DISTRICT BAR ASSOCIATION GUJRAT

Our Gujrat

By: Azfar Badar Waraich

Gujrat is a city in Pakistan and is the capital of Gujrat District in the Punjab Province.. A person living in Gujrat is called Gujrati. Gujrat City is situated near the Chenab River, 120 km north of Lahore and 165 km south of Islamabad. Nearby locations include Sialkot, Wazirabad, Jhelum, Gujranwala, Phalia, Mandi Bahauddin, and Mirpur (Azad Kashmir) Gujrat is spread over an area of 3,192 square kilometres and is divided into three tehsils, Gujrat, Kharian, and Sarai Alamgir. Population of the district in 1998 was 2048008. Gujrat has a moderate climate. During peak summer, the daytime temperature shoots up to 45°C, but the hot spells are relatively short due to the proximity of Kashmir Mountains. During the winter months the minimum temperature may fall below 2°C. The average rainfall on the Kashmir border is over 100 cm; at Kharian it is 75 cm, at Gujrat 67 cm and at Dinga 50 cm. Gujrat is an ancient city which was founded by Raja Bachhan Pal in 460 BC. Historical consensus is that it existed in the time of Alexander the Great, and that the city's Raja Porus put up a fierce challenge to Alexander's invasion at the bank of the Jehlum River. The present city, which lies on the site of a succession of earlier cities, developed around the fort built by the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great in 1580 on a vast tract of land purchased from the Hariyawala family of Waraich Zamindars. Gujrat City, along with Fatehpur Sikri and Dipalpur, is one of the only three towns in the subcontinent which were planned prior to being built. Dipalpur was planned to house the royal army and Fatehpur Sikri was conceived as the imperial capital but Gujrat was a people’s town from the very beginning. in 1765, Sardar Gujar Singh, head of the Bhangi confederacy, crossed the Chenab and extended his dominions to the banks of the Jhelum. On Gujar Singh's death in 1788, his son, Sahib Singh, became involved in a war with Mahan Singh, and afterwards with his son, the celebrated Ranjit Singh. After a few months of warfare in 1798, the Gujrat leader accepted a position of dependence under the young ruler of Gujranwala. Two main battles between British and Sikh armies were fought in this district: the Battle of Chillianwala and Battle of Gujrat. Only after winning the battle of Gujrat on 22 February 1849 did the British declare victory in Punjab. Gujrat City was made district headquarter under the British rule in 1849. District Bar Association Gujrat was established in 1864. Gujrat is proud of having many historical buildings and ruins in and around the city. The Grand Trunk Road commonly abbreviated as GT road built by emperor Sher Shah Suri also passes from Gujrat.. The nearby towns of Shadiwal, Jalalpur Jattan, Bolay, Tanda, Adowal, Amra Kalan,Kotla, khawaspur, Bangial, Dinga and Kunjah have historical buildings and ruins. The village Kurree Sharif is famous for the grave of Malik Jusrus, the forefather of Malik Khokhars of sub-continent. The archaelogical sites and monuments in Gujrat protected by the federal government are Akbari Baoli in Gujrat Fort and Bahar Wali BaoliI in Kharian Town while the following monuments have been declared special premises by the Provincial Government: Mosque of Hafiz Mohammad Hyat, Baradri of Hafiz Mohammad Hayat, Shrine of Hafiz Mohammad Hayat, shrine of Tawakal Shah Rehman, Tomb of Shah Jahangir, Shah Daula, Gujrat Fort, an nknown tomb near the Shrine of Mirza Ali Baig, Parraoo, Akbari Hamam, Baoli Rajgah and Baoli Kharian Gujrat was named by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, a renowned reformest as "Khita-e-Younan", or "Territory resembling ancient Greece", referring to the litracy rate in the area. Several schools and colleges are located at Gujrat, including Zamindar College, and the University of Gujrat, Three sons of Gujrat were honoured with the highest military award, the Nishan-i-Haider. These were Major Aziz Bhatti, Major Muhammad Akram and Major Shabbir Sharif Shaheed. There are about 1,059 industrial units operating in the district. More than 300,000 people from Gujrat live overseas. They contribute more than PKR 3 billion per annum as foreign exchange to the national exchequer. They also play a vital role in the economies of the host countries Gujrat has given rise to many famous politicians like Sir Fazal Ali, Syad Ameer Hussain Shah, Choudhary Zahoor Ellahi, Choudhary Eatzaz Ahsan, Mian Afzal Hayat, Shujat Hussain, (ex Prime Minister), Pervaiz Ellahi, Ahmad Mukhtar, Choudhary Fazal Ellahi was the President of Pakistan during 70s.