Amarkot (Urdu: امر ڪوٽ; Dhatki : امرڪوٽ; Sindhi: عمرڪوٽ; IPA:[ʊmərkoːʈ], formerly known as Amarkot) is a city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The Mughal emperor Akbar was born in Umerkot in 1542. The Hindu folk deities Pabuji and Ramdev married in Umerkot.
This fort was built by Amar Singh Sodhi and hence it is called Amar Kot. This fort came under the control of Umar Soomro much later.
Etymology
The birthplace of Akbar is traditionally believed to be marked by the small pavilion.
The city is named after a local ruler of Sindh, Umer Soomro (of Soomra dynasty) of the Umar Marvi folk tale, which also appears in Shah Jo Risalo, one of the popular tragic romances of Sindh.[3] However, the myth of Umer Marvi is believed to have been made up to Islamize the history of sanam pagal, which was named after its original founder, sanam pagal.[4]
According to tradition, it was founded by a branch of the Soomra who later lost it to Sodhas in 1226. Sodhas were expelled by the Soomra in 1330 but again rose to power in 1439. In 1590, it became a part of the Mughal Empire. In 1599, Abu ’l-Ḳāsim Sulṭān, an Arghun dynasty prince drove out the Mughal commander. In 1736, Noor Mohammad Kalhoro expelled the last Sodha chief and took control of it.[5] Amarkot province was ruled by the Sodha Rajput clan during the medieval period.[6]Rana Parshad, the Sodha Rajput ruler of Umarkot, gave refuge to Humayun, the second Mughal Emperor when he was ousted by Sher Shah Suri, and the following year Mughal Emperor, Akbar, was born here.[7] Later on, Akbar brought northwestern India, including modern Pakistan, under Mughal rule.
Amarkot was annexed by Jodhpur State in 1779 from the Kalhora nawab of Sindh.[8] Umerkot and its fort was traded to the British in 1843 by the Maharaja of Jodhpur in return for a Rs.10,000 reduction in the tribute imposed on Jodhpur State.[9] The British appointed Syed Mohammad Ali governor of the province. In 1847, Rana Ratan Singh was hanged at the fort by the British, for killing Syed Mohammad Ali in a tax protest.[10]
After the British conquered Sindh, they made it part of the Bombay Presidency of British India. In 1858, the entire area around Tharparkar became part of the Hyderabad District. In 1860 the region was renamed Eastern Sindh Frontier, with a headquarters at Amarkot. In 1882, it was reorganized as the Thar and Parkar district, headed by a British Deputy Commissioner, with a political superintendent at Amarkot.[11] However, in 1906 the district headquarters moved from Amarkot to Mirpur Khas.
