Qila Sobha Singh - History

History

There are numerous sources which trace the origins of the town but the authenticity of many of these sources varies. The less-reliable historical sources about the origins of the city have been derived from the oral traditions based on ancient local beliefs which, most historians concur, are full of inaccuracies, concocted legends and erroneous facts and pertain to the Vedic scriptures which give a description of the ancient city. These are, nonetheless, stated here. More reliable and validated historical references relating to the city date back to centuries in which it has been stated that the city is of Persian and/or Greek origin. The evidences reveal that it was a bastion of Sikhism and the town was ruled by a Sikh Maharaja. The origin of the town is related to a Sikh land owner called Sobha Singh. When Sobha Singh was married, his father gave him the lands surrounding the part of Qila Sobha Singh. The name Qila implies a fort; this name originates in the fact that Sobha Singh's family had a very large and tall mansion, which was surrounded by smaller houses. Because there was a wall surrounding the whole town with several gates, the town had the appearance of a fort. Also Sobha sing has three other brothers named as Mian singh,Deedar Singh,

During the Indian rebellion of 1857, British troops while tracking down the rebels kept on scouring the area and arrived at the Qila and surrounded it, believing it to be a fort. Representatives of the town people, however, managed to convince the troops that the town was not in fact a fortification.

In 1947, the year of Pakistan's independence from the British Indian Empire, Qila Sobha Singh was a very small town with mainly Sikh and Hindu population. Most of the Sikhs and Hindus living in the town moved to the Indian part of the Punjab and many Muslim immigrants moved to the area from the East Punjab and settled over there.