Dipalpur ( pa, ; ur, ), also spelt Depalpur, is a city in the
Okara District of Pakistani province of
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...
that served as headquarters of
Depalpur Tehsil
Depalpur Tehsil ( ur, ), is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Okara District in the Punjab province of Pakistan, headquartered at the city of Depalpur.
Famous Families
Syed Bukhari (imam shah darbar tomb in shahi mosque complex), S ...
, the largest Tehsil of Pakistan. It is situated 25 kilometres from the district capital
Okara on a bank of river Satluj in
Bari Doab
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...
. It is located in the west of District
Kasur.
History
Early
Depalpur has a great historic past and is a very ancient town. The fortified town of Dipalpur is built on an old
Kushan site (
40 A.D. to
172 A.D.). The fortifications themselves are very ancient; though it is impossible determine their dates. All that can be said is that they are older than the visitation of
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...
in
1398 A.D. From the time of
Alexander to the time of
Mahmud Ghaznavi, there were no found accounts of Dipalpur.
According to the Gazetteer of 1935, the town was claimed to be founded by Sri Chand Khanna it was called Sri Nagar at that time, The modern name is claimed to have been named by Raja Deva Pala after he re-founded the town.
Early Muslim period
Mughal and Delhi Sultanates
However, in older times, Dipalpur fell on the way to
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
and, as such, was considered to be a place where an invader could be engaged. Dipalpur, therefore, was one of the 3 lines of defense; the other two begin
Uch Sharif,
Samana, and
Hansi.
Ain-i-Akbari reveals that the militia force at Dipalpur, during the reign of
Abul Fazal, consisted of 5,210 mounted Horsemen and 53,300 infantry. In the
14th Century,
Firuz Shah Tughlaq regularly visited this place. It is also believed that he built a large
Mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
outside the city, which no longer remains. At the time of Timur’s invasion, Depalpur was second to Multan in size and importance. The town, it is believed may have been deserted due to Taimurs’s invasion and drying up old
Beas River.
The Mughal Emperor
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
, along with his son
Saleem (Jahangir) along with their royal entourage, stayed in Dipalpur when he came to pay homage to
Fariduddin Ganjshakar in 1578. Akbar named the corridor
Bari Doab
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...
by combining the syllables of the names of the two rivers,
Beas and
Ravi River, that bounded the area.
Sufism
Many
Muslim saints
A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the ...
have come to preach in this area. Bahawal Haq commonly known as Bahawal Sher Qalandar came from
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
and settled in the village of Patharwall near Dipalpur. The saint constructed a
hujra (small living room) and a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
outside the village. His grandson Shah Muqeem continued his mission. The village came to be known as
Hujra Shah Muqeem. This is the place mentioned in the famous Punjabi love story
Mirza Sahiban, in which Jati Sahiban came here are prayed, although there is no historical evidence to that. A Muslim saint named as Saayin Abdul Razaq stayed in Dipalpur and later on he started his volunteer activity for local people and after his death he was buried in city. Now, his death place is known as Razaqia Darbar.
Mongols
The
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
invaded this part of the country repeatedly and they were checked at Dipalpur by
Ghiyas-ud-Din Balban and his son Muhammad Khan, during their last invasion of
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...
in
1285 A.D. Pir Muhammad Khan Mangol (also called Samar Khan) was defeated at Dipalpur but during the pursuit of the retreating Mongols, Muhammad Khan was killed. It is believed that Shahzada Muhammad Khan is laid to rest in a small tomb to the west of the
Badshahi Mosque. Conformation from any authentic sources is, however, not available.
Notable residents
*
Qaiser Shehzad (born 1986), cricketer
*
Manzoor Wattoo (born 1939), politician
References
{{Okara District
Cities and towns in Okara District
History of Pakistan