Umerkot
title: "Umerkot" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["umerkot", "hinduism-in-sindh", "tehsils-of-umerkot-district"] topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umerkot" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Umerkot |
| عمرڪوٽ | |
| official_name | Amarkot |
| settlement_type | City |
| image_skyline | Umarkot Fort view3.JPG |
| image_caption | The 11th century Umarkot Fort |
| map_caption | Location of Umerkot |
| pushpin_map | Sindh#Pakistan |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | |
| subdivision_type1 | Province |
| subdivision_name1 | Sindh |
| subdivision_type2 | Division |
| subdivision_name2 | Mirpur Khas |
| subdivision_type3 | District |
| subdivision_name3 | Umerkot |
| seat_type | City Council |
| parts_type | Districts |
| governing_body | District Government |
| leader_title | City administrator |
| leader_title1 | Metropolitan commissioner |
| leader_title2 | Deputy Commissioner |
| leader_name2 | Tahir Ali |
| Memon{{cite news | url |
| established_title | Metropolitan Corporation |
| established_date | Pre-islamic |
| coordinates | |
| area_total_km2 | 48.6 |
| population_as_of | 2023 |
| population_footnotes | |
| population_total | 144,558 |
| population_rank | 79th, Pakistan |
| total_type | City |
| population_density_km2 | auto |
| timezone | PKT |
| utc_offset | +05:00 |
| area_code | 238 |
| area_code_type | Dialling code |
| postal_code | 69100 |
| postal_code_type | Postal code |
| :: |
| name = Umerkot عمرڪوٽ | other_name = | official_name = Amarkot | native_name = | nickname = | settlement_type = City | image_skyline = Umarkot Fort view3.JPG | image_caption = The 11th century Umarkot Fort | image_seal = | image_map = | mapsize = | map_caption = Location of Umerkot | pushpin_map = Sindh#Pakistan | pushpin_mapsize = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Sindh | subdivision_type2 = Division | subdivision_name2 = Mirpur Khas | subdivision_type3 = District | subdivision_name3 = Umerkot | seat_type = City Council | seat = | parts_type = Districts | governing_body = District Government | leader_title = City administrator | leader_name = | leader_title1 = Metropolitan commissioner | leader_name1 = | leader_title2 = Deputy Commissioner | leader_name2 = Tahir Ali Memon | established_title = Metropolitan Corporation | established_date = Pre-islamic | coordinates = | area_magnitude = | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 48.6 | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_as_of = 2023 | population_footnotes = | population_note = | population_total = 144,558 | population_rank = 79th, Pakistan | total_type = City | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | timezone = PKT | utc_offset = +05:00 | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | area_code = 238 | area_code_type = Dialling code | postal_code = 69100 | postal_code_type = Postal code | website =
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Shiv_Mandir_Umerkot.jpg" caption="[[Umarkot Shiv Mandir]]-major pilgrimage centre in Sindh"] ::
**Umerkot ** (Urdu: ; Dhatki : عمرڪوٽ; Sindhi: عمرڪوٽ; IPA: [ʊmərkoːʈ], formerly known as Amarkot) is a city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The Mughal emperor Akbar was born in Amarkot in 1542. The Hindu folk deities Pabuji and Ramdev married in Umerkot.
The local language is Dhatki, one of the Rajasthani languages of the Indo-Aryan language family. It is most closely related to Marwari.
Etymology
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Birthplace_of_Akbar.JPG" caption="The birthplace of [[Akbar]] is traditionally believed to be marked by the small pavilion."] ::
The city is named after a local ruler of Sindh, Umer Soomro (of Soomra dynasty) of the Umar Marvi folk tale, which also appears in Shah Jo Risalo, one of the popular tragic romances of Sindh.
History
Main article: Sodhas of Amarkot
According to tradition, it was founded by a branch of the Soomra who later lost it to Sodhas in 1226. Sodhas were expelled by the Soomra in 1330 but again rose to power in 1439. In 1590, it became a part of the Mughal Empire. In 1599, Abu ’l-Ḳāsim Sulṭān, an Arghun dynasty prince drove out the Mughal commander. In 1736, Noor Mohammad Kalhoro expelled the last Sodha chief and took control of it. Amarkot province was ruled by the Sodha Rajput clan during the medieval period. Rana Parshad, the Sodha Rajput ruler of Umarkot, gave refuge to Humayun, the second Mughal Emperor when he was ousted by Sher Shah Suri, and the following year Mughal Emperor, Akbar, was born here. Later on, Akbar brought northwestern India, including modern Pakistan, under Mughal rule.
After the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, Amarkot was captured by several regional powers, including the Persians, Afghans, Kalhora and Talpur Balochs of Sindh, Rathore Rajputs of Jodhpur and finally by the British.
Amarkot was annexed by Jodhpur State in 1779 from the Kalhora nawab of Sindh. Umerkot and its fort was traded to the British in 1843 by the Maharaja of Jodhpur in return for a Rs.10,000 reduction in the tribute imposed on Jodhpur State. The British appointed Syed Mohammad Ali governor of the province. In 1847, Rana Ratan Singh was hanged at the fort by the British, for killing Syed Mohammad Ali in a tax protest.
After the British conquered Sindh, they made it part of the Bombay Presidency of British India. In 1858, the entire area around Tharparkar became part of the Hyderabad District. In 1860 the region was renamed Eastern Sindh Frontier, with a headquarters at Amarkot. In 1882, it was reorganized as the Thar and Parkar district, headed by a British Deputy Commissioner, with a political superintendent at Amarkot. However, in 1906 the district headquarters moved from Amarkot to Mirpur Khas.
Rana Chandra Singh, a federal minister and the chieftain of the Hindu Sodha Thakur Rajput clan and the Amarkot Jagir, was one of the founding members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Umarkot seven times as a PPP member between 1977 and 1999, when he founded the Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP). Currently, his politician son Rana Hamir Singh claims to be the 26th Rana of Tharparkar, Umarkot and Mithi.
Points of interest
The city is well connected with the other large cities like Karachi, the provincial capital and Hyderabad.
Umarkot has many sites of historical significance such as Akbar's birthplace, Umarkot, Umerkot Fort and Momal Ji Mari.
There is an ancient temple, Shiv Mandir, Umerkot, as well as a Kali Mata Temple, Krishna Mandir at old Amarkot and Manhar Mandir Kathwari Mandir at Rancho Line.
Education
The city has more than 100 schools, 20 colleges, and one polytechnic college.
Demographics
Population
According to 2023 census, Umerkot had a population of 144,558.
Religion
The Umarkot Shiv Mandir is one of the most ancient and sacred Hindu temples in Sindh.
::data[format=table title="''Historical religious demographics in Umarkot Municipality''"]
| Religion | Population (1901) | Percentage (1901) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hinduism [[File:Om.svg | 16x16px]] | 3,884 | |
| Islam [[File:Star and Crescent.svg | 15x15px]] | 993 | |
| Jainism[[File:Jain Prateek Chihna.svg | 26x26px]] | 46 | |
| Christianity [[File:Christian cross.svg | 21x21px]] | 1 | |
| 4934 | **** | ||
| :: |
Gallery
Umarkot Fort view3.JPG|Umerkot Fort Umarkot museum view.JPG|Umerkot Museum
Notes
References
References
- (9 December 2021). "SAU Umerkot campus graduated first batch". The Academia Magazine.
- "PAKISTAN: Provinces and Major Cities". citypopulation.de.
- Shaikh Khurshid Hasan. (1 January 2005). "Historical Forts In Pakistan". National Institute of Historical & Cultural Research Centre of Excellence, Quaid-i-Azam University.
- (24 April 2012). "Amarkot". Brill.
- [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00litlinks/gulbadan/part10.html Part 10:..the birth of Akbar] ''[[Humayun]] nama'' by [[Gulbadan Begum]].
- [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00litlinks/gulbadan/part10.html Part 10:..the birth of Akbar] ''[[Humayun-nama]]'' by [[Gulbadan Begum]].
- "SINDH IN TRANSITION: FROM MUGHAL RULE TO BRITISH ANNEXATION, EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TO 1843".
- "Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 14, page 186 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library".
- Hasan, Shazia. (2015-04-19). "Umerkot: Lost in history".
- David Ross C.I.E., ''The land of the five rivers and Sindh'' (1883), [https://books.google.com/books?id=bH4BAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA33 p. 33]
- (3 August 2009). "Hindu Leader, Ex-minister Chardar Singh is Dead". [[Khaleej Times]].
- Guriro, Amar. (2 August 2009). "Chieftain of Pakistani Hindu Thakurs dies". Daily Times.
- [https://www.dawn.com/news/1157340 Footprints: Once upon a time in Umerkot], [[Dawn (newspaper)]], 16 January 2015.
- [http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/Pakistans-Umerkot-gets-a-new-Hindu-ruler/article16042843.ece Pakistan's Umerkot gets a new Hindu ruler], [[The Hindu]], 30 May 2010.
- "District Government Umerkot".
- "Population by administrative units 1951-1998". [[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]].
- "Sindh (Pakistan): Urban Localities in Districts - Population Statistics, Charts and Map".
- (27 February 2018). "The thriving Shiva festival in Umarkot is a reminder of Sindh's Hindu heritage".
- Enthoven, R. E.. (1902). "Census of India, 1901: Volume IX-A. Bombay: Part II, Imperial Tables". Government Central Press.
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