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Umarkot or Umer Kot, also known as Omarkot, (Urdu: عمرکوٹ ) is town in the Umerkot District in Sindh, Pakistan. The city is well connected with the other large cities like Karachi, the provincial capital and Hyderabad.
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History
Formerly known as Amarkot, it was the capital of Greater Sindh Province, including some parts of present Rajasthan state of India. It also became prominent during the time of the Mughals and during the British Raj. The great Mughal king Akbar was born in Umerkot when his father Humayun fled from military defeat at the hands of Sher Shah Suri. Rana Prasad, a Hindu Sodha Rajput ruler of Amarkot, gave refuge to Humayun. Akbar later became the King of India and was a popular figure with both Hindus and Muslims. Umerkot has many sites of historical significance such as Mughal emperor Akbar's birthplace at Umarkot Fort on 15 October 1542 [1]. Rana Chandra Singh (1931-2009) was the Rana of the former Amarkot jagir after 1947, and remained a member of National assembly many times and also a federal minister[2][3].
Folklore
Another significant story relating to Umarkot is that of Umar Marvi. Marvi was a young Thari girl abducted by Umar, then-ruler, who wanted to marry because of her beauty. Upon her refusal she was being 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.
Great city has a very beautiful fort, nice shopping streets, more than 20 schools, 5 colleges and one mono technical college.
People of Umerkot are very gentle and progressive. Most spoken language is Dhatki which is actually mixture of several local languages.
Zamindars of Umerkot
In Umerkot, there are only two Waderas of genuine authority, due the lesser density of the population. Syed Rashid Shah, who has more popularity as compared to his Pir Makhdoom Hamid Ali, left the political scene after the demise of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and was a major critic of military ruler General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. His son Syed Haroon Shah takes care of the vast amount of land. Conversely Makhdoom Hamid Ali is still affiliated with the Pakistan Peoples Party.
See also
References
District Government Official website
The Information Technology Department, District Government has launched District Government Umerkot's official websites.
1.District Government Umerkot Official website (English Version)
2.District Government Umerkot Official website (Sindhi Version)
3.District Government Umerkot Official website (Sindhi Version)
External links
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