Larkana

Larkana (old name Abbasiya) the fourth largest city of Sindh is located in the Northwest of Sindh. The thickly populated city celebrated its hundredth year of existence in August 2000. Name of Larkana is mentioned in a book tuhfatulakram written in Kalhore reign however, nothing is told about origin of city.  The city was famous for its production of cloth in these days. Product of cloth was further shifted from Mohen-Jo-Daro to the rest of countries via water ways, in the mean time the same cloth was used for mummification in Egypt. Thus credit for unparalleled technological advancement of Mohen-Jo-Daro goes to its trade of cloth.

Aryans had come to Sindh in 2234 B.C. and settled in different part of Sindh, and while crossing Larkana, reached Bhanbhoor. Jhokar-jo-Daro is proof of Aryan visit. Different people came in Sindh but non could eliminate the tradition of Aryans till teachings of Gotam Bodh spread in 480's B.C whose proof is found in Moen-jo-Daro that was a center of worship for Buddhism. Sikandar (i-e Alexander) attacked Sindh in 330 B.C. His forces had crossed little known village as Mahota. It was named by his forces as Maota in Greek. After Greeks, Sindh was ruled by Gupta dynasty from 320 CE to 525 CE. Thus, Chandias were rewarded heavily for their contribution. It was in this period that Larkana was named as Chandka. However, after demise of Jam Nizamuddin, Shah Beg Argon started ruling over Sindh. Larkana city is purely result of Construction of Canal “Ghaar Wah”. In the late 16th century, Kalhora started their rule and Shah Baharo was a ruler of Larkana. During kalhora reign, Sindhi language rose to its peak, especially in the period of Mian Sarfaraz Ahmed Kalhoro.

After end of Kalhora rule, Talpur tribe governed the area and Nawab Wali Muhammad Khan became Governor of Larkana. The area was occupied in 1843 by Britain and Sindh was divided in three parts i.e Karachi, Hyderabad and Shikarpur. Larkana was the part of Shikarpur and Dadu was part of Larkana. In 1930, Dadu was made a separate district and Larkana got its present shape during Historic movement for Pakistan. Larkana was established as division in 2000 but it abolished however, it was restored again as Division and 5 x disitricts i.e Jacobabad, Kashmore, Kambar Shahdadkot, Shikarpur and Larkana were placed under the division.

As per Census 2017, Larkana city is the 15th largest city in the Pakistan with 490508 total populations. Larkana city is located on south bank of Ghar canal an about of 64 km south of Shikarpur, and 58 km northeast of Mehar. Whereas, Larkana district covers 1906 Sq Km with 1,524,391 of total population. The district is 10^th largest city in Sindh. Larkana district is bounded by Balochistan Province in North, Shikarpur in East, Khairpur and some parts of Naushahro Feroze and Kohistan area of Khirthar Ranges in West.

Majority of the population in the city is belongs to Muslims i.e. 90 plus percent however, a number of Hindus can be seen practicing their rituals. Both the Muslims and the Hindus live peacefully in the city.

Agriculture is main source of employment for the rural population of the district. In urban areas people are engaged in various economic activities like trade, services, personal business, and government and private jobs. Larkana falls in Rice Other Sindh Agro Climatic Zonex which is good for rice production with sugarcane where irrigation allows. The Kharif crops produced in the district are rice, cotton, sugarcane, bajra and jawar. The Rabi crops are wheat, Barley, gram, pulses and fodder . Larkana is known for its quality production of guava and berry.  However, salinity issues have destroyed the lands of district. Livestock contributes 51% to the value addition in agriculture sector of Pakistan and also contributes 9% to the GDP of Pakistan. The most kept livestock in Larkana are cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, camels, horses, mules, donkeys and poultry.

The old method of irrigation was to use the river channels. Now the area is irrigated by network of canals. Rice canal, Dadu Canal, Warah canal, Khirthar canal and Saifullah Magsi Canal irrigate 870,127 acres of land.Rice and Dadu canals are 76 km and 80 km long. The Katcha area of Larkana, Rato Dero and Dokri talukas are cultivated during Rabi season, and this is termed as Sialabi cultivation.

Industrial estate in Larkana was established in 1964-65 with an aim to promote small industries within the city. It is spread over 59 acres and the total plots are 313 with the size of plots being 1 - 2 canals. The existing manufacturing units in Larkana include sugar, flour and rice mills, chilies and spices processing units, ice factories, oil mills, plastic pipes, steel pots, clay pots, furniture and gold ornaments.

According to the Sindh Multiple-Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) of 2014, 100% of the population in Larkana has access to improved sources of drinking water. 3.3% of people are using piped water, 95% people use drinking water from protected wells and 1.7% are sourcing their drinking water from hand pumps. In the case of Larkana, 2.4% of households have water piped directly to their dwelling while 0.4% have piped water in their yard/plot. A further 95% have access to a protected well and 1.7% have access to a hand pump. Access to clean drinking water has a direct link with nutritional status. 68.6% of people in Larkana district are using pour flush latrines, 2.7% are using pit latrines with slabs and 2% are using ventilated improved pit latrines.

There are a total of 1,168 government schools in Larkana district. Out of which 88.4% are primary schools, 15.8% are exclusively for girls, 10.2% are for boys and 74% are mixed schools. In these institutions, 29.8% are female teachers, whereas remaining are male teachers.

There are four national assembly constituencies and 5 provincial assembly constituencies in district Larkana.

There is a network of metal led and katcha roads all over the district. All the taluka headquarters are connected with the district headquarters either by road or by rail. The leading road i.e N-55 (Karachi to Peshawar) is crossing near Larkana city which links the major cities of country and province. Railway track also runs through the district from north to south. Larkana itself has a railway junction.