There have been many publications documenting Karachi’s history, but few have gone into such minute detail, compressing Karachi’s historical journey — particularly the period of the British Raj — into one volume, as has been done in Karachi in the Mirror of History, by Muhammad Usman Damohi. While it is a recommended read for all those interested in understanding Karachi, it has particular significance for academics, students and researchers.

Karachi, as compared to other main cities in Pakistan such as Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta, has at times been considered a city without any real history — a product of the British Raj. The author dispels this impression and his efforts, it seems, have been predominantly directed at addressing this conception which he feels is false and misleading. In the beginning he states, “Karachi was considered as a city without having any historical background. Newer research has revealed that the history of Karachi, with different names and references, passed through the eras of Greeks, Arabs, Tarkhans, Mughals, Kalhoras, Talpurs, and then came to the British period.” He writes, “[T]he history of Karachi passed through the Old Stone Age to the Bronze Age, and then it travelled from the Greek era to the British period.”

After setting this context, the author then goes into extensive detail, cataloguing the various political, social and cultural aspects of each of these dynasties, civilisations and communities that inhabited Karachi. He identifies Karachi as the only city in South Asia that has been called by more than 30 names and quotes references of historians about Karachi during the time of the invasion of Alexander the Great when his army has been documented to have stopped near the city in 326BC.

The author goes even further back when he cites geologist Abdul Rauf Khan, who states, “on the eastern side of Karachi, near the high mountainous ranges of Konkar and the mountain peaks near Landhi, tools made of stone are found which date back to the last stages of the ancient Stone Age, and are nearly 50,000 years old”. The author further documents that near the University of Karachi, remains of the Neolithic period were found.

A treatise on the city that presents its various faces — the historical, cultural, religious and political

The discussion on the various periods of rule by a number of dynasties and civilisations in Karachi is also supported by some interesting statistics. For the Talpur period, for example, demographic data is provided that indicates an interesting mix of languages and ethnicities further cementing Karachi’s characteristic cultural assimilation, and there is extensive data on the finance and taxation system established by the Talpurs. The historical legacy with which Damohi works throughout this book covers some aspects of Karachi’s growth of which not many people may be aware. For example, most associate the Karachi harbour with just the British. However, the author chronicles the role of the Talpur dynasty in the development of the Karachi harbour. The author notes that after the Talpurs took control of Karachi in 1794, realising the importance of Karachi as a port, they constructed the fort at Manora to protect it and also put in place the necessary provisions of loading and unloading cargo.

While this work is clearly a labour of love, the amount of detailing at times confuses the reader as to where the extensive data has been sourced from since there are some issues with references and sourcing and the publication is laced with long, descriptive texts of speeches and citations. A standard format has not been followed for referencing and at many places historical figures are quoted without identifying the context of the quote and from where the quote is being referenced. The topics for discussion also change abruptly from one context to another. A more professional manner of sourcing, referencing and overall formatting would have made for better reading.

However, the reader — once having navigated these issues — can benefit much from the information on offer. The author has documented well how one period of rule transitioned to another with the consequent changes in social, political and administrative systems. There is extensive detailing of the transition from the Talpur rule to the British control of Sindh and Karachi. The British rule is extensively documented, tracing various developments from their origins, such as the start of schools and colleges, madressahs, post and telegraph, trading centres, civic services and seaport, etc.

“In that era, Urdu and Sindhi authors and poets were writing about the internal problems of Sindh, especially social differences, unjust distribution of wealth, and artificial spiritual beliefs. They were waging a war through their writings to put an end to all of these. By 1937, politics was at its height in Sindh. [The] Sindh Assembly had been formed and the era of ministries began, leaving their mark on literature.  In the 1940s, literature in Karachi made great progress. During this period, for the popularity of Urdu, many conferences were organised. For the commencement of these conferences, Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu had the full support and blessings of Baba-i-Urdu, Maulvi Abdul Haq. He very graciously came to an Urdu conference held in Karachi. Along with him came Chaudhry Khaliq-uz Zaman, Ghazi Abdur Rehman Siddiqui, and Pandit Brij Mohan. On Dec 31, 1937, a Sindhi provincial Urdu conference was held at Khaliq Dina Hall. Many famous writers and poets took part in it. On this occasion, Allama I.I. Kazi also read his research article, which was generally praised. The second session was presided over by Janab Seemab Akbarabadi. On this occasion, a tarhi poetry reading was organised. Here, for the first time in Sindh, national poetry was introduced. In this session, poets read poems on the subject of revolution. After this session, writing thematic poetry became a custom in Sindh.”— Excerpt from the book

The concluding chapters provide a fascinating mix of the movements, personalities, culture, heritage, sporting and entertainment dimensions of Karachi. A whole chapter is dedicated to documenting Karachi’s connection with famous freedom movements. Again, many readers may not have been aware of such connections, such as Karachi’s role in the freedom movement of 1857. A number of historians and writers of the time are cited to put together details of how the movement, initiated in Meerut, impacted the soldiers posted in Karachi and the subsequent events that followed. The Silken Handkerchief movement, the Khilafat movement, and the movement for the separation of Sindh from the Bombay presidency also find a place, with mentions of important associated personalities such as Haji Sir Abdullah Haroon, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, etc. Then there are separate chapters on the popularisation of Urdu and related literary activities, early political activities, saints of Karachi, old buildings, history of old localities, sporting events and activities and entertainment.

The book celebrates the role of people of different religions, beliefs and ethnicities not just by highlighting their contributions to Karachi, but to the extent of even documenting their religious and cultural spaces, festivals and burial sites. For example, there is detailed mention of fire temples, synagogues, gurdwaras and various Christian cemeteries, the dokhmas of the Parsis, marghats or shamshan ghats of the Hindus, Jewish cemeteries and Muslim graveyards.

Again, the focus is on capturing the historical significance of these sites. The author calculates the age of the Karachi Christian Cemetery, more popularly known as the Gora Qabristan, by citing the oldest grave found there. He writes: “[I]n this graveyard, the oldest grave was that of Maria Cotton, who passed away on Oct 13, 1843. Her father, Colonel Cotton, was the relative of Sir Charles Napier. Her tombstone bears the inscription ‘Sacred to the memory of Maria Cotton, the beloved daughter of Lieut. Col. Cotton of H.M. 28th Regiment. Departed her life on Oct 13, 1843, aged 18 years’.” There is another interesting mention that the cemetery also houses a mass grave of 58 Polish soldiers who died in an air crash near Karachi in 1945 on their way home from the eastern war front at the end of WWII.

Karachi in the Mirror of History retains an academic and research flavour with focus on documenting collected information, not on passing personalised views or judgements on the personalities or events being cited and serves as a useful contribution to the historical discourse on Karachi. It encapsulates a long time span in terms of the people, the politics, culture, religions and institutions that contributed to the making of modern Karachi.

The reviewer is executive director at Sustainable Initiatives, a not-for-profit organisation based in Karachi.

Karachi in the Mirror of History
(HISTORY)
By Muhammad Usman Damohi
Royal Book Co., Karachi
ISBN: 978-9694074283
494pp.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, December 4th, 2016