Gurdaspur is a city in the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

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 ...

, between the rivers

Beas Beas is a riverfront town in the Amritsar district of the Indian state of Punjab. Beas lies on the banks of the Beas River. Beas town is mostly located in revenue boundary of Budha Theh with parts in villages Dholo Nangal and Wazir Bhullar. ...

and

Ravi Ravi may refer to: People * Ravi (name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Ravi (composer) (1926–2012), Indian music director * Ravi (Ivar Johansen) (born 1976), Norwegian musical artist * Ravi (music director) (1926–201 ...

. It houses the administrative headquarters of

Gurdaspur District Gurdaspur district is a district in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, India. Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It internationally borders Narowal District of Pakistani Punjab, and the districts of Amritsar, Pathankot, Kapurthala a ...

and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a border with

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The 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 ...

was crowned at Kalanaur, which is 26 km from the city.

History

Mughal period

Gurdaspur was founded by a ''

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, ...

'' ('Muslim ascetic') named Bhai Chand. In April 1715, the Sikh revolutionary leader

Banda Bahadur Banda Singh Bahadur (born Lachman Dev) (27 October 1670 – 9 June 1716), was a Sikh warrior and a commander of Khalsa army. At age 15, he left home to become an ascetic, and was given the name Madho Das Bairagi. He established a monastery a ...

seized Gurdaspur from the Mughal forces of

Farrukhsiyar Farrukhsiyar or Farrukh Siyar () (20 August 16839 April 1719) was the tenth emperor of the Mughal Empire from 1713 to 1719. He rose to the throne after assassinating his uncle, Emperor Jahandar Shah. Reportedly a handsome man who was easily ...

(). Banda strengthened his defences, increased storage of supplies, and slashed the ''shahnahr'' canal. After an eight-month siege, the Mughal army of

Abd al-Samad Khan Abd al-Samad Khan (died 1737) was the Mughal Empire's subahdar of Lahore Subah from 1713 to 1726. He was appointed by the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar. He was descended from the Ansari family of Panipat. He was succeeded as governor of Punjab by ...

broke into the Sikh garrison, arrested Banda and conquered Gurdaspur in December 1715.

Demographics

According to the 2011 India census, Gurdaspur had a population of 2,299,026 (1,212,995 males and 1,086,031 females). There was a 9.30% increase in population compared to that of 2001. In the previous 2001 census of India, Gurdaspur District had recorded a 19.74% increase to its population compared to 1991. According to religion,

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

made up 68.9% of the city's population, with

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

making up 24.8%. The average literacy rate of Gurdaspur in 2011 was 81.10%, compared to 73.80% in 2001. The male and female literacy rates were 85.90% and 75.70%, respectively. For the 2001 census, the rates were 79.80% and 67.10% respectively. The total literate population was 1,668,339, consisting of 928,264 males and 740,075 females. Sex ratio is about 895 females per 1000 males. Population Density was 649 per square km.

Politics

The city is part of the Gurudaspur Assembly Constituency and

Gurdaspur (Lok Sabha constituency) Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 13 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Punjab state in northern India. The incumbent MP is Sunny Deol from Bharatiya Janata Party. Assembly segments Presently, Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constit ...

Education

Gurdaspur has many

elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...

and secondary level schools and has 13 degree level and engineering colleges. Beant College of Engineering and Technology, is among them, founded by then

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Beant Singh in 1995. A nationally accredited body by the

Ministry of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many different countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) * Minist ...

Institute of Hotel Management, Catering & Nutrition is also located in Gurdaspur. Colleges * Beant College of Engineering and Technology

Administrative towns

Batala Batala is the eighth largest city in the state of Punjab, India in terms of population after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Mohali and Hoshiarpur. Batala ranks as the second-oldest city after Bathinda. It is a municipal corpo ...

Qadian Qadian (; ; ) is a city and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, north-east of Amritsar, situated north-east of Batala city in the state of Punjab, India. Qadian is the birthplace of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya m ...

* Kalanaur *

Sri Hargobindpur Sri Hargobindpur is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district in the Indian state of Punjab. Situated on the banks of the Beas River Sixth Guru of Sikhs Shri Guru Hargobind Sahib ji established this city on the land bought by his Fathe ...

Dera Baba Nanak Dera Baba Nanak is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, in the state of Punjab, India. It is 36km away from Gurdaspur city, the capital of the district. Since November 2019, a corridor between India and Pakistan has been establ ...

* Dhariwal *

Dinanagar Dinanagar is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, India. It takes its name after Adina Beg, who served as the subahdar of Punjab for the Mughals and Marathas. He built up his residence ...

* Fatehgarh Churian

History

Mughal period

Demographics

Politics

Education

Administrative towns

See also

References

Further reading