ABSTRACT

Historians dispute whether or not Nearchus, Alexander's admiral, set sail from there on the return to Babylon, but it seems that in early times the chief port for the Indus Delta was Debalbunder, some distance to the east. In the eighteenth century Karachi was the port from which Baluchi and Afghan mercenaries set out in coasting steamers to hire their swords to Hindu princes of Kathiawar. If few Indian cities were profoundly affected by the war, to Karachi it was the beginning of a new era of progress and development. In Karachi the roads were wide and straight and there were a few fine bungalows, but gardens were almost impossible. The campaign in Iraq brought immense profit to Karachi contractors and with the rise in prices the whole hinterland flourished, remote Baluch notables bought motor-cars and invested money in Karachi banks. New houses and new quarters rose everywhere and the suburbs of Karachi sprawled clumsily over the desert.