Gujrat District

Not to be confused with Gujarat.

Gujrat
ضلع گجرات
District
Top: Mosque in the city of Gujrat
Bottom Left: Gujrat Eidgah
Bottom Right: Rice fields in Chakrian
Map of Gujrat District in Punjab
Map of Gujrat District in Punjab
Country Pakistan
Province Punjab
DivisionGujrat
HeadquartersGujrat
Government
 • TypeDistrict Administration
 • Deputy CommissionerCh.Safdar Hussain Virk [1]
 • District Police OfficerUmar Salamat
 • District Health OfficerN/A
Area
 • District3,192 km2 (1,232 sq mi)
Population
 (2023)[2]
 • District3,219,375
 • Density1,000/km2 (2,600/sq mi)
 • Urban
1,324,264
 • Rural
1,895,111
Literacy
[3]
 • Literacy rate
  • Total:
    (81.37%)
  • Male:
    (84.81%)
  • Female:
    (77.95%)
Time zoneUTC+5 (PST)
Area code053
Main language(s)
Number of Tehsils4
Websitehttps://gujrat.punjab.gov.pk/

Gujrat (Punjabi, Urdu: ضلع گجرات) is a district in the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is geographically located between the Chenab and Jhelum rivers and headquartered at the city of Gujrat.

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.

History

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Ancient history

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According to the British Imperial Gazetteer:

Gujrat town itself is a place of some antiquity, and the district bounds in ancient sites.The region was conquered by Chandragupta Maurya. It remained under the Mauryas for a few hundred years 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., i.e. the 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(Gurjar), which, according to the Rajatarangini, was invaded between 883 and 902 by Shankara Varman of Kashmir, who defeated its king Alakana.[4]

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 Alakhana, the Maha Raja of Gurjara, who was defeated by Sangkara Varmma between AD 883 and AD 901.[5]

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

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In 997 CE, Mahmud Ghaznavi, took rule over 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:

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. "[6]

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.[4]

Sikh and British era

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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.[4]

Demographics

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Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1951 742,892—    
1961 835,045+1.18%
1972 1,177,345+3.17%
1981 1,408,585+2.01%
1998 2,048,008+2.23%
2017 2,756,289+1.58%
2023 3,219,375+2.62%
Sources:[7]

At the time of the 2017 census, Gujrat district had 436,952 households and a population of 2,756,289. Gujrat had a sex ratio of 1065 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 78.68% - 83.32% for males and 74.47% for females. 827,500 (30.02%) lived in urban areas. 656,987 (23.84%) were under 10 years of age.[8] In 2023, the district had 489,589 households and a population of 3,219,375.[2]

Religion

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Religion in Gujrat district (2023)[9]
Religion Percent
Islam
 
 98.92%
Christianity
 
 0.95%
Other
 
 0.13%

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.

Religion in Gujrat District
Religious
group 		1941[10][a] 2017[8] 2023[11]
Pop. % Pop. %
Islam 622,902 88.12% 2,730,946 99.08% 3,181,322 98.92%
Hinduism [b] 45,802 6.48% 120 0% 217 0.01%
Sikhism 36,055 5.10% — — 38 ~0%
Christianity 2,070 0.29% 21,117 0.77% 30,485 0.95%
Ahmadi[c] — — 4,007 0.15% 3,825 0.12%
Others 36 0.01% 99 0% 113 ~0%
Total Population 706,865 100% 2,756,289 100% 3,216,000 100%
Religious groups in Gujrat District (British Punjab province era)
Religious
group 		1901[12] 1911[13][14] 1921[15] 1931[16] 1941[10]
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Islam 655,838 87.38% 650,893 87.29% 709,684 86.12% 786,750 85.29% 945,609 85.58%
Hinduism [b] 69,346 9.24% 49,430 6.63% 62,529 7.59% 73,356 7.95% 84,643 7.66%
Sikhism 24,893 3.32% 44,693 5.99% 49,456 6% 59,188 6.42% 70,233 6.36%
Christianity 460 0.06% 570 0.08% 2,373 0.29% 3,097 0.34% 4,449 0.4%
Jainism 11 0% 48 0.01% 4 0% 32 0% 10 0%
Buddhism 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 4 0% 0 0%
Zoroastrianism 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Judaism 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Others 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 8 0%
Total population 750,548 100% 745,634 100% 824,046 100% 922,427 100% 1,104,952 100%
Note: 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.
Religion in the Tehsils of Gujrat District (1921)[15]
Tehsil Islam Hinduism Sikhism Christianity Jainism Others[d] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Gujrat Tehsil 255,252 86.36% 26,209 8.87% 13,241 4.48% 845 0.29% 4 0% 0 0% 295,551 100%
Kharian Tehsil 224,020 89.54% 12,608 5.04% 13,270 5.3% 303 0.12% 0 0% 0 0% 250,201 100%
Phalia Tehsil 230,412 82.79% 23,712 8.52% 22,945 8.24% 1,225 0.44% 0 0% 0 0% 278,294 100%
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 Gujrat District (1941)[10]
Tehsil Islam Hinduism [b] Sikhism Christianity Jainism Others[e] Total
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Gujrat Tehsil 331,261 86.96% 29,197 7.66% 18,896 4.96% 1,545 0.41% 10 0% 14 0% 380,923 100%
Kharian Tehsil 291,641 89.48% 16,603 5.09% 17,159 5.26% 525 0.16% 0 0% 14 0% 325,942 100%
Phalia Tehsil 322,707 81.06% 38,843 9.76% 34,178 8.59% 2,321 0.58% 0 0% 38 0.01% 398,087 100%
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

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Languages of Gujrat district (2023)[17]

  Punjabi (93.47%)
  Urdu (3.48%)
  Pashto (2.16%)
  Others (0.89%)

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

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The district is administratively subdivided into four tehsils, these are:

Education

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District Gujrat has a total of 1,475 government schools at primary and secondary level.[19] 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

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Politicians

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Scholars

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Military

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Poets

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Sport

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Actors/Actresses

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Musicians

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Other

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  • The family of UK-born Shafilea Ahmed, an honour killing victim, originated from Uttam.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "DCs of Gujrat, Rahim Yar Khan transferred". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b "TABLE 1 : HOUSEHOLDS, POPULATION, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2023.
  3. ^ "Literacy rate, enrolments, and out-of-school population by sex and rural/urban, CENSUS-2023" (PDF).
  4. ^ a b c 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. ^ "Population by administrative units 1951-1998" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  8. ^ a b "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2017)". www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  9. ^ "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2023)" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  10. ^ a b c "Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab". 1941. p. 42. JSTOR saoa.crl.28215541. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Pakistan Census 2023" (PDF).
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ "Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1911. p. 27. JSTOR saoa.crl.25393788. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  14. ^ Kaul, Harikishan (1911). "Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II". p. 27. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1931. p. 277. JSTOR saoa.crl.25793242. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  17. ^ "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2023)" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  18. ^ Ahmad, Salman. "Punjab to Get Two New Tehsils". ProPakistani.pk website. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  19. ^ "Punjab Annual Schools Census Data 2014-15". School Education Department, Government of the Punjab website. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  20. ^ "PML-Q's Moonis Elahi sworn in as federal minister". Dawn.com. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  21. ^ Crilly, Rob (3 August 2012). "The Pakistan village where Shafilea drank bleach to avoid an arranged marriage". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  1. ^ Gujrat and Kharian tehsils of erstwhile Gujrat district, which roughly correspond to the present district.
  2. ^ a b c 1931-1941: Including Ad-Dharmis
  3. ^ Were classified as Muslims prior to 1974
  4. ^ Including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Tribals, others, or not stated
  5. ^ Including Anglo-Indian Christians, British Christians, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Tribals, others, or not stated
[edit]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Gujrat District.

32°35′N 73°45′E / 32.583°N 73.750°E / 32.583; 73.750

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