Larkana Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Larkana Town
Head-quarters of Larkana District, Sind, Bom- bay, situated in 27° 33’N.and68° 16' E., on the south bank of the Ghar canal, 40 miles south-west of Shikarpur town, and 36 north-east of Mehar, and on the North-Western Railway. Population (1901), 14,543. The country surrounding Larkana is fertile and populous, and perhaps the finest tract in the whole of the province. The spa- cious walks, well laid-out gardens, and luxuriant foliage, have gained for Larkana the title of the ' Eden of Sind.' It is one of the most important grain marts of Sind, and is famous for a variety of rice called sugddsi. There is a large local traffic in metals, cloth, and leather. The principal manufactures are cloth of mixed silk and cotton, coarse cotton cloth, metal vessels, and leathern goods.
The town contains a dispensary, an Anglo-vernacular school attended by 80 pupils, and a vernacular school with three branches, attended altogether by 379 pupils. The chief local object of interest is the tomb of Shah Baharah, who was a military officer of Nur Muhammad Kalhora and died in 1735. Of modern buildings the most noteworthy are the Collector's office, a fine domed building with an ornamental Darbar hall, erected in 1902 ; and a neatly-built school and boarding- house for the sons of zafmnddrs, erected by public subscription in the same year. This school has 60 inmates and teaches English and SindT. The municipality, established in 1855, had an average income of Rs. 46,000 during the decade ending 1901. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 54,000.
