Bhera (; ) is a city and a
tehsil
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...
of
Sargodha District
Sargodha District (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ), is a district of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. The capital of the district is Sargodha. It is an agricultural district with wheat, rice, sugarcane and kinnow being its main crops. The Sa ...
,
Punjab province of
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
.
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 walled Old Town and the surrounding newer development. The Old Town is surrounded by tall walls with eight gates, and is divided up into
mohallas, or neighborhoods; historically, different castes lived in different mohallas.
The
Jhelum River flows to the north of Bhera.
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
Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly crea ...
, 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 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. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
, 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'') as well as hunting knives and table cutlery, often fitted with handles of
serpentine (false jade) or
horn.
[Watt, Sir George, ''The Commercial Products of India'', London: John Murray Publishers (1908), p. 561] Sir
Robert Baden-Powell 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 (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
*
Mahmud of Ghazni sacked the city
[History of Bhera on Imperial Gazetteer of India v2 page 213](_blank)
/ref> in 1004 CE
* Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
Bhera in Ferishta's Chronicle
Farishta records
that after attacking Ajoodhun, now Pakpattan:
Notable people
* Karam Shah al-Azhari, ex-Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan; Islamic scholar
* Amarnath Vidyalankar, Indian politician and social worker
* Balraj Sahni, Bollywood actor and writer
* Birbal Sahni, paleobotanist
* Ehsan-ul-Haq Piracha, Finance Minister of Pakistan, (1988–1990)
* J.C. Anand, film producer and distributor, founded Eveready Pictures of Pakistan
* Hakeem Noor-ud-Din, first caliph of Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...
; physician; scholar of Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
* Maulvi Sher Ali, Ahmadi missionary, known for his English translations of the Quran
* Bashir A. Tahir, international banker
* Neelo, Pakistani film actress
* Sikandar Sultan Raja, Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan in 2023
* Inam ul Haq Piracha, Ex District Nazim and MNA National Assembly of Pakistan
The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...
* Pir Muhammad Amin Ul Hasnat Shah, politician, Minister of State for Religious Affairs (2017 - 2018)
Historical places in the vicinity
* Tilla Jogian
* Salt Range
References
External links
Bhera – The Town that Time forgot (4 Parts total) (Historical Town of Punjab)
{{Neighbourhoods of Sargodha
Populated places in Sargodha District
Tehsils of Sargodha District
Cities and towns in Punjab, Pakistan
Former populated places in Pakistan