Bhera
Template:Short description Template:Pp-move-indef Template:Use Pakistani English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox settlement Bhera (Template:Langx; Template:Langx) is a city and a tehsil of Sargodha District, in Punjab province of Pakistan.<ref name=NRB>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The city is known for wood-carved items, textiles (such as quilts and khussas), and certain desserts (such as pheonian and pateesa).<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>
The city comprises the walled Old Town and the surrounding newer development. The Old Town is surrounded by tall walls with eight gates, and is divided into mohallas, or neighborhoods; historically, different castes lived in different mohallas.<ref name=":0" /> The Jhelum River flows to the north of Bhera.
History
According to Ancient Geography of India by Alexander Cunningham, Bhera was once known as Jobnathnagar.<ref>Ancient Geography of India, page 130 – Alexander Cunningham</ref>
The Imperial Gazetteer of India records the history of Bhera as follows: Template:Cquote
In the recent past centuries, Bhera was an important trading outpost on the road to Kabul, and boasted of a taksal (mint) during the rule of Ranjit Singh. The city was known for its knife and cutlery craftsmen, who made fighting daggers (Pesh-kabz) as well as hunting knives and table cutlery, often fitted with handles of serpentine (false jade) or horn.<ref name="WA">Watt, Sir George, The Commercial Products of India, London: John Murray Publishers (1908), p. 561</ref> Sir Robert Baden-Powell described the process by which craftsmen manufactured gem-quality serpentine aka false jade from ores obtained from Afghanistan: "The sang-i-yesham (ore) is cut by means of an iron saw, and water mixed with red sand and pounded (with) kurand (corundum). It is polished by application to the san (polishing wheel), wetted with water only, then by being kept wet with water, and rubbed with a piece of wati (smooth pottery fragment), and lastly by rubbing very finely pounded burnt sang-i-yesham on it. This last process must be done very thoroughly."<ref name="WA" />
Bhera is the setting of the novel Mayyadas Ki Mari (Mayyadas's Castle), by Indian playwright Bhisham Singh Sahni.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite news</ref>
Notable people
- Sukh Jiwan Mal, Raja of Kashmir (1754–1762)
- Karam Shah al-Azhari, ex-Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan; Islamic scholar<ref>Some new faces in Sargodha Dawn (newspaper), Published 26 August 2002, Retrieved 5 June 2023</ref>
- Amarnath Vidyalankar, Indian politician and social worker
- Balraj Sahni, Bollywood actor and writer
- Birbal Sahni, paleobotanist
- Ehsan-ul-Haq Piracha, Finance Minister of Pakistan, (1988–1990)
- J.C. Anand, film producer, distributor, founded Eveready Pictures of Pakistan
- Hakeem Noor-ud-Din, first caliph of Ahmadiyya, physician, scholar of Arabic and Hebrew
- Maulvi Sher Ali, Ahmadi missionary, known for his English translations of the Quran
- Bashir A. Tahir, international banker
- Neelo, Pakistani film actress
- Sikandar Sultan Raja, Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan since January 2020<ref name="auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Inam ul Haq Piracha, Ex-District Nazim and MNA National Assembly of Pakistan<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Muhammad Amin Ul Hasnat Shah, politician, Minister of State for Religious Affairs (2017 – 2018)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>