Mandi Bahauddin

MANDI BAHAUDDIN منڈی بهاوالدین
Naeem Saleem
MANDI BAHAUDDIN Location within Pakistan
Coordinates: 32°35′N 73°30′E / 32.583°N 73.5°E / 32.583; 73.5Coordinates: 32°35′N 73°30′E / 32.583°N 73.5°E / 32.583; 73.5
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
District	Mandi Bahauddin District
Established	1506
No. of Towns	1
Government
- Union Councils	27
Elevation	669 ft (204 m)
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
- Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC+6)

Mandi Bahauddin (Urdu: منڈی بهاؤالدین) is the capital of Mandi Bahauddin District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The town is some 220 metres above the sea level and is situated in upper Punjab, between the rivers Jhelum (north 12 km) and Chenab (south 39 km). Mandi Bahauddin city is situated some 50 km from the M2 - Motorway of Pakistan. The city enjoys all four seasons although the climate is very hot in summer and cold in winter. During the months of June and July, the day temperature mounts up to 45 degree celsius. The winter months are, however, relatively pleasant and the temperature rarely falls below 5 degree celsius. The average rainfall in the district is 700 mm. Main localities (Mohallah) of the city are Munshi Mohallah, School Mohallah, Gurah Mohallah, Shafqatabad Mohallah, Malikabad and Mohallah 5 Ward.^[1] Kot Baloch is a village 8 kilometres to the north of Mandi Bahauddin.It contain a population of 427000.

Administration

Mandi Bahauddin, the capital of the district, is also the Tehsil headquarter. Tehsil Mandi Bahauddin has 27 Union Administrations / Union Councils.^[2] The politicians of District Mandi Bahauddin are playing a dynamic role in the national and provincial politics. The district territory consists of 5 Provincial Assembly (PP) and 2 National Assembly (NA) constituencies. A veteran politician, Mr. Nazar Muhammad Gondal, a lawyer and agriculturist by profession and formerly the District Nazim, had been entrusted with the portfolio of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture by the present PPPP government for the first half of its 5-year tenure. People of the district are, at large, skeptical towards the role of local politicians, for they believe that the politicians and the state machinery did not play the role they ought to play in order to solve the problems of Mandi Bahauddin.

Mandi Bahauddin, as a district, boasts the highest number of Civil Judges in the Punjab Province. Moreover, sharp awakening in learning during the last two decades has produced a big number of bureaucrats from Mandi Bahauddin who are serving different government offices nationwide.

History

Early history

In 1506 C.E. Chief Bahauddin, Sufi Sahib, established a settlement namely Pindi Bahauddin in the north-eastern corner of the region known as "Gondal Bar", after his immigration from Pindi Shah Jahanian to this area. The settlement soon became a center of intense commercial activity, hence named afterwards by the merchants as "Mandi Bahauddin", the Market of Bahauddin. The Urdu word "Mandi" implies "marketplace". The proto-city was later on fortified with 9 main doorways to guard against foreign invasions. The wall intact today was completed in 1946.^[3]

However, the recorded history of Mandi Bahauddin goes back to the era before Christ, connecting the region with the historic figure of Alexander the Great. Some 8 km northwest of the modern-day Mandi Bahauddin town, near the plain of village Khiwa on the southern bank of River Jhelum (Greek Hydaspes), the internationally celebrated battle "Battle of the Hydaspes River" was fought between Raja Porus (Sanskrit Paurava) and Alexander the Great. This historic battle of Hydaspes River, which Indian sources refer to as the "Battle of Jhelum", took place in 326 BCE.^[4] The kingdom of Raja Porus was situated in the northern Punjab of modern Pakistan. This battle proved the last major fight of Alexander's career, for the Macedonians, after being put up a fierce resistance by Porus' soldiery and having heard of a massive 4,000 elephant force mustered by eastern kingdoms, refused to march further east i.e. Ganges Plains.^[5]

On the first day of the battle, Prince Harry Roy, the son of Raja Porus, was killed at about the mid-day in a combat that lasted for a short while before the main battle started. On the same day, the beloved horse (Bucephalus) of Alexander the Great also died receiving a mortal wound from one of Porus' arrows, as the famous Hollywood film "Alexander" also shows.^[6] After the death of his son, Raja Porus (initially stationed at Nazampur in the rear) came all out with 200 Elephants, 300 chariots, 4,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry and put up a stiff resistance to Alexander's formidable force.^[7] This main battle was fought on the southern bank of the River Jhelum, modern day Mandi Bahauddin. As a result of this battle, the kingdom of Raja Porus fell to Macedonians. Injured Raja Porus was presented before Alexander in a fainting state; Alexander, being proud of his victory, asked Raja Porus a famous question that went down in the annals of history as "Answer of Porus". Alexander asked Porus: "How do you expect to be treated?", whereupon Porus uttered his historic words: "As a king ought to be!" Surprised Alexander was so impressed by his audacity that he not only forgave Porus, but also returned him his kingdom and declared him his chief ally.^[8]

After the battle, Alexander laid down the foundations of three cities in the modern-day Mandi Bahauddin district: "Nicaea" (Victory), near modern-day Mong, "Bucephalus", after his horse's name at the site of modern-day Phalia, and "Helena", after the famous Greek legend of "Helen of Troy". All three cities are still intact. Further south in what is today Wazir Abad, the cutlery industry has its unique honor to have sharpened and prepared the swords of this great Invader.

Another historic battle of Mandi Bahauddin was fought in 1739-40 near the modern traffic site of "Satt Sira". Although no concrete historical record is available for the Battle of Satt Sira, this battle has come down in oral traditions as a legendary tale of valor and bravery. Reportedly, the Alliance of the 3-Sohawa villages (Sohawa Dillo Ana, Sohawa Bolani, Sohawa Jamlani) put up fierce resistance to one of the main contingents of Afghan Army led by Nader Shah Durrani. Nader Shah was not present in person with the contingent, which had stationed near Satt Sira. The Sohawa Alliance, under the generalship of legendary figure Dillo, managed to defeat and divert the pressure of Nader Shah's formidable force, which soon afterwards sacked Delhi. On this redemption, some anonymous local "Marasi" poet of the day spoke up:

                "The combat between Dillo and the victor of Delhi (took place),"

                "The one from the lineage of Lion  (Dillo) came out victorious."

British Era

Mandi Bahauddin came under British rule in the nineteenth century. The city is only 34 km southwest of Chillianwala, the site of the famous Battle of Chillianwala/The Second Sikh War, fought between the British East India Company and the Khalsa Sikh Army. The British commander in the battle was General Sir Hugh Gough, who was later on replaced with General Charles James Napier.^[9] The city fell to the British in 1849 as the Sikhs were defeated in this decisive combat and the whole Sikh kingdom, consisting of modern Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkha provinces, was annexed to the British East India Company same year.

The population grew considerably in the early 20th century near the old village site [Chak No. 51], where Sikh, Hindu and Muslim businessmen and landowners came to settle. The town was named Mandi Bahauddin after the establishment of a grain market in the area (Mandi means "market" in Urdu). During the British rule, in 1916, the Pindi Bahauddin Railway station was built to connect the town with other major cities via Lala Musa Railway Junction. It was a time when the British were building railway tracks across the Subcontinent and introducing modern and essential public-use equipments in their best interest. The Railway System was introduced and laid down to defend their Empire from the North. Partly due to the reason quoted above and partly due to its geographical position, it was called North-Western Railway (NWR).

Chak Bandi was founded by Sir Malcum Heley and approximately 51 Chaks were settled and notified. In these 51 Chaks, the land was awarded to the people who were loyal to the British Empire and had worked for the British interests. Chak 51 became the centre of this newly established town. The map of this Chak was made by John Alam. A famous grain market was set up in the center of the Chak. Soon afterwards, Chak No. 51 was called Mandi-Bahauddin. In 1920 this name was notified. In 1924 Pindi-Bahauddin Railway station was also notified the above mentioned name. In 1937 when Mandi-Bahauddin was town, it was given the status of a town committee. In 1941, the town was given the status of a Municipal Committee. In the master plan for the reconstruction of the town, in 1923, all of the streets and roads were laid straight and wide. In 1946, nine gates and a fortification wall surrounding the whole town, belated due to riots, was completed.^{[clarification needed]}

After Independence

After the 1947 partition when the Sikhs and the Hindus migrated to India, many Muslims from Indian Punjab and other provinces migrated to Mandi Bahauddin and settled here. In 1960, the city was given the status of Sub-Division in District Gujrat.

In 1963, the Rasul Barrage and Rasul-Qadirabad Link Canal project under the Indus Basin Irrigation Project started. The project was managed by WAPDA, and a large colony for government employees and foreign contractors was constructed 2 kilometers north of Mandi Bahauddin city. This project was completed in 1968 by Engineer Riazur Rahman Shariff as the Project Director. This project brought Mandi Bahauddin into limelight and helped the city grow commercially.^[10]

In 1993, Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, then Chief Minister of Punjab, announced and notified Mandi Bahauddin city as the District H.Q. of the new district of Mandi Bahauddin.

The Tehsil headquarters towns of Phalia and Malikwal are 22.5 and 28.5 kilometres from Mandi Bahauddin, respectively.^[11]

Culture

Mandi Bahauddin city remains a cultural mix up of old and modern tendencies. The city enjoyed its purely agrarian and mercantile culture before the Partition of India in 1947. The local Jat culture, an offshoot of Punjabi culture, however, received a heavy influence of central Indian culture with the migrants reaching Mandi Bahauddin from different parts of India after the Partition. Today, Urdu and Punjabi are the two widely spoken and understood languages of the city, whereas a goodly number of individuals understand and speak English.

Mandi Bahauddin was home to three diverse religious communities before the Partition, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. The simultaneous existence of all three religions promoted the air of coexistence and religious tolerance and the city continued to grow in relative peace. Even today, Hindu and Sikh temples and the old buildings evacuated by the Hindus and Sikhs can be seen in the length and breadth of the city.

A vibrant diaspora of half a million represents Mandi Bahauddin all over the globe, particularly in USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece and Gulf States. Mandi Bahauddin underwent unprecedented modernization from the year 2000 to 2010, which was, in turn, a result of outstanding business growth witnessed by the city during the decade. Plaza states rapidly emerged with superstores and multinationals owing to a heavy influx of money from other countries. Remittances sent by expatriates have been the lifeline of the city over the years and the city life still owes its prosperity and profundity to these remittances. As a natural result of prosperity, the city doubled its size within the same decade giving a supreme boost to real state industry.

Today, Mandi Bahauddin district boasts a huge number of civil servants and judges serving far and wide in the country. This improvement has greatly changed the local culture shifting from a purely agrarian to a business and bourgeois society.

Industry

Shahtaj Sugar Mills is a Public Limited Company located about 2 km west of the city. It stretches on an area of more than 20 acres (0.081 km²) and has its sub-offices in Lahore and Karachi. Shahtaj Sugar Mills is one of the largest sugar plants in the country. The other major private sector factory in Mandi Bahauddin is Phalia Sugar Mills, situated southeast of Phalia city. Phalia Sugar Mills is owned by the Gujrat-based prominent political family of the country, "Chaudhri Brothers": Chaudhri Shujaat Hussain, the head of the family, once being the Prime Minister of the country.

The other industry of District Mandi Bahauddin includes assorted Kino Polishing Industry, Flour Grinding & Storing Mills, Rice Mills and Malikwal Textile Mills Kuthiala.

International, National Organizations and Intellectual Activity

Bab-ul-Ilm Research Foundation, abbreviated as BIRF, is a Pakistan-based international educational, research and interfaith harmony-building organization. BIRF has its headquarters at Mandi Bahauddin. BIRF was founded by the young Pakistani writer and emerging scholar of comparative religions Syed Muhammad Waqas in 2009. Mandi Bahauddin is his hometown. The idea of founding Bab-ul-Ilm Research Foundation Network was conceived in 2008 when he was serving as "Lecturer of Indian Studies" in Kosovo. Since its creation, BIRF has embarked upon a number of educational, humanitarian and research projects. BIRF published its magnum opus What Quran Says: A Modern Reconstruction in 2009, which is written by Syed Muhammad Waqas. Moreover, BBC Urdu national bestseller (2010) was the book 21 December 2012: Kaa'inat Qiyaamat Ki Dehleez Par? written by BIRF General Secretary Sahibzada Abdur Rasheed and published in January 2010.^[12]

Recent research work published at WORDLDCOMP – The 2011 Word Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Applied Computing Las Vegas, Nevada, USA under the title “Formal Modeling of Navigation System of Autonomous Mobile Robots Using Graphs, Automata and Z” which is written by Javed Iqbal.He Also presented the presentation at 10th international Pure Mathematics Conference 2009, under the title “Navigation of Mobile Robot Population Using Automata Integrated with Formal Methods"

Recently research work accepted in 12th international pure mathematical conference (QAU Islamabad) and also presented by young Ph.D scholar Mr.Naeem Saleem. The topic of the his research paper was "On the critical group of the family of C_m V P_2",in his paper he generalized the noddle curves and also find a way of critical group associated with graphs.

Other Mandi Bahauddin-based organizations of note include Farabi Foundation (FF), Daa'im Iqbal Academy, Lasani Educational Society and Sarbuland Society of Pakistan. Sarbuland Society of Pakistan boasts a nationwide network of free medical services (Homeopathy) with its headquarter at "Khursheed Memorial Homeopathic Medical College" at King Road, Mandi Bahauddin.

Schools & Colleges

• Beaconhouse School System (Pakistan)
• District Jinnah Public School And College
• IIUI Schools, Phalia Campus
• Ali Public Secondary School, Kot Ahmad Shah.
• Al Karam Modle School
• Al-Noor Public Higher Secondary School
• Aziz Bbatti School, Wasu
• Bab-ul-Ilm Public School, Sohawa Dillo Ana
• City science academy
• Dar-e-Arqam School
• Falcon Public School, Munshi Mohallah
• Farabi College, Phalia
• Faran Public Model High School, Arshad Town
• Fatima Jinnah Girls College
• Gate Way Public School, Kot Ahmed Shah
• Govt. College of Commerce
• Govt. College of Technology, Rasul
• Govt. Pilot Secondary School, Phalia
• Govt. Girls High School, Miana Gondal
• Govt. High School, Miana Gondal
• Govt. High school, Rukkan
• Govt. Postgraduate College
• Govt. Elementary School, Herdo Bohat
• Govt. High School, Chround
• Govt. High School, Mangat
• Govt. High School, Saida Sharif
• Govt. High School, Sohawa Bolani
• Govt. High School, Wasu
• Govt. Higher secondery school, Dhok kasib
• Govt. M.B. High School
• Govt. M. High School, Chak No 40
• Govt. Sir Syed High School
• Govt. Boys High school Mong
• Govt. Girls Higher Secondary school, Mong
• Govt. High School, Chak no 14
• Govt. High School, Kuthiala Shikhan
• Govt. Primary School, Dhoke Jouri
• Govt. High School, Chak No.1
• Oriental institute of technology
• Pakistan College of Technology
• Pioneer Model School, Makkaywall
• Punjab College
• Punjab Computer College
• Quaid_e_Azam Science College
• Rangers Public School & College
• Rural Health Center, Miana Gondal
• Shahtaj Model High School For Girls
• Sir Syed Public Model High School
• Standerd Science Academy
• Taameer-e-Millat High School
• The Defodils Schooling system
• The Lahore Lyceum
• The Scholars Inn Model School Alvi Chowk
• Trust College of Commerce
• Vocational Training Institute, Mong
• The Motivators school, Makkaywal & Phalia

External links

• Mandi-Bahauddin
• Mandi-Bahauddin
• Mandi-Bahauddin

The Usman High school

References

1. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandi_Bahauddin_District
2. ^ Tehsils & Unions in the District of Mandi Bahauddin - Government of Pakistan
3. ^ http://www.findpk.com/cities/Explorer-pakistan-Mandi%20Bahauddin.html
4. ^ Kaushik Roy, India's historic battles: from Alexander the great to Kargil, Delhi: Permanent Black, 2004, p.11
5. ^ Ruth Sheppard, Alexander the Great at War: His Army - His Battles - His Enemies, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2008, p.206
6. ^ Oliver Stone's film, "Alexander", Hollywood, 2004
7. ^ Ruth Sheppard (editor), Alexander the Great at War: His Army - His Battles - His Enemies, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2008, p.207
8. ^ Rasheed Akhtar Nadvi, Arz-e-Pakistan Ki Tareekh (Urdu), Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 2001, p.371
9. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Anglo-Sikh_War
10. ^ History of Mandi-bahauddin By M. Umer Azam, Nazar Muhammad Cheema & Addition and Revision by S.T. Shah
11. ^ Review City
12. ^ http://birf.weebly.com/birf-research-work.html