Gurdaspur district

Gurdaspur district is a district in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, India. Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It internationally borders Narowal District of Pakistani Punjab, and the districts of Amritsar, Pathankot, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur. Two main rivers Beas and Ravi passes through the district. The Mughal emperor Akbar is said to have been enthroned in a garden near Kalanaur, a historically important town in the district. The district is at the foothills of the Himalayas.
As of 2011 it is the third most populous district of Punjab (out of 22), after Ludhiana and Amritsar. Batala, with 31% of the district's population, is its largest city.
History
1700s
This area was used as a base by Banda Singh Bahadur to raid the area upto Lahore.
The Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah conducted an expedition against him in 1711, but with only temporary effect. Banda Singh Bahadur fought his last battle against Mughals at Gurdas Nangal and was captured.
On 17 May 1746, the Chhota Ghallughara (smaller Sikh genocide) took place. Approximately 10,000 to 15,000 Sikhs were killed in battle on a single day in Kahnuwan, near Gurdaspur. Under the Lahore governorship of Yahiya Khan, Lakhpat Rai (revenue minister) and Shah Navaz Khan were directed to avenge the killing of Lakhpat Rai's brother, Jaspat Rai. An official decree to exterminate Sikhs was issued.
British Raj
The district of Gurdaspur came into being in April 1846 after the annexation of Punjab by the British. During British Rule the district of Gurdaspur was a subdivision of Lahore Division, the district itself was administratively subdivided into four tehsils: Gurdaspur, Batala, Shakargarh and Pathankot. During the India's first war of independence, on 12 July 1857, battle of Trimmu Ghat was fought between the forces of British and Indian rebel sepoys on the left bank of Ravi.Trimmu Ghat was about 9 miles west of Gurdaspur city in the district. Most of the Indian rebel sepoys were killed in the battle.
According to the 1881 census the population of the district was 823,695 this had risen by over 100,000 to 943,922 in the 1891 census. However the 1901 census recorded a fall in population – 940,334, this was largely due to emigration – some 44,000 settlers settling in Chenab colony. According to the 1901 census there were 463,371 Muslims (49%), 380,636 Hindus (over 40%) and 91,756 (10%) Sikhs. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who founded the Ahmadiyya movement had followers here.
During the partition of India in 1947 the future of Gurdaspur was highly contested. According to the 1941 census, the population of this district had a narrow 51.14% Muslim majority. Radcliffe Award of the boundary gave only the Shakargarh tehsil of the district to Pakistan, and the rest to India. The Muslim population of the eastern tehsils migrated to Pakistan as refugees, and the Hindus and Sikhs of Shakargarh migrated to Gurdaspur after crossing the Ravi Bridge. They settled and spread in the Gurdaspur district.
Modern India
New tehsil of Dera Baba Nanak was created in 1995 and Dhar Kalan in 1996.
On 27 July 2011 a part of district is carved out to form a new Pathankot district, which was earlier part of Gurdaspur. The Pathankot district comprises two sub-divisions of Pathankot and Dharkalan along with two sub-tehsils namely Narot Jaimal Singh and Bamial.
Geography
Location
The Gurdaspur district is in the north of Punjab state. It falls in the Jalandhar division and is sandwiched between rivers Ravi and Beas. The district lies between north-latitude 31°36' and 32°34' and east longitude 74°56' and 75°24' and shares common boundaries with Pathankot district in the north, Beas River in the north-east, Hoshiarpur district in the south-east, Kapurthala district in the south, Amritsar district in the south-west and Pakistan in the north-west.
Government and politics
Politics
Tehsil
Sub Tehsils (Total : 7)
C.D. Blocks (Total : 11)
Municipal Corporation (Nagar Nigam)
Municipal Councils
Villages
Demographics
Population
According to the 2011 census Gurdaspur district has a population of 2,298,323, roughly equal to the nation of Latvia or the US state of New Mexico. This gives it a ranking of 196th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 9.3%. Gurdaspur has a sex ratio of 895 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 79.95%.
After the separation of the Pathankot tehsil into a separate district in 2011, the residual district has a population of 1,621,725 of which 1,260,572 were rural and 361,153 were urban. Scheduled Castes have a population of 373,544 (23.03%) of the population. Punjabi is the predominant language, spoken by 98.27% of the population.
Gender
The table below shows the sex ratio of Gurdaspur through the years, according to various census years.
Note:- The figure for 2011 does not include the data of the areas that currently form Pathankot district, which were separated from Gurdaspur on that year, to form a new district.
Rural and Urban
The table below shows the percentage of rural population through the decades.
Note:- The separation of the areas in the current Pathankot district in 2011, may have significantly changed the numbers and figures for that year.
The table below gives the absolute number of rural and urban population through the years.
Note:- The separation of the areas in the current Pathankot district in 2011, may have significantly changed the numbers and figures for that year.
Religion
Sikhism is the largest religion in the residual district with 950,016 (58.58%), while Hinduism is the second-largest with 476,095 (29.36%). Christians are the third-largest community with 169,295 (10.44%), the highest share of Christians in the state, and Muslims 13,350 (0.82%). Before Partition, undivided Gurdaspur district had a slight Muslim majority with a large Hindu minority and smaller Sikh and Christian populations. The area which now forms the current district had a Muslim majority and a large Sikh minority, with smaller Hindu and Christian populations.
The table below shows the population of different religions in absolute numbers in the urban and rural areas of Gurdaspur district.
Note:- The separation of the areas in the current Pathankot district in 2011, may have significantly changed the numbers and figures for that year.
Historical
Health
The number of registerd doctors in the Gurdaspur district were 1,642 and 6,118 registered nurses, as of year 2018.
The table given below shows the population served per doctor in Gurdaspur district, by years.
Notable people
Science and Academia
Naresh Trehan, a cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgeon
Ishfaq Ahmad - Pakistani nuclear physicist
Bhai Ram Singh - An influential architect
Sucha Singh Gill, an economist with areas of expertise in development economics, international economics and economy of Punjab
Sardul Singh Guraya, a biologist, known for his contributions in the fields of reproductive physiology and developmental biology
Sports
Dinesh Khanna - Badminton player
Surjit Singh Randhawa - hockey player
Manpreet Gony - cricketer
Prabhjot Singh (Indian hockey player)
Shivil Kaushik - cricketer
Military
Capt. Gurbachan Singh Salaria - Param Vir Chakra awardee, posthumous
Lt. Navdeep Singh - Ashoka Chakra awardee, posthumous
Dilbagh Singh - Air Chief Marshal
Admiral Sureesh Mehta, served as 19th Chief of the Indian Navy from 31 October 2006 until 31 August 2009 and was the first service chief from India's armed forces to be born after Indian Independence
Art and Entertainment
Dev Anand - Indian actor
Premchand Dogra - Bodybuilder, Mr. Universe, Mr. India
Chetan Anand - director
Vijay Anand - director
Vinod Khanna - Indian actor
Shiv Kumar Batalvi - Punjabi writer
Romesh Sharma - Indian Actor and producer
Jasbir Jassi - Bhangra singer
Guru Randhawa - Punjabi singer
Preet Harpal - Punjabi singer and actor
Iqbal Bahu - Pakistani Sufi singer
Alla Rakha - Tabla player
Nek Chand Saini - Indian artist and creator of the Rock Garden of Chandigarh
Gurpreet Ghuggi - actor and comedian-turned-politician
Ranjit Bawa - Punjabi singer and actor
Nimrat Khaira - Punjabi singer and actress
Satinder Satti - anchor-singer
Varinder Singh Ghuman - bodybuilder
Principal Sujan Singh - Punjabi writer
Sobha Singh - painter
Mumtaz Mufti - Urdu writer
Sunanda Sharma - Punjabi singer and actress
Harnaaz Sandhu - Miss Universe 2021
AP Dhillon - Singer/songwriter, music producer
Politics
Ashwani Kumar - Former Union Minister
Robert Masih Nahar - Spanish senator
Teja Singh (singh sabha movement)
Pratap Singh Bajwa - Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab
Teja Singh Akarpuri - Jathedar of Akal Takht
Other
Baba Jaimal Singh - Punjabi spiritual leader
Mirza Nasir Ahmad (Khalifatul Massih III)
Mirza Tahir Ahmad (Khalifatul Massih IV)
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad - Founder of the Ahmaddiya movement
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad (Khalifatul Massih II)
Ghulam Ahmed Pervez - Islamic scholar
References
External links
Districts of Punjab, India