The historic fabric of Shikarpoor, representative of its built form traditions, is predominantly of the residential category; however, there is a variety of other building types present in the built environment and impacting the character of the city's urban forms. As a hub of trade and commerce, the city's commercial (bazaar) areas had an undeniable importance as the primary activity zone. Commercial activity was of such importance that a large number of residential buildings also had combined usage, accommodating small shops in the front of the property at ground level, opening directly onto the street. Besides residential and commercial buildings, structures associated with the religious activities of different communities also had a prominent place in the city's urban fabric. The number and frequency of mosques and temples is evidence of the central place that religion holds in the lives and norms of associated communities. Other than these three main building type categories, there is also a variety of public buildings including educational, healthcare and other welfare facilities. A detailed descriptive analysis of these four major building types, which are a dominant presence within the historic fabric of Shikarpoor, is presented to give an insight into the variety that exists within each of these groups.

Residential: Havelis and Mansions

The most characteristic feature of Shikarpoor's historic fabric is its ‘havelis’, mansions and houses. Nineteenth-century European writers describe the havelis in a rather unadmiring tone, as ‘[…] large, massy, gloomy piles, enclosed and secluded by high brick walls’ (Thornton 1844). Postans (1840-1841) and Burton (1877), commenting on the materials and layout, mention that they are built of unburnt/sun-dried brick and woodwork, with low verandahs and the uppers rooms with little peepholes serving as windows. Houses belonging to wealthier soucars are mentioned as being of a respectable size and convenient. Ross (1883), commenting on height, writes of these as having four and five storeys. The residential unit became an expression of wealth for the merchants of Shikarpoor who started to give considerable importance to their exterior appearance, a trend that was not so common in the region of Sindh at that time. Once this trend was introduced, it gradually became a status symbol for influential and wealthy residents and both Hindus and Muslims took this symbolic expressionism to an extreme, making it a statement of their status and position in the society.