Pacco Qillo

The fort was formerly known as Pakka Qilla (Urdu) and Pacco Qillo (English), but the name was changed after complaints from the native Sindhi populace.

The Fort was constructed on the hillock known locally as Gunjy, by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro, around 1768 when he founded the city of Hyderabad.[2]

During Talpur rule over Sindh, Mir Fateh Ali Khan left Khudabad and moved his capital to Hyderabad in 1789. He used the Hyderabad Fort as a residence and a place in which to hold his court. He added a harem and other buildings to accommodate the ruling family. To enable residents to fulfill their religious obligations, he commissioned the construction of mosques. During this period, the fort was surrounded by working-class homes. After defeating the Mirs in the Battle of Miani in 1843, the British occupied the fort. Blasts in the fort, later on, destroyed most of the architecture and houses of the public. In 1857, the British razed the remaining edifice to make room for military installation and stores.

Pakka Qila was the sight of a Police Massacare in which nearly 40 MQM protestors were killed by Sindh Police when they fired straight into crowd. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - Pakistan has demanded once again an independent inquiry into the 1990 Hyderabad Pucca Qila tragedy, lamenting that the case of one of the deadliest massacres in the country's history has been put on the back burner. Around 40 people were killed in a police operation in Pucca Qila neighborhood of Hyderabad on May 26 and May 27 in 1990 while the Pakistan Peoples Party was in the government at the Centre. The culprits were never brought to justice.[3]

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  Pacco Qillo Boundary wall
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  Gate of Pacco Qillo
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  View of the fort in 1845
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  Shops below Pacco Quillo

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pacco Qillo, Hyderabad.

• List of forts in Pakistan
• List of cultural heritage sites in Sindh
• List of cultural heritage sites in Pakistan