Indus flotilla

Indus River Flotilla was a steamship company in British India that plied the Indus River between Karachi and Attock, via Jhirk. It was headquartered at Kotri.

A railway linked Kotri to Karachi and other parts of Punjab and North-West Frontier Province.

In 19th century Jhirk town Kotri was the busiest river port and centre of commercial activity in Sindh. It also served as the headquarters of the Indus flotilla, the most modern navigational system of those days.

Karachi Port was connected to Jhirk the headquarters of Indus flotilla, a town near Kotri from there Indus Flotilla would connect through steam boats to town of Mithankot situated near Rajanpur district was part of Dera Ghazi Khan previously and then continue to the last point Makhad Attock. This part of Indus flotilla was also called as Punjab flotilla and the Indus flotilla interchangeably.

British Indus flotilla consisting of steamboats and railway engines which once plied the Indus river is described by (Shaw 1998).

Hassan Ali Effendi, The Famous educator who was instrumental in establishing Sindh Madrasatul Islam, used to work for Indus flotilla in his early years while learning English. Quaid-e-Azam was one his students in Karachi. The Indus flotilla used large quantities of firewood to fuel the steamboats and Hassan Ali Effendi's job was to account for the inflow and outflow of wood to the steam vessels.

It was because of the commercial importance of the town that the Aga Khan the first or Awal in Urdu/Persian, constructed his palace over there. Another testimony to the importance of Jhirk is that one of the oldest British era schools in Sindh, 15 years older than Karachi’s Sindh Madrasatul Islam, was also established in Jhirk, and is still functioning there.

See also

• Karachi Port

References

• Shaw, Isobell (1998), Pakistan Handbook pp 363.
• Dr Allama Daudpota.
• Khuda Bukhsh Samoo.