Manora Fort, Karachi



The Manora Fort or Qasim Fort has been built on Manora Island several times in history to protect the harbour of Karachi. Manora or Manoro or Morontobara is a small peninsula (2.5 km²) located just south of the Port of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

Manora Island was known as Morontobara to the ancient Greeks. The area of Karachi was known to the ancient Greeks by many names: Krokola, the place where Alexander the Great camped to prepare a fleet for Babylonia after his campaign in the Indus valley; 'Morontobara' island (ancient Manora island near Karachi harbour), from where Alexander's admiral Nearchus set sail; and Barbarikon (Βαρβαρικόν), a port of the Indo-Greek Bactrian kingdom. During the rule of the Mughal administrator of Sindh, Mirza Ghazi Beg the city was well fortified the Manora Fort against Portuguese pirate incursions in Sindh. The Manora Island and was visited by Ottoman admiral Seydi Ali Reis and mentioned in his book Mir'ât ül Memâlik in 1554. According to the British historian Eliot, parts of city of Karachi and the island of Manora at port of Karachi constituted the city of Debal.

A small fort was constructed in the 18th century by the Talpur dynasty when the port of Karachi traded with Oman and Bahrain. The fort was stormed by the British in 1839 because of the strategic location of Karachi.

The Manora fort was stormed by the British in 1839 because of the strategic location of Karachi. On 1 February 1839 a British ship, the Wellesley, anchored off the island of Manora. By 3 February, the fort at Kolachi had surrendered without firing a single shot and this small fishing village reached a turning point in its history. Although the fort is now buried beneath the naval base, the lighthouse is a visible reminder of the British presence having been built in 1889 to assist vessels approaching Karachi harbor.

Manora Island and its fort have served for more than 50 years as the main base of the Pakistan Navy, with berths for naval vessels located along the eastern edge of the island. The island has been governed as a military cantonment despite being located so close to Karachi. The opening of the new Jinnah Naval Base at Ormara, 250 kilometers away, has meant that approximately half of the naval vessels have moved away from Manora.