Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Dipalpur is a town town in Okara District, Punjab, Pakistan. Okara District ( Urdu: ضلع اوکاڑہ) is a district of Punjab, Pakistan. The Punjab ( Urdu:) province of Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and It is located at 30°40'0N 73°39'0E[1] and is situated 25 kilometres from the district capital Okara on an old bank of the Beas River in Bari Doab. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand Okara Urdu: ( اوکاڑہ is the capital city of Okara District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The town is notable for being the site of a battlefield in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Dipalpur is associated with the history of the Bhatti clan as well

Contents

History

Ancient history

The history of Dipalpur dates back to ancient times. Bhati / Bhatti (भाटी (Bhati ਭੱਟੀ (Bhatti / भटटी بھٹی is a Rajput Caste and is one of the largest tribes among Rajputs "Ancient" redirects here For other uses see Ancient_(disambiguation. The coins of Sakas (Scythian) period found on the site suggest that the place was inhabited in 100BC. After Multan, this is probably the oldest living city in the Subcontinent. ( Urdu:, Punjabi ملتان، ਮੁਲਤਾਨ is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District

General Alexander Cunningham writes that the place figures out in works of Ptolemy under different names. Sir Alexander Cunningham ( 23 January 1814 &ndash 28 November 1893) was a British Archaeologist and Army Claudius Ptolemaeus ( Greek: Klaúdios Ptolemaîos; after 83 &ndash ca According to local legend Dipalpur was named after Raja Dipa Chand once he captured it. Dipalpur once used to be the first fortification in the way from Khyber to Delhi.

Mongols

Dipalpur is famous in history as an outpost that played a significant part in the defence of the Delhi kingdom against Mongol invasions in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Delhi Sultanate ( Urdu: دلی سلطنت, दिल्ली सलतनत or Sultanat e Hind ( سلطنتِ هند; सलतनत ए The Mongol Empire emerged in the course of the 13th century by a series of conquests and invasions throughout Central and Western Asia, reaching Eastern Europe

In 1285, Muhammad Tughlaq son of Emperor Balban was killed in a bloody battle with Mongols and the famous poet Amir Khusro was taken prisoner in Dipalpur. Muhammad bin Tughluq (محمد بن تغلق (c1300&ndash 1351 also Prince Juna Khan was the Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351 Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn al-Dīn Khusrow ( Hindi: hi अबुल हसन यमीनुद्दीन ख़ुसरो (1253-1325 CE better known as Amīr Khusrow The dilapidated tomb where Muhammad Tughlaq rests stands neglected in a silent corner of the town, for removed from the noisy haunts of men.

Ghazi Malik

Under Ala-ud-din the town became the headquarters of Ghazi Malik. Ala-ud-din or Ala-ed-din may refer to Ala ud din Khilji, a former Muslim ruler of part of India of around 1300AD ‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Ata Feroz Shah Tughlaq visited the town in fourteenth century. Firuz Shah Tughlaq (also known as Firoz Shah Tughluq ( 1309 - 1388 in Delhi) was a Muslim ruler of the Tughlaq Dynasty from 1351 Mughal Emperor Akbar made it the headquarters of one of the sarkars (revenue district) of Multan Province. The Mughal Empire was the dominant power in the Indian subcontinent between the mid-16th century and the end of the 17th century Akbar redirects here For other uses see Akbar (disambiguation Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar ( Jalāl ud-Dīn Muhammad Akbar

Partition

The town lost its importance during the colonial era. For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British Dipalpur had a significant Hindu population before the partition of India. A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical The Partition of India was the partition of the British Indian Empire which led to the creation on August 14, 1947 and August 15, The Hindus had to leave their homelands and move to India in 1947. A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Partition changed the face of the town and it witnessed the new demographic and socio economic order in 1947. It is now a market town and tehsil headquarters of Okara District. Okara District ( Urdu: ضلع اوکاڑہ) is a district of Punjab, Pakistan.

Historical Structure

Dipalpur in the past was surrounded by a fortification wall, rising to the height of 25 feet and strengthened by a deep trench and other defences. See also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors When and by whom this fort was constructed is not known but it was renovated, repaired and improved during the rule of Feroz Shah Tughlaq and later by Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan who was the governor during the time of Akbar. Feroz Shah Tughlaq constructed a grand mosque, palaces and excavated a canal from the river Sutlej to inundate the trench and irrigate gardens around the town. The Sutlej River (alternatively spelled as Satluj River (ਸਤਲੁਜ शतद्रु or सुतुद्री, ستلج and सतलुज is the longest

Wide and airy tunnels linked the royal residential quarters inside the fort to the adjoining gardens outside. There were 24 burgs (musketry holes) on the fortification wall, 24 mosques, 24 bavlis (ponds) and 24 wells in the town in its hay days. The trench, ponds and tunnels have been filled but at places the location of the trench can still be defined. Most of the wall has been razed. Two of the four massive gateways with pointed arches also exist though they are badly damaged and their wooden doors have vanished. The coats of cement have marred the architectural importance of the gateways.

Hindu Monastery

Besides doors with decorated latches, Jharokhas, bay windows and cut brick works still surviving despite all odds, the most noticeable feature inside the old Dipalpur, which reminds of the past prominence, is the monastery of Lal Jas Raj, a guru much venerated by the Hindus. A jharokha (or jharoka) is a type of overhanging Balcony used in Indian architecture, typically Mughal architecture and Rajasthani architecture A bay window is a Window space projecting outward from the main Walls of a building and forming a bay in a room either square or Polygonal in plan

According to the famous legend, Lal Jas Raj was the young son of Raja Dipa Chand, the founder of Dipalpur, the boy sank in the earth due to the curse of his stepmother Rani Dholran. Lal Jas Raj was an ancient king in Dipalpur, Okara District, Punjab, Pakistan. Raja Dipa Chand constructed this monastery in the memory of his son. Today the dilapidated and empty chamber stands infested with bats and rats, the doors to the chamber are jammed and a stairway is serving as storage for dried dung cakes of the neighbours - the structure is crumbling. According to local residents "There is nothing inside. There used to be a grand annual 'mela' here. Hindus have been coming here to shave off the heads of their sons till after the partition but no body comes anymore,".

Inn

Another noticeable building inside old Dipalpur, which reminds of the bygone glory, is a saray (inn) near the monastery of Lal Jas Raj. The architects of the period when this inn was raised were familiar with use of space, element of design and response to climate. It was a spacious building with airy rooms on four sides, a big courtyard in the centre and four arched entrances. The inn used to be functional and firm but now it is dark and dirty. It has been divided and subdivided by its occupants so many times that you can not make out its original shape. Even the verandas have been clogged to create additional rooms. The best would have been if the inn remained in public use. This does not seem possible now.

Saints

Hujra Shah Muqeem.
Hujra Shah Muqeem.

Muslim saints have been coming to this area to spread the light of Islam. Hazrat Bahawal Haq commonly known as Bahawal Sher Qalandar came from Baghdad and settled in village Patharwall near Dipalpur. The saint constructed a Hujra (living room) and a mosque outside the village. His grandson Hazrat Shah Muqeem continued his mission. The village came to be known as Hujra Shah Muqeem. This is the place that is mentioned in famous Punjabi folk love story 'Mirza Saheban'. Though there is no historical evidence that Jati Saheban came here and prayed: "Sunjian howan gallian which Mirza yar phere" ("The streets should be deserted where my lover Mirza should roam about").

Mughal king Akbar along with his son Saleem and royal entourage stayed in Dipalpur when he came to pay homage to saint Hazrat Farid Ghang Shakar 1578. Akbar named the corridor as 'Bari Doab' by combining the syllables of the names of two rivers (Beas and Ravi) that bounded the belt. Baba Guru Nanak also stayed in Dipalpur for sometime. Guru Nanak Dev (ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਦੇਵ (गुरु नानक گرونانک Gurū Nānak ( 15 april 1469, Nankana Sahib A completely ruined Gurdawara (temple) reminds of the place where Guru Nanak stayed.

Expansion

Situated on the old bank of river Beas, Dipalpur started expanding and spilling out of fortification long ago. It was declared as notified area in 1949, which has been raised to the status of Municipal Committee. Now it is a typical Pakistani market town with all the hazards of urbanization: congestion, mixed traffic, encroachments, potholed roads and piles of domestic waste. Municipal Committee does not seem to notice the plight of the residents, particularly those living in the old portion of the city. The area is very fertile and ideally suited for livestock and agricultural industries. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture

References

  1. ^ Location of Dipalpur - Falling Rain Genomics


© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic