Dadu ( Sindhi and ur, ), is a city and the capital of

Dadu District Dadu District ( sd, ضلعو دادو), ( ur, ) is a district of Sindh Province, Pakistan. With headquarters the city of Dadu, the district was created in 1931 by merging Kotri and Mahal Kohistan (later Jamshoro) tehsils from Karachi District a ...

located in Sindh,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. The city is located on the western bank of River Indus and is administratively subdivided into three Union councils. Dadu is the 11th largest city of

Sindh Province Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

and 52nd largest city in

with a population of 171,191 (2017). It is located 100 miles (160 km) to the north of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

, the second largest city of Sindh.

History

The early history of this city is unknown. It is generally believed that Dadu was founded as a village by Syed Dad Muhammad Shah Alias Dadu Shah during the

Kalhora dynasty The Kalhora dynasty ( sd, ڪلهوڙا راڄ, translit=Kalhora Raj) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Sindhi Kalhora origin based in the region of Sindh in what is now Pakistan. They claimed an Arab origin. The dynasty ruled Sindh and parts of the P ...

(1701–1783). Dadu Shah was a powerful religious leader and landlord and had close relations with Kalhora rulers. Some historians are of the opinion that the old name of Dadu was Marakhpur which was conquered by Mian Yar Muhammad Kalhoro during the first decade of the 18th century. Nowadays, Marakhpur is a small locality in Dadu City. There is also another theory regarding the origin of Dadu. Dadu Dayal (1544-1603) was a great saint, poet, and follower of Guru Gorakhnath from Gujrat, India. He introduced a new Panth of Yogi known as the Dadu-Panth.

Dadu Dayal Dadu Dayal Ji ( hi, संत दादूदयाल , 1544—1603) was a poet- sant from Gujarat, India, a religious reformer who spoke against formalism and priestcraft. Etymology "Dadu" means brother, and "Dayal" means "the compassiona ...

visited Sindh and lived here for a long time. His followers were called Dadunavasi. Two of his followers, Dayo Ram (1836-1906) and Sanat Bhagat Ram, were from Dadu. Dadu became the town of the Danunavasi and hence got the name Dadu. During the

, Dadu and the surrounding area's fortunes flourished, the irrigation system was improved, and new canals were constructed to boost the agricultural economy of the area. As a result, Dadu became an important centre of trade and agriculture. When Kalhora rulers shifted the capital of Sindh to Hydrabad, Dadu lost its prosperity. In Talpur rule,the glory of Dadu further declined. The Talpur rulers were more focussed towards

, Khairpur Mirs and Mirpur Khas. They did not pay much attention towards Dadu and surrounding areas.

References

Populated places in Dadu District {{Sindh-geo-stub