Gujrat, Pakistan

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GujratTemplate:Efn (Template:IPA) is a city, located along the western bank of the Chenab River, in the northern region of Punjab, Pakistan.<ref name="Location of Gujrat">Template:Cite web</ref> Located around the historic Gujrat Fort, it serves as the headquarters of its eponymous district and division. It is the 11th-most populous city in Punjab and the 16th in Pakistan, with an urban population of 574,240 in 2023.<ref name="Population city">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="nrb.gov.pk">Template:Cite web</ref> Having an industrial and export-oriented economy, Gujrat constitutes the "Golden Triangle of Punjab" alongside Sialkot and Gujranwala.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Naz">Template:Cite web</ref> It is also known for being the setting of the classical Punjabi folktale of Sohni Mahiwal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Gujrat is a place of some antiquity and abounds in important ancient sites. The city and district formed part of the kingdom of Porus who ruled primarily within the Chaj Doab. He was defeated by Alexander after a difficult campaign at the Battle of Hydaspes in May 326 BC.<ref name=":0" /> Alexander was impressed by his bravery and decided to reinstall him as a vassal of the Macedonian Empire. Instead of rehabilitating Gujrat, which had been affected during Alexander's invasion, some local legends suggest that after the death of King Porus, a ruler named Raja Kula Chand (sometimes linked to Chandragupta) founded a new settlement near Jalalpur Jattan. This new city, reportedly comprising several smaller settlements, was named Kulachor.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

With Alexander's death in June 323 BC, Chandragupta Maurya (referred to in Greek sources as "Sandrokottos") who was from Magadha region (present-day Bihar in India) Mauryan Empire.<ref name=":0" /> It remained under the Mauryas until shortly after the death of Ashoka in 231 BC, and later came under the sway of Demetrius I who founded the Indo-Greek Kingdom.<ref name=":0" /> The Scythian invasion brought about by Maues in the latter half of the second century brought a change of rulers and the Indo-Scythian Kingdom was established shortly after.<ref name=":0" /> This would change in the early first century CE when a Parthian governor Gondophares declared independence from the Parthian Empire. He moved east in 19 CE, conquering territory from the Indo-Scythians and Indo-Greeks, thus forming his own Indo-Parthian kingdom.<ref name=":0" /> The domains of the Indo-Parthians were greatly reduced following the invasions of the Kushans in the second half of the first century CE, who formed a vast prosperous empire in Central and South Asia which oversaw a flowering of Buddhism.<ref name=":0" />

For several hundreds years, nothing is known about the area except between 455 and 550 CE, when it was exposed to the ravages of the Alchon Huns.<ref name=":0" /> After the decline of the Alchon Huns, it became the main base of the new kingdom of Gurjara, under a certain Alakhana.<ref name=":0" /> According to the Rajatarangini, it was invaded between 883 and 902 CE by Sankaravarman of the Utpala dynasty in Kashmir who fought and defeated the Gurjara ruler Alakhana.<ref name=":4">Template:Citation</ref> The name Alakhana etymologically is in reference to the Alchon Huns.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">Template:Cite book</ref> This may be the Ali Khan whom the present Gujjar tribe in Gujrat hail as their elder and founder of Gujrat.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> The putative Hunnic origin of the ruler Alakhana, remembered as Ali Khan in the tradition and memory of the Gujjars centuries after their conversion to Islam, led British historians to conclude that the Gujjars were originally from the stock of the Alchon Huns.<ref name=":5" />

Gujrat was known and inhabited during the early 16th century when the Suri ruler Sher Shah toppled the Mughals under Humayun.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The area was named Khwaspur,<ref name=":0" /> in honour of Suri's Governor of Rohtas, Khwas Khan.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> The city came under the Mughal Empire and was further developed during the reign of Akbar in the latter half of the 16th century, who built the Gujrat Fort,<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref> and allowed Gujjars to settle in the fort who had been living within the district for centuries up to this time.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":6">Template:Cite book</ref> The city and district was formally named in reference to the local Gujjar tribe.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" />

In 1605, Syed Abdul Kasim was granted the city as a fief by Akbar.<ref name=":0" /> During the reign of Jahangir, Gujrat was part of the route used by the Mughal family when visiting Kashmir.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the Mughal era, Gujrat was encircled by a wall with five gates, of which only the Shah Daula gate survives.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Gujrats's Alexandria bridge spans the Chenab River, and was built during the British era.

With the death of Aurangzeb, in 1707, the Mughal Empire began to weaken significantly.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite journal</ref> Mughal authority in Punjab remained in the hands of Mughal Nawabs, despite the Afsharid ruler Nader Shah leading an invasion in 1739 that resulted in the sacking of the capital Delhi.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":7" /> Nadir Shah's invasion of India on November 18, 1738, brought devastation to Gujrat as well. With a massive army of two hundred and seventy thousand men, he crossed the Indus and entered the Punjab. His orders were to leave nothing standing within the reach of his troops' weapons, instilling fear particularly in Nawab Zakaria Khan, the Viceroy of Lahore. His forces crossed the Chenab River near the Shahdoula Shrine, entering Gujrat and pillaging the town. As part of his battle strategy, Nadir Shah stationed one of his generals, Mirza Nur Beg, with a contingent in Gujrat, while he himself led the bulk of his forces against the army of the Governor of Lahore, Mirza Kalandar Beg, who was stationed near Wazirabad at the Chenab River.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Mughal rule effectively collapsed in Punjab after Mir Mannu died in 1753. The Durrani Afghans under their new ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani annexed the region directly from the Mughals. The city suffered further from the eight invasions of the Durrani Afghans between 1748 and 1767 who fought the Sikhs for control of Punjab.<ref name=":0" /> In the ensuing chaos, the city was captured by local Gakhar Punjabi tribesmen under the leadership of Muqarrab Khan from the Pothohar Plateau to the west.<ref name=":1" />

In 1765, the city was overrun by the Sikh Bhangi Misl under Gujjar Singh who defeated the Ghakars under their chief Muqarrab Khan.<ref name=":1" /> In 1765, Chaudhry Rehmat Khan Warraich of Jalalpur Jattan wrote a letter to Gujjar Singh, urging him to attack Gujrat and overthrow his rival Sultan Muqarrab Khan. This invitation marked a significant shift in alliances, as Rehmat Khan, once an ally of Adina Beg against the Sikhs, recognized the changing political dynamics in Punjab and extended a diplomatic gesture to the Sikhs. Diwan Shiv Nath Handa, an associate of Rehmat Khan from Jalalpur Jattan, also supported this move.

Responding to the call, Gujjar Singh swiftly marched towards the northeast of Punjab, capturing 150 villages, including Wazirabad, Eminabad, and Sodhra, before reaching Gujrat in December 1765. Here, Chaudhry Rehmat Khan joined forces with Gujjar Singh against Sultan Muqarrab Khan. Despite Sultan Muqarrab Khan's determined resistance, he was defeated in the battle and sought refuge in the Gujrat Fort. Following the intense clash with the Sikhs, the entire area from the vicinity of Mauza Dadupur Patala Sohian in Kunjah was in a state of chaos.

The Sikhs swiftly laid siege to the fort of Gujrat, disrupting Sultan Muqarrab Khan's supply lines and ultimately forcing him to abandon his stronghold. The Ghakkar chief, riding on an elephant, crossed a ravine known as Nali-e-Jou-e-Bar in Kunjah near Mauza Ghaidowal, located to the west of Gujrat, but he never emerged.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Sikhs defeated an Afghan force in a battle for Gujrat on 29 April 1797.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1798, the Bhangi leader Sahib Singh pledged allegiance to the Sukerchakia Misl of Ranjit Singh who later established the Sikh Empire in 1799.<ref name=":0" /> By 1810, Ranjit Singh's armies captured the city from Bhangi forces, thereby extending the rule of the Sikh Empire to the city.<ref name=":0" />

Gujrat finally came under British control in 1849, following the collapse of the Sikh Empire in the wake of the Sikh defeat at the Battle of Gujrat on 22 February, which ended the Second Anglo-Sikh War.<ref name=":0" /> In 1867, Gujrat was constituted as a municipality.<ref name=":3" /> According to the census, the city had a population of 18,396 in 1881, 19,410 in 1901 and 21,974 in 1921.

Geography

Gujrat is an ancient city of Pakistan located between two famous rivers, Jhelum River and Chenab River. It is bounded to the northeast by Azad Kashmir; to the northwest by the Jhelum River; to the east and southeast by the Chenab River, separating it from the districts of Gujranwala and Sialkot; and to the west by Mandi Bahauddin District. Gujrat consists of three tehsils: Sarai Alamgir, Kharian and Gujrat.

It is served by Gujrat railway station on the Karachi–Peshawar Line, the main railway line of Pakistan Railways.

Climate

Gujrat has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh), although it is almost wet enough to be a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Cwa). Template:Weather box

Demography

Population

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According to the 2023 census, Gujrat city had a population of 574,240.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Religion

Religious groups in Gujrat City (1881−2023)Template:Efn
Religious
group 		1881<ref name="Census1881">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Census1881B">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Census1881C">Template:Cite web</ref> 1891<ref name="Census1891">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="Census1891B">Template:Cite web</ref> 1901<ref name="Census1901">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="Census1901B">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp 1911<ref name="Census1911">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="Census1911B">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp 1921<ref name="Census1921">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="Census1921B">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp 1931<ref name="Census1931">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp 1941<ref name="Census1941">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp 2017<ref name="Census2017B">Template:Cite web</ref> 2023<ref name="Census2023B">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
[[Population|Template:Abbr]] Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr
Islam 13,637 Template:Percentage 12,824 Template:Percentage 14,047 Template:Percentage 14,253 Template:Percentage 16,284 Template:Percentage 19,482 Template:Percentage 24,681 Template:Percentage 532,896 Template:Percentage 917,696 Template:Percentage
Hinduism Template:Efn 4,762 Template:Percentage 4,703 Template:Percentage 4,823 Template:Percentage 4,226 Template:Percentage 5,016 Template:Percentage 5,984 Template:Percentage 5,011 Template:Percentage 30 Template:Percentage 55 Template:Percentage
Sikhism 317 Template:Percentage 452 Template:Percentage 415 Template:Percentage 495 Template:Percentage 486 Template:Percentage 659 Template:Percentage 630 Template:Percentage Template:N/a Template:N/a 18 Template:Percentage
Jainism 0 Template:Percentage 0 Template:Percentage 0 Template:Percentage 0 Template:Percentage 4 Template:Percentage 0 Template:Percentage 10 Template:Percentage Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a
Christianity Template:N/a Template:N/a 71 Template:Percentage 125 Template:Percentage 116 Template:Percentage 184 Template:Percentage 386 Template:Percentage 553 Template:Percentage 9,121 Template:Percentage 12,450 Template:Percentage
Ahmadiyya Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a Template:N/a 659 Template:Percentage 1,026 Template:Percentage
Others 27 Template:Percentage 0 Template:Percentage 0 Template:Percentage 0 Template:Percentage 0 Template:Percentage 0 Template:Percentage 14 Template:Percentage 2 Template:Percentage 34 Template:Percentage
Total population 18,743 Template:Percentage 18,050 Template:Percentage 19,410 Template:Percentage 19,090 Template:Percentage 21,974 Template:Percentage 26,511 Template:Percentage 30,899 Template:Percentage 542,708 Template:Percentage 931,279 Template:Percentage

Education

University of Gujrat garden
Punjab College of Science, Gujrat Campus

Some of the notable educational institutes of Gujrat include:

Notable people

Notes

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References

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