On the annexation of Sindh by the British in 1843, Sir Charles Napier was appointed Governor of the province with a monthly salary of Rs 8,000. At first he made Hyderabad his headquarters but afterwards he transferred to Karachi. He divided the province into three Collect orates for revenue and magisterial purposes. These were: Karachi, with an area of 160,000 squire meters.; Hyderabad, with an area of 30,000 squire meters. and Shikarpur, with an area of 11,532 squire meters. The Shikarpur Collect orate embraced roughly the whole of present-day Sukkur, Upper Sindh Frontier, and Larkana Districts except for the talukas of Dadu, Johi, and Sehwan. The officer in charge of each District was called a Collector, and had under him Deputy Collectors. The first Collectors were Lieutenant Rathbone in Hyderabad, Captain Preedy in Karachi, and Captain Pope in Sukkur and Rohri (Shikarpur).

Assistant Collectors were responsible for revenue Collection and magisterial duties in the portions of the District called Subdivisions. Each Subdivision comprised several talukas For administrative purposes, the District Was divided into talukas and sometimes even further, into Iflahals Each taluka was in the hands of a Mukhtiarkar who, in addition to revenue duties, had magisterial powers and the custody of a subtreasury established for his taluka. he talukas were further subdivided into tapas, each of Which Was made up of a group of dehs. Between the Mukhtiarkar and the Tapadar, the man in charge of a tapa, there was a cadre of inspecting officers known as supervising Tapadar. There was one supervising Tapadar to every four or five ordinary Tapadars. Sindh, though generally regarded as a non bureaucratized province, became more and more bureaucratized as the principal regulations and acts of the other provinces were, in time, extended to it for political reasons, e.g. revenue collection and judicial efficiency. It was divided into five large portions: the three Collect orates of Karachi, Hyderabad, and Shikarpur, and the two political superintendence’s of Upper Sindh Frontier, with District HQ at Jacobabad, and Tharparkar, with District HQ first at Umerkot and later at Mirpurkhas. Each Collector was assisted by deputy and extra assistant collectors and magistrates. The political subdivisions in District Shikarpur were (i) Sukkur and Shikarpur, and (ii) Rohri. The Sukkur-Shikarpur and Rohri subdivisions.

Sukkur District formed part of the old Shikarpur District created by Sir Charles Napier in 1851. The greater part of the territory seized from Mir Ali Murad of Khairpur was added to it, i.e., Shahbela, Chak, Saidabad, Ubauro, Mirpur parganas, and the Alore, Bakhar, and Sanbarki tapas. The military administration had its headquarters at Shikarpur until 1883, when it was removed to Sukkur. In 1906, the Larkana and Mahar subdivisions, comprising Larkana, Rato Dero, Kambor, Ladbarya, Mahar, Warah, and Kakar talukas, were separated to form part of a new Larkana District; at the same time the designation of Shikarpur District was changed to Sukkur District. In 1904, the mahal of Pano Akil was converted into a taluka. The new District was divided into three subdivisions: Shikarpur, Rohri, and Ubauro

The subdivisions consisted of the following talukas:

During 1883 the headquarters of the District was transferred to Sukkur, the name of the District was changed in 1911, and finally, with the removal of a prison and the civil hospital in 1906 and 1909 respectively, the last traces of Shikarpur as the District headquarters disappeared. Incidentally, Garhiyasin taluka in Shikarpur District was initially called Nausharo Abro but the name was changed to Garhiyasin in Revenue Department resolution number 8298 of 24 August 1909.

Pakistan 1947 onwards Territorial Changes in Sukkur District

In 1969 Sukkur District was divided into four subdivisions Sukkur, Ghotki, Mirpur Mathelo, and Shikarpur with some modifications vide notification No.8_i5/62(50B-1) dated 18 December 1969 of the Chief Secretary of the Government of West Pakistan, Lahore. This change came into effect on 1 January 1970. The notification included the following provisions: i) the subdivision of the District headquarters was to be known as Saddar subdivision; ii) the designation of officers in charge of subdivisions was to be Assistant Commissioner, irrespective of the cadre to which the officers belonged. (Previously, officers of the Provincial Civil Services posted to a subdivision were called Deputy Collectors, while officers of the Civil Service of Pakistan were called Assistant Commissioners. The above notification removed this anomaly.)

Constitution of Shikarpur District

On 1 June 1977 the old Shikarpur subdivision, consisting of the two talukas of Shikarpur and Garhiyasin, was separated from Sukkur District, and a new District Shikarpur was created and attached to Larkana Division. (These changes were authorized through notification No.1/ lO/77Rev1(iv)755 dated 30 June 1977 of the Secretary of the Government of Sindh.)

Two new talukas, Khanpur and Lakhi, were created in addition to taluka Garhiyasin and taluka Shikarpur and were reconstituted * Because of this taluka Sukkur** was also reconstituted:Two new subdivisions, Rohri and Ubauro, were created* and the status of the subdivisions remained. The new taluka Khangarh, with its headquarters at Khangarh Mahar, was also created.** As a result of this change and through the same notification, talukas Pano Akil, Ghotki, and Mirpur Mathelo were reconstituted. The exact location of circles, tapas, and dehs were specified in the same notification. In 1978 the newly-created taluka of Khangarh was discontinued with immediate effect.*

The Modem Administration Revenue Collection

The District is under the general control of a Deputy Commissioner who is assisted by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, four Assistant Commissioners, and six Mukhtiarkar. The District has four subdivisions, i.e., Sukkur, Rohri, Ghotki, and Mirpur Mathelo, and consists of sixteen circles, 152 tapas, and 799 dehs.