Sunam Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Sunam Town
Head-quarters of the tahsil of the same name in the Karmgarh nizamat, Patiala State, Punjab, situated in 30° 8' N. and 75° 52' E., 43 miles south-west of Patiala town, with which it is connected by a metalled road, and on the Ludhiana-Jakhal branch of the North-Western Railway. Population (1901), 10,069. The town has little local trade, but the construction of the railway will probably revive the decaying manufacture of cotton goods for which it used to be famous. Though now of little importance, Sunam played a great part in the history of the Punjab after the Muhammadan invasions, and Albiruni mentions it as famous before that period. The ancient town, called Surajpur, stood near the Surajkund, or 'pool of the Sun,' and traces of it still remain. Firoz Shah brought a canal to the town. In 1398 Timur attacked it, and, though it appears again as a depen- dency of Sirhind under Akbar, it never regained its old importance. The modern town lies on the site of the fort of Sunam about a mile away. It has an Anglo-vernacular middle school, a police station, and a dispensary.
