Khairpur At Glance :::::::::::

Khairpur has a very magnificent past and rich cultural heritage. It has been through many up and down. It has remained State and Division. There are many historical places like Faiz Mahal, Bali House, Lal Bungalow, Shesh Mahal at Kot Diji. Besides these historical places, there are some of the world famous archaeological sites in the district of Khairpur. One such site is the site of Kot Diji and opposite to it is the giant citadel at the top of the hill beside National Highway.

The archaeological prospective of the Khairpur district dates back to the Lower Palaeolithic period and recent studies in the archaeological past has furnished evidence of the preserve of cultural material from Palaeolithic period to recent historic times.

It was in 1783 that the Talpurs took over and established their authority. Quite a number of buildings including the historic Kot Diji Fort, Shesh Mahal and Faiz Mahal are attributed to have been built by the Talpurs. The state was finally amassed to Pakistan in 1955.

Khairpur District is also rich in its historical monuments such as Ahmedabad Fort, Imam Sarh Fort, Shah Sarh Fort, Soli Shah-Jo-Kubbo, Bux-Jo-Kubbo, Faiz Palace, Shahi Palace, and quite a few Imam Bargahs. The district is equally well-known for a large number of shrines and "Pirs" such as Ranipur, Gambat, Pir-Jo-Goth Shrine of Sachal Sarmast at Daraza and a large number of others.

Khairpur is also a place of research, academic and literary activities. There is a Public Library which houses big number of Books on history and culture. There is also Sachal Academy which has state of the art seminar auditorium where from time to time academic and literary activities are arranged. Besides Khairpur has got Radio Pakistan located adjacent to Sachal Academy. Through Radio Pakistan, the people of Khairpur spread the pearls of their wisdom and knowledge in different fields ranging from education to agriculture. It is here that government decided to built a campus of Sindh University in 1976 and which who given the status of University in 1987.

The rich cultural heritage of Khairpur lies in the fact it has Nara Desert in the East towards South-East of Khairpur. Nara Desert is house of so many plants and animal and ancient archaeological sites and in the South-West lies the Shrine of famous Sufi Poet and Saint Hazart Sachal Sarmast (R.A) where people of different colors and faiths come to comfort themselves spiritually. It is because of the Sufi teaching of Sufi saints, that the people of Khairpur are more tolerant and more academically progressive.

It was in the background that when Pakistan Government was thinking to open up the University in the area of Upper Sindh, Khairpur was selected for the seat of higher learning. As such University named after and other Sufi Saint and Poet Hazart Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

Looking at the rich cultural heritage, historical background of Khairpur, it was realized to open up the Department of Archaeology in Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur. Now the Department of Archaeology has been proposed to be upgraded to the status of Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. It is hoped that with the opening up institute, the cultural and historical heritage of Khairpur can be documented and preserved on the scientific basis.