Khairpur | |||||
Princely state of Pakistan | |||||
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Location of the former princely state of Khairpur | |||||
Capital | Khairpur | ||||
History | |||||
• | Established | 1775 | |||
• | Disestablished | 14 October 1955 | |||
Area | 15,730 km2(6,073 sq mi) | ||||
Today part of | Sindh, Pakistan | ||||
Local Government Department of Sindh |
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The State of Khairpur (Sindhi: خيرپور رياست، Urdu: ریاست خیرپور), also transliterated as Khairpur or Khayrpur, was a princely state on the Indus River in modern-day Sindh, Pakistan, with its capital city at Khairpur. The state was counted amongst the Rajputana states (now Rajasthan in India) to the east. It was a Princely state of Pakistan from 1947 until its end in 1955.
The history of the state of Khairpur is bound up with that of the Talpur clan and its rule over Sind. The origins of the state date back to the disputes over the succession to the leadership of the clan, following the murder of its chief, Mir Bahram Khan in 1775. The clan then revolted against the Kalhoras of Sind, taking control of various parts of the kingdom and eventually replacing them as rulers.
Mir Sohrab Khan Talpur had established control over Upper Sind by 1783. He established his capital at Burahan, which he renamed Khairpur in 1786 and extended his territories over a vast area, eventually helping his kinsmen from Hyderabad to expel the Afghans from the province by 1823. As early as 1811, he divided his territories into three emirates, each ruled by one of his sons, but with his eldest invested as principal amir. To them he left the day-to-day affairs of administration and retired to the Fort of Ahmedabad, in Diji. There, he took a new wife and raised a family, to whom he intended to bequeath a portion of his realm. This incurred the jealousy of his adult grandsons, especially those of his second son, Mubarak 'Ali.