Sialkot: Sights & Sounds of the Export Capital of Pakistan Part-1

Sialkot: Sights & Sounds of the Export Capital of Pakistan Part-1 

While most of the cities of Punjab are famous for their long history and possession of Mogul architecture, there two cities which are famous for their exports – Faisalabad for world famous cotton bed sheets and hosiery and Sialkot for its sports and surgical
instruments.

Located 130 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital Lahore and just miles away from the Indian border with a population of about 600,000, Sialkot is the "export city" of Pakistan. But unlike public sector based industry, the entire
export industry is in the private sector, financed mostly through family savings.

And the city progresses not merely by the government fund but by the joint efforts of the local industrialists, who besides expanding their business and export, also take keen interest in sharing the developmental work of the city. The newly laid roads,
erection of crossing, installation of street lights, construction of new buildings and renovation of old buildings are some to mention.

How old is Sialkot?

The history of the city, though not very well preserved, takes it back to around 500 A.D. It is said to have been founded by Raja Sala, uncle of the Pandavas of the epic Mahabharata, and re-founded by Raja Salivahan in the time of Vikramaditya; it may be
the site of ancient Shakala (Sagul), capital of the Indo-Greek Menander (Milinda) and Mihirakula the Hun, who died in 540 A.D. There are remains of a fort dating from about the 10th century, built in 1181 by Muhammad of Ghor.

Other ancient buildings are the shrines Imam Ali-ul-Haq and Baba Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, and temple of Raja Tej Singh. It was annexed by the British after the second Sikh war in 1849; since then its area has been considerably reduced, assuming its present
proportions in 1867.

In 1886 Dr. Maria White, a medical missionary appointed by the Board of Foreign Missions of India under the United Presbyterian Church of North America, opened a small dispensary in Sialkot which, later, became The American Mission Hospital, Sialkot. The
Christian Training Institute (CTI) at Bara Pathar was established in 1888 by the United Presbyterian Church of North America whose Sialkot Mission was registered as a society in 1895.

To be continued…

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=19234

Posted by Naveed A Bari on Apr 17 2012. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry