Sialkot District ( Punjabi and ), is one of the districts of the Punjab

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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.

Administration

The district is administratively divided into the following four tehsils (subdivisions), which contain a total of 122 Union Councils:

History

Sialkot District was an agricultural region with forests during the

Indus Valley Civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...

. The Vedic period is characterized by Indo-Aryan culture that flourished in the

Punjab region Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. The

Kambojas The Kambojas were a southeastern Iranian peoples, Iranian people who inhabited the northeastern most part of the territory populated by Iranian tribes, which bordered the Indian subcontinent, Indian lands. They only appear in Indo-Aryan langua ...

, Daradas, Kaikayas, Madras, Pauravas, Yaudheyas, Malavas and Kurus invaded, settled and ruled the ancient

. After overrunning the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

in 331 BCE,

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

marched into the present-day Punjab region with an army of 50,000. The Sialkot was ruled by

Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...

, the

Indo-Greek kingdom The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India. The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" ...

Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...

Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...

, White Huns, Kushano-Hephthalites, the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

and Hindu Shahi kingdoms. In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi took over the Ghaznavid dynasty empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin, In 1005 he conquered the Shahis in

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 ...

in 1005 CE and followed this by the conquests of the Punjab region. The

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

and later

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

ruled the region. At an early date the District fell to the

, and under the Mughals formed the Rechna Doab sarkar of the Subah of Lahore. Under

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 ...

the sarkar was entrusted to Ali Mardan Khan, the famous engineer, who dug a canal through it to bring water from the Chenab river to the imperial gardens in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. On the decline of the Mughal Empire Ranjit Singh Deo, a Rajput hill chief, extended his sway over the lowlands, owning a nominal allegiance to Delhi. In 1748 he transferred his allegiance to Ahmad Shah Durrani, who added Zafarwal and two other parganas to his fief. Before his death in 1773 Ranjit Deo had secured possession of the whole District, except the Sialkot town and its dependencies, which were held by a Pashtun family. Sialkot district was annexed by the British from its former

Sikh 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 ''Si ...

rulers after the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab region, Punjab and what sub ...

of 1848–1849. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the station was denuded of British troops; and the Native regiments which were left behind the rose, and, after sacking the jail, treasury, and courthouse, and massacring several of the European inhabitants, marched off towards Delhi, only to be destroyed by Nicholson at Trimmu Ghat. The rest of the Europeans took refuge in the fort, and on the morning after the departure of the rebels order was restored. The only events of interest in the subsequent history of the District are the plague riots that occurred at the villages of Shahzada and Sankhatra in 1901. Numerous mounds are scattered about the District, which marks the sites of ancient villages and towns. None of them, except that on which the Sialkot fort stood, has been excavated, but silver and copper utensils and coins have been dug up from time to time by villagers. Most of the coins are those of Indo-Bactrian kings. The excavations in Sialkot revealed the existence of some old baths, with hot-water pipes of solid masonry. The fort itself, of which very little now remains, is not more than 1,000 years old and is said to have been rebuilt by Shahab-ud-din Ghori at the end of the twelfth century. In 1859, Gurdaspur,

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

and Sialkot were placed in the new division of Sialkot. But in 1884, Gurdaspur along with

again became a part of the Lahore Division. According to the 1901 census, the district had a population of 1,083,909 and contained 7 towns and 2,348 villages. The population at the previous three enumerations was: 1,004,695 (1868), 1,012,148 (1881) and 1,119,847 (1891). The population decreased between 1891 and 1901 by 3.2, the decrease being greatest in the Raya tahsil and least in the Daska tahsil. The Chenab Colony was responsible for this fall in population, with no less than 103,000 persons having left to take land in the newly irrigated tracts. The district was subdivided into five tehsils, namely: Sialkot, Pasrur, Zafarwal, Raya and Daska, the headquarters of each being at the place from which it is named. The chief towns of the district were Sialkot, Daska, Jamki, Pasrur, Kila Sobha Singh, Zafarwal and Narowal. In 1930, the tehsils of Raya, Daska and Pasrur were split up and parts of these were amalgamated into Gujranwala District. In 1991, the tehsils of Narowal and Shakar Garh (which was tehsil Shankar Garh of Gurdaspur district before the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status 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# ...

in 1947) were split up and formed into the new Narowal District.

Geography

Sialkot District lies southeast of Gujrat District, southwest of Jammu district (in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir), while Narowal District is to the southeast and Gujranwala District is situated to the west. Sialkot district is spread over an area of 3,016 square kilometers. Sunset_at_Head_Marala

Sialkot is hot and humid during the summer and cold during the winter. June and July are the hottest months. The maximum temperature during winter may drop to . The land is generally plain and fertile. The average annual rainfall is about 1000 mm. Over 25.82% of the population of the district is urban.

Demographics

Population

As of the 2023 census, Sialkot district has 671,320 households and a population of 4,499,394. The district has a sex ratio of 102.58 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 78.37%: 80.24% for males and 76.50% for females. 1,116,259 (24.96% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 1,481,968 (32.94%) live in urban areas.

Religion

Muslims are the majority community making up 96.19% of the population, while Christians (descendants of Hindu Dalits who converted during the British Colonial period) are the principal minority.

Language

At the time of the 2023 census, 92.01% of the population spoke Punjabi, 4.86%

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, 1.27% Mewati and 1.22%

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

as their first language.

Notable people

Historical figures

* Allama Iqbal, poet and philosopher * Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, Pakistan's first Foreign Minister and President of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

* Faiz Ahmad Faiz,Now in Narowal District poet and scholar * Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah, great orator, poet and pir, has been president of

Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) () is an Islamist political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1948 by leaders of All India Sunni Conference. The JUP exercised considerable political influence in Pakistani politics during the 1970s to 2003. Its st ...

* Zafar Ali Khan writer, poet, and journalist who played an important role in the Pakistan Movement * Sir Fazl-i-Hussain was one of the most Influential politicians in the United Punjab * Ubaidullah Sindhi pre-partition Muslim Scholar and leader * Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian politician and twice Prime Minister of India * Umera Ahmad famous Urdu fiction writer of modern era * Chaudhry Naseer Ahmad Malhi a leading member of the Muslim League * Abdul Hakim Sialkoti famous Muslim intellectual of 16th century * Chaudhry Sir Shahab-ud-Din Virk, lawyer and politician in pre-partition.

Military

* Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry was the first Chief of Air Staff *

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Khalid Shameem Wynne the 14th

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

Journalists and poets

* Kuldip Nayar, Indian journalist * Amjad Islam Amjad, Urdu writer, lyricist, and poet * Rajinder Singh Bedi, writer * Khalid Hasan, who was born in Srinagar but studied and lived in Sialkot. * Hamid Mir, a Pakistani journalist who was born in Sialkot * Abdal Bela, Urdu writer * Taufiq Rafat, a British-Pakistani poet

Politicians

* Chaudhry Amir Hussain, former Speaker of Pakistan National Assembly, former acting President of Pakistan and Federal Minister of Pakistan 3 times * Khawaja Muhammad Safdar, Pakistani politician and former acting President of Pakistan * Syed Iftikhar Ul Hassan, Politician from Allo Mahar, re-elected several time as a Member of the National Assembly. * Khawaja Muhammad Asif, politician and Federal Minister of Pakistan *

Firdous Ashiq Awan Firdous Ashiq Awan (Punjabi language, Punjabi, , born 11 January 1970) is a Pakistani politician from Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party. She has served as Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (Pakistan), Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Informat ...

, former Federal Minister * Mumtaz Kahloon, politician * Gulzari Lal Nanda, former acting Indian Prime Minister

Businesspersons

* Khawaja Masood Akhtar, businessperson * Malik Riaz, Businessperson and founder of Bahria Town * Ansir Iqbal Baryar, Businessperson and politician * Usman Dar, politician and businessperson

Scholars

* Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, political scientist

Artists

* Waheed Murad, Pakistani film actor * Rajender Kumar, Indian film actor * A. K. Hangal, Indian film actor * Ghulam Ali, ghazal singer * Bilal Saeed, a Punjabi language singer and songwriter

Sportsmen

* Shoaib Malik, former captain of Pakistani cricket team * Abdullah Shafique, Pakistani cricketer * Ijaz Ahmed, cricketer, played for Pakistan national cricket team. * Zaheer Abbas, Pakistani cricketer * Abdul Rahman, Pakistani cricketer * Shahnaz Sheikh, Pakistan national hockey team player * Mansoor Amjad, Zahid Fazal, Pakistan national cricket team players. * Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwean cricket player * Jawaid Iqbal, Hong Kong national cricket player * Nasir Ali, Pakistan national hockey team player * Asif Bajwa, Pakistan national hockey team player * Tariq Sheikh, Pakistan national hockey team player * Muhammad Waqas, Pakistan national hockey team player * Mahmood Hussain, Pakistan national hockey team player * Maqsood Hussain, Pakistan national hockey team player * Munir Bhatti, Pakistan national hockey team player * Kamran Ashraf, Pakistan national hockey team player * Haris Sohail, Pakistani cricketer * Mukhtar Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer

Others

*Chaudhry Abdul Jalil, also known as Chacha Cricket

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{Coord, 32, 31, 12, N, 74, 33, 00, E, type:adm2nd_source:itwiki, display=title Districts of Punjab, Pakistan