Umarkot Fort (; Sindhi: عمر ڪوٽ جو قلعو), also called Amarkot (), is a fort in

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 ...

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 ...

( Sindhi: امرڪوٽ),

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# ...

. Emperor

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

was born in Umarkot Fort when his father Humayun fled from the military defeats at the hands of

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (), was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire, ...

on 15 October 1542. Rana Prasad Singh Sodha of Umarkot, who had risen to power, had given refuge to Mughal Emperor Humayun, and it was there that Hamida Bano Begum gave birth to young Akbar. Later the Mughal Emperor Akbar became the Shahenshah of

Hindustan ''Hindūstān'' ( English: /ˈhɪndustæn/ or /ˈhɪndustɑn/, ; ) was a historical region, polity, and a name for India, historically used simultaneously for northern Indian subcontinent and the entire subcontinent, used in the modern day ...

and was a popular figure with both Hindus and Muslims. Umerkot has many sites of historical significance such as Mughal emperor Akbar's birthplace near Umarkot Fort. Currently, Akbar's birthplace is an open land. In 1746, the Mughal Subahdar, Noor Mohammad Kalhoro, built a fort at the location. Later the British took over that area. Amarkot Fort was built by Rana Amar Singh in 11th century. It remained under control of Sodha

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

dynasty known as the Ranas of Umerkot, but later was taken over by the Pakistani Government after the formation of Pakistan. However, the Rana family still has their

jagir A jagir (), ( Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر, ''Jāgīr''), ( Marathi: जहागीर, ''Jahāgīrá'') also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar ( Zamindar ...

located 16 km away. The governorship of the fort was possessed by Rana Megraj.

Folklore

Another significant story relating to Umarkot is that of Umar Marvi. Marvi was a young Thari girl abducted by Umar, the then ruler, who wanted to marry her because of her beauty. Upon her refusal, she was 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.

References

Forts in Sindh Umerkot District Rajput architecture {{Pakistan-struct-stub

Folklore

See also

References