Sialkot District

Sialkot District (Punjabi and Urdu: ضِلع سيالكوٹ‎), is one of the districts of the Punjab provinces of Pakistan. It is located in the north-east of the province. The city of Sialkot is the capital of the district. It is the third-richest city in Pakistan.[2] The Sialkot Cantonment was established in 1852.

ضِلع سيالكوٹ
District
Sialkot District
Map of Sialkot District highlighted
Country Pakistan
Province Punjab
DivisionGujranwala
CapitalSialkot
Government
 • Deputy CommissionerZeeshan Javed
 • District Police OfficerHasan Asad Alvi
Area
 • Total3,016 km2 (1,164 sq mi)
Population
 • Total3,893,672
 • Density1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)
Number of Tehsils4
Websitewww.sialkot.gov.pk

Administration

The district is administratively divided into the following four tehsils (subdivisions), which contain a total of 122 Union Councils:[3][4][5]

Tehsil No. of Unions
Daska 42
Pasrur 28
Sambrial 30
Sialkot 52
Total 152

History

Sialkot District was agricultural region with forests during the Indus Valley Civilization. The Vedic period is characterized by Indo-Aryan culture that flourished in Punjab region. The Kambojas, Daradas, Kaikayas, Madras, Pauravas, Yaudheyas, Malavas and Kurus invaded, settled and ruled ancient Punjab region. After overrunning the Achaemenid Empire in 331 BCE, Alexander marched into present-day Punjab region with an army of 50,000. The Sialkot was ruled by Maurya Empire, Indo-Greek kingdom, Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire, White Huns, Kushano-Hephthalites and the Turk and Hindu Shahi kingdoms.

In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, took over the Ghaznavid dynasty empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin, In 1005 he conquered the Shahis in Kabul in 1005, and followed it by the conquests of Punjab region. The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region.

The legendary history of the District is connected with Raja Salivahan, the reputed founder of the town of Sialkot, and his famous son Rasalu. Pasrur is also an ancient place. At an early date the District fell to the Rajas of Jammu, and under the Mughals formed the Rechna Doab sarkar of the Subah of Lahore. Under Shah Jahan the sarkar was entrusted to Ali Mardan Khan, the famous engineer, who dug a canal through it to bring water from the Chenab river to the imperial gardens in Lahore. On the decline of the Mughal Empire Ranjit Singh Deo, a Rajput hill chief, extended his sway over the lowlands, owning a nominal allegiance to Delhi. In 1748 he transferred his allegiance to Ahmad Shah Durrani, who added Zafarwal and two other parganas to his fief. Before his death in 1773 Ranjit Deo had secured possession of the whole District, except the Sialkot town and its dependencies, which were held by a Pashtun family.[6]

During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the station was denuded of British troops; and the Native regiments which were left behind rose, and, after sacking the jail, treasury, and courthouse, and massacring several of the European inhabitants, marched off towards Delhi, only to be destroyed by Nicholson at Trimmu Ghat. The rest of the Europeans took refuge in the fort, and on the morning after the departure of the rebels order was restored. The only events of interest in the subsequent history of the District are the plague riots which occurred at the villages of Shahzada and Sankhatra in 1901.[6]

Numerous mounds are scattered about the District, which marks the sites of ancient villages and towns. None of them, except that on which the Sialkot fort stood, has been excavated, but silver and copper utensils and coins have been dug up from time to time by villagers. Most of the coins are those of Indo-Bactrian kings. The excavations in Sialkot revealed the existence of some old baths, with hot-water pipes of solid masonry. The fort itself, of which very little now remains, is not more than 1,000 years old, and is said to have been rebuilt by Shahab-ud-din Ghori at the end of the twelfth century.[6]

In 1859, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Sialkot were placed in the new division of Sialkot. But in 1884, Gurdaspur along with Amritsar again became a part of the Lahore Division.

According to the 1901 census, the district had a population of 1,083,909 and contained 7 towns and 2,348 villages. The population at previous three enumerations were: 1,004,695 (1868), 1,012,148 (1881) and 1,119,847 (1891). The population decreased between 1891 and 1901 by 3.2,[6] the decrease being greatest in the Raya tahsil and least in the Daska tahsil. The Chenab Colony was responsible for this fall in population, no less than 103,000 persons having left to take land in the newly irrigated tracts.[7]

The district was subdivided into five tehsils, namely: Sialkot, Pasrur, Zafarwal, Raya and Daska, the headquarters of each being at the place from which it is named. The chief towns of the district were Sialkot, Daska, Jamki, Pasrur, Kila Sobha Singh, Zafarwal and Narowal.[7]

Tehsil Area (sq mi) Towns Villages Population (1901) Population per sq mi Population variation 1891–1901 Number of literate people
Sialkot 428 1 637 312,668 730.5 +3.2 12,101
Pasrur 394 2 443 193,746 491.7 −5.0 5,601
Sambrial 485 1 456 192,440 396.8 +10.4 5,586
Daska 360 2 332 206,148 572.6 −0.6 4,103
Total 1,991 7 2,348 1,083,909 544.4 −3.2 31,341

In 1930, the tehsils of Raya, Daska and Pasrur were split up and parts of these were amalgamated into Gujranwala District. In 1991, the tehsils of Narowal and Shakar Garh (which was tehsil Shankar Garh of Gurdaspur district before the independence of Pakistan in 1947) were split up and formed into the new Narowal District.

Geography

Sialkot District lies southeast of Gujrat District, southwest of Jammu district(in Jammu and Kashmir, India), while Narowal District is to the southeast and Gujranwala District is situated to the west.

Sialkot district is spread over an area of 3,016 square kilometers.

Sunset at Head Marala

Sialkot is hot and humid during the summer and cold during the winter. June and July are the hottest months. The maximum temperature during winter may drop to −2 °C (28 °F). The land is generally plain and fertile. The average annual rainfall is about 1000 mm. Over 25.82% of the population of the district is urban.[8]

Demographics

The predominant language of the district is Punjabi, which according to the 1998 census is the first language[9] of 97% of the population, while Urdu accounts for 1.5%.[10]:29–30

There is a small Hindu community in Sialkot. The Shivala Teja Singh temple is a historic Hindu temple in Sialkot.[11][12]

Notable people
Allama Iqbal
Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan

Historical figures

Military

Journalists and poets

Politicians

Scientist

Artists

Sportsmen

Others

Notes and references

Notes
  1. Now in Narowal District

References
  1. "DISTRICT WISE CENSUS RESULTS CENSUS 2017" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2017.
  2. trip-suggest.com. "Sialkot Destination Guide (Punjab, Pakistan) – Trip-Suggest". trip-suggest.com. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  3. Tehsils & Unions in the District of Sialkot – Government of Pakistan
  4. "Map of Sialkot – Government site". Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  5. Tehsils & Unions in the District of Sialkot – Government of Pakistan Archived 2012-02-09 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 22, page 328 – Imperial Gazetteer of India – Digital South Asia Library". dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  7. "Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 22, page 329 – Imperial Gazetteer of India – Digital South Asia Library". dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  8. "Urban Resource Centre (1998 Census details)". Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  9. "Mother tongue": defined as the language of communication between parents and children and recorded of each individual.
  10. 1998 District Census report of Sialkot. Census publication. 124. Islamabad: Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.
  11. "Ancient Hindu temple in Pakistan's Sialkot reopens after 72 years". The New Indian Express. ANI. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  12. Rana, Yudhvir (4 July 2019). "Pakistan opens heritage temple to devotees; to undertake renovation". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  13. "Profile: Sir Chaudhary Shahabuddin – A short history by Prof Farakh A Khan". www.thefridaytimes.com. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  14. Talbot, Ian (16 December 2013). Khizr Tiwana, the Punjab Unionist Party and the Partition of India. Routledge. ISBN 9781136790294. Retrieved 20 March 2018 – via Google Books.


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