Daska (; ) is a city in

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (, ) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. With a population of over 127 million, it is the Demographics of Pakistan, most populous province in Pakistan and the List of first-level administrative divisions by popu ...

, serving as the headquarters of the

Daska Tehsil Daska Tehsil is located in the Sialkot District of Punjab, Pakistan. It has a population of approximately 980,547 as of 2023, with Daska city being the administrative center. The tehsil covers an area of 690 square kilometers and has a population d ...

, one of the four

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 ...

s of

Sialkot District Sialkot District ( Punjabi and ), is one of the districts of the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located in the northeast of the province. The city of Sialkot is the capital of the district. The Sialkot Cantonment was established in 1852 ...

Demographics

Population

According to 2023 census, Daska had a population of 228,626.

Punjabis The Punjabis (Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ; romanised as Pañjābī) are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab region, comprising areas of northwestern India and eastern Paki ...

form an ethnic majority in the city, belonging to different tribes — Punjabi–Kashmiris, Mughals/Mirza and

Rajputs Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

are dominant in the urban area; with several

Gujjar The Gurjar (or Gujjar, Gujar, Gurjara) are an agricultural ethnic community, residing mainly in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were traditionally involved in agriculture, pastoral and nomadic ...

and Jatt clans being dominant in the rural areas. Others tribes such as the Awan,

Arain Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi Muslim agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation. At the beginning of the last century, they numbered around 1 million and were mainly rural cultivator ...

, Khokhars, and

Gakhars The Gakhar () is a historical Punjabi tribe, originating in the Pothohar Plateau of Punjab, Pakistan. They predominantly adhere to Islam. History In the Muslim historiography, the Gakhars have been frequently confused with the Khokhars, who ...

are also present in smaller numbers. A significant

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

population, mostly from the

Kakazai The Kakazai (, Urdu, ),

tribe, is found in urban and rural areas, having migrated centuries ago. There is also a significant amount of the ethnic Mewati people from

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

, having migrated there during the partition of India.

History

17th-19th centuries

Daska was founded during the reign of

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

, and was initially named Shah Jahanabad, according to Mughal revenue records. It was later renamed Daska as it is ''das'' ("ten") ''koh'' (Mughal unit of distance) from

Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...

, Pasrur,

Gujranwala Gujranwala is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fourth most-populous city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. Located in northern-central Punjab's Rachna Doab, it serves as the headquarters of its Gujranwala District, epony ...

, and

Wazirabad Wazirabad (Urdu/) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the administrative capital of Wazirabad District (formerly a Tehsil of Gujranwala District). Famous for its cutlery products, it is known as the city of cutlery and is also quite famous f ...

. During the Afghan

Durrani The Durrānī (, ), formerly known as Abdālī (), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes, tribal confederation of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in southern Afghanistan (Loy Kandahar region), straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, ...

invasion of the 18th century, Daska was ruined, and its inhabitants were forced to seek shelter in the nearby mud fort of Kot Daska. Daska was later repopulated during the Sikh era. Daska was captured by

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia M ...

in 1802 and made part of the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...

20th century

In 1929, Daska was the site of Hindu-Sikh riots when Akali

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

attempted to seize control of

Gurdwara A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

Sant Wayaram Singh. The local Hindu community claimed it was originally built to be a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

. In August 1947, 5,000 refugees from surrounding areas gathered at Daska Camp for two weeks before being escorted to the Indian border by the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

21st century

In January 2025, the Government of Punjab demolished the Ahmadi worship building constructed by Muhammad Zafarullah Khan.

Notable People

* Fazal Idaho (born 1948) - Pakistani politician

References

Cities and towns in Sialkot District {{Sialkot-geo-stub