Shikarpur District

Shikarpur district ( sd, شڪارپور ضلعو, ur, ), is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan. The city of Shikarpur is the district headquarters. There are 4 talukas: Lakhi Ghulam Shah, Garhi Yasin, Khanpur and Shikarpur itself. It is spread over an area of 2,512 km².

History

Shikarpur was an important place as commanding the trade route through the Bolan Pass, and its merchants have dealings with many towns in central Asia. Shikarpur was a city closed within a fort, that fort had ''seven gates'': Hathi Gate, Lakhi Gate, Hazari gate, Khanpur Gate, Suvi Gate, Wagana Gate, Karan Gate & Noshero Gate.

The East India Company occupied Sindh in 1843; They formed three districts in Sindh administratively: Hyderabad, Karachi and Shikarpur.

In 1847 British Government created a new district named Upper Sind Frontier District.

Then the Shikarpur city was the District Headquarters till 1883 until the British Government Shifted District Headquarters to Sukkur. At that time Shikarpur had 14 talukas which covered the area of all North Sindh except Khairpur. Those days Shikarpur District had its boundaries from Kashmore to Dadu district nowadays.In 1901 British Government shifted district status from Shikarpur to Sukkur. Shikarpur was remain a taluka of Sukkur district. In 1977 Shikarpur again get the district status by the Sindh Government.

Geography

Shikarpur district borders Larkana, Jacobabad, Khairpur and Sukkur. Two National Highways (N-65 & N-55) intersect the city of Shikarpur making it the junction points of 4 provinces.

Places

The Shahi Bagh garden had a zoo with a number of lions, cheetahs, bears, and wild boars. These animals were later shifted to Karachi Zoo. The garden has a wooden pavilion that was designed by Perston Phel and constructed by Sir W. Merewether in September 1871. Many other public and private gardens and open spaces of Shikarpur have vanished.

The Covered Bazaar, contemporary cities of that time – Bukhara, Samarkand, and Istanbul – had bazaars with covered streets. Shikarpur's main bazaar too was covered. The long, narrow bazaar lined with shops on both sides almost pass through the centre of the old city.

Administrative divisions

The district of Shikarpur is sub-divided into four Tehsils these are:DISTRICT GOVERNMENT Shikarpur
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* Garhi Yasin
* Khanpur
* Lakhi
* Shikarpur

Demographics

At the time of the 2017 census, Shikarpur district had a population of 1,233,760, of which 635,558 were males and 598,130 females. The rural population was 929,319 (75.32%) and urban 304,441 (24.68%). The literacy rate is 40.48%: 51.65% for males and 28.79% for females.

The majority religion is Islam, with 98.39% of the population. Hinduism (including those from Scheduled Castes) is practiced by 1.40% of the population.

At the time of the 2017 census, 92.52% of the population spoke Sindhi, 3.39% Brahui, 1.30% Balochi and 1.22% Urdu