Sialkot Town
Sialkot 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.
Head-quarters of Sialkot District and tahsil,
Punjab, situated in 32 30' N. and 74 32' E., on the Wazirabad-
Jammu branch of the North- Western Railway; distant by rail from
Calcutta 1,341 miles, from Bombay 1,369, and from Karachi 808.
Population (1901), 57,956, Sialkot stands on the northern bank of
the Aik torrent, upon the edge of the high triangular ridge which
extends southward from the Jammu hills, and is 72 miles from
Lahore.
Popular legends attribute its foundation to Raja Sala, the uncle of the Pandavas, and say that it was refounded in the time of Vikramaditya by Raja Salivahan, who built the fort and city. Salivahan had two sons : one, Puran by name, was killed by the instrumentality of a wicked step- mother, and thrown into a well, still the resort of pilgrims, near Sialkot; the other, Rasalu, the great mythical hero of Punjab folk-tales, is said to have reigned at Sialkot. Towards the end of his reign Rasalu became involved in wars with Raja Hudi, popularly stated to have been a Gakhar chieftain. Being worsted in battle, Rasalu, as the price of peace, was forced to give his daughter in marriage to his conqueror, who gave the teiritory he had conquered to Rasalu's adopted son. According to a further legend related to Mr. Prinsep :
c After the death of Raja Rasalu, the country is said to have fallen under the curse of Puran (brother of Rasalu, who had become a fakir] for 300 years, lying totally devastated from famine and in- cessant plunder. 3
It has recently been suggested that Sialkot is the ancient site known as Sakala or Sagal. In A,D. 790 the fort and city were demolished by an army under Raja Naraut, supported by the Ghandaurs of the Yusufzai country. Under the Mughal emperors, Sialkot became the head-quarters of a fiscal district (sarkdr). The country was afterwards occupied in the seventeenth century by the Rajput princes of Jammu. The mound which rises in the centre of the town, crowned with the remains of an ancient fort, is popularly believed to mark the site of the original stronghold of Raja Salivahan ; but the fort itself is not more than 1,000 years old, and is said to have been rebuilt by Shahab-ud- din at the end of the twelfth century. Some old baths with hot-water pipes of solid masonry have been discovered here. Other similar mounds stand among the outskirts of the town. In modern times, the old fort is of historical interest for its gallant defence by the few European residents who took refuge here during the Mutiny of 1857. It is now dismantled, and the few buildings it contains are used for public purposes. The town also contains the shrine of the first Sikh Guru, Baba Nanak (see AMRITSAR DISTRICT), the scene of an annual fair largely attended by Sikhs from all parts of the District ; the Darbar Baoli Sahib, a covered well, erected by a Rajput disciple of Baba Nanak, held high in religious consideration among the Sikhs; the Muhammadan shrine of Imam Ali-ul-hakk, a handsome building of ancient construction ; and a temple erected by Raja Tej Singh. The municipality was created in 1867. The income and expenditure during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged about a lakh. In 1903-4 the income was a lakh, chiefly derived from octroi (Rs. 80,500); and the expenditure was also a lakh, including conservancy (Rs. 13,200), education (Rs. 17,000), medical (Rs. 12,000), and administration (Rs. 25,900).
The large military cantonment is situated about a mile and a half from the native town. The garrison, which belongs to the Rawalpindi division, consists of one battery and one ammunition column of horse artillery, one regiment of British cavalry, two regiments of Native cavalry, one battalion of Native infantry, and one company of sappers and miners. There is also a mounted infantry school. During the ten years ending 1902-3 the income and expenditure of cantonment funds averaged Rs. 37,000.
Sialkot is a flourishing trade centre and depot for agricultural pro- duce. It has an extensive manufacture of cricket and tennis bats, hockey sticks, &c., tents, surgical instruments, and tin boxes. Boots are also made, and various cotton stuffs, chiefly twill (silst). The manufac- ture of paper is said to have been introduced four centuries ago, and under the Mughal emperors Sialkot paper was largely used at the Delhi court. The manufacture has now greatly declined, owing to the competition of mill-made paper. The town contains three flour-mills, in one of which cotton-ginning is also carried on. The number of employes in 1904 was 85. The Alliance Bank of Simla has a branch in the town. The principal educational institutions are the Sialkot Arts college and four Anglo-vernacular high schools, of which one is managed by the Educational department, two by the Scottish and American Missions, while the fourth is the Christian Training Insti- tute of the Scottish Mission. There are five middle, schools for girls, one of which is attached to the convent. In the town are a civil hospital with a branch dispensary, an American Mission hospital for women and children, and a charitable dispensary maintained by a member of an old family of hakims or native physicians.
