Gurdaspur - History

History

Gurdaspur, a major city of Punjab, was founded by Guriyaji in 17th century. The place forms the northernmost 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 evidence of the ancient history of the place is available, so not much is known about it. For a long period, it was under the rule of the 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 Guru Govind Singh, Guru Hargobind, and Guru Nanak dev. Maharaja Ranjit Singh made it one of his strongholds. After partition, a major portion of the city was 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 is placed an inscription to describe the famous battle. It lies at 10 kilometers from the destination; it was where a great massacre of Sikhs took place in the year 1746 AD.

During the misl period Gurdaspur remained the 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.

The British East India Company annexed Punjab on 29 March 1849, after the second Anglo-Sikh war of 1839-49. After annexation a 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 mutiny 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. DERA BABA NANAK is also under the district of gurdaspur,dera baba nanak is a very famous place for Sikh history. Sikh first guru nanak dev ji stayed in dera baba nanak and died in dera baba nanak. Every year in march, people celebrate the festival for its first sikh guru and many Sikh and Hindu people come for this festival.