Saddar Town

Saddar Town (, ) is a town in the central part of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The word Saddar generally means the “centre” (of a settlement) and also “head” (of a group of people or an organisation). The town is bordered by Jamshed Town and Clifton Cantonment to the east, Kiamari Town and the Arabian Sea to the south and Lyari Town to the west. The majority of the population are Gujarati Muslims.

History

Saddar Town contains much of the oldest parts of Karachi, in particular the neighbourhoods of Kharadar and Mithadar which represent the pre-colonial history of Karachi. The names mean Salty Gate and Sweet Gate respectively and refer to the two main gates of the old walled town of Karachi which stood on the sites of the two modern neighbourhoods. The Salty Gate opened towards the Arabian Sea (hence the word “salty”) and the Sweet Gate opened towards the Lyari River (hence the word “sweet”).

During the colonial era, Saddar was the centre of Karachi, a status maintained from 1947 to the 1960s, when the federal government offices were based in Saddar. They have now been replaced by the offices of the provincial Government of Sindh. Many beautiful examples of colonial architecture can be found in Saddar Town including the main building of Karachi Grammar School, Frere Hall and the Sindh Club.

The federal government introduced local government reforms in the year 2000, which eliminated the previous third tier of government (administrative divisions) and raised the...
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