Manora Fort is a fort that was built to protect the harbour of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

. Originally erected as a mud fortress by the Talpur Mirs in 1797, the fort was captured by the British in 1839 - after which they seized control of Karachi and lower Sindh.

History

Establishment

Manora Fort was built by 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, ...

in 1797 in order to protect the port, which handled trade with

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

and

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. The fort was built at the top of cliffs that were in height, with a small mosque and round tower. The fort was used to repel attacks by Qasimi pirates who threatened and sometimes raided Karachi Harbor in the early 19th century. Accounts of piracy have been contested, and piracy may have been simply used as a '' casus belli'' excuse for the

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 ...

to seize control of the Persian Gulf region.

Capture by the British

On 1 February 1839 a British ship,

HMS Wellesley (1815) HMS ''Wellesley'' was a 74-gun third rate, named after the Duke of Wellington, and launched in 1815. She captured Karachi for the British, and participated in the First Opium War, which resulted in Britain gaining control of Hong Kong. Thereaf ...

, anchored off the island of Manora. On 3 February, the ship opened fire on the fort. When British troops stormed the fort, they reportedly found it guarded by 4 or 5 men, who had no gun to fire back with, and so the fort was quickly surrendered by Wussul Ben Butcha, and Karachi captured. After the fort was captured, the building was used as a residence for the Master-Attendant of the Karachi Port. St. Paul's church was built in the immediate vicinity in 1865. In 1888, the old fort was mostly removed, and the battery was reinforced. A lighthouse was built by the British presence in 1889 to assist vessels approaching Karachi harbor.

Post-independence

After independence in 1947, Manora Fort became the main base of the Pakistan Navy, with berths for naval vessels located along the eastern edge of the island. The island has been governed as a military cantonment since then. The opening of the new

Jinnah Naval Base Jinnah Naval Base ( ur, ) is a strategic naval base of the Pakistan Navy located at Ormara, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is named after Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It is Pakistan's second largest naval base. Location Jinnah Naval Base ...

Ormara Ormara ( Balochi, ur, ), is a town in Gwadar District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is a port on the Makran coastal region. It is located west of Karachi and east of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. This port is also mentioned in ' ...

, away, has meant that approximately half of the naval vessels have moved away from Manora. The fort now serves as the

General Headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

of the

Pakistan Marines ur, اور اللہ کی رسی مضبوط تھام لو سب مل کر اور آپس میں پھٹ نہ جانا (فرقوں میں نہ بٹ جانا) "And hold fast to the rope of Allah, all of you together, and do not be divided;" (''Qur'an ...

."Marine Badges: Pakistan"

Gallery

File:QASIM Fort.JPG, Manora Fort as seem from its

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

File:Old Guns Qasim Fort.JPG, Old anti-ship munitions at the fort

External links

Manora Fort, Karachi

Manora Fort Photo

References

Forts in Sindh Karachi Pakistan Navy bases {{Pakistan-struct-stub