Karachi's recorded history begins with the Kalhora dynasty, which founded the settlement in 1729 CE. Under Mian Noor Muhammad and his successors, the port grew from a small town into a functional trading hub, its ships reaching as far as Bombay, Malabar, Bandar Abbas, and Zanzibar. But the Kalhoras lost control in 1781, ceding Karachi to the Khan of Kalat as blood money after Zarak Khan, the ruling khan's brother, was killed in battle. The khan treated Karachi as a revenue stream and nothing more. He appointed a tax collector named Allah Rakho Lohar, who forwarded 250 rupees annually and pocketed the rest. No administrator was posted. No garrison was maintained. The port that could reach Zanzibar had no soldiers to defend it.

Around 1792, Mir Fateh Ali of the Talpur dynasty sent 15,000 men to take Karachi. They camped across the Lyari River, fixing cannon against the fort. Inside, the inhabitants -- along with 500 fishermen and mariners -- held firm under Seth Balramdas, who armed them from his own stores of gunpowder meant for merchantmen. The fort's seaside entrance remained open, supplies were adequate, though the people had to drink brackish well water since the Lyari was inaccessible. After two and a half months, the Talpurs withdrew. A second siege lasted three months. The same defenders, the same merchant ammunition, the same result. The Talpurs retreated to Hyderabad.

For the third attempt in 1794-95, Mir Fateh Ali sent 20,000 men. But this time, the approach was different. Mir Karam Ali, who had a friendship with Seth Dharianamal (Balramdas's successor), sent a letter acknowledging the merchant's twice-victorious defense and appealing to their personal bond. Dharianamal wrote to the Khan of Kalat begging for reinforcements. The khan's reply was effectively an abandonment. So Dharianamal negotiated surrender terms: no Talpur soldiers would enter the town, and the appointed governor would rule with the merchant's counsel. On the 11th of the month of Badh, Dharianamal personally carried the keys of the Mitha and Khara Gates to the Talpur commanders. They received him with great respect, entered the city briefly to inspect the grounds, shared sherbat and rose water in his chambers, and returned to camp.

When the Talpurs offered Seth Dharianamal a share of Karachi's revenues or a remission of import duties as reward, he refused. People might think he had betrayed the town for personal gain, he explained. Mir Fateh Ali overruled him on one point, granting him a one-third reduction in excise duties on his trade and exempting his gardens from land tax. The Talpurs also let him continue operating a private distillery, a privilege his family had held since the Kalhora era. The merchant who had fought two sieges with ship ammunition chose to surrender the city when defense became impossible, and then declined payment for the act. Karachi had changed hands, but its commercial character -- pragmatic, transactional, survival-oriented -- remained unchanged.