Mirpur Khas

Talpurs conquered Sindh in 1784 and under Mir Fath Ali Khan was divided into three smaller regions under Talpur family. The three regions were centred around Hyderabad, Khairpur, and Mirpur Khas. The Mankani branch of the family under Mir Ali Murad Talpur inherited the region around Mirpur Khas in 1801, and founded the new city of Mirpur Khas in 1806 to serve as the new capital.

Mirpur Khas remained capital of Talpur Mirs of Mirpurkhas until 1843, when Sindh was annexed to British India under the East India Company following the conquest of Sindh by Charles James Napier and defeat of Mir Sher Muhammad Talpur on 24 Mar 1843 at the battleground of Dubbo. His battle for the Sindh state earned him the moniker "Lion of Sindh”.

After independence of Pakistan in 1947, because of its proximity with the Indian border, Mirpur Khas became first city to welcome refugees to Pakistan. It acted as a primary railway junction for first trains to rail across Rajasthan to Sindh province. The Partition of British India resulted in the large-scale exodus of much of the city's Hindu population, though like much of Sindh, Mirpur Khas did not experience the widespread rioting that occurred in Punjab and Bengal. In all, less than 500 Hindu were killed in all of Sindh between 1947-48 as Sindhi Muslims largely resisted calls to turn against their Hindu neighbours. Hindus did not flee Sindh en masse until riots erupted in Karachi on 6 January 1948, which sowed fear in Sindh's Hindus despite the fact that the riots were local and regarded Sikh refugees from Punjab seeking refuge in Karachi.

Mirpur Khas is district capital as well as divisional headquarter in Sindh province. It was the capital of an eponymous princely state. It is 4th largest city in Sindh and the 33rd largest city of Pakistan. According to Census 2017, city’s population is 233,916. Mirpur Khas is known for its mango cultivation, with hundreds of varieties of the fruit produced each year. It is also called the “City of Mangoes,” and has been home to an annual mango festival since 1955. District is spread over 2925 Sq Km and further subdivided in to 7x talukas i.e  Digri, Kot Ghulam Muhammad, Mirpur Khas, Jhuddo, Sindhri, Hussain Bux Mari, Shujabad. According to census 2017, population of district is 1,505,876 with an average of 28.27% of total settled in urban areas.

The city has many government colleges, mostly affiliated with the University of Sindh. Mirpur Khas also has a registered PMDC private medical college, Muhammad Medical College and a state of the art Dental College namely Bhitai Dental and Medical College which not only provides treatment at charitable rates but also has a welfare hospital which runs free of cost with no cash counter. Mirpur Khas has a Sindh University campus with five-degree programs: BS-Information Technology, BS-Computer Science, BS-Commerce, BBA, and BS-Geology. The city has numerous schools, both private and public. The number of private schools has increased since last decade. The top private schools are S.S.A.R high school, Fauji Faundation Model School, The City School, My School System, Szabist college, Little Folks High School,The Vision School, and Govt: S.A.L College etc. Mirpurkhas city has now its own board for examinations called BISE (Board of Intermediate and Secondary Examinations). Previously Mirpurkhas did not have its own affiliated board for examinations of SSC and HSSC education which is undertaken by government affiliations and registration and number of examination boards development in Pakistan are based according to districts, in which every city/village fall under district are guided for examinations in which the city/village is linked. Mirpurkhas previously fell under District Hyderabad, Sindh.

The district's very fertile land produces wheat, onion, sugarcane, cotton, chillies, and mangoes. Irrigation and farming was revitalized after the Jamrao Canal built in the 1900s. Afterwards, the city was able to produce and cycle crops to supply mainly grain, cotton products like fabrics, and sugar from the sugarcane cultivation. For a certain period in history, Mirpurkhas enjoyed being the best cotton producer in the country and much of the income of the town came from cotton farming in its heyday. Nowadays, however, the area is much known its mango produce. 

The city claims to have 252 different varieties of mangoes, of which the most famous variety is the Sindhri Amb, literally the mango from Sindh. The city boasts its mango products at an annual harvest festival showcasing its world-renowned produce. Mirpur Khas is positioned atop a fertile land making conditions apt for farming and irrigation. Being connected to the Indus via irrigation canals like the Let Wah, Mirpur Khas has gained an advantage in horticulture and farming over the years. Bananas are also widely cultivated around the region and also one of the biggest producer of bananas in the country.