Gujrat District

Gujrat District
Gujrat (Punjabi) 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 Mirpur, 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. Gujrat is spread over an area of 3,192 square kilometres.
History
Ancient history
According to the British Imperial Gazetteer:
However the foundation of the capital, Gujrat, according to the Ancient Geography of India:
Islamic Rule (Ghaznavid, Ghurid, Delhi, Suri, and Mughal Empires)
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:
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.
Sikh and British era
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.
Demographics
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. In 2023, the district had 489,589 households and a population of 3,219,375.
Religion
As per the 2017 census, Islam is the dominant religion with 99.08% of the population while there is a minority of 0.77% Christians who live mainly in urban areas.
Language
According to the 2017 Pakistani census, 96.50% of the population spoke Punjabi, 1.81% Pashto and 0.90% Urdu as their first language.
Administration
The district is administratively subdivided into four tehsils, these are:
Gujrat
Kharian
Sarai Alamgir
Jalalpur Jattan
Education
District Gujrat has a total of 1,475 government schools at primary and secondary level. 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
Politicians
Aitzaz Ahsan, Pakistani barrister
Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, President of Pakistan 19721977
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, former chief minister of Punjab and Federal Minister, Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab (from 16 August 2018 to present and from 1997 to June 2001).
Mian Tariq Mehmood (Urdu: میاں طارق محمود; born 5 May 1955, at Dinga, District Gujrat, is a Pakistani politician. He remained chairman, Town Committee Dinga, during 1987-92; as Member, Provincial Assembly of the Punjab during 1988-90, 1990-93 and 1997-99 and 2008-13 2013 to 2018; and also functioned as Parliamentary Secretary for Social Welfare & Zakat during 1988-90 and 1990-93; and as Minister for Population Welfare during 1993.
Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi, politician
Moonis Elahi, Federal Minister for Water Resources former MPA (2008-May2018) and Current MNA (Oct 2018 to present) of Gujrat
Chaudhry Muhammed Farooq, former law minister
Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul, former Federal Minister of Pakistan
Mian Muhammad Afzal Hayat, former Chief Minister of Punjab and served as ambassador in different countries
Shujaat Hussain, former 16th Prime Minister of Pakistan on a temporary basis (30 June 2004 to 28 August 2004)
Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal, Vice-President of PML-N Punjab
Qamar Zaman Kaira, former Federal Minister of Pakistan
Mian Imran Masood, former MPA of Gujrat and Minister of Education Punjab.
Ahmad Mukhtar, Former Minister For Defence, Government of Pakistan
Yasmin Qureshi, British MP
Scholars
Ismat Beg, scientist
Faisal Masud, medical doctor
Military
Major Muhammad Akram, Nishan-e-Haider
Major Raja Aziz Bhatti, Nishan-e-Haider
Mohammad Shariff, Pakistan Navy Chief of Naval Staff and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee
General Raheel Sharif, is a four-star rank army general, served as the 15th Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army
Major Shabbir Sharif, Nishan-e-Haider
ACM Zaheer Ahmad Babar, is a four-star rank Air Chief Marshal, serving AirChief of Pakistan. Pakistan Air Force.
Poets
Orya Maqbool Jan, writer, columnist, analyst, former civil servant, and poet
Shareef Kunjahi, Punjabi writer and poet
Anwar Masood, poet
Krishna Sobti, Hindi Writer
Fakhar Zaman, writer and poet
Sport
Tanwir Afzal, Hong Kong cricketer.
Imtiaz Bhatti, Pakistani cyclist and a former Air Force pilot of Pakistan.
Mudassar Bukhari. Dutch cricketer.
Rizwan Cheema, Pakistani-Canadian cricketer.
Munir Dar, Hong Kong cricketer.
Actors/Actresses
Inayat Hussain Bhatti, film director and actor
Ejaz Durrani, actor
Shagufta Ejaz, actress
Sabiha Khanum, actress
Musicians
Adeel Chaudhry, also a dentist, actor, and model
Alam Lohar, Punjabi folk singer
Arif Lohar, Punjabi folk singer
Zoe Viccaji, Pakistani singer-songwriter and musical actress
Other
The family of UK-born Shafilea Ahmed, an honour killing victim, originated from Uttam.
See also
List of populated places in Gujrat District
References
External links
Gujrat, Pakistan
District Gujrat, Pakistan
Districts of Punjab, Pakistan