Murad Talpur, the founder of Mirpur Khas, he ascended the throne in 1829 and held onto it until he was defeat ...

(1829-1843) succeeded Mir Ali Murad, and built a fort in the city when he declared the ruler of the state, and ran a kutchery from within the fort. Elaborate graves for the local rulers were built at

Chitorri Chitorri is the historic ancestral graveyard of the Talpur dynasty, Talpur Mirs of Mirpur Khas in Sindh, Pakistan. The graveyard is located in the Mirpur Khas District, about 22 kilometers northeast of Mirpur Khas town. The sandstone tombs built ...

, and feature a syncretic architectural style that combines elements of Islamic and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

i architecture. Mirpur Khas remained the capital of the Talpur Mirs of Mirpurkhas until 1843, when Sindh was annexed to British India under the

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

following the conquest of Sindh by

Charles James Napier General Sir Charles James Napier, ( ; 10 August 178229 August 1853) was an officer and veteran of the British Army's Peninsular and 1812 campaigns, and later a major general of the Bombay Army, during which period he led the British military co ...

and defeat of

on 24 March 1843 at the battleground of Dubbo. His battle for the Sindh state earned him the moniker "Lion of Sindh."

British

Later Sindh was made part of the colonial Bombay Presidency and Mirpurkhas was a part of it.

Umerkot Umerkot (Urdu: ; Dhatki language, Dhatki : عمرڪوٽ; Sindhi language, Sindhi: عمرڪوٽ; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �mərkoːʈ formerly known as Amarkot) is a city in the Sindh province of Pakista ...

was made the district's headquarters of town of Thar and Parkar district and Mirpur Khas was ignored until the advent of the Luni-

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

branch of the

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Fo ...

Railway, a subsidiary of the

Scinde Railway The Scinde Railway () was one of the pioneering railway companies that operated in Sind during the British Raj between 1855 and 1885. History The Scinde Railway was first established by deed of settlement in March 1855 and incorporated b ...

to the town. The opening of the Jamrao Canal in 1900 made Mirpur Khas stand out of the rest of the towns in the district. It was constituted a municipality in 1901 and the district headquarters was shifted from Umerkot to Mirpurkhas in 1906. At the turn of the twentieth century, the population of the town was 2,787 persons with a density of 82 persons per square mile, howev Hall rahy is famous Dailouge After the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

of Pakistan in 1947, because of its proximity with the Indian border, Mirpur Khas became the first city to welcome refugees to Pakistan. It served as a primary railway junction for the first trains to rail across the

to the Sindh province. The

Partition of British India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Pakistan is the Islam ...

resulted in the large-scale exodus of much of the city's Hindu population, though like much of Sindh, Mirpur Khas did not experience the widespread rioting that occurred in Punjab and Bengal. In all, less than 500 Hindu were killed in all of Sindh between 1947-48 as Sindhi Muslims largely resisted calls to turn against their Hindu neighbours. Hindus did not flee Sindh ''en masse'' until riots erupted in Karachi on 6 January 1948, which sowed fear in Sindh's Hindus despite the fact that the riots were local and regarded Sikh refugees from Punjab seeking refuge in Karachi. Despite the loss of much of the city's Hindu population, Mirpur Khas District is estimated as 35% populated by Hindus. Large numbers of refugees from India began arriving in the city following the

- leading to rapid population rises and a shift in demography. In 1951, the population was 40,420, of which 68% were

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

-speaking refugees that had fled India - the highest percentage of any major urban area in Sindh. The population rose further to 60,861 in the 1961 census. The Mirpur Khas tehsil was upgraded to a district and divide the Thar and Parkar district in 1990.

History of Cricket

In 1976/77 World XI came to play a match in Gama Stadium, Mirpurkhas and World XI won that match, Soon after a match was played between Sind XI and Sri Lanka XI that Sri Lanka XI won.

Geography

Lying on the Let Wah Canal at , Mirpur Khas is located in the south-eastern quadrant of Sindh. It is located 65 kilometers east of Hyderabad, to which it is connected by Four Lane Dual Carrgiway highway to Hyderabad and by Rail. It is linked to

by N120 Highway.

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 ...

is 220 kilometres south-west of Mirpur Khas. The Indian border is located 170 kilometres east of the city.

Demographics

Population

According to 2023 census, Mirpur Khas had a population of 267,833. The city of Mirpur Khas has very different demographics than to the district as a whole. Mirpur Khas MC had a population of 234,133. Mirpur Khas had a sex ratio of 949 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 75.62%: 80.27% for males and 70.74% for females. 54,045 (23.08%) were under 10 years of age. At the time of the 2017 census, 59.31% of the population spoke Sindhi, 20.66% Urdu, 10.15% Punjabi, 4.73% Balochi, 2.19%

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

and 0.99% Saraiki as their first language. Mirpurakhas is home to some of notable Sindhi Muslim tribes like, Soomras, Khaskhelis, Mallah, Dharejo, Junejo, Rajper, Samejo. Mirpurkhas has also a small minority of Sindhi

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

who are mostly in business. Many of them were forced to flee

during the Sindhi Hindu Exodus. In late 18th century, many Muslim families were shifted from east Punjab to the area. The biggest Muslim community who settled here was the

Arain Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi Muslim agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation. At the beginning of the last century, they numbered around 1 million and were mainly rural cultivator ...

community. The Arains from various districts of eastern

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

such as Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Ferozpur, Ambala, Patiala and

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

moved here and permanently settled. Near Mirpur Khas is a disused

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

temple named the

Gurdwara A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

''Pehli Patshahi'', built on the site where the founder of Sikhism,

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also known as ('Father Nanak'), was an Indian spiritual teacher, mystic and poet, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism and is t ...

, is traditionally believed to have placed his feet.

Education

Universities and Campuses

* University of Mirpurkhas * Ibn-e-Sina University, Mirpurkhas * Sukkur IBA Mirpurkhas campus * Bhitai Dental and Medical College * Muhammad Medical College * SZABIST College Mirpurkhas The city has many government colleges, mostly affiliated with the

University of Sindh The University of Sindh (; ; informally known as Sindh University) is a public research university in Pakistan located in the city of Jamshoro in the Sindh province. It is one of the oldest universities in Pakistan and was certified by ISO in 2 ...

. Mirpur Khas also has a registered PMDC private medical college, Muhammad Medical College and Bhitai Dental and Medical College. Mirpur Khas has a full fledge University with five-degree programs: BS-Information Technology, BS-Computer Science, BS-Commerce, BBA, and BS-Geology. The city has numerous schools, both private and public. The number of private schools has increased since last decade. Notable schools are The Vision School Mirpurkhas, Fauji Faundation Model School, The City School, SZABIST School & College, Little Folks High School, Govt: S.A.L College, AJ Science College and most famous Bahria Foundation College which is a project of Pakistan Navy. The city is also growing with many tuition centre facilities, especially for IX, X, XI and XII classes and also preparing students for entry tests, mainly the

MCAT The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT; ) is a computer-based standardized examination for prospective medical students in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the Caribbean Islands. It is designed to assess problem solving, critical ...

(Medical College Admission Test) and ECAT (Engineering College Admission Test). Mirpurkhas city has now its own board for examinations called BISE (Board of Intermediate and Secondary Examinations). Previously Mirpurkhas did not have its own affiliated board for examinations of SSC and HSSC education which is undertaken by government affiliations and registration and number of examination boards development in Pakistan are based according to districts, in which every city/village fall under district are guided for examinations in which the city/village is linked. Mirpurkhas previously fell under District Hyderabad, Sindh. Besides, Public Libraries in Sindh often appear to receive a dwindling response but in some, with every passing day, the number of readers is increasing. Sindh Government Public Library, Mirpurkhas is one of the best place for readers / scholars of all ages. The Library is situated near Ibn-e-Rushd Girls College, beside Mahar Cinema, Heerabad Mirpurkhas. The facilities in the library are as under: 1. Newspapers & Periodical Section 2. Computer Section 3. CSS Section 4. Stack Section 5. Reading Hall for Boys 6. Ladies & Children Section 7. Art Gallery 8. Bookshop of Culture Department 9. SMBB Corner

Economy

Though Mirpurkhas has a small industrial park, no industry is functional there. There are four sugar mills, as well as some cotton ginning, and edible oil mills in the city. The city's economy has been adversely effected by a poor law and order situation, with violent conflict between rival families.

Agriculture

The district's very fertile land produces wheat, onion, sugarcane, cotton, chillies, and mangoes. Irrigation and farming was revitalised after the Jamrao Canal was built in the 1900s. Afterwards, the city was able to produce and cycle crops to supply mainly grain, cotton products like fabrics, and sugar from the sugarcane cultivation. For a certain period in history, Mirpurkhas enjoyed being the best cotton producer in the country and much of the income of the town came from cotton farming in its heyday. Nowadays, however, the area is much known its mango produce. The city claims to have 252 different varieties of

mangoes A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast Asi ...

, of which the most famous variety is the Sindhri Amb, literally ''the mango from Sindh''. The city boasts its mango products at an annual harvest festival showcasing its world-renowned produce. Mirpur Khas is positioned atop a fertile land making conditions apt for farming and irrigation. Being connected to the Indus via irrigation canals like the Let Wah, Mirpur Khas has gained an advantage in horticulture and farming over the years.

Banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

s are also widely cultivated around the region and also one of the biggest producer of bananas in the country.

Railway

Mirpur Khas Railway Station is in middle of city. After 40 years a railway link between Pakistan and India is being opened again. A broad gauge line has been laid from Mirpurkhas to

Khokhrapar Khokhropar or Khokhrapar (; ) is a border town situated in Tharparkar District, Sindh, Pakistan. It is located at 25°41 North 70°12 East and has an altitude of . Railway Khokhrapar railway station was established in 1916. Before the independ ...

, which is the border town from Pakistani Side. The new link now connects

(

) to

(

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) by the new train service

Thar Express The ''Thar Express'' (, , Rajasthani languages, Rajasthani: थार एक्सप्रेस, Sindhi language, Sindhi: ٿر ايڪسپريس) was an international passenger train that ran between the a suburban area of Jodhpur in the India ...

. In 2005, work started on converting the

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line to

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

. Mirpurkhas Railway Station has one of the longest platforms in Pakistan.

Peoples Bus Service

On 21 April 2024 Sharjeel Inam Memon inaugurated the Peoples Bus Service in Mirpur Khas. In the initial basis the Peoples Bus Service will start from Mirpur Khas Bus Terminal Via Post Office Chowk, Satellite Town, Jarwari Shakh.

Localities

* Lalchandabad

References

Sources and external links

WorldSatesmen - Pakistan - Princely States
* * {{Authority control Mirpur Khas District Populated places in Sindh Princely states of Pakistan Tehsils of Mirpur Khas District