c.1890s: Empress Market, Karachi, Pakistan by Hossain MD Kaiser Via Flickr: The Empress Market (1884-1889), was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee, initially served as a communal market and later became an integral part of the city's urban fabric. 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.
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. 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.
