Lyari is said to be one of the oldest inhabited parts of Karachi, and is referred to by its residents as the “Mother of Karachi.”[2] The first residents of Lyari were Sindhi fishermen and Baloch nomads (pawans). The first influx occurred in 1725, when Sindhi banyas (wāniya) came and expanded it, before Karachi was formally established in 1729.[4] Further waves of Baloch migrants arrived in 1770 and 1795.[4]