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The
Empress
Market
was
constructed
between
1884
and
1889
and
was
named
to
commemorate Queen
Victoria, Empress
of
India.[2] The
market
was
constructed
at
a
well-chosen
site
that
was
clearly
visible
from
a
great
distance.
The
site
of
the
market
had
historical
significance
as
it
was
situated
on
the
grounds
where
a
number
of
native sepoys were
executed
after
the failed
1857
uprising
against
British
rule. Accounts
mention
that
the
sepoys
had
their
heads
blown
off
by
cannonballs
in
an
attempt
to
suppress
any
mutinous
feelings
among
the
locals.[3] The
British
fearing
that
the
local
population
will
build
a
monument
to
honor
the
executed
sepoys
instead
built
the
Empress
Market
to
commemorate
Queen
Victoria.[4]
The
foundation
stone
of
the
Empress
Market
was
laid
by
the-then
Governor
of
Bombay, James
Fergusson in
1884,
who
also
laid
the
foundation
of
the Merewether
Memorial
Tower.
It
was
designed
by
James
Strachan
(architect),
the
foundations
were
completed
by
the
English
firm
of
A.J.
Attfield,
and
the
building
was
constructed
by
the
local
firm
of
'Mahoomed
Niwan
and
Dulloo
Khejoo'.
The
building
was
arranged
around
a
courtyard,
130 ft
by
100 ft,
with
four
galleries
each
46 ft
wide.
The
galleries
provided
accommodation
for
280
shops
and
stall
keepers;
at
the
time
of
its
construction
it
was
one
of
only
seven
markets
in
Karachi.[5]
Empress
Market
is
a
grand
structure
in
the Indo-Gothic
style having vaulted
roofs, cusped
arches,
a
140-foot-high clock
tower studded
with
leopard
heads.[6]
In
2017,
according
to
the
reports
in
the
news
media,
Karachi
citizens'
hopes
for
seeing
a
badly
needed
renovation
and
repair
job
on
this British
Raj building
were
fading
away.
The
previous Governor
of
Sindh also
had
ordered
the
building's
renovation
when
he
was
in
office,
but
they
never
materialized.[2]
Originally,
Empress
Market
had
280
shops
and
stalls
inside
the
building.
In
the
year
1954,
the KMC increased
the
number
to
405
shops
and
stalls
and
also
built
an
additional
1,390
shops
and
cabins
on
outside
the
building.[7]
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