---

Kharadar's Identity, History & Memory in the Port City of Karachi: A Review

Faryal Sikander, Sania Rehman Memon, Maria Sajid Zaheer, Furqan Javed Arain, Halima Bano*

---

Download PDF

---

Abstract

The city of Karachi is an amalgamation of various cultures and thus, has a very rich heritage. This heritage, if not secured, would lead to timely decay and will eventually result in its demise. The role of people in the recognition and protection is a vital one. The sense of topophilia is related to human beings as they are the ones appreciating or attaching themselves to the places, cultures and civilizations. The instances from the history are evident of the fact that people preserve, restore and conserve just for the sake of strong attachment to something. To carry on the practice, this documentation is aimed to provide some authentic data on the history of one of the old parts of Karachi i.e. Kharadar area that lies in close proximity with Mithadar. Kharadar and Mithadar are known as history as the doors that led to the settlement of Karachi. ‘Khara’ means brackish and ‘dar’ means door, referring to the gateway that stood on the salty waters whereas, ‘Mitha’ means sweet and ‘dar’ means door, referring to the door standing on the sweet river water that once existed in Karachi. The area reflects the true identity and cultural characteristics of the people residing in Karachi before and after separation.

The method used in documentation of this area of Karachi was through extensive trips in the area, selecting some routs that start from ‘bakara’ hotel which is a famous hotel in kharadar leading to ‘lalan’ building which is a 1920s structure and is a typical pole house typology that is now rarely found in Karachi. Interviews, observation based data collection and books available on the topic were used as a method o research. The area came under a study in which the evolution through time and the history was taken into account and the present condition of the area as studied. Demography of the area, architecture and the cultural dynamics were studied extensively, community involvement, means of transport, neighborhoods and their dynamics were studied, landmarks and monuments were identified and a land use map of the area was developed to understand the situation of the area. The aim of this study was to document the area in its present state, have a data base for the area, identifying the problems faces by the people of the area and to try to direct to some solutions to the problems identified.

Keywords—Kharadar, Mapping, Topophilia, History of Karachi