Sheikhupura

Sheikhupura ( pa, ; ur, ) also known as Qila Sheikhupura, is a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. Founded by the Mughal Emperor Jehangir in 1607, Sheikhupura is the 16th largest city of Pakistan by population and is the headquarters of Sheikhupura District. The city is an industrial center, and satellite town, located about 38 km northwest of Lahore. It is also connected to District Kasur.

The old name of Sheikhupura was “Virkgarh” due to large number of Virk Jats settled in the area. The Virks are still strong in this area both politically and economically. There are around 132 villages in this area which belong to the Virks.

Etymology

The region around Sheikhupura was previous known as ''Virk Garh, or'' "''Virk'' Fort", in reference to the Jat tribe that inhabited the area. The city, founded in 1607, was named by Mughal Emperor Jehangir himself - the city's first name is recorded in the Emperor's autobiography, the ''Tuzk-e-Jahangiri,'' in which he refers to the town as ''Jehangir pura.'' The city then came to be known by its current name, which derives from Jehangir's nickname ''Shekhu'' that was given to him by his mother, wife of Akbar the Great.

History

Mughal

Mughal Emperor Jahangir laid the foundations of Sheikhupura in 1607 near the older town of Jandiala Sher Khan, an important provincial town during the early to middle Mughal era. He also erected the nearby Hiran Minar, Sheikhpura's most renowned site, between 1607 and 1620 as a monument to his beloved pet deer, ''Mansiraj'', at a time when the area served as a royal hunting ground for the Mughal Emperor. Jehangir laid the foundation of the Sheikhupura Fort in 1607, which is situated in the city's centre.

British

Following establishment of British colonial rule, Bhatti possessions that had been seized by the Sikhs were restored. The large area between the Chenab and Ravi rivers were initially consolidated into a single district with Sheikhupura serving as its first headquarters, until 1851. The area around Sheikhupura attained District status in 1919, with M.M.L. Karry serving as its first administrator.

Partition

On the eve of the Partition of British India, Sikhs made up 19% of the district's population. Despite the area's Muslim majority, Sikhs had hoped that the boundary commission would award the area to India, given the proximity of Sheikhupura to the city of Nankana Sahib - revered as the birthplace of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak. The city was spared the large-scale rioting that engulfed Lahore earlier in 1947, and the city's Sikh population did not shift to India before the Radcliffe Line that demarcated the border of the newly independent states of Pakistan and India was announced.

The Sikh population had not made arrangements to leave and remained trapped in the city until 31 August 1947. The city's Sacha Sauda refugee camp hosted upwards of 100,000 Sikh refugees who had come to the city after fleeing nearby Gujranwala and other surrounding areas earlier that year. Fierce violence erupted in the city, and an estimated 10,000 people were killed in Sheikhupura between 16 August and 31 August in communal rioting between Sikhs and Muslims.

Education

The overall literacy rate of Sheikhupura is 43.6% which is increasing day by day. Following are some of the notable educational institutes of the city:
*Hajvery University, Sheikhupura Campus
* University of Central Punjab, Sheikhupura Campus
*Punjab College of Science
* The Superior College
*Lahore Grammar School
*Beaconhouse School System

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases