Bhera ( pa, ; ur, ) is a city and

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administ ...

Sargodha District Sargodha District (Punjabi and ur, ), is a district of Punjab, Pakistan. The capital of the district is Sargodha. It is an agricultural district, wheat, rice, and sugarcane along with Kinno being its main crops. The Sargodha district and reg ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. The city is known for wood-carved items, textiles (such as quilts and khussas), and certain desserts (such as pheonian and pateesa). The city is made up of the Old Town and the surrounding newer development. The Old Town is surrounded by tall walls with eight gates, and is divided up into

mohalla is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or "neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. History Historically, mahallas were autonomous social in ...

s, or neighborhoods; historically, different castes lived in different mohallas. The novel ''Mayyadas Ki Mari'' (Mayyadas's Castle), written by Indian playwright Bhisham Singh Sahni, takes place in Bhera.

History

According to ''Ancient Geography of India'' by Alexander Cunningham, Bhera was once known as Jobnathnagar. The ''Imperial Gazetteer of India'' records the history of Bhera:
In the recent past centuries, Bhera was an important trading outpost on the road to

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, 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 The pesh-kabz or peshkabz ( fa, پیش قبض, hi, पेश क़ब्ज़) is a type of Indo-Persian knife designed to penetrate mail armour and other types of armour.Lexicon of Medieval Knives and Daggers', retrieved 5 July 2011Shackleford ...

'') as well as hunting knives and table cutlery, often fitted with handles of serpentine (false jade) or

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

.Watt, Sir George, ''The Commercial Products of India'', London: John Murray Publishers (1908), p. 561 Sir

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...

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."

Attacks on Bhera through history

Bhera has also been attacked by a series of invaders, including: *

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

* Mahmud of Ghazni sacked the cityImperial Gazetteer of India v2 page 213
/ref> in 1004 CE * Genghis Khan *

Babar Babar ( ur, ), also variously spelled as Baber, Babur, and Babor is a male given name of Pashto, and Persian origin, and a popular male given name in Pakistan. It is generally taken in reference to the Persian ''babr'' (Persian: ببر), meaning ...

held it for ransom in 1519 *

Mirza Muhammad Hakim Shahzada Mirza Muhammad Hakim (29 April 1553 – 10 October 1585), sometimes known simply as Mirza Hakim, was the third son of the Mughal emperor Humayun. He ruled Kabul in Afghanistan, and often conflicted with his elder brother, Emperor Akbar. ...

sacked the city in 1566 C.E. * Ahmad Shah Durrani attacked in 1757

Bhera in Ferishta's Chronicle

Farishta records that after attacking Ajoodhun, now

Pakpattan Pakpattan (Punjabi and ), often referred to as Pākpattan Sharīf (; ''"Noble Pakpattan"''), is the capital city of the Pakpattan District, located in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 48th largest city of Pakistan by population according ...

Notable people

Hakeem Noor-ud-Din Hakeem Noor-ud-Din (also spelt: Hakim Nur-ud-Din) ( ar, حکیم نور الدین) (8 January 1834 – 13 March 1914) was a close companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, and was chosen as his first successor on ...

, first caliph of

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

; renowned physician; scholar of

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Amarnath Vidyalankar Amarnath Vidyalankar (8 December 1901 – 21 September 1985) was an Indian member of Parliament, social worker and journalist. He was involved in the Indian independence movement and a member of the Indian National Congress since b ...

, renowned Indian politician and social worker * Balraj Sahni, Bollywood actor and writer *

Birbal Sahni Birbal Sahni FRS (14 November 1891 – 10 April 1949) was an Indian paleobotanist who studied the fossils of the Indian subcontinent. He also took an interest in geology and archaeology. He founded what is now the Birbal Sahni Institute of Pa ...

, renowned paleobotanist *

Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar OBE, FNI, FASc, FRS, FRIC, FInstP (21 February 1894 – 1 January 1955) was an Indian colloid chemist, academic and scientific administrator. The first director-general of the Council of Scientific and Indust ...

, eminent scientist *

Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari (1 July 1918 – 7 April 1998) was an Islamic scholar of Hanafi jurisprudence, Sufi, and Muslim leader. He is known for his magnum opus,'' Tafsir Zia ul Quran fi Tafsir ul Quran,'' meaning “The light of the ...

, ex-Justice

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...

; Islamic scholar *

Ehsan-ul-Haq Piracha Ehsan-ul-Haq Piracha (1932-2019 , احسان الحق پراچہ) was a Pakistani politician. He was from the town of Bhera in Sargodha District, Punjab, Pakistan. Ehsan ul-Haq Piracha died in Islamabad on 1 February 2019.J.C. Anand Jagdish Chand Anand better known as J.C. Anand (1922 – 17 May 1977) was a Pakistani film producer and distributor. One of the largest distributors within the country, he founded Eveready Pictures in Karachi. Background Anand was born in ...

, film producer and distributor, founded Eveready Pictures *

Maulvi Sher Ali Maulvi Sher Ali Ranjha (24 November 1875 – 13 November 1947) was a prominent Ahmadi scholar and a companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be the Promised Messiah and the awaited mahdi. Early life Sher Ali was born to a well off and ed ...

, Ahmadi missionary, known for his

English translations of the Quran Following is a list of English translations of the Quran. The first translations were created in the 17th and 19th centuries by non-Muslims, but the majority of existing translations have been produced in the 20th and 21st centuries. The ea ...

* Bashir A. Tahir, Sitara-e-Imtiaz *

Neelo Neelo Begum (born Cynthia Alexander Fernandes; ''née'' Abida Riaz; 30 June 1941 – 30 January 2021) was a Pakistani veteran film actress. She made her film debut in 1956 with Hollywood film ''Bhowani Junction''. She was known as ''The Qu ...

, Pakistani film actress *

Sikandar Sultan Raja Sikandar Sultan Raja is a retired Pakistani civil servant who serves as the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan, in office since January 2020. He belongs to the Pakistan Administrative Service and is batchmates with Rizwan Ahmed, Hussain Asg ...

, Current Chief Election Comissoner of Pakistan *

Dr. M. Khalid Bakhsh Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

, Advisor, Royal Private Affairs KSA * Sheikh Inam ul Haq Piracha, Ex District Governor (Nazim) and MNA National Assembly of Pakistan

Historical places in the vicinity

Tilla Jogian Tilla Jogian (Punjabi and ur, ) is an abandoned Hindu temple and monastic complex located on the summit of the ''Tilla Jogian'' mountain in the Salt Range of Pakistan's Punjab province. The complex was the most important centre for Hindu '' jo ...

Salt Range The Salt Range ( pnb, ) is a mountain range in the north of Punjab province of Pakistan, deriving its name from its extensive deposits of rock salt. The range extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River. The ...

References

External links

Bhera – The Town that Time forgot Part 1
{{Neighbourhoods of Sargodha Populated places in Sargodha District Sargodha District Tehsils of Punjab, Pakistan