Larkana - History

History

During British rule Larkana became the headquarters of Larkana District and Larkana Taluka, and for a time was part of the Bombay Presidency of British India. The city lay on the route of the North-Western Railway, and the population according to the 1901 census of India was 14,543. The name was taken from the Larik (caste) as Larkana.

The Imperial Gazetteer of India describes the town as follows:

The country surrounding Lārkāna is fertile and populous, and perhaps the finest tract in the whole of the province: The spacious walks, well laid-out gardens, and luxuriant foliage, have gained for Lārkāna the title of the 'Eden of Sind.' It is one of the most important grain marts of Sind, and is famous for a variety of rice called sugdāsi. There is a large local traffic in metals, cloth, and leather. The principal manufactures are cloth of mixed silk and cotton, coarse cotton cloth, metal vessels, and leathern goods. The town contains a dispensary, an Anglo-vernacular school attended by 80 pupils, and a vernacular school with three branches, attended altogether by 379 pupils. The chief local object of interest is the tomb of Mir Shahzaib Khan Jalbani, according to Nadeem wagan's article who was a military officer of, and died in 1735. Of modern buildings the most noteworthy are the Collector's office, a fine domed building with an ornamental Darbār hall; erected in 1902 ; and a neatly-built school and boarding- house for the, sons of zamīndārs, erected by public subscription in the same year. This school has 60 inmates and teaches English and Sindī. The municipality, established in 1855, had an average income of Rs. 46,000 during the decade ending 1901. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 54,000. —