Indus Steam Flotilla

Indus Steam Flotilla

The Indus Steam Flotilla was a freight and passenger steamship company which operated initially between Karachi and Multan and later between Kotri and Multan after the completion of the Karachi-Kotri Railway Line between 1858 and 1870. The Indus Steam Flotilla provided "the navigation of the Indus, &c, by means of steam vessels [sic], between Kotri and Multan, to be worked in connection with the railways." It plied the Indus and Chenab Rivers from Karachi Port in the south to Makhad in the north via Jhirk and Mithankot. The journey between Karachi and Multan alone took up to 40 days. The company had its headquarters in Kotri, and its promoters negotiated the same guaranteed rate of return as the original guaranteed railways. It later merged with the Scinde and Punjab Railways to form the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway. With the Scinde Railway in place, the Indus Flotilla steamers could take cargo from Kotri instead of Karachi (saving about 150 miles (240 km) through the Indus River delta). The railway bypassed Jhirk (Jherruk), reducing its importance. In 1856, the Scinde Railway charter was expanded to include the construction of Punjab Railway connecting Multan