Karachi – a city with no past but tons of history

Speakers discuss the city that is home to millions and welcomes them all

KARACHI: The chief engineer of Karachi's municipality famously said in 1914, "Karachi has practically no past other than what the British contributed when they occupied in 1839 a small mud built town of 12,000 to 14,000 inhabitants."

The head of the University of Karachi’s visual arts department and sculptor, Durriya Kazi, said this while reading out her romanticised piece on Karachi at a session on 'Do You Know Your City? - Dialogue II' at Frere Hall on Friday.

There is no map book of Karachi, according to her. The city has no history for its visitors, no calendar of events for its residents. "It's a city that is spread by word of mouth. A city to be experienced rather than viewed," she said, adding that this may be what made Karachi feel like home for those whose ancestors lived here, for those who were born here, for those who faced the trauma of Partition and for those who come here for work. "This city envelops and accepts them all," she said.

Pashtun labourers, she explained, say they work in Karachi because no one asks them where they are from, only what they can do. For Kazi, the streets and buildings are the ambience of those who lived here once and those who live here today.



The names of streets like Pedro D'Silva Road, Moses Ibn Ezra Street, Nasarwanji Street and Chaghatai Road coexisting with Noorani Masjid Road and Mir Mohammad Baloch Street illustrates the past of this city, she said.

"Today's Karachiwalas having no resonance with street names and prefer personal navigation maps based on landmarks like Disco Bakery, Nasir Jump, Ayesha Manzil, Mochi Morr and Mukka Chowk," she said. "Karachi [has] become a collection of personal narratives and personal aspirations - a city as great or as small as the route taken by its residents."

Christians in Karachi 

Speaking about the Christian population of the port city, social and environmental activist Roland D'Souza said that Christianity came to ‘Kurrachee’ with British in the mid-19th century from Goa. "There wasn't much there [in Goa]. They came and settled in Keamari, Ghari Khatta and Saddar," he explained.

Protestant and Catholic missionaries accompanied the British troops to convert the ‘heathens’ in India. "Most of the success they had was with scheduled castes in Punjab and Sindh," he said. The Christians in Karachi compromise mostly Urdu and Punjabi speaking people.



Goans, Anglo-Indians, Madrassis, East Indians, Chinese and others also comprise the city’s Christian community. The Chinese Christians, he said seemed to have vanished from the city over time.

In 1855, he said that the Holy Trinity Cathedral was constructed. In 1847 the Anglo Indian School was built. In 1858 JC Misquita Bakery - famous for its hot cross buns - was opened in Saddar. In the year 1872 Saint Patrick’s School was opened and in 1862 Saint Joseph’s Convent School was opened.



In 1931 the Saint Lawrence Church, where D’Souza got married, was constructed by a very interesting architect, he said. In 1886, he said that the Goa Portuguese Association was established. In 1980 it turned into the Karachi Goan Association.

Speaking about what the community has given to the city, he said that the Goans were most known for their honesty and hard work. Before Partition, he said that a large number of Christian people were in the Customs, police, Railways and other departments. In Karachi, he said there have been great Christian teachers, engineers, social workers, civil servants.