Kalanaur is a tehsil in

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 ...

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 ...

state in India. It is located 25 km towards west from District headquarters Gurdaspur. This historical town is situated on newly constructed National Highway 354. The town has historical significance as

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Akbar, was enthroned in a garden near the Kalanaur by Bairam Khan.

Demographics

As per the 2011

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of India, Kalanaur has a population of 13642. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Those under 6 years of age constitute 10.76% of the population. The average literacy rate is 83.97%, which is higher than the Punjab average of 75.84%. Male literacy is at 87.35%, and female literacy at 80.28%.

Geography

Kalanaur is located at . It has an average elevation of 243 metres (797 feet). The town is situated about 25 km to the west of

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 ...

city, on the banks of the Kiran, a minor rivulet that merges into the

Ravi river The Ravi River () is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers were ...

History

Prince "Nakshasena" established a separate independent kingdom at Indraprastha, which later rose to become a dominant force in its own right. Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers" by Govt. Uttar Pradesh 1993, p25 With the passage of time, the Bactrian and Scythian invasions of northern India, this Pandava branch established a kingdom at Kalanaur in what is now the modern-day district of Gurdaspur in Punjab (India) establishing the first capital of the Jarral Dynasty. Jarral Rajputs are known as the descendants of the Pandavas and their branch was named after their apical ancestor, Raja Jir Rao, a Rajput descendant of the Pandavas of the Mahabharata. The "Jarrals" are therefore a "brother tribe" to the illustrious Janjua Rajputs of Punjab. Punjab Chiefs" by Sir Lepel H. Griffin (Lahore, 1909, p.97) Kalanaur was later captured in the twelfth century by the armies of the Ghorid Empire after a battle with the Jarral Rajas. During the 14th-16th centuries, Kalanaur was a major urban centre and several historical events are associated with the town.

Firuz Shah Tughluq Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388) was a Muslim ruler from the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388.

(1352–88) built a beautiful palace on the banks of the Kiran rivulet. During the reign of

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...

Mubarak Shah (1421–35), Kalanaur was ruled by the Khokhar rajput tribe under the leadership of raja Jasrath Khokhar. In February 1556,

Akbar, was enthroned in a garden near the Kalanaur by Bairam Khan. The masonry platform, where he was crowned can be visited even today. There is 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, ...

that was built during his reign.History

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 ...

website.

During period of anarchy in latter half of the 18th century, the Kanhaiya Misl, a militia under Sardar Haqeeqat Singh Kanhaiya, occupied Kalanaur. His son Jaimal Singh extended his territory up to Fatehgarh Churian and shifted his residence there. Jaimal Singh's daughter Chand Kaur was married to

Kharak Singh Kharak Singh (22 February 1801 – 5 November 1840) was the second Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was the eldest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire and his consort, Maharani Datar Kaur. He succeeded his father on 27 June ...

, eldest son and heir of Ranjit Singh, in 1812. Later, when the area was annexed by Ranjit Singh, he granted it to Kharak Singh. It was later granted in fief to one Raja Dina Nath, and was finally annexed into

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

after the death of

Divan A divan or diwan ( fa, دیوان, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meanin ...

Dina Nath in 1857.

Culture

Kalanaur was at one time a centre of art, trade and cottage industry. A local saying has it that "a person who has not seen

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 ...

should see Kalanaur." The town votes when they come to pay obeisance to the lord. The Gurudwara Banda Bahadur, built on the site of a well excavated by order of

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 ...

, is another landmark of the town. There is also a temple of Shiva and a mosque built during the reign of

Akbar.

References

External links

History
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Cities and towns in Gurdaspur district