ict located in between two famous rivers, the Jhelum and Chenab.

It is bounded on
the northeast by Mirpur, 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 is spread over an area of 3,192 square kilometres, and it includes
historic villages and towns such as Jalalpur Jattan, Chakdina, Karnana, Kunjah,
Sehna and Lalamusa.

Contents
1 History
1.1 Ancient history
1.2 Lodhi-Mughal era
1.3 British era
2 Language and demography
3 Climate and ecology
4 Administration
5 Education
6 Notable people
6.1 Politicians
6.2 Military
6.3 Poets
6.4 Cricket
6.5 Cycling
6.6 Actors/Actresses
6.7 Musicians
7 References
8 External links
History
Ancient history
According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India:

Gujrat town itself is a place of some antiquity, and the district bounds in
ancient sites.The district formed part of the kingdom of Porus, who was defeated by
Alexander, probably in the Karri plain beyond the Jammu border, in July, 326 B.C. ;
but four years later was conquered by Chandragupta Maurya in the national rising
which took place on the death of Alexander. It remained under the Mauryas until
shortly after the death of Ashoka in 231, and about forty years later came under
the sway of Demetrius the Graeco-Bactrian. The overthrow of the Bactrians by the
Parthians in the latter half of the second century brought another change of
rulers, and the coins of the Indo-Parthian Maues (c. 120 B. c.), who is known to
local tradition as Raja Moga, have been found at Mong. At the end of the first
century A. D., ie whole of the Punjab was conquered by the Yueh-chi. For several
hundred years nothing is known of the history of the District, except that between
455 and 540 it must have been exposed to the ravages of the White Huns. Dr. Stein
holds that the District formed part of the kingdom of Gurjara, which, according to
the Rajatarangini, was
invaded between 883 and 902 by Sankara Varman of Kashmir, who defeated its king
Alakhana. This may be the Ali Khan to whom tradition ascribed the refounding of
GUJRAT.[1]

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

is ascribed to a king named Bachan Pal of whom nothing more is known ; and
its restoration is attributed to Ali Khan, whose name is strangely like that of
Alakhana, the Raja of Gurjara, who was defeated by Sangkara Varmma between AD 883
AD 901.[2]
Lodhi-Mughal era
Gujrat district was established by Moghul Emperor Akbar. King Jahangir in his memos
records the following information on Gujrat;

At the time when His Majesty Akbar went to Kashmir, a fort had been built on
the bank of that river. Having brought to this fort a body of Gujars who had passed
their time in the neighbourhood in thieving and highway robbery, he established
them here. As it had become the abode of Gujars, he made it a separate pargana, and
gave it the name of Gujrat. "[3]
In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, took over the Ghaznavid dynasty empire
established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin, In 1005 he conquered the Shahis in
Kabul in 1005, and followed it by the conquests of Punjab region. The Delhi
Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region. Ghaznvi brought highly learned
scholars with him who were appointed as commanders to control the occupied
areas.Miran Syed Yahya of Raniwal Syedan belonging to tribes of Tirmaz near
Ghaznvi, was appointed Chief Commander of Muslim fighters at Raniwal fort.The fort
has decayed with passage of time.Thousands of non Muslims accepted Islam on his
hands The Punjab region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints
whose dargahs dot the landscape of Punjab region. Authentic history commences only
in the Lodi period, when Bahlolpur, 23 miles (37 km) north-east of Gujrat, was
founded in the reign of Bahlol (145189). Khwas Khan, governor of the Rohtas under
Sher Shah Suri, founded Khwaspur near Gujrat. The settlement of the tract was
completed by Akbar[citation needed], who built a fort and compelled the Gujars to
settle in it. The tract was then named Gujrat and formed into a separate district.
Revenue records have been preserved in the families of the hereditary registrars
(kanungos), and these exhibit Gujrat the capital of a district containing 2,592
villages, paying a revenue of 11.6 million. In 1605 the famous Saiyid Abdul Kasim
received Gujrat as a tuyul or fief from Akbar. On the decay of the Mughal power,
Nadir Shah occupied the Gujrat district..The country also suffered at the same time
from invasion of Ahmad Shah Durrani, whose armies frequently crossed and recrossed
it.[1] After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Sikh invaded and ruled Gujrat.
[citation needed]

British era
In 1846 Gujrat came under the supervision of British officials, when a settlement
of land revenue was effected under order from the provisional government at Lahore.
Two years later, the District was the scene of some of the battles which decided
the even of the second Sikh War. While the siege of Multan still dragged slowly on,
Sher Singh established himself at Ramnagar on the Gujrawala side of the Chenab, 22
miles (35 km) below Gujrat, leaving the main body of his army on the northern bank.
Here he awaited the attack of the British, who attempted unsuccessfully to drive
him across the river, on November 22, 1848. Lord Gough withdrew from the assault
with heavy loss ; but sending round a strong detachment under Sir Joseph Thackwell
by the Wazirabad ferry, he turned the flank of the enemy, and won the battle of
Sadullapur. Sher Singh retired northward, and took up a strong position between the
Jhelum and the Pabb Hills. The bloody battle of Chilianwala followed (January 13,
1849) a victory as costly as a defeat. On February 6 Sher Singh again eluded Lord
Gough's vigilance, and marched southwards to make a dash upon Lahore; but the
British pressed him close in the rear and, on February 22, he turned to offer
battle at Gujrat. The decisive engagement which ensued broke irretrievably the
power of the Sikh. The Punjab lay at the feet of the conquerors, and passed by
annexation under British rule.[1]

Language and demography

According to the 1998 census of Pakistan the total population of Gujrat district
was 2,048,008 of which 1,026,000 are males and 1,022,000 are females, with a
population density of 642 persons per square kilometre. Over 25.62% of the
population was recorded as being urban.[4]

The predominant language of the district is Punjabi, which according to the 1998
census is the first language[5] of 98% of the population, while Urdu accounts for
1.1%.[6]

Climate and ecology

Map showing location of Gujrat District (highlighted in green) in relation to

neighbouring districts of Punjab Pakistan and the Kashmir region.
This district has moderate climate, which is hot in summer and cold in winter.
During peak summer, the day temperature shoots up to 50 C, but the hot spells are
comparatively shorter due to proximity of Azad Kashmir Mountains. The winter months
are very pleasant and the minimum temperature may fall below 2 C. The average
rainfall on the Kashmir border is over 1000 mm, at Kharian it is 750 mm, at Gujrat
670 mm, and at Dinga 500 mm.

Administration
The district is administratively subdivided into four tehsils, these are:[7]

Gujrat
Kharian
Sarai Alamgir
Jalalpur Jattan
Education
District Gujrat has a total of 1,475 government schools at primary and secondary
level.[8] 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
Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi, politician
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, former Prime Minister of Pakistan
Chaudhry Shafaat Hussain, politician
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, former Chief Minister of Pakistan
Moonis Elahi, politician
Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Former Minister For Defence Government of Pakistan
Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, Pakistani barrister
Chaudhry Muhammed Farooq, former politician
Chaudhry Muhammad Jaffar Iqbal, Vice-President of PML-N Punjab
Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, President of Pakistan 19721977
Mian Muhammad Afzal Hayat, former Chief Minister of Punjab and served as ambassador
in different countries
Nawabzada Gazanfar Ali Gul, former Federal Minister of Pakistan
Qamar Zaman Kaira, former Federal Minister of Pakistan
Mian Imran Masood, former MPA of Gujrat and Minister of Education Punjab.
Military
Raja Aziz Bhatti, Nishan-e-Haider
Shabbir Sharif, Nishan-e-Haider
Raheel Sharif, is a four-star rank army general, served as the 15th Chief of Army
Staff of the Pakistan Army
Poets
Anwar Masood, poet
Sharif Kunjahi, leading writer and poet of the Punjabi language
Fakhar Zaman, writer and poet
Orya Maqbool Jan, writer and poet
Cricket
Rizwan Cheema, Pakistani Canadian cricketer
Tanwir Afzal, Hong Kong cricketer
Sami Aslam, Pakistani cricketer
Saeed Anwar, Pakistani cricketer
Majid Khan, Pakistani cricketer[disambiguation needed]
Mohammad Iqbal, Pakistani cricketer
Cycling
Imtiaz Bhatti, Pakistani cyclist and a former Air Force pilot of Pakistan
Actors/Actresses
Ejaz Durrani, actor
Shagufta Ejaz, actress
Sabiha Khanum, actress
Inayat Hussain Bhatti, film director and actor
Musicians
Alam Lohar, Punjabi folk singer
Arif Lohar, Punjabi folk singer
Zoe Viccaji, Pakistani singer-songwriter and musical actress
Adeel Chaudhry, also a dentist, actor and model.
Atif Aslam, Pakistani singer and film actor, also the youngest recipient of Tamgha-
e-Imtiaz, a Pakistani civilian decoration.
References
^ a b c Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 12, p. 366
^ The Ancient Geography of India, page 151, Alexander Cunningham
^ The Memoirs of Jahangueir (Rogers), Volume 1, chpt. 23
^ 1998 Census of Pakistan figures - Urban Resource Centre
^ "Mother tongue", defined as the language of communication between parents and
children.
^ 1998 District Census report of Gujrat. Census publication. 101. Islamabad:
Population Census Organization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 2000.
pp. 2930.
^ List of tehsils with respect to districts - Government of Pakistan
^ "Punjab Annual Schools Census Data 2014-15". Retrieved 19 August 2016.
External links
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Gujrat District.
Gujrat, Pakistan
District Gujrat, Pakistan
Gujrat District
Coordinates: 3235'N 7345'E

Categories: Districts of Punjab, PakistanGujrat District

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