Karachi Gymkhana.

Photograph of the Gymkhana buildings at Karachi taken by an unknown photographer, c.1900, from an album of 46 prints titled 'Karachi Views'. Karachi, the former capital of Pakistan, is the largest city and main commercial centre of the country and the capital of Sindh province in the lower Indus valley. Its history prior to the 19th century as a port on the Arabian Sea north-west of the mouth of the Indus is scant, but it is believed to be ancient. It has been identified as Krokala, the port visited by Alexander's fleet in 326 BC, is noted in a collection of 16th century Turkish sailing directions, and was transformed from a fishing village to a trading post under the Kalhora and Talpur rulers of Sindh in the 18th century. However, it remained modestly sized until the British conquest of Sindh in 1843. They

developed the port of Karachi and completely transformed it into a major centre of the Indian sub-continent's export trade. The British had also developed the concept of gymkhanas or sports-houses which provided facilities for all sorts of sports and games for the colonial population in the sub-continent. The Karachi Gymkhana Club, located on Scandal Point (later Club) Road, was a large Tudor-style building, constructed in 1886.