Jalandhar District - History

History

Jalandhar is mentioned in the Hindu Puranic text,Lalitha Sahasranama as "Jalandhara peetha" referring to the temple of Kali in Jalandhar.

The country is mentioned in a story about a Buddhist council at Kuvana near Jalandhar in the beginning of the Christian era, sponsored by Kanishka. Six Buddhist Councils were said to be held at Jalandhar in the fourth century and have established Buddha as God. According to the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hien, who traveled India between 399 and 411, there were many Buddhist places (viharas obviously) (about 50) and Buddhism was practiced by many people.

Hiuen Tsang visited the area in the seventh century when Jalandhar was the capital of the Rajput kingdom of Trigarta which was integrated into the modern districts of Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur and Kangra and native states Chamba, Mandi and Suket; Harshavardhana then reigned in Punjab, And the kingdom of Jalandhar was headed by his Trigarta feudatory Utito Raja whom Alexander Cunningham identifies with the Rajput Raja Attar Chand dynasty of Katoch. According to Hiuen the kingdom extended some 270 km from west to east and about 215, north to south, Jalandhar was a big city and capital of the kingdom of the Katoch dynasty. The Katoch maintained their control over the region with few interruptions until Lal Sefle XII, with his capital in Jalandhar, and Kangra as a fortress. Rajatarangini the end of the ninth century mentions the defeat of Prithwi Chandra, Raja of Trigarta at the hands of Chandra Sankara Kashmir. Between the eighth and tenth century it was the center of the great Nath movement, one member of which was the chief saint Jalandhar Nath. At the end of the tenth century until 1019 the territory was in the hands of Shahi Punjab.

In 1088 (Or 1188) the city was conquered by Ghaznevid Sultan Ibrahim ben Massoud, (or Ibrahim Shah Ghur), and it seems that it later became under Muslim rule generally dependent on the province Lahore within Delhi Sultanate. During the Sayyid dynasty (1414–1451) Delhi's authority waned and the area was theater of numerous rebel movements and especially the head Khokhar Jasrath. In Jalandhar Mughal forces were concentrated in 1555 when Humayun returned to deliver the battle that allowed him to regain the throne and the kingdom in the vicinity saw the defeat of the forces of Bairam Khan at the hands of the imperial forces in 1560. Under Akbar the Great I it was the center of a Sarkar.

Adina Beg, the last and most famous rulers of Jalandhar played a prominent role in the end of Muslim rule in Punjab, oscillating between the emperor of Delhi, the Sikhs and Ahmad Shah Durrani. The latter sacked Nurmahal and Kartarpur and Sikhs in revenge burned in Jalandhar in 1757. In 1758 the Maharaja Ghamand Chand of the Katoch dynasty was named Nizam of Jalandhar by Ahmad Shah Durrani. The Sikh rebellion against the Mughals found much support in the district and a small number of leaders soon established themselves by force of arms along with independent sovereigns throughout the doab The 1766 Jalandhar city fell into the hands of the misl of Faizullahpuria, led by Khushal Singh. His son and successor Budha Singh, built a fortress in the city; other Sikh leaders built forts on the outskirts of the city. Phillaur was occupied by Budha Singh and became the capital of a very important state. The Muslim Rajputs of Nakodar (who held this city and county as jagir from Jahangir) were expelled by Sardar Tara Singh Ghaiba, who built a fort and became the owner of the land around, while in the south Ranjit Singh was consolidating his power and took Phillaur in 1807 and made the Seraglio into a fort dominating the Sutlej. In 1811 Dewan Mokham Chand was sent to annex the domain of the Faizullahpuria confederation in the doab of Jalandhar. Budha Singh fled across the Sutlej and although his forces tried to resist the army Ranjit Singh it ended up winning in the fall of that year. In 1816 Ranjit Singh took Sardara Nakodar; the small gentry were gradually expelled, the whole country passing under direct control of the governor sent by the court of Lahore. Sikh administration was tough, with heavy taxes, especially under Shaikh Ghulam Muhi-ud-din, the last appointed official in the area, who had a tyrannical government and claimed regular and irregular rates. He entrusted the land to his son Imamud-din, but usually neither father nor son had lived in the district, commissioning work to lieutenants, the best-known being Sandhe Khan in Hoshiarpur and Karim Bakhsh in Jullundur (Jalandhar).

At the end of First Sikh War (1846) the territory was annexed by the British by the treaty of Lahore, March 9, 1846. Sir John Lawrence was appointed as first Commissioner of the Trans Sutlej states. For two years they depended on the general government, and from 1848 on the resident of Lahore; after the annexation of the Punjab 1849, on the Governor of the province based in Amritsar. Initially (1849) the districts of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kangra were created. Jalandhar had an area of 3,424 km² in 1881 and 3,706 km² in 1901. Phillaur was established as a store of artillery and a major headquarters was established in Nakodar. The first was abandoned 1857 and the second 1854. In 1857 troops in Jalandhar and Phillaur mutinied and joined the rebels in Delhi. Raja Randhir Singh Kapurthala loyally served the British troops and used his influence to preserve peace in the doab.

The population under British rule:

1868: 794 418

1881: 789 555

1891: 907 583

1901: 917 587

Divided into four tehsils: Jullundur, Nawashahr, Phillaur, Nakodar.

The tehsil of Jalandhar or Jullundur covered 1,013 km² and had a population of 305,976 inhabitants in 1901 (295,301 in 1881) and 409 villages. The main cities were Jullundur, the capital with 67,735 inhabitants in 1901, and the municipalities of Adampur,Kartarpur, Alawalpur, Phillaur, Nurmahal, Rahon, Nawashahr, Banga and Nakodar. 45% were Muslims, 40% Sikhs and 14% Hindus. The main language was Punjabi.

Phillaur Fort, which stands near the Sutlej river and converted to a fort in 1809 during the reign of Sher-e-Panjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh from (1801–1839).

The town of Kartarpur Sahib, a holy Sikh Town, was founded by the fifth Sikh Master, Guru Arjan Dev Ji, in 1594.

The most important places are the remains of the tombs in Nakodar and the Seraglio of Nur Jahan in Nurmahal.