- Gurdaspur district
Gurdaspur district is a district in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of
India .Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It bordersPakistan ,Jammu and Kashmir , the Punjab districts of Amritsar and Hoshiarpur, and the state ofHimachal Pradesh . Two main rivers Beas and Ravi passes through the district. The Mughal emperorAkbar is said to have been enthroned in a garden near Kalanaur, a historically important town in the district. [ [http://gurdaspur.nic.in/html/profile.htm#history History of Gurdaspur] ]The current M.P.(member of Parliament) of Gurdaspur is
Vinod Khanna ,the famousBollywood actor of yesteryears who once famously remarked during his election campaign "Main Gurdaspur ko Paris mein badal doonga"(I will turn Gurdaspur intoParis ).History
During British Rule the district of Gurdaspur was a subdivision of
Lahore Division , the district itself was administratively subdivided into fourtehsil s:Gurdaspur ,Batala , Shakargarh andPathankot . According to the 1881 census the population of district was 823,695 this had risen by over 100,000 to 943,922 in the 1891 census. However the 1901 census recorded a fall in population - 940,334, this was largely due to emigration - some 44,000 settlers settling inChenab colony . According to the 1901 census there were 463,371 Muslims (49%), 380,636 Sikhs (over 40%) and 91,756 (10%)Hindus.Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who founded theAhmadiyya movement had followers here. [ [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V12_401.gifGurdāspur District - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 12, p. 395.] ] In 1947 as part of thepartition of India - Punjab was divided between Pakistan and India, Shakargarh Tehsil became part ofSialkot District which was part of theWest Punjab province ofPakistan whilst the rest of the district, retaining the name Gurdaspur, became part of India'sEast Punjab state. [ [http://pportal.punjab.gov.pk/portal/portal/media-type/html/group/323;jsessionid=0a00000230d7fa0dd249920547b9befeba50fa09d3af.e34Ma3iPcheLci0Lc3iPah8RbN0Te6fznA5Pp7ftolbGmkTy/page/default.psml?nav=home Narowal - Punjab Portal] ] The division of the district was followed by a population transfer between the two nations, with Muslims leaving for Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs arriving.External links
* [http://gurdaspur.nic.in/ Official Gurdaspur District Website]
* [http://www.bcetians.com/gurdaspur/ Map of Gurdaspur District]References
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