KHAIRPUR, or Khyrpoor, a native state in Sind, India, lying between 26° 10' and 27’ 46' N. lat., and 68° 14' and 70° 13' E. long., bounded on the N. by ShikArpur district, S. by JAisalmir state, E. by Hyderabad district, and W. by the Indus river, with an area of 6109 square miles. Like other parts of Sind, Khairpur consists of a great alluvial plain, very rich and fertile in the neighbourhood of the Indus and the irrigation canals, the remaining area being a continuous series of sand-hill ridges covered with a stunted brushwood, where cultivation is altogether impossible. A small ridge of limestone hills passes through the northern part of the state, being a continuation of a ridge known as the Ghar, running southwards from Rohri. The state is watered by five canals drawn off from the Indus, besides the Eastern NAra, a canal which follows an old bed of the Indus. In the desert tracts are pits of natron, forming a source of revenue to the chief; as many as a thousand camel loads are annually exported to northern and central India, as well as to the seaboard, each load being taxed at 5s....
A census taken in 1872 returned the population at 130,350, or 21 per square mile. The Moslems chiefly belong to the Rajur tribe. The Hindus are principally Rajputs of the Soda Thakur clan, who inhabit the extreme eastern part of the state. They are a well-built and sturdy race, of nomadic habits, their wealth consisting in herds of camels, oxen, sheep, and goats. The principal food grain crops are jodr {Hοlcus sorghum), bdιjrd {Holcus spicatus), wheat, gram, and pulses. Indigo is largely cultivated, and cotton to a less extent. Fruits consist of the mango, mulberry, apple, pomegranate, date, &c. Several varieties of forest trees are grown in the mir s game preserves. The annual value of the export trade is estimated at about £52,000, and the imports at £25,000. Cotton and silk fabrics, silver ware, lacquered wood-work, boots, shoes, horse trappings, swords, matchlocks, and pottery are the chief manufactures. A small quantity of salt and saltpetre is also manufactured. The revenue of the state, which is collected in kind, the mir receiving one-third of the produce, is estimated to amount to about £50,000. The climate is agreeable during about four months of the year, and fiercely hot during the remaining eight. The principal diseases are fever, ophthalmia, and cutaneous affections.
The chief or mir of Khairpur belongs to a Baluchi family, known as the Talpur, which rose on the fall of the Kalhorâ dynasty of Sind. About 1813, during the troubles in Cabul incidental to the establishment of the Bârakzai dynasty, the mfrs were able to refuse the tribute which up to that date had been somewhat irregularly paid to the rulers of Afghanistan. In 1832 the individuality of the Khairpur state was recognized by the British Government in a treaty, under which the use of the river Indus and the roads of Sind were secured. When the first Cabul expedition was decided on, the mir of Khairpur, Ali Murad, cordially supported the British policy; and the result was that, after the battles of Miani and Daba had put the whole of Sind at the disposal of the British, Khairpur was the only state allowed to retain its political existence under the protection of the paramount power.
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