Sheikhupura or
Shekhupur , formerly
Kot Dayal Das or
Singhpuria or
Virkgarh (ورک گڑھ), is an
industrialIndustry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
city in the province of
PunjabPunjab 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...
slightly northwest to
LahoreLahore 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...
in
PakistanPakistan , 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...
. It is known for its historical places, and is commonly known locally as
Qila Shaikhupura, because of the fort in the city, constructed by the
MughalThe Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
Emperor
JahangirJahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
. The name Sheikhupura is derived from a nickname of
JahangirJahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
, who was known as Sheikhu by his father
Akbar the GreatAkbar , also known as Shahanshah Akbar-e-Azam or Akbar the Great , was the third Mughal Emperor. He was of Timurid descent; the son of Emperor Humayun, and the grandson of the Mughal Emperor Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur, the ruler who founded the Mughal dynasty in India...
. The city is the headquarters of
Sheikhupura DistrictSheikhupura 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....
and is approximately 35 km from
LahoreLahore 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...
. The original name of
Virkgarh was renamed by Jahangir.
The city was renamed
Singhpuria in
SikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
rule, and had a large
SikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
population prior to Partition in 1947, Gurudwaras are seen throughout the city.
History
The history of Virkgarh/Sheikhupura goes back to 100 BC. Historical research has established the fact that Sangla or Sakala was the capital of
PunjabThe Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
once, and it was here that
Alexander the Great of Macedonia (known locally as Sikandar e Azam) fought one of his most serious battles of his career. Its name is spoken of, firstly in the pages of
Tuzk-e-JahangiriTuzk-e-Jahangiri or Tuzk-i-Jahangiri is the autobiography of Mughal Emperor Nor-u-Din Muhammad Jahangir . Also referred to as Jahangirnama , Tuzk-e-Jahangiri is written in Persian, and follows the tradition of his great-grandfather, Babur , who had written the Baburnama; though Jahangir went a...
as Jahangirpura, after the name of Prince Salim Nur u Din Muhammad
JahangirJahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
. The fourth Mughal emperor of India named Jahangir changed the name of the city from Virkgarh to Sheikhupura after converting the majority of the population to Islam. This area belongs to the virk Jats. Virk jats created a fort in the vicinity of current day Sheikhupura and called it VirkGarh., i.e. "citadel of the Virks"
MughalThe Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
Emperor Nor-u-Din Muhammad
JahangirJahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
renamed the Virkgarh to his nickname of Sheikhu. In 1607, Sheikhupura was constructed following an order of Jahangir. The father of Jahangir, Emperor Jalal-uddin Mohammad Akbar use to call him Sheikhu (a nickname). During Sikh rule the new city was named Singhpuria, previously was known as
JahangirabadJahangirabad is a city and a municipal board in Bulandshahr district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.it is said that once emperor jahangeer stayed here for a couple of days,,,,since then it is named so...-Geography:...
. The Sikh Misl named "Singhpuria" under the leadership of Nawab Kapur Singh Virk occupied the city and started calling it singhpuria instead of Virkgarh.
During the reign of Emperor Jahangir (1605 to 1627), Sheikhupura had the status of royal
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
ground. In
Tuzk-e-JahangiriTuzk-e-Jahangiri or Tuzk-i-Jahangiri is the autobiography of Mughal Emperor Nor-u-Din Muhammad Jahangir . Also referred to as Jahangirnama , Tuzk-e-Jahangiri is written in Persian, and follows the tradition of his great-grandfather, Babur , who had written the Baburnama; though Jahangir went a...
, Jahangir wrote during the events in 1607:
Mughal Emperor Jahangir granted the estate of Sheikhupura to Syed Usman, the father of Shah Bilal, a religious
preceptorA preceptor is a teacher responsible to uphold a certain law or tradition, a precept.-Christian military orders:A preceptor was historically in charge of a preceptory, the headquarters of certain orders of monastic Knights, such as the Knights Hospitaller and Knights Templar, within a given...
of the line of Qadiriyyah.
Over the whole district, the period between the decline of the
Mughal EmpireThe Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
after the death of Mughal Emperor
AurangzebAbul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
and the rise of
Sikh confederaciesThe Sikh Empire was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The empire, based around the Punjab region, existed from 1799 to 1849. It was forged, on the foundations of the Khalsa, under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh from a collection of autonomous Punjabi Misls...
was one of utter confusion and
anarchyAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
. The successive shocks of invasion from the northwest, and the devastation caused again and again by the invading armies of Nadir Shah.
Nader ShahNāder Shāh Afshār ruled as Shah of Iran and was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander...
and Ahmad Shah Abdali (1724–1773) almost completely ruined the prosperity of the tract. After the death of Aurangazeb, Muslim power declined and the Sikhs who occupied the region and ruled through various
mislMisl generally refers to the twelve sovereign states in the Sikh Confederacy. The states formed a commonwealth that was described by Antoine Polier as an "aristocratic republic"...
s or small to medium sized groups. Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali led raids that further weakened local Muslim rule. Several raids were made by the Bhangi Sardars, a Sikh community. Finally around 1780,
Ranjit SinghMaharaja Ranjit Singh Ji was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.-Early life:...
, a Sikh ruler defeated the grandson of Ahmad Shah Abdali and later occupied this district. The Sikhs were defeated by the British around 1850 and it stayed under British rule until 1947.
In 1851,
Sheikhupura TehsilSheikhupura is an administrative subdivision of Sheikhupura District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city of Sheikhupura is the headquarters of the tehsil....
became part of
Gujranwala DistrictGujranwala District is a district in Punjab, Pakistan.- History :The village of Asarur which has been identified as the location of Taki, an ancient town, visited by the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang contains immense ruins of Buddhist origin...
. The Artimapal Secretary Chief Commissioner Lahore wrote a letter to the Department of Wealth in 1855 to combine the Sheikhupura Tehsil with the
Lahore DistrictLahore District is a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan that contains the city of Lahore, the district and provincial capital. The total area is...
but it was never done. As soon as it became a District
ZillahA Zillah or Zilā is a country subdivision in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. It is translated as district* districts of Pakistan * districts of India...
, a lot of
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s came to practice. Under
Sir Ganga RamSir Ganga Ram KCSI was an eminent civil engineer born in Mangtanwala, a small village of Punjab Province in British India now in Punjab, Pakistan and educated at the Thomason College of Civil Engineering 1873 batch...
, district courts and hospitals were constructed in the city.
Shaihupura in pre-partition era (before 1947) was a prosperous land of traders and had a healthy mix of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. However, the partition saw bloody conflicts leading to mass migration of Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan to India. The major Indian newspapers in that time quoted in the month of August 1947 - "Shaikhupura no more..." to express the extent of killings that Shaikhupura witnessed. Being close to Nankana sahib, this place also was a bone of contention for the Sikhs as it was perceived as part of their land (later named as Khalistan).
Geography
Population
With the modest figure of 22,300 in 1951, the population of Sheikhupura has increased more than tenfold to more than) 300,000 in half a century. In recent decades, the rate of growth has increased due to growing agricultural and industrial activities. The current population has been growing steadily and is projected to exceed to 700,000 by 2019.
Economy
As a satellite town of Lahore, Sheikhupura has developed an industrial base. According to the Census of Manufacturing Industries of 1987-1988, the value-added generated in large-scale industries was higher in Sheikhupura than in Lahore. The
GRPA metropolitan area's gross regional product, i.e. GMP or GRP, is one of several measures of the size of its economy. Similar to GDP, GRP is defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within a metropolitan area in a given period of time.-See also:*List of European...
of the city for the year 1993 has been estimated as
Rs.The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...
6,260 million, that constitutes about 32% of the district's GRP. The industrial sector contributes with 68% to the GRP and 45% to the total employment. The total number of establishments in the city has been estimated to be between 11,500 and 120,000 for 1993.
Tourist spots
Sheikhupura has a number of historical places in the city which attracts visitors to the city:
- Hiran Minar
Hiran Minar; Urdu: ہرن مینار is set in peaceful environs near Lahore in Sheikhupura, Pakistan. It was constructed by Emperor Jahangir as a monument to Mansraj, one of his pet deer....
- Sheikhupura Fort (Qila Sheikhupura)
- Company Bagh
- Tomb of Shah Jamal
- Muqadssa-e-Mariam
- Sacha Sodha
- Shrine of Mian Sher Muhammad Sharaqpuri
Sports
Sheikhupura Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Sheikhupura, Pakistan. It is currently used mostly for cricket matches. The stadium holds 15,000 spectators and hosted its first test match in 1996.Famous Cricketer
Wasim AkramWasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricketer and model. who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches....
scored his best score at this venue.
There is also a hockey stadium named after Saeed Anwar Malik (former legend hockey Olympian), a public park, a gymnasium, electronic scoreboard, and stadium shopping center in the neighborhood.
Sporting personalities
Shahid Tanvir became the second first-class cricketer to emerge from Sheikhupura, going on to play for the National Bank of Pakistan from 1982 to 1999. He was nicknamed 'The Tiger' by the people of Sheikhupura for his powerful shots and instinctive batting.
Rana Naved-ul-HasanRana Naved-ul-Hasan is a cricketer who plays for the Pakistani Test and One Day International teams...
, born in Sheikhupura, went on to achieve international success playing for the Pakistan National Cricket Team, representing in One Day Internationals, Tests and T20s.
- Saeed Anwar Malik: played three Olympics for Pakistan hockey team
- Asad Malik: played three Olympics for Pakistan hockey team
- Anjum Saeed: played one Olympics for Pakistan hockey team
- Naeem Amjad: played one Olympics for Pakistan hockey team
- Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed is a Pakistani cricketer and coach. He was a right-handed medium-fast pace bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways. He played 22 Tests and 163 One Day Internationals for Pakistan between 1988 and 1998.He was educated at Islamia College Lahore.Aaqib's best performances in...
: played as fast bowler for Pakistan cricket team. He represented the national team in One Day Internationals and Tests.
- Mohammad Asif (Urdu: محمد آصف): (born 20 December 1982) a Pakistani right arm medium fast bowler in cricket. Asif was born in Sheikhupura and has played first-class cricket for Khan Research Labs, the National Bank, Quetta, Sheikhupura, Sialkot and Leicestershire. He made his Test match debut for the Pakistan cricket team against Australia in January 2005.
- Rana Naveed ul HAssan: Right arm fast medium bowler, played for pakistan. He represented national team in test matches and one day internationals...
See also
- 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....
- Hiran Minar
Hiran Minar; Urdu: ہرن مینار is set in peaceful environs near Lahore in Sheikhupura, Pakistan. It was constructed by Emperor Jahangir as a monument to Mansraj, one of his pet deer....
- 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...
- Safdarabad
Safdarabad is an administrative subdivision of Sheikhupura District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city of Safdar Abad is the headquarters of the tehsil, until 2005 it was a tehsil of Sheikhupura District, but in that year Sheikhpura was bifurcated and the district of Nankana Sahib was...
- 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...
- Kalsian
Kalsian is a small village located in Sheikhupura District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located at 32°4'0N 73°52'0E and lies about 30km North-West of Sheikhupura city. The name Kalsian is originated from kala shiin, which was taken from the early days of its settlement by its founders...
- Khanqa Dogran
- Nankana Sahib
Nankana Sahib , earlier known as Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi, is a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is named after the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev, the central figure in Sikhism who was born here, so it is a city of high historic and religious value and is a popular pilgrimage site...
- Sangla Hill
Sangla Hill is a tehsil located in Nankana Sahib District in the Punjab Province of Pakistan.- Introduction :Sangla hill is a tehsil under district Nankana Sahib...
- Shahkot
External links