History of Gujranwala, Pakistan

1

GUJRANWALA – TRAVEL THROUGH PAST

2

INTRODUCTION

An imp landmk on the crossrds of history which witnessed vast armies

traversing their way to Nortern India

Fermenting ground to the establishment of the first Punjabi Kingdom of

modern times- the Sikh Kingdom of 18th and 19th centuries

INTRODUCTION

Archaeological and Historical sites are spread all over the Distt

Old name of Gujranwala is Khanpur Shansi

INTRODUCTION

Due to increasing caste of Gujjars its name changed to Gujranwala

After independence this place progressed due to its agricultural and

industrial envmt

“Lying as it does on the highway by which the successive hordes of invaders

from the north marched down to the struggle for the empire of Hindustan,

and by which they returned victorious or defeated; closely identified also

with the stirring events which led to the rise of the Sikh monarchy on the

ruins of the old Mughal empire, few tracts in the Central Punjab have had a

more unsettled history than the Gujranwala District. One result of the chaos

and confusion that prevailed is the absence of any authentic information as

to the history of the district prior to Mughal rule to the early days of

which most of the present tribes date their settlement in the district.”

(Gazetteer of the Gujranwala District 1935)

6

GUJRANWALA - HISTORY

7


According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, Gujranwala was founded by

Gurjars and renamed Khanpur by the Sansi Jatts of Amritsar

Many historians also note that the place was named for the Gurjars who

ruled the Gurjara-Pratihara

8


In 997 Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi succeeded his father, Sultan

Sebuktegin, as ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty

The Delhi Sultanate, later, the Mughal Empire ruled the region

The Punjab became predominantly Muslim, due to missionary Sufis whose

dargahs dot the landscape

9


Gujranwala evolved as a medieval town

Sufi missionaries converted the local Gurjar population to Islam

Under Muslim rule the district flourished and then declined

The district gazetteer dates the name "Gujranwala" to about the mid-16th century

10

• After the decline of the Mughal

Empire, the Sikhs occupied

Gujranwala and the Muslims were

allowed to practice Islam freely under

sikh rule

• The Sikhs dominated the Punjab after

the death of Mughal Emperor

Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1707


11

• The area was conquered by the British

Empire in 1848

• In 1881, a railway line was built along the

Grand Trunk Road to connect Gujranwala

with other cities in the Punjab

• After Pakistan attained independence in

1947, Hindus and Sikhs moved to India

and Indian Muslims settled in the district


12

GUJRANWALA A JOURNEY TO THE PAST

• GT Rd• Suri Mosque• Sialkoti Darwaza• Haveli of Ranjit Singh• Samadi of Mahan Singh

• Chaki Sahib• Rori Sahib

• Suri’s Mail Sta• Saman Burj• Guru Kotha• Sheesh Mahal• Tomb of Molana Zafar

• Sakhi Sarwar Mosque


• Summer Residence ofRanjit Singh

13

GT ROAD

• Grand Trunk road, first built by Raja Vikramaditya

in first century BC

• Renovated by Sher Shah Suri and ordered building

of Sarais and Baolis (stepped wells)

• GT road entered present day Gujranwala District

near Wazirabad, passed through the village of

Dhaunkal and fol the same alighnment as Chaman

Shah road today reached Eminabad then to the

village of Wahndo and Kali Suba on it’s way to

Amritsar and eventually Delhi

14

GT ROAD

15

• Not far from Satellite Town, Suri Mosque

is loc outside the graveyard of Chamman

Shah

• Originally a small structure to suit the

needs of few travellers, forced to

overnight in the attached Sarai

• This was Sarai Kachi, construction was of

sun dried bricks

SURI MOSQUE/SARAI KACHI – CHAMAN SHAH

16

• Brandreth Gate or Sialkoti Darwaza,

only surviving gate of the eleven

that once afforded entrance to the

walled city

• Charrat Singh took possession of

this collection of Gujjar villages and

raised a fortification around it in the

year 1756 and called it Gujraoli

BRANDRETH/ SIALKOTI GATE

17

• Persecuted for their religious beliefs

Sikhs had to abandon their homes

and take refuge in the wild and

intractable forests

• Many a good men were obligated to

resort to brigandage

• This persecution gave birth to a

savage hatred against Muslims

TURNING OF SIKHS INTO MILITANT FORCE

18

• Aurangzeb died in 1707 and his sons fell

into discord

• Country saw a series of governmental

changes that steered it into the depths of

anarchy

SPREADING OF ANARCHY IN MUGHAL EMPIRE

19

• Afghans watched these developments

and Nadir Shah descended in 1738

• Looted and sacked the great cities and

returned home, neither Muslim nor

Hindu / Sikh were spared

• After each visit as the Afghans,

encumbered by the weight of plunder,

would make their way back across the

Punjabi Plains

DEVELOPMENTS CASHED BY AFGHANS

20

• Lightly armed and wide ranging squads

of Sikh daredevils would fall upon them

• Twelve misls or confedacies, headed by

independent chieftain and confined to

it’s own tract of land

• Chief of each misl ensured, returning

Afghans didn’t pass through his domain

safely

EMERGENCE OF SIKH MIGHT

21

• Depredations didn’t cease and in 1747

Ahmad Shah Abdali, took them up

with undiminished vigour and

ruthlessness

• Sikhs on their part kept up marauding

raids on the departing Afghans


22

• One such man was Charrat Singh, the

founder of modern Gujranwala

• Chief of Khiali, Mohammad Yar joined

Charrat Singh and strength increased

to more than one hundred and fifty

• Soon other chiefs were paying rakhi ‘

protection money’ to Charrat Singh for

defense against savagery of Afghans

CHARRAT SINGH (1763-1774)

23

• These proceeds led Charrat Singh

fortify Gujjar villages into mud fortress

in 1758

• Charrat Singh died in 1774 and

succeeded by Mahan Singh(1763-

1792),than by most brilliant leader;

Ranjit Singh


24

RANJIT SINGH (1792-1849)

A short statured man, addicted to strong drink unlettered

blind in one eye and face deeply pitted with a childhood attack of small pox

who united Punjab under one flag

25

Sultanate stretched from the banks of the Jamuna to the Khyber and from

Kashmir to Multan


26

• Legacy of Ranjit Singh had to take up

when he was only twelve years old, in

1792 after the death of his father,

Mahan Singh

• Deep inside the old city, in Purani

Mandi, a haveli, birth place of Ranjit

Singh

BIRTH PLACE OF RANJIT SINGH

27

SAMADH MAHAN SINGH

In Sheranwala Bagh, is the crumbling samadh of Mahan Singh, now part of

girls school, was built on the orders of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

28

• Maharaja of Punjab Ranjit Singh shifted his

Headquarters to Lahore in 1799

• Hari Singh Nalwa the only Punjabi, in history

who was to ever subdue the wild and intractable

Pathans

• Pathan mothers would frighten naughty children

for more than a century and a half

GEN HARI SINGH NALWA (1791-1837)

29

• The house that Hari Singh lived in now

serves as a mosque

• Maulvi Yasin who runs it, once had hordes

of blind students, called ‘ Anyan di Masjid’


30

• In 1842 the Sikh armies of the ruler of Gilgit attacked and destroyed the

town of Yasin

• Returned with immense plunder and innumerable slaves

• The army was led by a General Nathu Shah, born to a syed family of

Gujranwala

• Had been recruited by the Dogras for his outstanding prowess as a soldier

and administrator

• In Gujranwala of today, not even possible to trace any descendents of this

Muslim general

NATHU SHAH

31

• Mortal that he was, Ranjit Singh died on

27 June, 1839

• In next two and half years the country saw

intrigue, perfidy and three governmental

changes

• The heartless murders of the agents Vans-

Agnew and Anderson at Multan by the

Sikh Governor, Mool Raj

FADING AWAY OF SIKH EMPIRE

32

• British descended on the Punjab

with a fury, disintegrating Sikh

empire

• Battle of Ramnagar was lost in 1848

and Sikhs were expelled to the west

of Chenab and received crushing

blow at Chilianwala

• In 1849 the British army captured

Punjab and Sikh rule came to an end

BRITISH ERA (1849-1947)

33

• Deputy Commissioners, Colonel Clark Escourt

and Arthur Brandreth, gave a new impulse to

the town

• Ghanta Ghar named after Mr Escourt, DC,

erected to mark the center of new city

• Deputy Commissioner Sir Brandreth Rebuilt

the "Sialkoti Gate" , "Lahore Gate" and

"Khiyaaly Gate“


34

Railway line was built along G.T. Road in 1881, interconnected Gujranwala with

other cities of Punjab and made commercial trade

between cities more convenient


35

• In first century BC, Raja Salvahan, the

Rajput ruler of Sialkot, is said to have

founded Saidpur Town

• In 1525 Babur arrived in this part of

Punjab and was resisted by the locals

• Town was subjugated; males were

ruthlessly killed; women and children

were taken prisoner

EMINABAD - SAIDPUR

36

• One of the older male prisoners was

condemned to work at corn grinding mill

• Soon it became common knowledge that

the mill was turning by itself while the old

man simply added the corn

• Babur came to see it and was deeply

impressed by the holy man, Babur set him

free

• This holy man was Baba Guru Nanak

CHAKI SAHIB-EMINABAD

37

On the request of holy man, rest of the prisoners also set free

Mill of his imprisonment is venerated


38

• In 16 century Sher Shah Suri ousted

Hamayun and destroyed the town of

Saidpur, as residents showed loyalty for

the Mughals

• New settlement named Shergarh was built

• Sher Shah Suri was arrested in his career

by an explosion outside the battlements

of the fort of Kalanjar

DISTRUCTION OF SAIDPUR

39

• Within 12 years of his death his

empire had weakened, Hamayun

returned to claim

• Shergarh resisited and a long seige

ensued under the command of

Emin Beg; Afghans eventually

submitted and Shergarh was put to

the torch

• Today only a windswept mound

DISTRUCTION OF SHERGARH

40

• In 1556 Hamayun died and the empire fell

to the young Akbar

• General Emin Beg was ordered to restore

the old town of Saidpur, true to form the

new settlement was named Eminabad

• Mughals made it a pargannah in the

province of Lahore

• Paid Rs 900,000 in yearly taxes to the

Mughal Court and anarchy followed the

death of Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1707

EMERGENCE OF EMINABAD

41

• In year 1760, Sardar Charrat Singh

dispossessed the Mughal Governor of

Eminabad

• Ranjit Singh on assuming power gave the

town as jagir to Raja Dhyan Singh of

Jammu

• For several decades after that the prime

ministers for the state of Kashmir came

from the rich Hindu families of Eminabad

SIKHS CON OVER EMINABAD

42

In Mohallah Havelian one can see three or four storey buildings with facades

that simply dazzle the eye

EMINABAD

43

• In early 16 century, Guru Nanak

benighted near a heap of shattered

bricks and pottery( Rori)

• Small Gurdawara built to mark the

exact spot of Nanak’s night of

penance and largest congregation in

all of India started

• In 2nd decade of 20th century, rich

and powerful Sikhs decided to

enlarge and embellish the Gurdwara

RORI SAHIB-EMINABAD

44

Sher Shah’s mail station still stands by the side of the G T road opposite to

Wazirabad Railway Station

SURI’s MAIL STATION-WAZIRABAD

45

• Shah Jehan’s (1627- 1666), governor of Lahore,

Hakim Ilmudin, known as Wazir Khan, built

Wazirabad

• In 1760 Sardar Charrat Singh captured it during his

tussle with the Afghans and didn’t maintain his

hold

• Maharaja Ranjit Singh won it permanently for the

Sikhs in 1809

• In 1829, he appointed Paolo de Avitabile, an Italion,

it’s governor and he ruled with proverbial iron hand

WAZIRABAD

46

• Punjabi empire fell to pieces and was supplanted by the British who made

it a district headquarter with Sialkot and Gujranwala

• In April 1860 Wazirabad forfeited this status to Gujranwala in exchange of

another restitution

• Railway junction where trains from Peshawar and Multan were to divert for

Jammu

• Partition in 1947 changed all that and the train that once reached Jammu

now terminates at Sialkot

WAZIRABAD

47

• Avitabile constructed a beautiful palace on the site of

Wazir Khan’s palace, called Musaman Burj or The

Octagonal Tower

• Ranjit Singh on his way to Kashmir or to troubled

Frontier passed through Wazir Abad and stayed at

this palace

• Saman Burj is now the residence of Raja Family of

Wazirabad, who claims that their ancestors were the

Rajas of Rajori, Kashmir and they purchased this

palace in 1855

SAMAN BURJ-WAZIRABAD

48

• Harbal Gobind, sixth guru of Sikhism

(1595-1640), on his way back from

Kashmir, stayed at the house of one of his

devotees by the name of Bhai Khem

chand Ji at Wazirabad

• Ranjit Singh ordered the building of an

unusual Gurdwara called Guru da Kotha

GURU KOTHA - WAZIRABAD

49

• Not very far is the once resplendent Shish Mahal, built in 1705 as a humble

copy of the real thing in Lahore Fort

• Owned by Diwan Hikmat Rai, rich and powerful nobleman in the

government of Ranjit Singh but now serves as a private residence

SHISH MAHAL - WAZIRABAD

• Tomb of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan(1873-1956) located

in the lawn of ancestral house

• After death of his father, Maulvi Sirajuddin Ahmad,

the founder of weekly newspaper ‘ZAMINDAR’ of

Wazirabad, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan took over it’s

editorship

• Maulana was a rather unusual man with a brashly

forthright manner, both in speech and in writing, his

vocal opposition of the Raj won him many a Muslim

admirer

50

TOMB OF ZAFAR ALI KHAN - WAZIRABAD

51

• Dhaunkal has been built by Raja Dharekal in

the days of Mehmud Ghaznavi

• Had no significance untill briefly visited by

Ahmad Sultan, Sakhi Sarwar

• Married to daughter of Raja Ghanno of

Multan, plentiful dowry was distributed

among the poor, earned him title of Sakhi

Sarwar

SAKHI SARWAR MOSQUE - WAZIRABAD

52

• His wandering brought him to Dhaunkal

where he is believed to have miraculously

procured a spring fresh water that is even

today the site of an annual fair during the

Punjabi months of Chait and Haar

• On the exact spot where he engaged in

prayers a mosque was built in the reign of

Shah Jehan

SAKHI SARWAR MOSQUE - WAZIRABAD

53

• Malik Ayaz, favourite slave who rose to eminence under Mahmud Ghaznvi,laid out a rich and opulent Sodhra city

• Malik called city Sud - Darra, City of hundred gates, a title that evolved intothe modern name of the Town

• After Ghaznavides the town fell into decay and was rebuilt on the direction ofAli Mardan under Shah Jehan

• Great revenue that Sodhra could muster, was made a pargannah and soon itwas submitting Rs 1,200,000 to the Mughal Court

• Names that have survived the passage of time are delightfully evocative:Chah Hammam Wala and Chah Baghan Wala

SODHRA

• Baba Rama Nand born in 1504, from his early years he showed signs ofgreat piety

• At the age of seven began to tend his father’s cattle and routinely allowedthem to feed in the corn fields

• Owners remonstrated with his father, boy would ask to be shown thedamaged fields, the fields would be more fruitful than ever before

• On the day of the betrothal Rama Nand went, walking stick in hand, to thevillage pond to bathe

• Left the staff sticking in the mud and disappeared into the pond, villagersnever found any trace of the man again except his staff which by and byturned into a beri tree

54

TEMPLE OF BADOKI GOSIAN

55

RASULNAGAR

• In 1799 Ranjit Singh captured

Rasulnagar after a gallant

resistance made by Ghulam

Mohammad, Chieftain of

Chattah family and renamed it as

Ramnagar

• Battle of Ramnagar fought

between British and Sikh Forces

on 22 Nov 1848

56

RASULNAGAR

Famous Abdal’s cannon, Zamzama, was also retrieved by Bhangi’s at the Ford of

Rasulnagar

57

RASULNAGAR

Ranjit Singh built a palace where he could while away the long days of summer

Known as summer palace of Ranjit Singh

58

59

60

GUJRANWALA – TRAVEL THROUGH AGES

61

INTRODUCTION

An imp landmk on the crossrds of history which witnessed vast armies

traversing their way to Nortern India

Fermenting ground to the establishment of the first Punjabi Kingdom of

modern times- the Sikh Kingdom of 18th and 19th centuries

INTRODUCTION

Archaeological and Historical sites are spread all over the Distt

Old name of Gujranwala is Khanpur Shansi

INTRODUCTION

Due to increasing caste of Gujjars its name changed to Gujranwala

After independence this place progressed due to its agricultural and

industrial envmt

“Laying as it does on the highway by which the successive hordes

of invaders from the north marched down to the struggle for the empire of

Hindustan, and by which they returned victorious or defeated; closely

identified also with the stirring events which led to the rise of the Sikh

monarchy on the ruins of the old Mughal empire, few tracts in the Central

Punjab have had a more unsettled history than the Gujranwala District.

One result of the chaos and confusion that prevailed is the absence of any

authentic information as to the history of the district prior to Mughal rule

to the early days of which most of the present tribes date their settlement

in the district.’ Gazetteer of the Gujranwala District 1935 65


66


According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, Gujranwala was founded by

Gurjars and renamed Khanpur by the Sansi Jatts of Amritsar

Many historians also note that the place was named for the Gurjars who

ruled the Gurjara-Pratihara

67


In 997 Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi succeeded his father, Sultan

Sebuktegin, as ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty

The Delhi Sultanate, later, the Mughal Empire ruled the region

The Punjab became predominantly Muslim, due to missionary Sufis whose

dargahs dot the landscape

68


Gujranwala evolved as a medieval town

Sufi missionaries converted the local Gurjar population to Islam

Under Muslim rule the district flourished and then declined

The district gazetteer dates the name "Gujranwala" to about the mid-16th century

69

• After the decline of the Mughal

Empire, the Sikhs occupied

Gujranwala and the Muslims were

allowed to practice Islam freely under

Sikh rule

• The Sikhs dominated the Punjab after

the death of Mughal Emperor

Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1707


70

• The area was conquered by the British

Empire in 1848

• In 1881, a railway line was built along the

Grand Trunk Road to connect Gujranwala

with other cities in the Punjab

• Pakistan attained independence in

1947, Hindus and Sikhs moved to India

and Indian Muslims settled in the district


71

GUJRANWALA A JOURNEY TO THE PAST

• GT Rd• Suri Mosque• Sialkoti Darwaza• Haveli of Ranjit Singh• Samadi of Mahan Singh

• Chaki Sahib• Rori Sahib

• Suri’s Mail Sta• Saman Burj• Guru Kotha• Tomb of Molana Zafar


• Temple Rama Nand

• Summer Residence of Ranjit Singh

72

GT ROAD

• Grand Trunk road, first built by Raja Vikramaditya

in first century BC

• Renovated by Sher Shah Suri and ordered building

of Sarais and Baolis (stepped wells)

• GT road entered present day Gujranwala District

near Wazirabad, passed through the village of

Dhaunkal and fol the same alignment as Chaman

Shah road today, reached Eminabad then to the

village of Wahndo and Kali Suba on it’s way to

Amritsar and eventually Delhi

73

• Not far from Satellite Town, Suri Mosque

is loc outside the graveyard of Chamman

Shah

• Originally a small structure to suit the

needs of few travellers, forced to

overnight stay in the attached Sarai

• This was Sarai Kachi, construction was of

sun dried bricks

SURI MOSQUE/SARAI KACHI – CHAMAN SHAH

74

• Brandreth Gate or Sialkoti Darwaza,

only surviving gate of the eleven

that once afforded entrance to the

walled city

• Charrat Singh took possession of

collection of Gujjar villages and

raised a fortification around it in the

year 1756 and called it Gujraoli

BRANDRETH/ SIALKOTI GATE

75

• Persecuted for their religious beliefs

Sikhs had to abandon their homes

and take refuge in the wild and

intractable forests

• Many a good men were obligated to

resort to brigandage

• This persecution gave birth to a

savage hatred against Muslims

TURNING OF SIKHS INTO MILITANT FORCE

76

• Aurangzeb died in 1707 and his sons fell

into discord

• Country saw a series of governmental

changes that steered it into the depths of

anarchy

SPREADING OF ANARCHY IN MUGHAL EMPIRE

77

• Afghans watched these developments

and Nadir Shah descended in 1738

• Looted and sacked the great cities and

returned home, neither Muslim nor

Hindu / Sikh were spared

• After each visit, the Afghans,

encumbered by the weight of plunder,

would make their way back across the

Punjab Plains

DEVELOPMENTS CASHED BY AFGHANS

78

• Lightly armed and wide ranging squads

of Sikh daredevils would fall upon them

• Twelve Misls or Confedacies, headed by

independent chieftain and confined to

it’s own tract of land

• Chief of each Misl ensured, returning

Afghans didn’t pass through his domain

safely


79

• Depredations didn’t cease and in 1747

Ahmad Shah Abdali, took them up

with undiminished vigour and

ruthlessness

• Sikhs on their part kept up marauding

raids on the departing Afghans


80

• One such man was Charrat Singh, the

founder of modern Gujranwala

• Chief of Khiali, Mohammad Yar joined

Charrat Singh and strength increased

to more than one hundred and fifty

• Soon other chiefs were paying Rakhi ‘

protection money’ to Charrat Singh for

defense against savagery of Afghans


81

• These proceeds led Charrat Singh

fortify Gujjar villages into mud fortress

in 1758

• Charrat Singh died in 1774 and

succeeded by Mahan Singh(1763-

1792),than by most brilliant leader;

Ranjit Singh


82


A short statured man, addicted to strong drink unlettered

blind in one eye and face deeply pitted with a childhood attack of small pox

who united Punjab under one flag

83

Kingdom stretched from the banks of the Jamuna to the Khyber and from

Kashmir to Multan


84

• Legacy of Ranjit Singh had to take up

when he was only twelve years old, in

1792 after the death of his father,

Mahan Singh

• Deep inside the old city, in Purani

Mandi, a haveli, birth place of Ranjit

Singh

BIRTH PLACE OF RANJIT SINGH

85

SAMADH MAHAN SINGH

In Sheranwala Bagh, is the crumbling Samadh of Mahan Singh, now part of

girls school, was built on the orders of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

86

• Maharaja of Punjab Ranjit Singh shifted his

Headquarters to Lahore in 1799

• Hari Singh Nalwa the only Punjabi, in history

who was to ever subdue the wild and intractable

Pathans

• Pathan mothers would frighten naughty children

for more than a century and a half


87

• The house that Hari Singh lived in, now

serves as a mosque

• Maulvi Yasin who runs it, once had hordes

of blind students, called ‘ Anyan di Masjid’


88

• Mortal that he was, Ranjit Singh died on

27 June, 1839

• In next two and half years the country saw

intrigue, perfidy and three governmental

changes

• The heartless murders of the agents Vans-

Agnew and Anderson at Multan by the

Sikh Governor, Mool Raj

FADING AWAY OF SIKH EMPIRE

89

• British descended on the Punjab

with a fury, disintegrating Sikh

empire

• Battle of Ramnagar was lost in 1848

and Sikhs were expelled to the west

of Chenab and received crushing

blow at Chilianwala

• In 1849 the British army captured

Punjab and Sikh rule came to an end


90

• Deputy Commissioners, Colonel Clark Escourt

and Arthur Brandreth, gave a new impulse to

the town

• Ghanta Ghar named after Mr Escourt, DC,

erected to mark the center of new city

• Deputy Commissioner Sir Brandreth Rebuilt

the "Sialkoti Gate" , "Lahore Gate" and

"Khiyaaly Gate“


91

Railway line was built along G.T. Road in 1881, interconnected Gujranwala with

other cities of Punjab and made commercial trade

between cities more convenient


92

• In first century BC, Raja Salvahan, the

Rajput ruler of Sialkot, is said to have

founded Saidpur Town

• In 1525 Babur arrived in this part of

Punjab and was resisted by the locals

• Town was subjugated; males were

ruthlessly killed; women and children

were taken prisoner

EMINABAD - SAIDPUR

93

• One of the older male prisoners was

condemned to work at corn grinding mill

• Soon it became common knowledge that

the mill was turning by itself while the old

man simply added the corn

• Babur came to see it and was deeply

impressed by the holy man, Babur set him

free

• This holy man was Baba Guru Nanak


94

On the request of holy man, rest of the prisoners were also set free

Mill of his imprisonment is venerated


95

• In 16 century Sher Shah Suri ousted

Hamayun and destroyed the town of

Saidpur, as residents showed loyalty for

the Mughals

• New settlement named Shergarh was built

• Sher Shah Suri was arrested in his career

by an explosion outside the battlements

of the fort of Kalanjar

DESTRUCTION OF SAIDPUR

96

• Within 12 years of Suri’s death his empire

had weakened, Hamayun returned to

claim

• Shergarh resisited and a long seige ensued

under the command of Emin Beg; Afghans

eventually submitted and Shergarh was

put to the torch

• Today only a windswept mound is present

DESTRUCTION OF SHERGARH

97

• In 1556 Hamayun died and the empire fell

to the young Akbar

• General Emin Beg was ordered to restore

the old town of Saidpur, true to form the

new settlement was named Eminabad

• Mughals made it a Pargannah in the

province of Lahore

• Paid Rs 900,000 in yearly taxes to the

Mughal Court and anarchy followed the

death of Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1707

EMERGENCE OF EMINABAD

98

• In year 1760, Sardar Charrat Singh

dispossessed the Mughal Governor of

Eminabad

• Ranjit Singh on assuming power gave the

town as jagir to Raja Dhyan Singh of

Jammu

• For several decades after that, the Prime

Ministers for the state of Kashmir came

from the rich Hindu families of Eminabad

SIKHS CON OVER EMINABAD

99

In Mohallah Havelian one can see three or four storey buildings with facades

that simply dazzle the eye

EMINABAD

100

• In early 16 century, Guru Nanak

Benighted near a heap of shattered

bricks and pottery( Rori)

• Small Gurdawara built to mark the

exact spot of Nanak’s night of

penance and largest congregation in

all of India started

• In 2nd decade of 20th century, rich

and powerful Sikhs decided to

enlarge and embellish the Gurdwara

RORI SAHIB-EMINABAD

101

Sher Shah’s mail station still stands by the side of the G T road opposite to

Wazirabad Railway Station

SURI’s MAIL STATION-WAZIRABAD

102

• Shah Jehan’s (1627- 1666), governor of Lahore,

Hakim Ilmudin, known as Wazir Khan, built

Wazirabad

• In 1760 Sardar Charrat Singh captured it during his

tussle with the Afghans and didn’t maintain his hold

• Maharaja Ranjit Singh won it permanently for the

Sikhs in 1809

• In 1829, he appointed Paolo de Avitabile, an Italian,

it’s governor and he ruled with proverbial iron hand

WAZIRABAD

103

• Punjabi empire fell to pieces and was supplanted by the British who

made it a district headquarter with Sialkot and Gujranwala

• In April 1860 Wazirabad forfeited this status to Gujranwala in

exchange of another restitution

• Railway junction where trains from Peshawar and Multan were to

divert for Jammu

• Partition in 1947 changed all that and the train that once reached

Jammu now terminates at Sialkot

WAZIRABAD

104

• Avitabile constructed a beautiful palace on the site of

Wazir Khan’s palace, called Musaman Burj or The

Octagonal Tower

• Ranjit Singh on his way to Kashmir or to troubled

Frontier passed through Wazir Abad and stayed at

this palace

• Saman Burj is now the residence of Raja Family of

Wazirabad, who claims that their ancestors were the

Rajas of Rajori, Kashmir and they purchased this

palace in 1855

SAMAN BURJ - WAZIRABAD

105

• Harbal Gobind, sixth Guru of Sikhism

(1595-1640), on his way back from

Kashmir, stayed at the house of one of his

devotees by the name of Bhai Khem

Chand Ji at Wazirabad

• Ranjit Singh ordered the building of an

unusual Gurdwara called Guru da Kotha

GURU KOTHA - WAZIRABAD

• Tomb of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan(1873-1956) located

in the lawn of ancestral house

• After death of his father, Maulvi Sirajuddin Ahmad,

the founder of weekly newspaper ‘ZAMINDAR’ of

Wazirabad, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan took over it’s

editorship

• Maulana was a rather unusual man with a brashly

forthright manner, both in speech and in writing, his

vocal opposition of the Raj won him many a Muslim

admirer

106

TOMB OF ZAFAR ALI KHAN - WAZIRABAD

107

• Dhaunkal built by Raja Dharekal in the days of

Mehmud Ghaznavi

• Had no significance untill briefly visited by

Ahmad Sultan, Sakhi Sarwar

• Married to daughter of Raja Ghanno of

Multan, plentiful dowry was distributed

among the poor, earned him title of Sakhi

Sarwar

SAKHI SARWAR MOSQUE - DHAUNKAL

108

• Sakhi Sarwar’s wandering brought him to

Dhaunkal where he is believed to have

miraculously unearthed a spring of fresh

water that is even today the site of an

annual festival during the Punjabi months

of Chait and Haar

• On the exact spot where he engaged in

prayers, a mosque was built in the reign of

Shah Jehan

SAKHI SARWAR MOSQUE - DHAUNKAL

109

• Malik Ayaz, favourite slave who rose to eminence under Mahmud Ghaznvi,laid out a rich and opulent Sodhra city

• Malik called city Sud - Darra, City of hundred gates, a title that evolved intothe modern name of the Town

• After Ghaznavides the town fell into decay and was rebuilt on the direction ofAli Mardan under Shah Jehan

• Great revenue that Sodhra could muster, was made a pargannah and soon itwas submitting Rs 1,200,000 to the Mughal Court

• Names that have survived the passage of time are delightfully evocative:Chah Hammam Wala and Chah Baghan Wala

SODHRA

• Baba Rama Nand born in 1504, from his early years he showed signs ofgreat piety

• At the age of seven began to tend his father’s cattle and routinely allowedthem to feed in the corn fields

• Owners remonstrated with his father, boy would ask to be shown thedamaged fields, the fields would be more fruitful than ever before

• On the day of the betrothal Rama Nand went, walking stick in hand, to thevillage pond to bathe

• Left the staff sticking in the mud and disappeared into the pond, villagersnever found any trace of the man again except his staff which by and byturned into a beri tree

110

TEMPLE OF BADOKI GOSIAN

111

• At Rasulnagar from ancient times a busy ford on the Chenab handled the traffic

of salt coming down from the Salt Range mines

• Noor Mohammad Chattha of the nearby village of Munchar Chattha moved to

this site and set up his family home in 1732, he too entertained vision of

aggrandisement

• The business of the ford and staging post benefited Noor Mohammad, his son

Pir Mohammad was prosperous enough to build a battlement around his

father’s castle

• Pir Mohammad renamed his father’s stronghold and called it Rasulnagar after

his religious mentor Pir Abdur Rasul

RASULNAGAR

112

RASULNAGAR

• In 1799 Ranjit Singh captured

Rasulnagar after a gallant

resistance made by Ghulam

Mohammad, Chieftain of

Chattah family and renamed it as

Ramnagar

• Battle of Ramnagar fought

between British and Sikh Forces

on 22 Nov 1848

113

RASULNAGAR

Famous Abdal’s cannon, Zamzama, was also retrieved by Bhangi’s at Ford of

Rasulnagar

114

RASULNAGAR

Ranjit Singh built a palace where he could while away the long days of summer

Known as summer palace of Ranjit Singh

115

Travel

History of Gujranwala, Pakistan