- Type
- Fortress
- Coordinates
- 25.3636°, 69.7339°
History
The fort's origins are disputed: local tradition credits its foundation to Umar, a ruler of the Soomro dynasty, while the Sodha family name the Rajput prince Amar Singh, source of its other name, Amarkot. For centuries the stronghold belonged to the Sodha Rajput ranas, who in 1542 sheltered the Mughal emperor Humayun as he fled from Sher Shah Suri; on 15 October that year his wife Hamida Banu Begum gave birth at Umarkot to the future emperor Akbar. In 1746 the fort was rebuilt by the Mughal governor Noor Mohammad Kalhoro, and the Kalhoras later sold it to the ruler of Jodhpur. The Talpurs regained it in 1813 and held it until the British occupied Sindh in 1843, and after 1947 it passed to the Pakistani state.
What to see
The fort houses a museum run by the Sindh authorities, displaying old manuscripts, coins, documents, calligraphy, Mughal-era arms, jewellery from the Tharparkar region and Jain and Hindu sculpture. Conservation work began here in 2016, including the ruins of a British-era prison within the walls. The nearby spot regarded as Akbar's birthplace is today an open plot of land.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q7881165
Popularity: articles about this site in 10 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).