Mirpur Khas
Mirpur Khas is a famous city in the province of Sindh in the country of Pakistan. It is the capital city of Mirpur Khas District. It is the 4th greatest city in Sindh with an estimated population of 488,590. Its soil is very rich and fertile. The city is famous known for its horticultural produce and farming, as well as mango cultivation, with various varieties of mangoes produced every year. Mirpurkhas is also developing in I.T Software Education and Business.
Before the Islamic conquest of province Sindh by the Arabian armies of Muhammad Bin Qasim, the land where Mirpur was located had a thriving Buddhist settlement called as Kahoo Jo Daro. The remains of stupa still exist and as the armies settled in the place, newer buildings captured the land and led into massively progressive landscapes. Farming became famous to individuals and horticulture and cotton fields blossomed.
In the year 1806, Mankani Talpurs moved their capital from Keti Mir Tharo and laid foundations for Mirpur Khas under the supervision of Mir Ali Murad Talpur. Mir Sher Muhammad Talpur succeeded Mir Ali Murad and constructed a fort when announce the ruler of the state. He would run a kutchery from within the fort. Mirpurkhas sustained to be the capital of Talpur Mirs of Mirpurkhas until the year 1843 when the province of Sindh was annexed to British India under East India Company. When Charles James Napier invaded the province of Sindh, Mir Sher Muhammad Talpur was the last Talpur ruler to confront the British on the day of 24 March 1843 at the battleground of Dubbo. His war for the liberation of Sindh has given him the title of ‘the lion of Sindh’.
After that, the province of Sindh was made part of Bombay Presidency and Mirpurkhas was a part of it. Umerkot was made the headquarters town of district and Mirpur Khas was neglected until the advent of the Luni-Hyderabad branch of the Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway, a subsidiary of the Scinde Railway to the town. The opening of the Jamrao Canal in the year 1900 made Mirpur Khas stand out of the remaining towns in the district. It was constituted a municipality in the year 1901and was made the district headquarters in the year 1906. At the turn of the 20th century, the population of the town was nearly 2,787 with a density of 82 persons per square mile, although the district, as a whole, saw important progress in the rise of population from 27,866 to 37,273. The cotton produced at Mirpur Khas was believed to be the best in the state when analyzed and the British exploited the produce by exporting it to other nations.
After the emergence of Pakistan in the year 1947, because of its proximity with the Indian border, Mirpur Khas became the 1st city to welcome refugees to country Pakistan. It acted as a significant railway junction for the 1st trains to rail across the state Rajasthan to the Sindh province. The city finds satisfaction and pleasure on announcing having 252 different varieties of “mangoes”, of which the most popular variety is the *Sindhri Amb* genuinely the mango from Sindh. The city boasts its mango products at yearly harvest festival reflecting its world-renowned produce.
The district has very rich and fertile land and it produces wheat, onion, sugarcane, cotton, corn, mangoes and other crops. Though Mirpurkhas has minor industrial park but no industry is functional over there. Although, there are 4 sugar mills, namely Mirpurkhas sugar mills, Mirawah sugar mills, Digri Sugar Mills and Najma sugar mills; of them Mirpurkhas sugar mills is the ancient one.
Mirpurkhas city is also popular for promoting sports in the Sindh. Cricket, hockey, badminton and table tennis are well known sports of Mirpurkhas. Nayyar Ahmed Siddiqui, the International Table Tennis Federation Certified Coach and Certified Member of Olympic Council of Asia also belong to this city.
Mirpur Khas Railway Station is deployed in the middle of city. After 40 years a railway link between the countries Pakistan and India is being opened again. A broad gauge line has been laid from the cities Mirpurkhas to Khokhrapar, which is the border town from Pakistani Side. The new link now attaches Karachi to Jodhpur by the new train service known as Thar Express. In the year 2005, work initiated on converting the meter gauge railway line to Khokhrapar to broad gauge. Mirpurkhas Railway Station has one of the longest platforms in the country Pakistan.