Sheikhupura or Shaikhupura is an industrial city in the province of Punjab, in Pakistan. 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. Sheikhupura is the headquarters of Sheikhupura District. It is approximately 35 km from Lahore.

History

The history of Sheikhupura goes back to 100 B.C.. Historical research has established the fact that Sangla or Sakala was the capital of Punjab, and it was here that Alexander 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 Jahangir.

Mughal Emperor Nor-u-Din Muhammad Jahangir laid the foundation of historical Sheikhupura. In 1607, Sheikhupura was constructed following an Jahangir. The mother of Jahangir a Hindu called him Shaikhu-baba. During Sikh rule the new city was named Sheikhupura. Previously was known as Jahangirabad.

During the reign of Emperor Jahangir (1605 to 1627), Sheikhupura had the status of royal hunting ground. In Tuzke-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 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.

Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali (1724-1773)almost completely ruined the prosperity of the tract. After the death of Aurangazeb, Muslim power was broken by the Sikhs who 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 that laid to waste many Mosques and Madrasas. Finally around 1780, Ranjit Singh, a sikh ruler defeated the grandson of Ahmad Shah Abdali and later captured this district. The sikhs were routed by the British around 1850 and it stayed under British rule till independence in 1947.

In 1851, Tehsil Sheikhupura worked under Gujranwala. The Artimapal Secretary Chief Commissar Lahore wrote a letter to the Department of Wealth in 1855 to combine the Tehsil Sheikhupura with the Zillah Lahore but it was never done. As soon as it became a Zillah, a lot of lawyers came to practice. Under the of Sir Gungha Ram, district courts and hospitals were constructed in the city. Sheikupura was the site of the greatest massacre of hindus and sikhs during the partition of Punjab in 1947. An estimated 18-20,000 people were killed in a matter of days, most of them natives of Sheikupura town.

Location

A district headquarter, Sheikhupura is situated 32km to the west of Lahore, and is linked to the other regional centers of Punjab. The city is a regional center for police services, education, health and employment and provides a service base for industrial sector. Sheikhupura is spread over an area of 5,960 square kilometers.

Climate

The District has extreme climate; the summer season starts from April and continues till October. During the summer season, temperature ranges from 30 to 45 degrees Celsius. The winter season starts from November and continues till March. December and January are the coldest months with a mean minimum temperature of 5 degrees.

The dust storms occur occasionally during the hot season, during June, July and August. Rainy weather alternates with oppressive weather. The rainfall is 500mm per year. The mean minimum and maximum humidity during winter is 37% and 84%.

Population

With the modest figure of 22,300 in 1951, the population of Sheikhupura has increased more than tenfold to more than) 300,000 in half a century. In recent decades, the rate of growth has increased due to growing agricultural and industrial activities. The current population has been growing steadily and is projected to exceed to 700,000 by 2019.