GURDASPUR

Gurdaspur
—  city  —
Mechanical Block
Gurdaspur Location of Gurdaspur in Punjab and India
Coordinates	32°02′00″N 75°24′00″E / 32.0333°N 75.40°E / 32.0333; 75.40Coordinates: 32°02′00″N 75°24′00″E / 32.0333°N 75.40°E / 32.0333; 75.40
Country	India
State	Punjab
District(s)	Gurdaspur
Population • Density	67,455 (2001[update]) • 49 /km2 (127 /sq mi)
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	1,369 square kilometres (529 sq mi) • 241 metres (791 ft)
Codes[show] • Pincode • 143521 • Vehicle • pb 06

Gurdaspur (Punjabi: ਗੁਰਦਾਸਪੁਰ) is a city in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of the Republic of India. It is located in the center of and is the administrative head of Gurdaspur District. It was the location of a fort (later turned into a Hindu monastery) which was famous for the siege it sustained in 1712 from the Mughals. The Gurdaspur city situated on Amritsar – jammu National Highway Road, 36 km from Pathankot and 32 km from Batala is being the district headquarter. All head offices of various departments are situated in this city. The Indo-Pak Border is at a distance of 10 km from Gurdaspur. The River Beas falls one side and Raavi falls on the other side of Gurdaspur.
The Gurdaspur city was named after the name of Mahant Guridas. The Emperor Akbar was crowned at Kalanaur, which is 26 km from Gurdaspur city and also Behrampur town is situated at a distance of 10 km, where Mukbara of Bairam Khan is situated. Earlier, Dinanagar town was the capital of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, which is only 12 km from Gurdaspur city. The famous woollen mill is situated at Dhariwal which is only 12 km from Gurdaspur city.

Contents 1 Demographics 2 History 3 Partition of 1947 4 Transport 4.1 Rail 4.2 Road 5 Further reading 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Demographics

According to the 2001 India census,^[1] Gurdaspur had a population of 67,455. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Gurdaspur has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 75%. In Gurdaspur, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[edit] History

• Gurdaspur, a major city of Punjab, was founded by Guriyaji in 17th century. The place forms the nothernmost part of the state. Resting within Jalandhar and flanked by the rivers Beas and Ravi, it shares its boundary with districts of Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, and Amritsar.

Guriyaji laid the foundation of the city on the land that he bought from the Jats. Almost no evidences of the ancient history of the place are available, so not much is known about it. For a long period, it was under the rule of Shahi dynasty. A ruler named Jasrath Khokhar was defeated by Malik Sikander. With the fall of the Mughal Empire, the city came under the supremacy of the Sikh gurus. The place is linked to many eminent Sikh Gurus like Govind Singh, Hargovind Singh, and Guru Nanak. Raja Ranjit Singh made it one of his strongholds. After partition, major portion of the city ceded to India. As you go seven kilometers from the city in the western direction, you will reach Gurdas Nangal, a holy place linked with the heroic battle of Banda Bahadur with Mughal armies. A gurudwara is present here at whose entrance of which an inscription is placed. The inscription gives the description of the famous battle. It lies at 10 kilometers from the destination; it was where a mass massacre of Sikhs took place in the year 1746 AD. During misl period Gurdaspur remained centre of activity of Kanaiya Misl and Ramgharia Misl. Maharaja Ranjit Singh conquered Ramgharia misl in 1808 and Kanyia misl in 1811, so it became a part of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s empire.
After second Anglo-Sikh war 1839-49 British East India company annexed Punjab on 29 March 1849. After annexation need arose for recognition of districts for administrative purpose. As a result, Gurdaspur district was formed on 1 May 1852. The district of Adinanagar was renamed as Gurdaspur. So from a tiny village Gurdaspur became a District Headquarter.
The mutinee of 1857 also affected Gurdaspur. The mutineers from Sialkot proceeded towards Gurdaspur. The British forces intercepted these mutineers at Trimmo Patan and defeated them in the battle of Trimmo Patan (12–16 July 1857). The prisoners were hanged in Bole Wala Bagh situated behind Government College Gurdaspur.

[edit] Partition of 1947

• During partition of India in 1947 the future of Gurdaspur could not be decided for many days. As majority of population of this district was Muslim. RADCLIFFE Awards of Boundary transferred only Shakargarh Tehsil Of Gurdaspur district to Pakistan, and the rest of the district was transferred to India. Muslim population of the district migrated to Pakistan and refugees, the Hindus and the Sikhs of Sialkot and Tehsil Shakargarh migrated to Gurdaspur after crossing the Ravi bridge. They settled and spread in Gurdaspur district. Gurdaspur is spread over 10.85 sq.km. area.

[edit] Transport

[edit] Rail

• Gurdaspur is well connected with daily trains from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,and other parts of india. and also connected with jammu and kashmir,

 Road

• Gurdaspur is well connected with raod network,National Highway 15 ( NH 15) is a major National Highway in Western and Northwestern India. NH 15 connects Kandla in Gujarat with Gurdaspur in Punjab. This 1,526 km (948 mi)-long highway passes through Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran Sahib, Zira, Kotkapura, Bhatinda, Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Barmer. At Bikaner the National Highway 11 terminates on this Highway.

Of its total length of 1,526 km (948 mi), the National Highway 15 traverses 350 km (220 mi) in Punjab, 906 km (563 mi) in Rajasthan, and 270 km (170 mi) in Gujarat.[1] Also connected Gurdaspur to jammu trough bmial, kathua.and also connected with NH 1A through Gurdaspur, Mukerian and Gurdaspur Shri Hargobind State Highways.