Umerkot, the fort of Umer as it means was found by Umer, the first king of the Soomro dynasty (1050-1350) A.D. the town has a conspicuous fort which was perhaps built by one of the Soomra rulers. In the first half of the 13^th century, the fort was occupied by the Rajput ruler named Perma Sodha, whose successors held it for centuries. Rana Parshad one of the rulers of that dynasty played host to Humayun and his contingent on his way to Persia. Kalhoras took the possession of Umerkot but one of the rulers of this dynasty sold it to the Raja of Jodhpur. When Talpurs came to powers, they recovered it in 1813 A.D. it remained in their possession till the British occupied Sindh.

The ancient fort of Umerkot is roughly rectangular in plan measuring 946×785 feet in all. The walls both on its interior & exterior give a tapered look, well supported on all the four corners with semi-circular bastions. On eastern side, there is an arched gateway flanked by semi-circular bastions. Originally the façade of the fortification walls of the fort were lined with burnt brick tiles laid in mud mortar and its core filled with mud. The fortification wall was originally 17 feet wide and raised to a masimum height of 45 feet.