Karachi Culture - History of Karachi

History of Karachi

The ancient name of Karachi from the accounts of Alexander's historians appears to be KROKOLA which literally means "a place of crocodile worship". Around 1558, Karachi was a conglomerate of about two dozen fishing villages, called KALACHI or KALATI. This small settlement was projected into prominence when Seth Bhoju Mal laid the foundation of a small township on the left bank of Lyari River in 1729."Its rise into notice began with the period of the Kalhora princes in 1793. They first recognised the value of the harbour for commerce. The capture of the Manora fort in 1839 put the British in possession of the town.

The modern port-city of Karachi, however, was developed by authorities of the British Raj in the 19th century. Upon the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the city was selected to become the national capital, and was settled by Muslim refugees from at the time of the independence in 1947, which radically expanded the city's population and transformed the demographics and economy.