Vehari, also spelled Vihari, is a city and the headquarters of Vehari District in the

Punjab 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 ...

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# ...

. It is Pakistan's 62nd largest city. Vehari is about from the historical city of

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

. Vehari is located at the Multan-Delhi Road constructed by Emperor

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (), was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire, ...

. It is at an altitude of .,

Demographics

Population

According to 2023 census, Vehari had a population of 130,692.

Geography

It is from the regional metropolis of Multan, from

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, from

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 ...

, from

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

, from

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Urdu: ; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, 8th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division. Founded in ...

, from Hasilpur, from Mailsi, from Kacha Khuh, from Burewala, from Luddan, from Arifwala, from

Pakpattan Pakpattan (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ), often referred to as Pākpattan Sharīf (; ''"Noble Pakpattan"''), is an ancient, historic city in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, serving as the headquarters of the Pakpattan Distr ...

, and about north of the river

Sutlej The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of t ...

– the southernmost of the five rivers of 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 ...

. Islam Headworks is on this river near Luddan on the Luddan-Vehari canal providing

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

water to both banks of the river, which includes the upper fringes of the Cholistan Desert.

Agriculture

Vehari is known to be a city of

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

, among other crops. Vehari has dozens of cotton processing factories and

cottonseed oil Cottonseed oil is cooking oil from the seeds of cotton plants of various species, mainly ''Gossypium hirsutum'' and ''Gossypium herbaceum'', that are grown for cotton fiber, animal feed, and oil. cottonseed, Cotton seed has a similar structure to ...

manufacturing plants;

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

farming and processing is also common. Agricultural products include

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

es in the summer and

guava Guava ( ), also known as the 'guava-pear', is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava '' Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), nativ ...

and other citrus fruits orange in the winter. The summer in Vehari is extremely hot; the weather became pleasant during October and February but in recent years it has been reduced to barely three months from December to February. During the summers, temperature hit 45 to 50 degree Celsius on a regular basis. The rainfall is very light throughout the year in Vehari. Recent years have seen Vehari struggle for rainfall even during the usually busy monsoon season. When rainfall is light rainfall the land is generally arid and dusty.

History

Vehari District was created in 1976 when it was separated from Multan District. During the era of 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 area now comprising Vehari District was a fertile agricultural region with pockets of forest. In the

Vedic period The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the e ...

, the region saw the settlement and influence of various

Indo-Aryan peoples Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse collection of peoples predominantly found in South Asia, who (traditionally) speak Indo-Aryan languages. Historically, Aryans were the Indo-Iranian speaking pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia int ...

, including the Abhiras,

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 Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, Pauravas, Yaudheyas, Malavas, and Kurus. Following the conquest of 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 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 ...

marched into the present-day

with an army of 50,000. Subsequently, the area was ruled by a succession of empires and kingdoms, including the

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 ...

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, and the Turk Shahi and Hindu Shahi dynasties. In 997 CE,

Mahmud of Ghazni Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin (; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi (), was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usuall ...

assumed control of the

Ghaznavid dynasty The Ghaznavid dynasty ( ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic '' mamluk'' origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus to the Indu ...

, established by his father, Sebuktegin. In 1005 CE, Mahmud conquered the Hindu Shahi rulers in Kabul and subsequently extended his rule to the Punjab region. The area later came under the control of 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 then the

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 ...

. After the decline of the Mughals, the region was occupied by 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 ...

. Under the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, Vehari saw an increase in population and agricultural development. The modern development of Vehari District began with the construction of the

Canal from the Sulemanki Headworks on the

Sutlej River The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of th ...

and the initiation of the Nili Bar Colony project in 1925—named for the bluish tint of the Sutlej's waters. Historically, habitation was mainly along the riverbanks, where seasonal floods enabled limited agriculture. The interior regions were mostly sandy wasteland used for grazing by nomadic herders. During the reign of

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

, the riparian tract in the area formed the state of Fatehpur, ruled by Fateh Khan of the Joya family, who founded the town of Fatehpur—still extant approximately 15 km south of Mailsi. This is considered the oldest town in the Mailsi subdivision and retains some archaeological significance. After the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947, the Hindu and Sikh minorities migrated to India, while Muslim refugees from India settled in Vehari District. Prominent castes in the district include Rao Rajput, Jatt, Dhudhi Rajput, Joyia Rajput, Sheikh, Bhatti Rajput, Baloch, Khokhar, Daha, Gujjar, Aheer, Arain, Sial, Awan, and Langrial.

Education

City has two full-fledged university campuses and two post-graduate colleges for men and women. COMSATS University, Vehari Campus is offering MS and BS programs since 2009. Virtual University Campus is working at Vehari since 2001. The city contains many higher secondary schools and private colleges. Education University is a government-funded and operated campus with more than four faculties and many departments. COMSATS University, Vehari Campus is public sector university funded by ministry of Science and Technology. Pakistan's leading university, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), Bahaudin Zikriya University Multan,

University of Education The University of Education () (initials: UE), is a public research university whose main campus is located in a residential area of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is a multi–campus university whose institutions and campuses are located in di ...

and Allama Iqbal Open University has a sub-campus in Vehari.

Transport

Vehari is on the southern alternate route of railway and road between

and

, the capital of the province. The northern route is the main route. Both run roughly in a northeasterly direction, almost parallel to each other and only 20 to 30 miles apart at any point. A section of the railway between Multan and Lahore was electrified on the main line between Khanewal and Lahore during the 1960s; however, in subsequent decades and lately with rapid decline and deterioration of the infrastructure of Pakistan Railway (PR), the electrified section lies in ruins and is not likely to be restored in the foreseeable future. With the new motorway between Multan and Lahore which was due to be completed sometimes in the early part of 2014, Vehari is set to benefit from its proximity to its north.

Culture

The Vehari route goes to Lahore through the religiously renowned city of

, where the

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

Saint Syedna Fariduddin Ganjshakar رحمه الله is buried. Thousands of pilgrims come annually to Pakpattan for the saint's

Urs Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or Urus (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc. ...

celebration which include all sorts of festivities. Selections from his work are included in the

Guru Granth Sahib The Guru Granth Sahib (, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the religion. The Adi Granth (), its first rendition, w ...

, the

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 ...

sacred scripture. He was commonly known as "Baba Farid". Power Radio FM 99 has a station for Vehari.

Climate

The climate of the district is hot and dry in summer and cold in winter Amin et al. (2017). The maximum and minimum temperature ranges between 45 °C and 28 °C in summer. During winter, the temperature fluctuates between 21 °C and 5 °C.

Notable personalities

* Waqar Younis, former Pakistan Cricket Team player and head coach * Saleem Sherwani, hockey player * Tahir Iqbal Chaudhry (MNA Vehari) * Tehmina Daultana (MNA Vehari) * Waseem Ahmad (Former Captain, Pakistan Hockey Team) * Mian Muhammad Saqib Khurshid (MPA Vehari) * Syed Sajid Mehdi Shah ( MNA Vehari ) * Muhammad Irfan ( Pakistan cricket team player) * Syed Muzammil Shah (Pakistani Journalist/Youtuber) * Sami Javed (SEO Expert in Vehari)

Notes

References

Amin A, Nasim W, Mubeen M et al (2016) Regional climate assessment of precipitation and temperature in southern Punjab (Pakistan) using SimCLIM climate model for different temporal scales. TheorApplClimatol. doi:10.1007/s00704-016-1960-1

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Vehari District