Dasuya (Dasua) is a town and a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

Hoshiarpur district Hoshiarpur district is a district of Punjab state in northern India. Hoshiarpur, one of the oldest districts of Punjab, is located in the North-east part of the Punjab state and shares common boundaries with Gurdaspur district in the north-west, ...

in the state of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

, India. It is one of the major subdivisions with 398 villages under its jurisdiction.

History

According to a report by ''

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *'' Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *'' Kokomo Tribune'' *'' Peru Tribune'' * ''The Tri ...

'' newspaper in 1977, the town is referred to in the ancient Indian epic, the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

'', as being the seat of king

Virata Virata ( sa, विराट, IAST ''virāṭa''), was the king of the Matsya Kingdom, in whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. Virata was married to Queen Sudeshna and was the father of Prince Uttara and Pr ...

. In recognition of this, Dasuya is still referred to as ''Virat Ki Nagri'' today. In the closing decade of the fourteenth century, Dasuya at least twice witnessed the passage of an army during the struggle against the Muslim conquerors,

Abu Bakar Abū Bakr ( ar, أبو بكر ) is an Arabic given name meaning "Father of a Young Camel" (Abu meaning 'Father of' and Bakr meaning 'Young Camel') that is widely used by Sunni Muslims. Other transliterations include Abu Bakar, Abu Bekr, Ebubekir, ...

and Amir Taimur. Later, in December 1557, the army of the incumbent Sultan Akbar, led by his governor of

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

Khizr Khan Khizr Khan (reigned 28 May 1414 – 20 May 1421) was the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, the ruling dynasty of the Delhi sultanate, in northern India soon after the invasion of Timur and the fall of the Tughlaq dynasty. Khan was Governor of Mult ...

, camped at the town while dealing successfully with a threat posed by Sikandar Sur. More recently, Dasuya featured in debates related to the emergence of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

. Verma has noted that "Perhaps no other State of India has suffered as many territorial and political changes in recent times as the Punjab". Within the process of the linguistic reorganization of states, the claim that Dasuya should be incorporated into Himachal Pradesh on the grounds that it was the home of

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himacha ...

s was rejected because that point was irrelevant to the linguistic issue. Dasuya remained in Punjab when the negotiations culminated in the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966.

Geography

Dasuya is located in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab state in India. at . It has an average elevation of from sea level.Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Dasua
/ref> Of the major neighbouring population centres,

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourteenth century. In 1809, it was occupied b ...

lies at a distance of for Dasuya;

Mukerian Mukerian is a city and municipal council of Hoshiarpur district in Punjab, India. Mukerian is located on National Highway 44 and state highway 15 about north of New Delhi.It is a Sub-district headquarters situated on Jalandhar-jammu railwa ...

is away;

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

is ;

Gurdaspur Gurdaspur is a city in the Indian state of Punjab, between the rivers Beas and Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a border with Pakistan. The ...

, ; Amritsar, ; and

Pathankot Pathankot is a city and the district headquarters of the Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the 6th most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipal co ...

is distant.

Transport

The town has a railway station and various road links. It is located on

National Highway 1A National Highway 1A (NH 1A) was a National Highway in North India that connected the Kashmir valley to Jammu and the rest of India. The northern terminal was in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir and the southern terminal was in Jalandhar. Stretches of ...

, which connects Jammu and Kashmir to the rest of India, and state highways connect it with the city of Hoshiarpur as well as Talwara and Hajipur. Other connecting roads link Dasuya with Amritsar, Daulatpur, and

Kapurthala Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buil ...

Tourism

The town is attempting to capitalize on its history in order to attract tourists. To this end, a grant of Rs 10.6 million was given by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

in order to renovate the

sarovar Temple tanks are wells or reservoirs built as part of the temple complex near Indian temples. They are called pushkarini, kalyani, kunda, sarovara, tirtha, talab, pukhuri, ambalakkuḷam, etc. in different languages and regions of India. Some t ...

and a temple, and it was reported in 2009 that many people attend a historic Sarovar and

gurdwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

situated at nearby Garna Sahib.

References

External links