# Sialkot District

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

The district is administratively divided into the following four tehsils (subdivisions), which contain a total of 122 Union Councils:
| # | Tehsil | Area (km²) | Pop. (2023) | Density (ppl/km²) (2023) | Lit. rate (2023) | 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

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.
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. Sialkot district was annexed by the British from its former Sikh rulers after the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848–1849.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
| 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

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.
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
### Population

As of the 2023 census, Sialkot district has 671,320 households and a population of 4,499,394. The district has a sex ratio of 102.58 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 78.37%: 80.24% for males and 76.50% for females. 1,116,259 (24.96% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. 1,481,968 (32.94%) live in urban areas.

### Religion

Religion in Sialkot district (2023) :
| Religion | Religion | Percent | Percent |
| Islam | Islam | 96.19% | 96.19% |
| Christianity | Christianity | 3.46% | 3.46% |
| Others | Others | 0.35% | 0.35% |
Muslims are the majority community making up 96.19% of the population, while Christians (descendants of Hindu Dalits who converted during the British Colonial period) are the principal minority.
Religion in Sialkot District :
| Religious group | 1941$^{:42}$ | 1941$^{:42}$ | 2017 | 2017 | 2023 | 2023 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 592,236 | 64.17% | 3,740,507 | 96.04% | 4,302,067 | 96.19% |
| Hinduism | 176,989 | 19.18% | 2,870 | 0.07% | 3,195 | 0.07% |
| Sikhism | 92,715 | 10.05% | — | — | 260 | ~0% |
| Christianity | 54,498 | 5.91% | 136,254 | 3.50% | 154,884 | 3.46% |
| Ahmadi | — | — | 14,771 | 0.38% | 11,386 | 0.25% |
| Others | 6,461 | 0.7% | 536 | 0.01% | 668 | 0.01% |
| Total Population | 922,899 | 100% | 3,894,938 | 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 | 1881 | 1881 | 1891 | 1891 | 1901 | 1901 | 1911 | 1911 | 1921 | 1921 | 1931 | 1931 | 1941 | 1941 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Islam | 669,712 | 66.17% | 685,342 | 61.2% | 716,953 | 66.15% | 604,801 | 61.74% | 580,532 | 61.9% | 609,633 | 62.23% | 739,218 | 62.09% |
| Hinduism | 299,311 | 29.57% | 371,265 | 33.15% | 302,012 | 27.86% | 242,325 | 24.74% | 217,912 | 23.24% | 206,421 | 21.07% | 231,319 | 19.43% |
| Sikhism | 40,195 | 3.97% | 49,872 | 4.45% | 50,982 | 4.7% | 81,761 | 8.35% | 74,939 | 7.99% | 94,955 | 9.69% | 139,409 | 11.71% |
| Christianity | 1,535 | 0.15% | 11,668 | 1.04% | 11,939 | 1.1% | 48,620 | 4.96% | 62,266 | 6.64% | 66,365 | 6.77% | 75,831 | 6.37% |
| Jainism | 1,388 | 0.14% | 1,696 | 0.15% | 2,008 | 0.19% | 2,029 | 0.21% | 2,147 | 0.23% | 2,236 | 0.23% | 3,250 | 0.27% |
| Zoroastrianism | 7 | 0% | 4 | 0% | 9 | 0% | 17 | 0% | 27 | 0% | 7 | 0% | 14 | 0% |
| Buddhism | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 6 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 0% |
| Judaism | — | — | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Others | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 1,453 | 0.12% |
| Total population | 1,012,148 | 100% | 1,119,847 | 100% | 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) :
| Tehsil | Islam | Islam | Hinduism | Hinduism | Sikhism | Sikhism | Christianity | Christianity | Jainism | Jainism | Others | Others | Total | Total |
| Tehsil | 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) :
| Tehsil | Islam | Islam | Hinduism | Hinduism | Sikhism | Sikhism | Christianity | Christianity | Jainism | Jainism | Others | Others | Total | Total |
| Tehsil | 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

* Punjabi (92.01%)
* Urdu (4.86%)
* Mewati (1.27%)
* Pashto (1.22%)
* Others (0.64%)
At the time of the 2023 census, 92.01% of the population spoke Punjabi, 4.86% Urdu, 1.27% Mewati and 1.22% Pashto as their first language.

## Notable people
### Historical figures

* Allama Iqbal, poet and philosopher
* Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, Pakistan's first Foreign Minister and President of the United Nations General Assembly
* Faiz Ahmad Faiz, poet and scholar
* Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah, great orator, poet and pir, has been president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan
* Zafar Ali Khan writer, poet, and journalist who played an important role in the Pakistan Movement
* Sir Fazl-i-Hussain was one of the most Influential politicians in the United Punjab
* Ubaidullah Sindhi pre-partition Muslim Scholar and leader
* Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian politician and twice Prime Minister of India
* Umera Ahmad famous Urdu fiction writer of modern era
* Chaudhry Naseer Ahmad Malhi a leading member of the Muslim League
* Abdul Hakim Sialkoti famous Muslim intellectual of 16th century
* Chaudhry Sir Shahab-ud-Din Virk, lawyer and politician in pre-partition.

### Military

* Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry was the first Chief of Air Staff
* General Khalid Shameem Wynne the 14th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

### Journalists and poets

* Kuldip Nayar, Indian journalist
* Amjad Islam Amjad, Urdu writer, lyricist, and poet
* Rajinder Singh Bedi, writer
* Khalid Hasan, who was born in Srinagar but studied and lived in Sialkot.
* Hamid Mir, a Pakistani journalist who was born in Sialkot
* Abdal Bela, Urdu writer
* Taufiq Rafat, a British-Pakistani poet

### Politicians

* Chaudhry Amir Hussain, former Speaker of Pakistan National Assembly, former acting President of Pakistan and Federal Minister of Pakistan 3 times
* Khawaja Muhammad Safdar, Pakistani politician and former acting President of Pakistan
* Syed Iftikhar Ul Hassan, Politician from Allo Mahar, re-elected several time as a Member of the National Assembly.
* Khawaja Muhammad Asif, politician and Federal Minister of Pakistan
* Firdous Ashiq Awan, former Federal Minister
* Mumtaz Kahloon, politician
* Gulzari Lal Nanda, former acting Indian Prime Minister

### Businesspersons

* Khawaja Masood Akhtar, businessperson
* Malik Riaz, Businessperson and founder of Bahria Town
* Ansir Iqbal Baryar, Businessperson and politician
* Usman Dar, politician and businessperson

### Scholars

* Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, political scientist

### Artists

* Waheed Murad, Pakistani film actor
* Rajender Kumar, Indian film actor
* A. K. Hangal, Indian film actor
* Ghulam Ali, ghazal singer
* Bilal Saeed, a Punjabi language singer and songwriter

### Sportsmen

* Shoaib Malik, former captain of Pakistani cricket team
* Abdullah Shafique, Pakistani cricketer
* Ijaz Ahmed, cricketer, played for Pakistan national cricket team.
* Zaheer Abbas, Pakistani cricketer
* Abdul Rahman, Pakistani cricketer
* Shahnaz Sheikh, Pakistan national hockey team player
* Mansoor Amjad, Zahid Fazal, Pakistan national cricket team players.
* Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwean cricket player
* Jawaid Iqbal, Hong Kong national cricket player
* Nasir Ali, Pakistan national hockey team player
* Asif Bajwa, Pakistan national hockey team player
* Tariq Sheikh, Pakistan national hockey team player
* Muhammad Waqas, Pakistan national hockey team player
* Mahmood Hussain, Pakistan national hockey team player
* Maqsood Hussain, Pakistan national hockey team player
* Munir Bhatti, Pakistan national hockey team player
* Kamran Ashraf, Pakistan national hockey team player
* Haris Sohail, Pakistani cricketer
* Mukhtar Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer

### Others

* Chaudhry Abdul Jalil, also known as Chacha Cricket