Mai Kolachi

Mai Kolachi (Urdu: مائی کلاچی ) (Lady Kolachi) was an old fisher woman who settled near the delta of the Indus River to start a community. This port was named after her as Kolachi and this community was later developed into modern Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

Historians tell us that an old name of Karachi was actually Kolachi after the name of an old woman, Mai Kolachi, who was head of the village. She commanded respect among the inhabitants, and as a mark of respect, they named the village after her. In fishing villages of the area, women still dominate the family as the male members usually remain out of home, in the city to catch fish. Women in fishing settlements of Karachi do all domestic chores of males including looking after the children and arranging their food.

The other view about the name is that it was a village of a Kolachi or Kulachi tribe of the Baloch people. Its name was Kulanchi or Kulachi pronounced in Sindhi as "Kalachi" which was in currency even up to the period when Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689-1752), the great mystic Sufi poet of Sindh, was composing poetry and immortalising folktales, legends, historical and semi-historical characters of Sindh.

Yet another tale narrates the story of a little child, probably belonging to a family of fishermen and women, who settled in the area now known as Karachi with her kin. Kolachi grew up into a beautiful young girl, and the word of her beauty was spread far and wide by traders who came to the little fishing village. So famous, in fact, did Kolachi become, that the village began to be recognized by her name.

Kolachi or Kulachi is a Baloch tribe which originated from Kulanch, an area in Makran Balochistan. Mai Kolachi migrated from Makran and settled in the area presently known as Karachi. The word "Mai" is still used in Sindh and it means "Respected Lady".

See also

• Kulanch
• Kulachi (Karachi)
• Kulachi (tribe)
• Kolachi jo Goth
• Krokola
• Karachi
• Kolachi
• Debal
• Bhambore