Gujrat District

Geographics

It is bounded on the northeast by Bhimber district, on the north by Mirpur district, on the northwest by the River Jhelum, which separates it from Jhelum district, on the east and southeast by the Chenab River, separating it from the districts of Gujranwala and Sialkot, and on the west by Mandi Bahauddin district. Gujrat district is spread over an area of 3,192 square kilometres.

It is geographically located between the Chenab River and Jhelum River and headquartered at the city of Gujrat.

History

Ancient history

According to the British Imperial Gazetteer:

who defeated its king Alakana.|

However the foundation of the capital, Gujrat, according to the Ancient Geography of India:

Islamic Rule (Ghaznavid, Ghurid, Delhi, Suri, and Mughal Empires)

In 997 CE, Mahmud Ghaznavi inherited the Ghaznavid dynasty established by his father Sebuktegin. After defeating the Hindu Shahis, he conquered their kingdom entirely which included the Punjab region of modern-day Pakistan.

After defeating the Ghaznavids, the Ghurids took over the region. They were in turn succeeded by the Sultanates of Delhi.

The Mughal emperor Akbar established Gujrat as a district along with many others when he began consolidating his rule over his vast empire. Jahangir, Akbar's son and successor, in his memoirs records the following information on Gujrat:

Revenue records have been preserved in the families of the hereditary registrars (kanungos), and these exhibit Gujrat as the capital of a district containing 2,592 villages, paying a revenue of 11.6 million. In 1605, the famous Sayyid Abdul Kasim received Gujrat as a fief from Akbar.

In 1707, with Aurangzeb's death, the decline of Mughal power began in the Punjab region. Nadir Shah occupied the Punjab including Gujrat during his invasion of the Mughal Empire in 1739. The area was captured by Punjabi Gakhar tribesmen from near the Rawalpindi area after the invasion.

Gujrat and Punjab as a whole was devastated further from the invasions of the Durrani Afghans (Pashtuns) under Ahmad Shah Durrani between 1748 and 1767. Durrani took direct control over Punjab after Mir Mannu, the Mughal governor of Punjab, died in 1753. Durrani would frequently cross the area for plunder and to fight the newly emerged Sikh Misls.

Sikh and British era

The Sikhs eventually took over most of northern Punjab after Ahmad Shah Durrani’s final invasion in 1767. The Sikhs under Gujjar Singh Bhangi took Gujrat after defeating the local Punjabi Ghakhars under Muqqarab Khan.

In 1798, the Bhangi leader Sahib Singh pledged allegiance to the Sukerchakia Misl of Ranjit Singh. By 1810, Ranjit Singh's armies captured the city from Bhangi forces, thereby extending the rule of the Sikh Empire to the city.

The Sikh empire declined following Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839. The British East India Company defeated the Sikhs between 1845 and 1846 during the First Anglo-Sikh War, reducing their power significantly. Two years later, the empire collapsed after the British EIC again decisively defeated the Sikhs at the Battle of Gujrat, thus ending the Second Anglo-Sikh War. The Sikh empire was entirely annexed and incorporated into the rule of the British EIC. Gujrat district was annexed by the British from its former Sikh rulers after the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848–1849.

Demographics

|1951 |742892 |1961 |835045 |1972 |1177345 |1981 |1408585 |1998 |2048008 |2017 |2756289 |2023 |3219375

As of the 2023 census, Gujrat district has 489,337 households and a population of 3,219,375. The district has a sex ratio of 99.83 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 81.37%: 84.81% for males and 77.95% for females. 717,826 (22.32% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 1,324,264 (41.13%) live in urban areas.

Religion

As per the 2023 census, Islam is the dominant religion with 98.92% of the population while there is a minority of 0.95% Christians who live mainly in urban areas.

Language

According to the 2023 Pakistani census, 93.47% of the population spoke Punjabi, 3.48% Urdu and 2.16% Pashto as their first language.

Administration

The district is administratively subdivided into following tehsils:

Education

Gujrat district has the 2nd highest literacy rate in Punjab(2023). District Gujrat has a total of 1,475 government schools at primary and secondary level. Out of these public schools, 60 percent (889 schools) are for girls. According to the latest available data, 323,058 students are enrolled in the public schools while 10,581 teachers are working in these schools.

Notable people

Politicians

• Aitzaz Ahsan, Pakistani barrister, politician
• Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, President of Pakistan (19721977)
• Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, politician, former chief minister of Punjab.
• Mian Tariq Mehmood, politician, former MPA, minister
• Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi, politician
• Moonis Elahi, former federal minister, former MPA and MNA
• Chaudhry Muhammed Farooq, former law minister
• Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul, former Federal Minister of Pakistan
• Mian Muhammad Afzal Hayat, former chief minister of Punjab, former ambassador
• Shujaat Hussain, 16th prime minister of Pakistan (30 June to 28 August 2004)
• Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal, Vice-President of PML-N Punjab
• Qamar Zaman Kaira, former federal minister of Pakistan
• Mian Imran Masood, former MPA and minister of education Punjab.
• Ahmad Mukhtar, former minister for defence, Government of Pakistan
• Yasmin Qureshi, British MP

Scholars

• Ismat Beg, scientist
• Faisal Masud, medical doctor

Military

• Major Muhammad Akram, Nishan-e-Haider
• Major Raja Aziz Bhatti, Nishan-e-Haider
• Mohammad Shariff, former chief of Pakistan Navy and chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee
• General Raheel Sharif, 15th Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Army
• Major Shabbir Sharif, Nishan-e-Haider
• ACM Zaheer Ahmad Babar, serving Air Chief of Pakistan (Pakistan Air Force).

Poets

• Orya Maqbool Jan, former civil servant, writer, columnist
• Shareef Kunjahi, Punjabi writer and poet
• Anwar Masood, poet
• Krishna Sobti, Hindi writer
• Fakhar Zaman, writer and poet

Sport

• Tanwir Afzal, Hong Kong cricketer.
• Imtiaz Bhatti, Pakistani cyclist and former pilot of Pakistan Air Force.
• Mudassar Bukhari, Dutch cricketer.
• Rizwan Cheema, Pakistani-Canadian cricketer.
• Munir Dar, Hong Kong cricketer.
• Ali Warraich, Pakistan kabaddi player.

Actors/Actresses

• Inayat Hussain Bhatti, film director and actor
• Ejaz Durrani, actor
• Shagufta Ejaz, actress
• Sabiha Khanum, actress

Musicians

• Adeel Chaudhry, also a dentist, actor, and model
• Alam Lohar, Punjabi folk singer
• Arif Lohar, Punjabi folk singer
• Zoe Viccaji, Pakistani singer-songwriter and musical actress

Other

• The family of UK-born Shafilea Ahmed, an honour killing victim, originated from Uttam.

References

References

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2. "five-districts-get-new-dpos". Dawn (newspaper).
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4. [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V12_372.gif Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 12, p. 366]
5. ''The Ancient Geography of India'', page 151, [[Alexander Cunningham]]
6. The Memoirs of Jahangueir (Rogers), Volume 1, chpt. 23
7. Banerjee, Abhijit. (January 2003). "History, Institutions and Economic Performance: The Legacy of Colonial Land Tenure Systems in India (BREAD Working Paper No. 003)". Bureau for Research in Economic Analysis of Development.
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11. "7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results: Table 5".
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13. "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2017)". [[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]].
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17. (1881). "Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. III.".
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21. Kaul, Harikishan. (1911). "Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II".
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26. [http://www.ecp.gov.pk/content/District.html Divisions/Districts of Pakistan] {{webarchive. link. (2006-09-30 Note: Although divisions as an administrative structure has been abolished, the election commission of Pakistan still groups districts under the division names)
27. "TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, PUNJAB".
28. "LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023".
29. "Punjab to Get Two New Tehsils".
30. "LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023".
31. "Punjab Annual Schools Census Data 2014-15".
32. (20 July 2021). "PML-Q's Moonis Elahi sworn in as federal minister". Dawn.com.
33. Crilly, Rob. (3 August 2012). "The Pakistan village where Shafilea drank bleach to avoid an arranged marriage". [[The Daily Telegraph.