Indus River Delta - History

History

According to some accounts, the Macedonian fleet (of Alexander the Great) anchored itself for some time in the Indus river delta. It was damaged by a tsunami generated by an earthquake off the Makran Coast in 325 BC.

According to Tarikh-i-Hind (also known as the Chach Nama) by 6th century A.D. there existed a port called Debal in what is now the western part of the Indus delta. Debal also seemed to be the base of pirates from the tribe of Nagamara. These pirates' raids against the Umayyads, and the refusal to redress the issue by the ruling prince, precipitated the Muslim conquest around 710 AD (by Muhammad bin Qasim). Debal remained a port, and the last recorded mention of it was in 1223 AD. By the time Ibn Batuta reached the Indus delta, Debal had been abandoned due to increased shoaling preventing the then-port from accessing the sea.

During the Abbasids, the caliphate began to disintegrate, and the delta came under the control of the increasingly autonomous province centered at Mansura. The eastern part of the delta was even more independent and controlled by the Sumra tribe until 1053 AD, when the region was brought under the control of the Khilji Delhi Sultanate by Alauddin Khilji. The tribe had several capitals, but none are populated today. In 1333 AD, the Samma Dynasty ruled all of the delta, and established their capital first at Samu-i (on the south bank of Keenjhar Lake) and later at Thatta. It was during this dynasty that the "golden age of native rule" (1461-1509 AD) happened in the delta and Sindh, under the rule of Jam Nizamuddin II.

From 1591-1592, the Mughal empire waged a campaign to bring lower Sindh under imperial rule, resulting in the delta coming under the province of Multan and ruled by Mirza Ghazi Beg. In 1739, the region, along with many others, was ceded to Nadir Shah. The Kalhora ruled the region till 1783. The power then transferred to the Talpurs until British invaded in 1843. In 1947, the Indus delta, along with rest of Sindh became a part of Pakistan.

Since 1957, the Sindh Forest and Wildlife Department has been tasked with protecting and managing 280,580 hectares (estimated 45%) of mangrove forested area of the Indus delta. In 1973, 64,405 hectares (11%) were transferred to Port Qasim. The Sindh Board of Revenue continues to manage 272,485 hectares (44%) of the area. This last area is characterized as "unprotected".