Tharparkar

 The district derives its name from Thar and Parkar. The name Thar is from Thul, the general term for the region sand ridges and Parkar literary means "to cross over". It was earlier known as Thar and Parkar district, but later became one word Tharparkar. Until 1990, the present district of Tharparkar, Umerkot and Mirpur Khas comprised one district with Mirpur Khas its headquarters. The division into two separate districts on 31st October, 1990, i.e. Mirpurkhas and Thar established the town of Mithi as the new headquarters of the Tharparkar district, while Umerkot was bifurcated on 17th April 1-993.

The district lies between 24° 10' to 25°45' north latitudes and 69' 04' to 71°06' east longitude. It is bounded on the north by Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts, on east by Barmer and Jaisselmir districts of India, on west by district Badin and on south by Rann of Kutch. The total area of the district is 19,638. square kilometers.

The Thar region forms part of the bigger desert of the same name that sprawls over a vast area of Pakistan and India from Cholistan to Nagar Parkar in Pakistan and from the south of Haryana down to Rajisthan in India.

The district is mostly desert and consist of barren tracts of sand dunes covered with thorny bushes. The ridges are irregular and roughly parallel, that they often enclosed sheltered valleys, above which they rise to a height of some forty six meters. These valleys are moist enough to admit cultivation and when not cultivated they yield luxuriant crops of rank grass. But the extraordinary salinity of the subsoil and consequent shortage of potable water, renders many tracts quite uninhabitable. In many of the valleys the subsoil water collects and forms large and picturesque salt lakes, which rarely dry up.

The only hills in the district are at Nagarparkar on the northern edge of the Rann of Kutch which belongs to quite a different geological series. It consist of granite rocks, probably an outlying mass of the crystalline rocks of the Aravalli range. The Aravalli series belongs to Archaen system which constitutes the oldest rocks of the earth crust. This is a small area quite different from the desert. The tract is flat and level except close to Nargarparkar itself. The principal range Karunjhir is 19 kilometers in length and attains a height of 305 meters. Smaller hills rise in the east, which are covered with sparse jungle and pasturage and give rise to two perennial springs named Achleshwar and Sardharo as well as temporary streams called Bhetiani and Gordhro, after the rains.

On the south of the district is the great Rann an immense sart water. It is a flat land, almost at sea level. covered with thick layer of salt which has been left by evaporation of sea water over the centuries. During monsoon it becomes almost part of the sea owing to influx of sea water at Lakhpat Bander on Kori mouth of the Indus and other places. During winter it mostly dries up and surface is covered with salt. At places where the land rise up by few meters, it becomes an island and thus called "bet".

Shah Latif portrayed whatever he searched out in the passionate lyricism with seven characters, all women symbolizing the determination for upholding 'truth' in an antagonistic status-quo largely directed by ever changing tide of time. Tharparkar is the central theme of this classical text consummated by the fascinating lyric and rhythm, Marvi a local Thari girl symbolizes the human attachment and relation ship with the institutions and traditions. The history of Tharparkar, in letter and spirit, is the account of this sentimental humanoid attachment and its reaction towards the changing nature of social fabric.

The indigenous myth and measures to cope with calamities like draught and dearth were loosing their potential in the wake ofstrong influence of cash economy. The fascinating colour of grazing lands and the romantic instinct of tending the flocks of cattle are diffusing in the mushrooming needs of daily life.

The tribes and castes in Tharparkar adopt a kaleidoscopic settlement pattern rather than territorial segregation. Successive waves of invasion have therefore created a mosaic of cultures and ethnic groups in Thar. But all have, in time, bowed to similar means of producion and to a common material culture.

The Tharis are honest, hard-working people and are very generous in hospitality. The gatherings between castes is largely restricted to men. The locale for such interactions being the "autak". Each hamlet will have at least one "autak" situated a discrete distance beyond the thorn hedge of the family quarters. Failing an "autak" the nearest shady tree is designated for meetings with outsiders.

Women largely communicate within their own caste, within which they marry exclusively. Opportunities for meeting women ofother castes become more restricted with higher status. Rajput women observe strickpurdah (seclusion) while poorer Bajeer, Bheel, Menghwar and Kohli are freer to undertake their field tasks.