Wazirabad
Wazirabad
وزیر آباد | |
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City | |
 Tomb ofMaulana Zafar Ali Khan
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  Wazirabad Location of Wazirabad  Wazirabad Wazirabad (Pakistan) | |
| Coordinates:32°26′7″N74°6′51″E/ 32.43528°N 74.11417°E | |
| Country |  Pakistan |
| Province |  Punjab |
| Division | Gujrat |
| District | Wazirabad |
| Tehsil | Wazirabadand Ali Pur Chattha |
| No. of Union Councils | 12 |
| Municipal status | 1867 |
| Area | |
| • City | 83 km2(32 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,206 km2(466 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 215 m (705 ft) |
| Population | |
| • City | 128,060 (see page 79 of 98 for population of Wazirabad City per 2,017 Census of Pakistan)[1] |
| •Metro | 830,396 (Population of former Wazirabad Tehsil now called Wazirabad District in 2,023)[1] |
| Demonym | Wazirabadi |
| Time zone | UTC+5(PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+6(PDT) |
| Postal code | 52000 |
Wazirabad(Urdu/Punjabi:وزیر آباد) is a city inPunjab,Pakistan. It is the administrative capital ofWazirabad District(formerly a Tehsil ofGujranwala District).
Famous for its cutlery products, it is known as the city ofcutleryand is also quite famous for itsfoods.
Wazirabad is situated on the banks of theChenabRiver nearly 100 kilometres north ofLahoreon the Grand Trunk Road. It is 45 kilometres fromSialkot,30 kilometres fromGujranwala,and about 12 kilometres fromGujrat.The city of Wazirabad is theheadquartersof former Wazirabad Tehsil (now calledWazirabad Districtin 2023), anadministrative subdivisionof the district, the city itself is subdivided into 12Union Councils.[3]
History
[edit]The city was founded byWazir Khan,the governor and later,Grand VizierofMughal EmperorShah Jahanin 17th century. The town was taken over byCharat Singharound 1760 together with other towns in the district. MaharajaRanjit Singhoccupied the town in 1809 andAvitabilewas appointed as theNazimof the city. In 1855, Jarral Rajputs of Rajouri Own Saman Burj Wazirabad ruled Wazirabad. He built an entirely new town, with a straight broad bazaar running through it, and side streets at right angles.[4]
British rule
[edit]DuringBritish rule,Wazirabad was the headquarters of the old Wazirabad District, broken up in 1851-2, and was the site of a military cantonment moved toSialkotin 1855.[citation needed]
The municipality was created in 1867, the population, according to the 1901 census, was 18,069. The income during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 20,800, and the expenditure Rs. 21,400. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 20,800, chiefly fromoctroi;and the expenditure was Rs. 19,200. The town had a considerable trade in timber, which comes down theChenabfromJammuterritory.[4]The smiths of Wazirabad had a reputation for the manufacture of small articles of cutlery, and the town of Nizamabad within a mile of the town is famed for its weapons. Wazirabad was an important junction on theNorth-Western Railway,as theSialkot-Jammuand Lyallpur lines both branch off of here.[5]
The Chenab river is spanned opposite Wazirabad by the Alexandra railway bridge, one of the finest engineering works of the kind inIndia,which was opened in 1876 byEdward VII the King-Emperorwhen he wasPrince of Wales.The town possessed two Anglo-vernacular high schools, one maintained by the Church of Scotland Mission, and a government dispensary.[5]
Colleges and universities in Gujranwala
[edit]- University of the Punjab, Gujranwala
- Allama Iqbal Open University
- Virtual University of Pakistan
- GIFT University
- Government College Gujranwala
- University of Central Punjab
Notable residents
[edit]- Abdul Mannan Wazirabadi,Islamic scholar
- Fazal Ilahi Wazirabadi,Islamic scholar and freedom fighter
- Hamid Nasir Chattha,formerSpeaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan
- Iftikhar Cheema,Retired Justice and Member National Assembly for 3 tenures
- Nisar Ahmed Cheema,Ex-DG Health Punjab and Member National Assembly
- Jawwad S. Khawaja,23rdChief Justice of Pakistan
- Atif Aslam,Singer
- S. A. Rahman,fifth Chief Justice of Pakistan
- Shaikh Nazrul Bakar,civil servant
- Noon Meem Rashid,progressive poet
- Munnu Bhai,writer
- Razia Butt,writer
- Krishan Chander,writer
- Maulana Zafar Ali Khan,writer, poet, and journalist
- Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi:Muslim theologian,oratorandrevivalistleader
- Mazhar ul Islam,writer
- Raja Mehdi Ali Khan(film songs lyricist)
- Allah Bakhsh(painter-artist)
- Shaukat Manzoor Cheema,politician
References
[edit]- ^ab"Gujranwala District - Population Detail Blockwise (Wazirabad City and Tehsil used to be part of Gujranwala District per the Census of Pakistan in 2017)"(PDF).Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan website.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 8 May 2018.Retrieved13 December2023.
- ^"PAKISTAN: Provinces and Major Cities".Citypopulation.de website.Retrieved13 December2023.
- ^"Tehsils & Unions in the District of Gujranwala".National Reconstruction Bureau, Government of Pakistan website.Archived fromthe originalon 28 April 2012.Retrieved13 August2023.
- ^ab"Wazirabad".Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 24, page 378 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library.
- ^ab"Wazirabad".Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 24, page 379 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago.
Further reading
[edit]
- Bailey, Thomas Grahame (1904).Panjabi Grammar: A Brief Grammar of Panjabi As Spoken in the Wazirabad District(in English and Punjabi). Lahore, Pakistan: Punjab Government Press / World Digital Library.
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