Nankana Sahib
Encyclopedia
Nankana Sahib earlier known as Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi, is a city in the Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i province of Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...

. It is named after the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev
Guru Nanak Dev
Guru Nanak was the founder of the religion of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. The Sikhs believe that all subsequent Gurus possessed Guru Nanak’s divinity and religious authority, and were named "Nanak" in the line of succession.-Early life:Guru Nanak was born on 15 April 1469, now...

, the central figure in Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...

 who was born here, so it is a city of high historic and religious value and is a popular pilgrimage site for Sikhs from all over the world. It is located about 80 kilometers south west of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

 and about 75 kilometres east of Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...

, with a population of approximately 70,000. It is also the capital of Nankana Sahib District
Nankana Sahib District
Nankana Sahib is a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Nankana Sahib is the principal town of the district. The district of Nankana Sahib is located about 75 kilometres west of Lahore and about 55 kilometres east of Faisalabad.-Administration:The area around Nankana Sahib was formerly a...

 and Tehsil
Nankana Sahib Tehsil
Nankana Sahib is an administrative subdivision of Nankana Sahib District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city of Nankana Sahib is the headquarters of the tehsil, until 2005 it was a tehsil of Sheikhpura District, but in that year Sheikhpura was bifurcated and the district of Nankana Sahib...

.

Earlier the township was known as Rai Bhoi di Talwandi and was named as Nankana Sahib after the birth of Guru Nanak Dev. The Janam Asthan Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, originally constructed in around 1600 A.D. was renovated in the year 1819–20 A.D. by Gian-Punjab Maharaja Jassa Singh Ramgarhia The Sikh Conference of Panjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Peshawar, Kangra and Hazara.

On February 20, 1921, at Nankana Sahib, Narain Das, a Hindu appointed by the British as the custodian of Nankana Sahib, ordered his men to fire on Akali protesters. The firing was widely condemned, and an agitation was launched until the control of this historic Janam Asthan Gurdwara was restored to the Sikhs. Again in the 1930s and 40's the Sikhs added more buildings and more architectural design.

The area around Nankana Sahib was formerly a tehsil
Tehsil
A Tehsil or Tahsil/Tahasil , also known as Taluk and Mandal, is an administrative division of some country/countries of South Asia....

 of Sheikhupura District
Sheikhupura District
Sheikhupura District is a district of Punjab province, Pakistan. Sheikhupura is the headquarters of Sheikhupura District. According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the district had a population of 3,321,029 of which 25.45% were urban....

. In May 2005, the provincial government decided to raise the status of Nankana Sahib to that of a district as a way of promoting development in the area.

The development of Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev in Pakistan is one of the numerous projects by Punjab Government. The work of development of Nankana Sahib Resort to host and entertain local and international visitors is almost complete. According to reports, there are plans to construct a 100 Acre University as well as hospitals and health care facilities by the descendents of Rai Bular.
In 2007, the Pakistan government announced a plan to set up a university on Sikh religion and culture at Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak. "The international Guru Nanak University planned at Nankana Sahib would have the best architecture, curricula and research centre on Sikh religion and culture", Chairman of Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Gen (Retd) Zulfikar Ali Khan, said.

External Links

Gurdwara Janam Asthan – Nankana Sahib Part 1
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