Batala

History

Batala was founded in 1465 by Abhay Pratap Bal of the Bhati Rajputs of Kapurthala, under the suzerainty of Sultan Bahlul Lodi. During the Mughal Empire, Emperor Akbar granted the city as a jagir to his foster brother, Shamsher Khan. In the 16th century, Batala was one of the prominent cities in the Punjab region, comparable in importance to cities such as Lahore and Jalandhar. It predates Amritsar by over a century.

Historically, Batala was a fortified city with 12 gates, many of which are still known by their original names, including Sheran Wala Gate, Khajuri Gate, Bhandari Gate, Ohri Gate, Thathiari Gate, Hathi Gate, Pahari Gate, Mori Gate, Kapoori Gate, and Achli Gate. Some of these structures still exist today, though they are in varying states of preservation.

Batala is home to several gurdwaras, including those associated with Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. These sites are of great religious importance and attract thousands of Sikh pilgrims annually.

Under British India, Batala served as the headquarters of a tehsil in the Gurdaspur District of the Punjab Province. The allocation of this district during the partition of India in 1947 was highly contested due to its nearly equal population of Muslims and non-Muslims. Initially, the Viceroy Lord Wavell assigned the three eastern tehsils—Gurdaspur, Batala, and Pathankot—to India, and the western tehsil, Shakargarh, to Pakistan.

The entire district of Gurdaspur was depicted as part of Pakistan in the 'notional partition line' of the Indian Independence Act 1947, and the matter was referred to the Punjab Boundary Commission. Ultimately, the final partition line confirmed Wavell's division, placing Batala within Indian territory. For a brief period from 14 to 17 August 1947, Batala was considered part of Pakistan before being officially incorporated into India.

At the time of Partition, Batala had a Muslim majority population. Following the announcement of the final boundary, most Muslims migrated to Pakistan, while Hindu and Sikh refugees from areas that became part of Pakistan settled in Batala. Today, the city has a Hindu majority (approximately 56%) and a significant Sikh minority (about 38%).

Politics

The city is part of the Batala Assembly Constituency. Mainly, the Indian National Congress has a stronghold over the constituency as it won assembly elections 9 times out of 16. Bharatiya Jana Sangh/Bharatiya Janata Party won 4 times, Janata Party, Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party each won 1 time. Amansher Singh is the incumbent MLA who belongs to Aam Aadmi Party.

Batala is also a Municipal Corporation in India which was upgraded in the year of 2019 from Municipal Council. First election for the Corporation were held in the year of 2021 which was won by Congress.

Villages

Police Administration

Batala became a police district in 1988, on 19 April, when the Government of Punjab issued an official notification on 17 April 1988. Since then, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) is the head of the Police department of Batala. The SSP is either selected from Indian Police Service or State Police Services, i.e. Punjab Police. The incumbent SSP of Batala is Suhail Qasin Mir, serving on this post since 3 August 2024. Sumedh Singh Saini was the first SSP of Batala on the creation of Batala as Police district. He later became Director general of police Punjab.

List of Senior Superintendent of Police Batala

• IPS - Indian Police Service
• PPS - Punjab Police Service

Demographics

As per provisional data from the 2011 census, the Batala urban agglomeration had a population of 158,404, out of which males were 83,536 and females were 74,868. The literacy rate was 85.28 per cent.

The table below shows the population of different religious groups in Batala city and their gender ratio, as of 2011 census.

Economy

Minerals

Foundry sand is found in Dharamkot, near Batala; the deposits are located 6.5 km west of Batala. Exposed on both sides of Batala–Dera Baba Nanak road, the Dharmkot sand is a natural moulding sand, containing about 20% clay. Another deposit which is about 4 metres thick, occurs at about 6 km from Batala on the Batala Qadian road. The sand has a yellowish tinge on the surface, but is reddish brown at a depth of about 1 metre.

The sand deposits are also found at Bhagwanpur about 15 km west of Batala on Dera Baba Nanak Road and about 10 km from Gurdaspur on the Gurdaspur Naushera Road (20 percent clay).

Salt petre occurs in the district at the villages of Thikriwala, Pandori in the tehsils of Gurdaspur and Dhawan, Chataurgarh and Badowal in the tehsil of Batala. It is a source of potassium nitrate which can be used for making crackers and gunpowder, in the match and sugar industries, and as fertilizer. It is also famous because of village bodhi di khui and also famous for bajwa people in it.

Landmarks

Located in Gurdaspur district, 38 km from Amritsar on the Kashmir Grand Trunk road. One of the older towns in the province of Lahore in earlier times, Batala is home to many monuments of religious and historic importance, such as Hazira Park, Barah Dari, Hakikat Samadh. These monuments are connected with Sikh history and the Mughal period. The city consists of several churches constructed during the British Raj.

Jal Mahal (Baradari)

The Jal Mahal and the palace of Maharaja Sher Singh were built by the Maharaja (CE 1780–1839). The palace is under the control of the authorities of the local Baring Union Christian College. The administrative offices of the college are housed in it. Jal Mahal is under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Jal Mahal (Baradari) and the palace of Maharaja Sher Singh were connected through a tunnel. According to some senior citizens, Shamsher Khan Tank of Jal Mahal used to be filled with water through the tunnel, which was further connected to a long tunnel (canal) to the Beas, near Kahnuwan. The remnants of the tunnel can be seen near Baring Christian College.

Maharaja Sher Singh used to hold meetings of his courtiers in Jal Mahal. The water reservoir was built by Shamsher Khan while the beautiful Baradari in the centre of the tank was constructed by Maharaja Sher Singh. It has a square room in the centre of a pavilion with a passageway. The entry to the first floor is by a staircase with concave-shaped steps on the north-eastern canal. Jal Mahal has eight doors in the lower part of the building and four in the upper storey. The inner wall contained beautiful art glass carvings and wall paintings. However, major parts of the paintings have been erased or damaged. The roof of the pavilion has also fallen. The Municipal Council provided a tubewell to fill up the tank till the eighties. All sides of the reservoir were lined with Nanakshahi bricks. However, with the passage of time the brick lining has been destroyed. Nowadays, on one side of the tank is located a vridh ashram owned and managed by the Dainik Prarthana Sabha. There also exists Bhadr Kali Mandir and Shivala. The upper portion of Jal Mahal is in a dilapidated condition and the time is not far when this magnificent structure will pass into oblivion.

Gurdwara Kandh Sahib

Guru Nanak Dev Ji was married here to Bibi Sulakhani Ji. He was engaged to the daughter of Mul Chand Chauna who along with the Brahmin priests insisted on a traditional Hindu marriage while Guru Nanak Dev Ji wanted a simple marriage. Guru Nanak Dev ji was sitting beside a crooked mud wall (kandh) discussing the marriage plans with the Brahmin clergy. It was planned to push the wall on top of the Guru but Guru Nanak Dev ji was warned of the plan by an old woman. Guru Nanak Dev Ji just smiled and said "This wall will not fall for centuries. The will of God shall prevail." The wall is still preserved within the Gurdwara and a celebration is held here every year on the anniversary of Guru Nanak's marriage. At walking distance of two minutes there is Gurudwara Dera sahib, which was house of Mata Sulakhni Ji (bride of Guru Nanak dev ji). An ancient well is situated in Gurudwara dera sahib, it is said that water of well is having special curing powers in itself.

Kali Dwara Mandir

Another very famous and the most-visited devotional place here is the temple dedicated to Goddess Kali. It's situated in the heart of city i.e., Chakri Bazar and maximum rush is seen on Tuesdays. During Navratri time, a lot of people from city and surrounding region visit the temple. People of Batala and outside have true faith on Mata Kali Dwara Mandir. Many other temples are also situated in Batala City.

Sati Lakshmi Devi Smadh

Sati Laxmi Devi Smarak is located in the Smadh road of Batala opposite to Hanuman Akahara, The Smadh of Sati Lakshmi devi is there, who was engaged to Veer Hakikat Rai, When Laxmi Devi heard the news of death of her becoming husband, She became Sati (throw herself in fire and burn to death), her age was 10 years at that time, On that place a big public park is made by Local People on the smadh of Veer Haqiqat Rai and Sati Lakshmi Devi.

Transport

Batala is an important industrial town famous for the manufacture of machine tools and woolen products. Therefore, it is well connected with the other cities and towns of Punjab by road and railways. Government and private buses are the main source of journey to other cities. Batala has the only government bus depot in the district.

Bus

Bus Stand Batala is near Gandhi Chowk and people can normally commute to different cities via buses, everyday around 1,000 buses ferry more than 40,000 passengers.

Rail

Batala railway station (station code BAT) is on the Amritsar–Pathankot line of the Firozpur division of the Northern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Amritsar Junction railway station located about 38 km from the town is the nearest major railway station. Train to Qadian is another diversion from Batala. Ministry of Railways has accepted in 2010 Budget plan to connect the Batala–Quadian rail link to Jalandhar via Beas Junction. The project would start soon. This project will help connect Batala to high-speed Amritsar–Delhi section and cutting travel time to Jalandhar by 1 hour, with no need to go via Amritsar.

Air

Guru Ram Das International Airport serving the city of Amritsar is the nearest international airport and is located about 40 km from the town. Pathankot Airport in Pathankot, situated 70 km away from Batala is the nearest military airport.

Hospitals

Batala has a number of hospitals, schools and colleges affiliated to different boards.

• Satsar Hospital, Batala
• Mahajan Hospital, Batala
• Navtej Humanity Hospital & Club
• Johal Surgical Hospital
• Civil Hospital, Batala
• Batala Hospital, Dera Road, Shukerpura, Batala
• Jagt Da Hospital

Education

During Ranjit Singh's rule, Qadri family, which was known for its scholarship, used to run a large prominent school in Batala, which used to attract students from as far as Iran and Afghanistan. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had donated a big jagir (estate) for the maintenance of this school. This jagir was later taken back by the British during their rule.

Colleges

• Baring Union Christian College (GNDU)
• Batala Institute of Medical Science, Sarwali, Dera road, Batala
• IK Gujral PTU campus Batala (degree college)
• Government Polytechnic college, Batala
• Guru Nanak Dev College
• R.R. Bawa DAV College for Girls
• Royal Institute of Nursing, Batala
• S.L. Bawa DAV College
• V.M.S. institute of information and technology

Schools

• Akshey Sareen's School
• Arya girls Sr. secondary school (PSEB)
• Baring School (ICSE)
• BVN Sainik High School
• Cambridge International School, Batala (CBSE)
• City young School, ICSE
• Dr. Daulat Ram Bhalla DAV Centenary Public School (CBSE)
• Des Raj DAV Senior Secondary School (CBSE)
• Dr. MRS Bhalla DAV School, Qila mandi, Batala. (PSEB)
• Evergreen Science & Sports School, Achalsahib (Chahalkalan) (PSEB)
• Excelsior Public (CBSE)
• F.c. Verma Sr. Secondary School (PSEB)
• F.S.M. Silver Creek School (ICSE)
• Gems Cambridge International School, Batala
• Govt. Senior Secondary school (Boys), Batala (PSEB)
• Guru Nanak School
• Guru Nanak Khalsa Sr/Sec (Narowal), Batala
• Hollyhock High School, Batala
• Kotli Bhan Singh primary school
• Methodist sen.sec. school (PSEB)
• The Millennium School, Batala (CBSE)
• National Progressive School, Batala (PSEB)
• R D Khosla DAV Model Senior Secondary School (CBSE)
• Saheed Baba Deep Singh Modern School, Dhupsari
• Salvation Army School and College, Batala
• Shri Guru Nanak Dev Academy Kandila, Batala
• St. Francis School, Batala (ICSE)
• WoodStock Public School, Anarkali Rd, Batala (CBSE)

Notable people

• Dev Anand – Indian actor, studied at Batala, Dharamshala and Lahore before partition.

• Muhammad Hussain Batalvi – Indian Ahl-i Hadith leader.

• Riaz Batalvi – Pakistani journalist and writer.

• Shiv Kumar Batalvi – Indian poet.

• Mohini Hameed – Pakistani radio broadcaster, anchor and actress.

• Bhupinder Singh Mann – Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (from 1990 to 1996), nominated by the President of India for outstanding contributions to the cause of Indian farmers.

• Gurpartap Singh Mann – Member of Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC).

• Mumtaz Mufti – Pakistani writer, awarded the high Pakistani civilian award Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Munshi Premchand award.

• Jassa Singh Ramgarhia – Sikh Misaldar and ruler of Batala during the Sikh Misl period

• Surjit Singh Randhawa – hockey player of the Indian men's national hockey team.

• Prabhjot Singh – hockey player of the Indian men's national hockey team.

• Mian Ghulam Farid Khan – Extra-Assistant Commissioner (Revenue) in the British Indian government and Honorary Magistrate of Batala. Awarded the title of Khan Bahadur on 1891 by the British government.

• Mian Din Muhammad – Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Ambassador to Peshawar, his counsellor and tutor of prince Sher Singh. Later he became a revenue minister of Sher Singh. Kucha Din Muhammad is a locality in Batala named after him.

• Mian Muhammad Said – Officer of Imperial police. Served as Superintendent of Police Lahore and Inspector-General Kapurthala State. Awarded title of Khan Bahadur on 1923 by the Viceroy and Governor-general.

References

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