Kurrach'ee

Kurrach'ee (Karachi), the capital of Sind and of Kurrachee district, and the chief port of entry for the Punjab, stands at the northern end of the great Indus delta, and close to the frontier of Beluchistan. It is a terminus of the Sind, Punjab, and Delli Railway, and is 1169 miles by rail (about half that distance direct) SW. of Delhi. Kurrachee has an extensive harbour, sheltered by a break-water and a long reef, at the extremity of which is a fixed light 120 feet above the sea. The landing-place is on Kiamari Island, which is connected with the town by the Napier mole, 3 miles long. The entire cost of the great harbour improvements, completed in 1873, was £450,000; and there is now a lowest depth over the bar of 20 feet. Kurrachee is a modern town, and its public buildings and churches are generally uninteresting, the most attractive being the Frere municipal hall (with a library and museum), named after Sir Bartle Frere (q.v.), of whom there is also a statue here. To the east and north are the cantonments, and, close by, a public garden of 40 acres. The place is generally healthy, and not so hot as the inland districts of Sind; and there is now a good water-supply. There are ironworks and several large cotton presses in the town, the cotton of Sind and the Punjab forming an important article of export. The principal exports, however, are wheat and oil-seeds. The annual trade of the port has risen to above £7,000,000; the inland trade extends to Afghanistan and Beluchistan. Pop. (1881) 73,560; (1891) 105,109, with the cantonments.—Kurrachee district has an area of 14,115 sq. m.; pop. 560,880, mostly Mohammedans. See Baillie, Kurrachee, Past, Present, and Future (1890).