Amarkot Fort ( ur, ; Sindhi: عمر ڪوٽ جو قلعو), is a fort located in

Umerkot Umerkot (formerly known as Amarkot) is a city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The local language is Dhatki, which is one of the Rajasthani languages of the Indo-Aryan language family. It is most closely related to Marwari. Sindhi, Urdu an ...

, Sindh, also called Amarkot ( ur, ; Sindhi:امرڪوٽ), Umerkot was founded and ruled By Sodha Rajputs of Parmar Dynasty. It was named after its founder Rana Amar Singh Sodha. Emperor Akbar was born in Umarkot Fort when his father

Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...

fled from the military defeats at the hands of

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

on 15 October 1542. Rana Prasad Singh Sodha of Umarkot, who had risen to power, had given refuge to Mughal Emperor Humayun, and it was there Hamida Bano Begum gave birth to young Akbar. Later the Mughal Emperor Akbar became the Shahenshah of

Hindustan ''Hindūstān'' ( , from '' Hindū'' and ''-stān''), also sometimes spelt as Hindōstān ( ''Indo-land''), along with its shortened form ''Hind'' (), is the Persian-language name for the Indian subcontinent that later became commonly used by ...

and was a popular figure with both Hindus and Muslims. Umerkot has many sites of historical significance such as Mughal emperor Akbar's birthplace near to Umarkot Fort. Currently, King Akbar birthplace is an open land. In 1746, the Mughal Subahdar,

Noor Mohammad Kalhoro Mian Noor Muhammad Kalhoro (1698-1755) ( sd, ميان نور محمد ڪلهوڙو) ruled over Sindh as Subahdar of Mughal Emperor from 1719 till 1736 when he consolidated his power over entire Sindh, subjugating Bakhar Sarkar (Northern Sindh), ...

, built a fort at the location. Later the British took over that area. Amarkot Fort was built by Rana Amar Singh in 11th century. It remained under control of Sodha

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

dynasty known as the Ranas of Umerkot, but later was taken over by the Pakistani Government after the formation of Pakistan. However, the Rana family still has their jagir located 16 km away. The governorship of the fort was possessed by Rana Megraj.

Folklore

Another significant story relating to Umarkot is that of

Umar Marvi Umar Marvi or Marui ( sd, عمر مارئي, ur, ), is a folktale from Sindh, Pakistan about a village girl Marvi Maraich, who resists the overtures of a powerful King and the temptation to live in the palace as a queen, preferring to be in simpl ...

. Marvi was a young Thari girl abducted by Umar, the then ruler, who wanted to marry her because of her beauty. Upon her refusal, she was imprisoned in the historic Umerkot Fort for many years until her ultimate release. Because of her courage, Marvi is an ideal for the local people.

References

Forts in Sindh Umerkot District Rajput architecture {{Pakistan-struct-stub

Folklore

See also

References