The State of Khairpur ( sd, خيرپور رياست، ur, ریاست خیرپور), also transliterated as Khayrpur, was a princely state of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

on the Indus River in northern Sindh, modern

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 ...

, with its capital city at

Khairpur Khairpur( Sindhi and ur, ) is a city and the capital of the Khairpur District, in Pakistan's Sindh province. History The Talpur dynasty was established in 1783 by Mir Fateh Ali Khan, who declared himself the first ''Rais'', or ruler of Sindh ...

. It was established as capital for the Sohrabani branch of the

Talpur dynasty The Talpur dynasty ( sd, ٽالپردور) were rulers based in Sindh. Four branches of the dynasty were established following the defeat of the Kalhora dynasty at the Battle of Halani in 1783: one ruled lower Sindh from the city of Hyderabad, ...

, and was established shortly after Talpur ascendency in 1783 as one of several Talpur dominions. Whereas the other Talpur dominions were conquered by the British in 1843, the Khairpur state entered into treaty with the British, thereby maintaining some of its autonomy as a princely state. The last Mir of Khairpur opted to join the new state of Pakistan in 1947, and the dominion was thus made a Princely state of Pakistan, until it was fully amalgamated into

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...

in 1955.

History

The Talpur dynasty was established in 1783 by Mir Fateh Ali Khan, who declared himself the first ''Rais'', or ruler of Sindh, after defeating the Kalhoras at the Battle of Halani. The nephew of Mir Fateh Ali Khan, Mir Sohrab Khan Talpur, established a branch of the Talpur dynasty in 1783 in Burahan, which was renamed

in 1783. The death of Mir Sohrab Khan Talpur, founder of the

branch abdicated power to his eldest son Mir Rustam 'Ali Khan, in 1811. Rustam's youngest half brother, 'Ali Murad, strengthened his hand by signing a treaty with the British in 1832, in which he secured recognition as the independent ruler of Khairpur in exchange for surrendering control of foreign relations to the British in 1838, as well as use of Sindh's roads and the Indus River. His position had been little more than that of a regent during his father's lifetime, and this was to remain unchanged until his youngest half brother, 'Ali Murad, came of age. Nevertheless, this did not save him from internal family disputes, in which the British initially refused to treat or take sides. Khairpur_map

Rustam ruled until 1842, when abdicated in favor of his youngest brother Mir Ali Murad. Ali Murad helped the British in 1845-7 during the Turki campaign, but was later accused of plotting against the British in 1851–2, and so was stripped of his lands in upper Sindh by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. As a result, the remaining land under his control consisted mostly of Khairpur city, and its immediate environs. During the 1857

Sepoy Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

, Ali Murad sided which the British, and prevented rebels from seizing the Shikarpur jail and treasury. He regained the favour of the British, and in 1866, the British promised to recognize any future successors as rightful rulers of Khairpur. Ali Murad's rule went on uninterrupted until his death in 1894. Ali Murad's eldest son had predeceased him, and so he was succeeded by his second son, Mir Faiz Muhammad Khan, who ruled until his death 1909. He was in turn succeeded by his son, Mir Sir Imam Bakhsh Khan Talpur, who aided the British war effort during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and was thus awarded the honorary title Lieutenant-Colonel in 1918. He died in 1921, and was succeeded by His Highness Mir Ali Nawaz Khan. Under his rule, the feudal ''Cherr'' system of forced labour was abolished, while new canals were laid for irrigation. Mir Ali Nawaz Khan died in 1935, and was succeeded by Mir Faiz Muhammad Khan II, who had suffered from an unstable and nervous affliction, then became nominal leader. The Khairpur government instituted a council of regency under local ministers and ordered the Mir to live outside the state. After a period of twelve years, and shortly before the transfer of power, he abdicated in favour of his young son Mir

George Ali Murad Khan George Ali Murad Khan II Talpur ( ur, ; born 29 June 1933) is a member of the Talpur dynasty who was the Mir (ruler) of Khairpur from 1947 to 1954. At an age of nine months, Khan was mistakenly shot by his father. Although the bullet passed th ...

in July 1947. The young Mir had reached his majority and received full ruling powers only four years earlier. The state was the first on the sub-continent to introduce full adult suffrage. His subjects enjoyed free education up to matriculation standard and free healthcare, there were no customs duties, property, income or wealth taxes. The crime rate remained negligible, and light industries flourished. Khaipur state acceded to the

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...

in October that year, and merged into

in 30 September 1955. Its last ruler, Mir George Ali Murad Khan, remains one of the few surviving first class rulers of the old British Indian Empire, still holding a public Majlis every Muharram at his sprawling palace, Faiz Mahal. He has long taken a keen interest in animal welfare and conservation, having established one of the largest private wildlife sanctuaries on the sub-continent. His younger son, Prince Mehdi Raza Khan, continues his father's passion and oversees his conservation interests since retirement.

Administration

The form of government was traditional monarchy. The ruler held the title of "Mir" and ruled with the assistance of a diwan or Wazir who at times was an official borrowed from the Indian Civil Service. The state was sub-divided into five taluks grouped into two sub-divisions. They are the Khairpur sub-division comprising the Khairpur and Gambat taluks and the Mir Wah sub-division comprising Mir Wah, Faiz Ganj and Naro taluks.The two sub-divisions were administered by a naib-wazir each while mukthiarkars were incharge of the taluks. The external relations of the state were in the control of a political agent who was usually the District Collector of Sukkur.

Demographics

The princely state of Khairpur had a population of 227,183 in 1931 of whom 186,577 (83%) were Muslims, 39894 (17%) were Hindus and people of other religions numbering 712. Hindus were moatly concentrated in the Nara taluk in the east while there were present in substantial numbers in the urban areas of Gambat and Raipur due to migrations. Half the population of Khairpur town was Hindu. Nearly two-thirds of the princely state's population lived on agriculture.

List of rulers

The Talpur dynasty rulers used title ''Mir''. The Mir George Ali Murad Khan Talpur was the last ruler of dynasty defeated by the Charles James Napier in 1843 at the

Battle of Miani The Battle of Miani (or Battle of Meeanee, ) was a battle between forces of the Bombay Army of the East India Company, under the command of Charles Napier and the Baluch army of Talpur Amirs of Sindh, led by Mir Nasir Khan Talpur. The battle ...

References

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