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Sheikhupura or Shekhupur formerly Kot Dayal Das or Singhpuria , is an industrial city in the province of Punjab slightly northwest to Lahore in Pakistan.[1] It is known for its historical places, and is commonly known locally as Qila Shaikhupura, because of the fort in the city, constructed by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The name Sheikhupura is derived from a nickname of Jahangir, who was know as Sheikhu by his father Akbar the Great.[2] The city is the headquarters of Sheikhupura District and is approximately 35 km from Lahore. The original name of Virkgarh was renamed by Jahangir.
The city was renamed Singhpuria in Sikh rule ,and had a large Sikh population prior to independence in 1947,Gurudwaras are seen throughout the city.
Waris Shah was a Punjabi Sufi poet, best-known for his seminal work Heer Ranjha, based on the traditional folk tale of Heer and her lover Ranjha. Syed Waris Shah was born into a reputed Syed family in the village of Jandiala Sher Khan, Sheikhupura District, Punjab (now Pakistan) in or around 1706. The popular Hindi film lyricist Gulshan Bawra (Gulshan Kumar Mehta), was born here.
Syed Anwar Aleemi, a renowned politician, poet, writer and globally known human rights activist took birth in the middle of twentieth century at Jandiala Shair Khan, Sheikhupura. His father Wilayat Shah Hashmi is a well known poet and lawyer. Anwar Aleemi,renowned lawyer also founded Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 1967, when he was a student of law in Punjab University. PPP"s all slogans for the betterment of poor and suppressed classes of Pakistan was created by him. "MANG RAHA HEY HER INSAN - ROOTI KAPRA R MAKAN was his created slogan for the movement of the poor people of Pakistan. It is to be remembered that in his early ages he wrote a poem and the above slogans was one of his couplet. Anwar Aleemi as a poet writer of many everlasting poems, which were later on published and compiled as "SHOLA-E-AFKAR"-"FLAMES OF THOUGHTS". Anwar Aleemi is basically a lawyer. He fought for real and actual democracy. He , as a founder member of PPP , was imprisoned in the era of the notorious dictator of Pakistan, Gen. Yahya Khan as a founder member of PPP. Later on differences of Bhutto and Aleemi, on principles of the rule of law and democracy were made publicly, in result of which, Anwer Aleemi was forced to quit PPP before the start of BHUTTO'S NOTORIOUS ERA after the disintegration of Pakistan in 1971. Anwar Aleemi founded INQLABI MEHAZ (REVOLUTIONARY FRONT)against the feudal and capitalist rule in Pakistan. Historically speaking REVOLUTIONARY FRONT was the first political opposition of the rule of feudal lords and capitalists in all over Pakistan , which will be remembered in the history of Pakistan. Being human rights activists Anwar Aleemi founded HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL-HRI at global level. Anwar Aleemi's name as a poet, writer, reformist and human rights activists will be remembered for centuries.
The history of Sheikhupura goes back to 100 BC. Historical research has established the fact that Sangla or Sakala was the capital of Punjab once, and it was here that Alexander the Great of Macedonia (known locally as Sikandar e Azam) fought one of his most serious battles of his career. Its name is spoken of, firstly in the pages of Tuzk-e-Jahangiri as Jahangirpura, after the name of Prince Salim Nur u Din Muhammad Jahangir. He changed the name from Virkgarh to Sheikhupura after converting the majority of the population to Islam. This area belongs to the Jats.
Mughal Emperor Nor-u-Din Muhammad Jahangir laid the foundation of historical Sheikhupura. In 1607, Sheikhupura was constructed following an order of Jahangir. The father of Jahangir, Emperor Jalal-uddin Mohammad Akbar use to call him Sheikhu (a nick name). During Sikh rule the new city was named Singhpuria, previously was known as Jahangirabad.
During the reign of Emperor Jahangir (1605 to 1627), Sheikhupura had the status of royal hunting ground. In Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, Jahangir wrote during the events in 1607:
On the day of Tuesday, I reside in Jahangirpura, my hunting ground. According to my order, a Minar and a grave for my deer, Mansraj, were constructed here. ”
Mughal Emperor Jahangir granted the estate of Sheikhupura to Syed Usman, the father of Shah Bilal, a religious preceptor of the line of Qadiriyyah.
Over the whole district, the period between the decline of the Mughal Empire after the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and the rise of Sikh confederacies was one of utter confusion and anarchy. The successive shocks of invasion from the northwest, and the devastation caused again and again by the invading armies of Nadir Shah.
Nader Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali (1724-1773) almost completely ruined the prosperity of the tract. After the death of Aurangazeb, Muslim power declined and the Sikhs who occupied the region and ruled through various misls or small to medium sized groups. Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali led raids that further weakened local Muslim rule. Several raids were made by the Bhangi Sardars, a Sikh community. Finally around 1780, Ranjit Singh, a Sikh ruler defeated the grandson of Ahmad Shah Abdali and later occupied this district. The Sikhs were defeated by the British around 1850 and it stayed under British rule until independence in 1947.
In 1851, Sheikhupura Tehsil became part of Gujranwala District. The Artimapal Secretary Chief Commissioner Lahore wrote a letter to the Department of Wealth in 1855 to combine the Sheikhupura Tehsil with the Lahore District but it was never done. As soon as it became a District Zillah, a lot of lawyers came to practice. Under Sir Ganga Ram, district courts and hospitals were constructed in the city |
