Personalities

Pakistan’s, indeed South Asia’s, first motorway, the M2 (Islamabad–Lahore), was inaugurated in 1997. Fortunately, it passed only 4 kilometers away from my ancestral town, Lilla, in the district of Jhelum. It completely changed the way we travelled to Islamabad, Lahore, and Sargodha. Sargodha is a city where we have close relations, so we frequently travel…

I never expected to meet such a man in my life; honestly, I had never even imagined such an encounter. But life is full of surprises, and that’s exactly what I experienced when I met a very old, amiable gentleman in Kaluwal (32°32’29.21″N, 73°14’48.31″E), a village near Malakwal in the district of Mandi Bahauddin. This…

A few years ago, I came across a very interesting piece of information about Tipu Sultan, the legendary ruler of Mysore. The writer claimed that the ancestors of Tipu Sultan had moved to the Deccan from Punjab. But neither the details nor the source of this information was given, nor did the writer mention the…

Tiwanas are a very old and aristocratic family of the district Shahpur (now Sargodha and Khushab). They are settled in many towns of Sargodha and Khushab on both sides of the river Jhelum. In the past, they held large jagirs at various places and played a very important role in the history of this part…

Dharema is a small, typical town of Punjab in the district Sargodha, about 10 kilometers from Sargodha city on Shahpur Road. There is nothing particularly significant about it except for one fact — there is a grave that attracts the attention of many students of history. This grave is said to be that of Shah…

It was my first visit to Sialkot, and I had a long list of places to explore. After spending the night at the home of my childhood friend, Amjad Hussain, we set out early in the morning to begin our adventures. One of our first destinations was the home of Allama Muhammad Iqbal — the…

The areas that later became part of Pakistan produced three Prime Ministers of India: Mr. Gulzari Lal Nanda (Sialkot), Mr. Inder Kumar Gujral (Jhelum), and Mr. Manmohan Singh (Chakwal). The subject of this post is Mr. Inder Kumar Gujral. Inder Kumar Gujral was born on 4 December 1919 in Jhelum. His family originally belonged to…

The Gujranwala region was one of the earliest strongholds of the Sikhs in Punjab during the 18th century. Its foundations were laid sometime around 1760 as the capital of the Sukerchakia Misl by Sardar Charat Singh, the grandfather of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. During the long struggle of the Sukerchakias, spread over three generations, many soldiers…

The countryside of Pakistan is dotted with many archaeological sites or buildings having historic, religious, or cultural value. One such building is a beautiful mansion that exists in Kot Shera, just outside the sprawling city of Gujranwala. This house was constructed by a big landlord of the area, Sardar Mangal Singh. The haveli is located…

Ever heard about Hari Singh Nalwa? No? That’s not surprising. Actually, I expect the same answer from 99% of my Pakistani readers. When I planned to write something about him, I thought it would be over within a few days. But now, after many days, I am still thinking about how to introduce this man…