Manora (, ) is a small peninsula that forms a protective barrier between Karachi Harbour to the north and the Arabian Sea to the south. Manora, having a total population of 4,273 local residents (as per 2017 census), was formerly an island, but due to silting is now connected to the mainland by a 12 kilometer long natural sandbridge known as Sandspit. The entrance to Karachi was once guarded against pirate raids by the Manora Fort built in the 1790s, which was later upgraded by the British, and then the Pakistan Navy. Geography Manora and neighboring islands form a protective barrier between Karachi Harbour to the north and the Arabian Sea to the south. The western bay of the harbor contains mangrove forests which border the Sandspit and Manora island. The coastline is also home to the Peelu tree (Salvadora persica) that protects Manora's coast from erosion. History The area of Karachi was known to the ancient Greeks. Nearchus, who commanded Alexander the Great's naval fleet, mentioned a hilly island by the name of Morontobara and an adjacent flat island named Bibakta, which colonial historians identified as Karachi's Manora Point and Kiamari (or Clifton), respectively, based on Greek descriptions. Both areas were island until well into the colonial era, when silting in led to them being connected to the mainland. According to the British historian Eliot, parts of city of Karachi and the island of Manora at port of Karachi constituted the city of Debal. Manora was mentioned by the Ottoman admiral, Seydi Ali Reis, in his 1554 book Mir'ât ül Memâlik. Manora Fort was built by the Talpur dynasty in 1797 in order to protect the port, which handled trade with Oman and Bahrain. The fort was used to repel attacks by Qasimi pirates who threatened and sometimes raided Karachi Harbor in the early 19th century. Accounts of piracy have been contested, and piracy may have been simply used as a casus belli excuse for the East India Company to seize control of the Persian Gulf region. On 1 February 1839 a British ship, HMS Wellesley (1815), anchored off the island of Manora. On 3 February the ship opened fire on the fort. When British troops stormed the fort, they reportedly found it guarded by 4 or 5 men, who had no gun to fire back with, and so the fort was quickly surrendered, and Karachi captured. St. Paul's