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Sialkot District

Coordinates: 32°31′12″N 74°33′00″E / 32.52000°N 74.55000°E / 32.52000; 74.55000
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Sialkot District
ضلع سیالکوٹ
District of Punjab
Top: Sialkot Clock Tower
Bottom: Village of Kotli Noonan
Map of Sialkot District highlighted
Map of Sialkot District highlighted
Country Pakistan
Province Punjab
DivisionGujranwala
Established1852; 172 years ago (1852)
CapitalSialkot
Government
 • TypeDistrict Administration
 • Deputy CommissionerMuhammad Zulqarnain Langrial
 • District Police OfficerAbdul Ghaffar Qaisrani
 • CEO EducationMian Riaz Ahmed
Area
 • District of Punjab
3,016 km2 (1,164 sq mi)
Population
 (2023 Census of Pakistan)[1]
 • District of Punjab
4,499,394
 • Density1,500/km2 (3,900/sq mi)
 • Urban
1,481,968
 • Rural
3,017,426
Language(s)
[2]
 • Main language(s)Urdu, Punjabi
Literacy
[3]
 • Literacy rate
  • Total:
    (78.37%)
  • Male:
    (80.24%)
  • Female:
    (76.50%)
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)
Area code052
Number of Tehsils4
Websitesialkot.punjab.gov.pk

Sialkot District (Punjabi and Urdu: ضلع سیالکوٹ), is one of the districts of the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located in the northeast of the province. The city of Sialkot is the capital of the district. The Sialkot Cantonment was established in 1852.

Administration

[edit]

The district is administratively divided into the following four tehsils (subdivisions), which contain a total of 122 Union Councils:[4][5]

# Tehsil Area

(km²)[6]

Pop.

(2023)

Density

(ppl/km²)

(2023)

Lit. rate

(2023)[7]

Union Councils
1 Pasrur 975 970,366 995.25 74.52% 28
2 Daska 690 980,547 1,421.08 79.19% 42
3 Sambrial 450 460,280 1,022.84 79.89% 30
4 Sialkot 901 2,088,201 2,317.65 79.42% 52

History

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Sialkot District was an agricultural region with forests during the Indus Valley Civilization. The Vedic period is characterized by Indo-Aryan culture that flourished in the Punjab region. The Kambojas, Daradas, Kaikayas, Madras, Pauravas, Yaudheyas, Malavas and Kurus invaded, settled and ruled the ancient Punjab region. After overrunning the Achaemenid Empire in 331 BCE, Alexander marched into the present-day Punjab region with an army of 50,000. The Sialkot was ruled by Maurya Empire, the Indo-Greek kingdom, Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire, White Huns, Kushano-Hephthalites, the Arabs and Hindu Shahi kingdoms.

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 CE and followed by the conquests of the Punjab region. The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region.

The legendary history of the District is connected with Raja Salivahan, the reputed founder of the town of Sialkot, and his famous son Rasalu. Pasrur is also an ancient place. At an early date the District fell to the Rajas of Jammu, and under the Mughals formed the Rechna Doab sarkar of the Subah of Lahore. Under Shah Jahan the sarkar was entrusted to Ali Mardan Khan, the famous engineer, who dug a canal through it to bring water from the Chenab river to the imperial gardens in Lahore.

On the decline of the Mughal Empire Ranjit Singh Deo, a Rajput hill chief, extended his sway over the lowlands, owning a nominal allegiance to Delhi. In 1748 he transferred his allegiance to Ahmad Shah Durrani, who added Zafarwal and two other parganas to his fief. Before his death in 1773 Ranjit Deo had secured possession of the whole District, except the Sialkot town and its dependencies, which were held by a Pashtun family.[8]

During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the station was denuded of British troops; and the Native regiments which were left behind the rose, and, after sacking the jail, treasury, and courthouse, and massacring several of the European inhabitants, marched off towards Delhi, only to be destroyed by Nicholson at Trimmu Ghat. The rest of the Europeans took refuge in the fort, and on the morning after the departure of the rebels order was restored. The only events of interest in the subsequent history of the District are the plague riots that occurred at the villages of Shahzada and Sankhatra in 1901.[8]

Numerous mounds are scattered about the District, which marks the sites of ancient villages and towns. None of them, except that on which the Sialkot fort stood, has been excavated, but silver and copper utensils and coins have been dug up from time to time by villagers. Most of the coins are those of Indo-Bactrian kings. The excavations in Sialkot revealed the existence of some old baths, with hot-water pipes of solid masonry. The fort itself, of which very little now remains, is not more than 1,000 years old and is said to have been rebuilt by Shahab-ud-din Ghori at the end of the twelfth century.[8]

In 1859, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Sialkot were placed in the new division of Sialkot. But in 1884, Gurdaspur along with Amritsar again became a part of the Lahore Division.

According to the 1901 census, the district had a population of 1,083,909 and contained 7 towns and 2,348 villages. The population at the previous three enumerations was: 1,004,695 (1868), 1,012,148 (1881) and 1,119,847 (1891). The population decreased between 1891 and 1901 by 3.2,[8] the decrease being greatest in the Raya tahsil and least in the Daska tahsil. The Chenab Colony was responsible for this fall in population, with no less than 103,000 persons having left to take land in the newly irrigated tracts.[9]

The district was subdivided into five tehsils, namely: Sialkot, Pasrur, Zafarwal, Raya and Daska, the headquarters of each being at the place from which it is named. The chief towns of the district were Sialkot, Daska, Jamki, Pasrur, Kila Sobha Singh, Zafarwal and Narowal.[9]

Tehsil Area (sq mi) Towns Villages Population (1901) Population per sq mi Population variation 1891–1901 Number of literate people
Sialkot 428 1 637 312,668 730.5 +3.2 12,101
Pasrur 394 2 443 193,746 491.7 −5.0 5,601
Sambrial 485 1 456 192,440 396.8 +10.4 5,586
Daska 360 2 332 206,148 572.6 −0.6 4,103
Total 1,991 7 2,348 1,083,909 544.4 −3.2 31,341

In 1930, the tehsils of Raya, Daska and Pasrur were split up and parts of these were amalgamated into Gujranwala District. In 1991, the tehsils of Narowal and Shakar Garh (which was tehsil Shankar Garh of Gurdaspur district before the independence of Pakistan in 1947) were split up and formed into the new Narowal District.

Geography

[edit]

Sialkot District lies southeast of Gujrat District, southwest of Jammu district (in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir), while Narowal District is to the southeast and Gujranwala District is situated to the west.

Sialkot district is spread over an area of 3,016 square kilometers.

Sunset at Head Marala

Sialkot is hot and humid during the summer and cold during the winter. June and July are the hottest months. The maximum temperature during winter may drop to −2 °C (28 °F). The land is generally plain and fertile. The average annual rainfall is about 1000 mm. Over 25.82% of the population of the district is urban.

Demographics

[edit]

Population

[edit]
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1951 961,721—    
1961 1,045,958+0.84%
1972 1,509,424+3.39%
1981 1,802,505+1.99%
1998 2,723,481+2.46%
2017 3,894,938+1.90%
2023 4,499,394+2.43%
Sources:[10]

At the time of the 2017 census, Sialkot had a sex ratio of 1027 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 77.90% - 80.38% for males and 75.55% for females. 1,144,535 (29.39%) lived in urban areas. 971,385 (24.94%) were under 10 years of age.[11] According to the 2023 Census, the district had 671,589 households and a population of 4,499,394.[1]

Religion

[edit]
Religion in Sialkot district (2023) [12]
Religion Percent
Islam
 
 96.19%
Christianity
 
 3.46%
Others
 
 0.35%

Muslims are the majority community making up 96.19% of the population, while Christians (converted during the British Colonial period) are the principal minority. [12]

Religion in Sialkot District
Religious
group 		1941[13]: 42  2023[14]
Pop. % Pop. %
Islam 592,236 64.17% 4,302,067 96.19%
Hinduism 176,989 19.18% 3,195 0.07%
Sikhism 92,715 10.05% 260 0%
Christianity 54,498 5.91% 154,884 3.46%
Ahmadi — — 11,386 0.25%
Others 6,461 0.7% 668 0.01%
Total Population 922,899 100% 4,472,462 100%
Note: 1941 data is for Sialkot, Daska and Pasrur tehsils of Sialkot district, which roughly corresponds to present-day Sialkot district.
Religious groups in Sialkot District (British Punjab province era)
Religious
group 		1901[15] 1911[16][17] 1921[18] 1931[19] 1941[20]
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Islam 716,953 66.15% 604,801 61.74% 580,532 61.9% 609,633 62.23% 739,218 62.09%
Hinduism [a] 302,012 27.86% 242,325 24.74% 217,912 23.24% 206,421 21.07% 231,319 19.43%
Sikhism 50,982 4.7% 81,761 8.35% 74,939 7.99% 94,955 9.69% 139,409 11.71%
Christianity 11,939 1.1% 48,620 4.96% 62,266 6.64% 66,365 6.77% 75,831 6.37%
Jainism 2,008 0.19% 2,029 0.21% 2,147 0.23% 2,236 0.23% 3,250 0.27%
Zoroastrianism 9 0% 17 0% 27 0% 7 0% 14 0%
Buddhism 6 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 3 0%
Judaism 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Others 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 1,453 0.12%
Total population 1,083,909 100% 979,553 100% 937,823 100% 979,617 100% 1,190,497 100%
Note1: British Punjab province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.

Note2: Population decrease between 1901 and 1921 census due to large population migrations south to newly created tehsils and districts in the Chenab Canal Colony.
Religion in the Tehsils of Sialkot District (1921)[18]
Tehsil Islam Hinduism Sikhism Christianity Jainism Others[b] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Sialkot Tehsil 175,385 60.38% 85,711 29.51% 11,679 4.02% 16,195 5.58% 1,472 0.51% 27 0.01% 290,469 100%
Pasrur Tehsil 89,067 63.26% 26,615 18.9% 13,360 9.49% 11,395 8.09% 351 0.25% 0 0% 140,788 100%
Zafarwal Tehsil 97,303 61.22% 50,361 31.69% 6,192 3.9% 5,000 3.15% 80 0.05% 0 0% 158,936 100%
Raya Tehsil 119,705 60.78% 29,847 15.16% 29,293 14.87% 17,919 9.1% 172 0.09% 0 0% 196,936 100%
Daska Tehsil 99,072 65.74% 25,378 16.84% 14,415 9.57% 11,757 7.8% 72 0.05% 0 0% 150,694 100%
Note: British Punjab province era tehsil borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to tehsil borders — which since created new tehsils — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.
Religion in the Tehsils of Sialkot District (1941)[20]
Tehsil Islam Hinduism [a] Sikhism Christianity Jainism Others[c] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Sialkot Tehsil 241,505 61.49% 104,090 26.5% 25,306 6.44% 17,080 4.35% 2,797 0.71% 1,986 0.51% 392,764 100%
Pasrur Tehsil 166,519 66.23% 44,059 17.52% 26,031 10.35% 13,250 5.27% 110 0.04% 1,455 0.58% 251,424 100%
Narowal Tehsil 146,982 54.93% 54,330 20.3% 46,694 17.45% 19,348 7.23% 240 0.09% 4 0% 267,598 100%
Daska Tehsil 184,212 66.09% 28,840 10.35% 41,378 14.85% 24,168 8.67% 103 0.04% 10 0% 278,711 100%
Note1: British Punjab province era tehsil borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to tehsil borders — which since created new tehsils — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.

Note2: Tehsil religious breakdown figures for Christianity only includes local Christians, labeled as "Indian Christians" on census. Does not include Anglo-Indian Christians or British Christians, who were classified under "Other" category.

Language

[edit]

Languages of Sialkot district 2023 [16]

  Punjabi (92%)
  Urdu (4.86%)
  Mewati (1.27%)
  Others (1.87%)

At the time of the 2023 census, 92% of the population spoke Punjabi, 4.86% Urdu and 1.27% Mewati as their first language.[21]

Notable people

[edit]
Allama Iqbal

Historical figures

[edit]

Military

[edit]

Journalists and poets

[edit]

Politicians

[edit]

Businesspersons

[edit]

Scientist

[edit]

Artists

[edit]

Sportsmen

[edit]

Others

[edit]

Notes and references

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Now in Narowal District


References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "TABLE 1 : HOUSEHOLDS, POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2023.
  2. ^ "TABLE 11 : POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Literacy rate, enrolments, and out-of-school population by sex and rural/urban, CENSUS-2023" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Map of Sialkot – Government site". Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Tehsils & Unions in the District of Sialkot". National Reconstruction Bureau, Government of Pakistan website. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  6. ^ "TABLE 1 : AREA, POPULATION BY SEX, SEX RATIO, POPULATION DENSITY, URBAN POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE, CENSUS-2023, PUNJAB" (PDF).
  7. ^ "LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023" (PDF).
  8. ^ a b c d "Sialkot District". Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 22, page 328 – Digital South Asia Library. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Sialkot District". Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 22, page 329 – Imperial Gazetteer of India – Digital South Asia Library. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  11. ^ "Population and Household Detail Blockwise - Sialkot District (Census - 2017)" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2023)" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Cite error: The named reference "2023 census" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ "CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME VI PUNJAB PROVINCE". JSTOR website. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  14. ^ "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2023)" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  15. ^ "Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province". 1901. p. 34. JSTOR saoa.crl.25363739. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1911. p. 27. JSTOR saoa.crl.25393788. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  17. ^ Kaul, Harikishan (1911). "Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II". p. 27. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  18. ^ a b "Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables". 1921. p. 29. JSTOR saoa.crl.25430165. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  19. ^ "Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1931. p. 277. JSTOR saoa.crl.25793242. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  20. ^ a b India Census Commissioner (1941). "Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab". p. 42. JSTOR saoa.crl.28215541. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Population by Mother Tongue, Sex and Rural/Urban, Census-2023" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  22. ^ Talbot, Ian (16 December 2013). Khizr Tiwana, the Punjab Unionist Party and the Partition of India. Routledge. ISBN 9781136790294. Retrieved 20 March 2018 – via Google Books.
  1. ^ a b 1931-1941: Including Ad-Dharmis
  2. ^ Including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Tribals, others, or not stated
  3. ^ Including Anglo-Indian Christians, British Christians, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Tribals, others, or not stated

32°31′12″N 74°33′00″E / 32.52000°N 74.55000°E / 32.52000; 74.55000

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