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Gujranwala city appears to be 500 years old. The
origin of the name Gujranwala is shrouded in mists of
time. The first name of the settlement according to
the compilers of the first edition of the district
Gazette was khanpur Shansi after an individual of the
JAT cast called Khan Shansi who founded 11 villages in
the nearby area. For some reason the Jaat Tribe Gujar
occupied the land. They reach such dominance that the
town came to be known as Gujranwala. It seems likely
that the district once contained the capital of the
Punjab, at an epoch when Lahore had not begun to
exist. We learn from the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim,
Hsuan Tsang, that about the year 630 he visited a town
known as Tse-kia (or Taki), the metropolis of the
whole country of the five rivers. A mound near the
modern village of Asarur has been identified as the
site of the ancient capital. Until the Mahommedan
invasions little is known of Gujranwala, except that
Taki had fallen into oblivion and Lahore had become
the chief city. Under Mahommedan rule the district
flourished for a time; but a mysterious depopulation
fell upon the tract, and the whole region seems to
have been almost entirely abandoned. The Compilers of
the district Gazetteer Gujranwala date this name to
Approximately 300 years, giving us a rough estimate of
the middle of the 16th century . Other smaller town in
the vicinity for example Sohdara Eminabad Wazirabad
and Ghakhar have older antecedent than Gujranwala
itself. In the indispensable 1969 Essay " Gujranwala ;
past and present " Dr.Waheed Quereshi names four
villages in the Vicinity at the time of Abdalies
invasion i.e. in the late 18th century.
1. Sirai Kachi: a European merchant in the area in
1608 A.D. mentioned in his memorial book a place he
calls Coojes Serai. Before finch there is a very
little evidence in history of Sirai Kachi . by the
late 18th century it was a wagon stop village and a
graveyard. Probably the antecedent of Chaman Shah
graveyard in existence today.
2. Sirai Gujran : this village existed in the area
inside the current Khiyaaly Gate in the city. Hafiz
Abdul haq in his " Tareekh-e-Gujranwala" and " Molvi
Adbul Malik in his " Shahan-e-Gujran" mention Sirai
Gujran.
3. Sirai Kambohaan: Charat Singh a Sikh leader built a
Mud Fort here in 1758.
4. Thatta : this village existed between the current
railway line and the G.T. Road. Charat Singh son
Mahaan Singh develop this village
Sikh Period: 1762-1849
A.D.
The Sikhs established their Empire in the
Punjab after the death of the Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1707. With the death of
Aurangzeb the country saw a series of rapid
governmental changes that stressed it
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to the depths of anarchy. Taking advantage of this
certain Charat Singh, who was the head of
one of the Sikh Clans, established
his stronghold in Gujranwala in 1763. Charat Singh
died in 1774 and was succeeded by his son, Mahan
Singh, who in turn fathered the most brilliant
leader in the history of the Punjab Maharaja
Ranjit Singh. It was this short scattered man,
addicted to strong drink, unlettered; blind in one
eye who united the Punjab under one flag. His rule
stretched from the banks of the Gambian to the
Khyber and from Kashmir to Multan. Maharaja Ranjit
Singh was the most powerful of all the Sikh Rulers
and ruled over for complete 40
years.
After
his death in
1840 the Sikh Empire was divided
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into small
principalities looked after by several Sikh
Jagirdars. This weak situation provided a good
opportunity to the British of
East India Company to put an end to the Sikh
strong hold in the Punjab in 1849. |
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British Period: 1849-1947
A.D.
The area was annexed by the British in 1849.
The
Deputy Commissioner
of that time Sir Bernardth Rebuilt the "Sialkoti
Gate" , "Lahore Gate" and "Khiyaaly Gate". A
railway line was built along G.T. Road which then
was moved 100 yards towards the Eastern Punjab
in 1881. That railway line interconnected
Gujranwala with other cities of Punjab and made
the commercial trade between cities more
convenient. British ruled the city until
Pakistan's independence in 1947. |
After
Independence
After the distribution of subcontinent India, all
the Sikhs and the Hindus migrated to India and the
Muslim pilgrims of the Eastern Indian-Punjab moved to
Gujranwala.
Gujranwala
Today
Gujranwala
now is an agricultural marketing center (grains,
melons, sugarcane), it is also a commercial and
industrial center, manufacturing ceramics,iron safes,
copper, brass, and aluminum utensils. The
establishment of an industrial park, textile, silk,
pipefitting, electric fan, and tannery production
increased its importance. Cultivation in the
surrounding area is dependent upon canal irrigation.
Wheat, cotton, rice, barley, and millet are the chief
crops. World 's best Quality Rice grows here. In 1951
the city was converted into the capital of the
district which Gave rise to the new industries in the
city. The Gujranwala hydroelectric project provides
power from the Chanab River. There are also rice and
sugar mills and glassworks in the locality. City has
an International Level Cricket Stadium, Jinnah Stadium
also or formerly known as Municipal Stadium.
Gujranwala, chamber of commerce & industry came into
being. In November 1978, and the first elected
executive committee (Majlis-a-Aamla) took the charge
of the chamber. In all over Pakistan GCCI is one of
those chambers who have their own building. The credit
of construction of chamber's building undoubtedly goes
to its founders. Now apart from the chamber office,
the Zonal / Circle offices of Habib Bank Limited,
United Bank Limited, Allied Bank Limited and State
Bank of Pakistan are functioning in the building. The
city has many hospitals and several colleges
affiliated with the University of the Punjab.
General
Information about the City
Gujranwala
city, northeastern Punjab province, Pakistan. The city
is connected by rail and the Grand Trunk Road with
Peshawar and Lahore. Gujranwala has a relatively
glorious history. City's oral evidence from a resident
and also cites inflection of the word Gujar to support
his conclusion " we , the inhabitant of Gujranwala "
have two sounds of the letter GAF- the soft letter and
the hard letter. We pronounced Gujranwala with the soft
one .The word Gujar " milkman " is pronounced with the
hard Gaf and Gujar Jaat with the soft Gaf therefore it
is not unreasonable to accept the view that it is from
Gujars(milkman) that the city got its name.
Gujranwala, on the Grand Trunk Road from Rawalpindi
to Lahore, now the third largest city in the Punjab, is
of little centrality, even in the provincial context,
due to its proximity to Lahore; like a number of
secondary cities, it has been benefitting from the spill
overs of the capital of Punjab.
Situated on the both sides of 'G.T. Road' which is
the longest Road of Pakistan, Gujranwala is about 67 kms
to the north of Lahore. It takes 1 hour to be at the
city by any Local Train from Lahore. The District
comprises an area of 3198 sq. m. In 1981 the population
was 7,522,352. Showing an increase of 29% in the decade.
The district is divided between a low alluvial tract
along the rivers Chenab and Degh and the upland between
them, which forms the central portion of the Rechna Doab,
intermediate between the fertile submontane plains of
Sialkot and the desert expanses of Jhang. Part of the
upland tract has been brought under cultivation by the
Chenab canal. The new Railway Station was being opened
on 15 May 1996 by the Commissioner of Gujranwala
Division, It is a Busy Railway Station with 2 stops for
Lahore and Peshawar daily. Punjabi is the daily life
language, however Urdu and English is extensively used
in all official and commercial circles. The Gujranwala
District includes many small villages like Kamonke,
Eminabad, Ferozwala, Rahwali, Talwandi Ghakhar. City is
known as the "City of Wrestlers". It has produced famous
wrestlers of the subcontinent, who have proved their
skill and strength. This city is proud to attain fame in
subcontinent in this behalf with grand titles ever won
by any city of the world. People are fond of food. The
Hotels, Restaurants with their "Tikkas" "Chanps" "Kababs"
are the favorite places of the people. In order to meet
their appetite the Gujranwala fisher department has made
Artificial Fish Ponds near Eminabad, which serves as
hatchery for fishes for selling them in market. Where
they are being Fried or being served with Rice.
Christian minority is living in FrancisAbad
Gujranwala, with complete independence of their
religion. A number of churches are there. Also a
minority of Sikhs are living in Eminabad where they
celebrate their annual "Bisaki" Festival.
City has an Interntional Level Cricket Stadium,
Jinnah Stadium formerly known as Municipal Stadium. Many
National and International Cricket matches had been held
there. Jinnah stadium has a space of 20,000 spectators.
Gujranwala is playing a major roll to support the
economy of Pakistan. Different industries are working in
various fields. Cotton, woolen textile, rice mills,
vegetable oil mils, industrial machinery, fan
manufacturing, motor industry, washing machine industry
of wooden work, electric goods, poultry feed, soap, ball
point rubber tire and tube, metal utensils, melamine
utensils, cutlery, kitchen ware, ceramics tiles,
sanitary wares, sanitary fittings and steel pipe
industry are included. Utensils of Gujranwala are famous
all over Country. The major exports of the city are
Rice, textiles, carpets, transformers, garments, goods
of glass, electric fans, sanitary fittings, surgical
equipment, hosiery, leather products, metal utensils,
auto parts sanitary wares and fittings.
The GCCI (Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and
Industries) promotes, aid, develop, stimulate and
protect the economic interest of Pakistan general and of
those engaged in industry, agriculture, commerce, trade,
banking and insurance, in particular. The GCCI
communicates with the chambers of commerce & industry or
public bodies within or outside Pakistan concerts and
promotes measures for the protection of trade, commerce
and manufacturers and the labor engaged therein and to
remove mutual hardships. GCCI collects and circulates
statistics and other information relating to the
commercial, industrial, agricultural and financial
interest of the businessman and industrialists.
In spite of being an industrial region and potential
agricultural trade base of Pakistan, Gujranwala has
always been discriminated against other cities in terms
of development and enhancement of Internet Services in
the city. The Internet Service Providers in the city are
quite relaxed and cold in their attitude as compared to
the services they are providing in other cities.
Punjab tanneries are mostly scattered in four main
clusters: Sialkot, Multan, Gujranwala and Lahore-Sheikhupura-Muridke,
(treated as one cluster). Major tannery agglomerations
in Gujranwala referred as "Gujranwala Tannery Cluster",
are located in two different geographical areas. These
include 'Hide market, Ferozwala road' and 'Naroki
Village Tannery Estate', at Gujranwala-Sheikhupura road.
One individual tannery unit is located in 'Butranwali'
at Sialkot-Gujranwala road. Out of total 32 tanneries of
Gujranwala, 29 units have been ranked as small tanneries
where as rest of three tanneries fall under the category
of medium units. Except one, all the tanneries of
Gujranwala process hides by old tanning method, i.e.,
vegetable tanning. Sole leather is the major end product
of the tanneries of Gujranwala, which is generally
supplied to local market.
The GEPCO (Gujranwala Electric Power Company)
supplies the electrical power to commercial and
residential sectors.
Gujranwala Development Authority (G.D.A.) was created
in 1989 under the Punjab Development of Cities Act, 1976
to establish a comprehensive system of Planning &
Development in order to improve the quality of life in
Gujranwala. The G.D.A. is headed by the Director
General, G.D.A. The authority has two wings i.e. Urban
Development and WASA.
The WASA is headed by Managing Director. Important
functions of GDA are:
Preparation of Development Plans for Gujranwala.
Preparation of Planning Controls and Building Plans
Regulations.
Preparation of Annual Development Plans and their
execution.
Causing Studies, Surveys and Technical Researches.
Supply of Potable Water and Provision of
adequate Sanitation.
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