The Governor's House (), officially known as Sindh Governor House, and also known by its former names including Government House, Governor-General's House and President's House, is a

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It is the

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

of the governor of Sindh. The current governor of Sindh is Kamran Tessori. It is located along the Aiwan-e-Sadar Road of Karachi.http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\10\11\story_11-10-2009_pg12_10 Daily Times: Aiwan-e-Sadar Road , Newly renovated Built in 1939, it is a historical building and has been the residence of several prominent figures, including the Commissioners and pre-independence British governors of Sindh, followed by the Governors-General of Pakistan, the President of Pakistan and then by the Governors of present-day Sindh province.

History

Old Government House

The Sindh Governor House is located on the original site of the now-demolished Government House, which was built in the year 1843 by Sir Charles Napier while Sindh was part of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. The Government House had been constructed for Napier's personal use. When Napier left in 1847, the house was bought by the Government of British India and used as an official residence by the Commissioners of Sindh up until 1936.

British Raj

The construction of the present Governor House building started in the year 1936 by renowned architect R.T. Russel and was completed in 1939, at a cost of 700,000

rupee Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currency, currencies of Indian rupee, India, Mauritian rupee, Mauritius, Nepalese rupee, Nepal, Pakistani rupee, Pakistan, Seychellois rupee, Seychelles, and Sri Lankan rupee, Sri Lanka, and of former cu ...

s. The new building was built to replace the Government House, which had been in a state of disrepair and was no longer suitable for habitation. Sir Lancelot Graham, the first Governor of Sindh, laid the foundation stone of the building and started using it as his residence in 1939. After Graham, the succeeding governors of Sindh, Sir Hugh Dow (1941–1946) and Sir Francis Mudie (1946–1947), also lived in the building.

Post-independence

Following Pakistan's

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

in August 1947 and Karachi's designation as the country's capital, the building became the residence of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and its first

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

. From that point onward, the building became known as the "Governor-General's House" and was used as an official residence by all Governor-Generals of Pakistan who succeeded Jinnah. Jinnah had continued to reside in the house until his death in September 1948. In 1956, the post of Governor-General was abolished and replaced by the President of Pakistan, thus making the last governor-general of Pakistan, Iskandar Mirza, the country's first elected president. The building was thereafter referred to as the "President's House." By the 1970s, Karachi was no longer the capital of Pakistan; the federal government was shifted to

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

. With the dissolution of the One Unit scheme and revival of provinces, Karachi was designated the capital city of Sindh. The house eventually became the residence of the Governor of Sindh and continues to be so as of present.

References

External links

Official website: Governor of Sindh

Governor House Karachi at Wikimapia
{{Karachi topics , state=autocollapse Buildings and structures in Karachi