Umarkot or Umer Kot,[1], also known as Amar Kot, Omarkot and Omercote, (Sindhi: عمرڪوٽ ,Urdu: عمرکوٹ ) is town in the Umerkot District in Sindh, Pakistan. The city is well connected with the other large cities like Karachi, the provincial capital and Hyderabad.
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Formerly known as Amarkot, it was the capital of Greater Sindh Province, including some parts of present Rajasthan state of India. It also became prominent during the time of the Mughals and during the British Raj. The Mughal king Akbar was born in Umerkot when his father Humayun fled from military defeat at the hands of Sher Shah Suri. Rana Prasad, a Hindu Sodha Rajput ruler of Amarkot, gave refuge to Humayun. [2][3] Later the Mughal Emperor Akbar became the Shahenshah of Hind and was a popular figure with both Hindus and Muslims. Umerkot has many sites of historical significance such as Mughal emperor Akbar's birthplace at Umarkot Fort on 14 October 1542 [4]. Rana Chandra Singh (1931–2009) was the Rana of the former Amarkot jagir after 1947, and remained a member of National assembly many times and also a federal minister[5][6].
There is no most influential zamindar in Umerkot though Khan Sahib's sons, specially Aijaz Pali claimed to be most influential. However, he didn't have a real influence except his father's name who had been influential in British Raj. Palli is a noble and very influence family in umerkot district.They are most relative to his peer Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Hussain Shah Qureshi.
Another significant story relating to Umarkot is that of Umar Marvi. Marvi was a young Thari girl abducted by Umar, then-ruler, who wanted to marry because of her beauty. Upon her refusal she was being imprisoned in the historic Umerkot Fort for many years until her ultimate release. Because of her courage, Marvi is an ideal for the local people.
Great city has a very beautiful fort, nice shopping streets, more than 20 schools, 5 colleges and one mono technical college.
People of Umerkot are very gentle and progressive. Most spoken language is Dhatki which is actually mixture of several local languages.However,Urdu is also understood and the local people welcome the guestes.
The Information Technology Department, District Government has launched District Government Umerkot's official websites.
1.District Government Umerkot official website (English Version)
2.District Government Umerkot official website (Sindhi Version)
3.District Government Umerkot official website (Sindhi Version)