Qila Didar Singh (Urdu: قلعہ دِيدار سِنگھ), is a historic town of Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan.[2] It dates back to the mid 1700s and was found by a Sandhu Jatt called Didar Singh.
Qila Didar Singh | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Qila Didar Singh | |
  Qila Didar Singh | |
| Coordinates: 32°08′11″N 74°00′53″E / 32.1363°N 74.0147°E | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province | Punjab |
| Founded by | Didar Singh Sandhu |
| Population | |
| • Total | 66,491 |
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
Its population was estimated to be 66,491 in 2017.[1]
Qila Didar Singh lies on the Gujranwala-Hafizabad Road, 17 km west of Gujranwala. The town's rice market is one of the largest in the Punjab.
In 2007, Qila Didar Singh was administratively upgraded to City Town, one of four in the Gujranwala District
History
editDidar Singh Sandhu found Qila Didar Singh around the mid 1700s and was also part of the Sukerchakia Misl. Because there was a wall surrounding the whole town with several gates, the town had the appearance of a fort.[3]
During the Indian rebellion of 1857, British troops chasing the rebels arrived at the Qila and surrounded it, believing it to be a fort. Representatives of the townspeople 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 Raj, Qila Didar 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 from East Punjab and Haryana moved to the area.
Source of income
editDue to fertile soil of the surrounding area, agriculture is the economic backbone of Qila Didar Singh; the main cash crops being rice in the summer and wheat in winter.
Most people from Qila Didar Singh are self employed, have their own business because of very big rice market and lot of customer for other commodities also come from the surrounding villages. There are government employees, private employees and factory workers. There has been considerable migration from the area to other countries. Even in the British Colonial days, many local tailors became contractors of the army to supply uniforms and shoes. Many of them settled in Cyprus and Singapore. They brought prosperity to the town. Residents of Qila Didar Singh are not farmers but people living in villages around Qila Didar Singh earn their living from rice and wheat fields. A couple of hundred people from Qila Didar Singh commute to Gujranwala daily for labour or to do technical jobs in various small industries in the city. Leaving their families at home, many others work in different parts of Pakistan for their living.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Urban Localities by Population - Qila Didar Singh population, District Gujranwala (page 1 of 1)" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ Location of Qila Didar Singh - Falling Rain Genomics
- ^ Sikh Heritage, In Pakistan. "Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan - A Glimpse of Guru Nanak's Travels". Chapman University website.
- ^ "Agriculture Of Gujranwala". Agriculture Marketing Information Service, Government of Punjab website.