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 a ...

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 ...

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 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 enthroned in a garden near the Kalanaur by

Bairam Khan Muhammad Bairam Khan(Persianمحمد بیرام خان) (18 January 150131 January 1561), commonly known as Bairam Khan or Bayram Khan was an important military commander, and later commander-in-chief of the Mughal army, a powerful statesman a ...

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 incl ...

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 India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, between the rivers Beas River, Beas and Ravi River, Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the distr ...

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 Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...

Mubarak Shah (1421–35), Kalanaur was ruled by the Khokhar rajput tribe under the leadership of

raja Jasrath Khokhar ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

. In February 1556,

, was enthroned in a garden near the Kalanaur by

. 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 a ...

website.

During period of anarchy in latter half of the 18th century, the Kanhaiya

Misl The Misls (derived from an Arabic word wikt:مثل#Etymology_3, مِثْل meaning 'equal') were the twelve sovereign states of the Sikh Confederacy, which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian ...

, 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 Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

, 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 Raja Dina Nath Madan (Razdan) (1795–1857) aka Diwan Dina Nath or Dina Nath, who was a Kashmiri Hindu, rose to the position of the Privy Seal and finance minister ( Diwan) in the Punjab empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Life Dina Nath was civil ad ...

, 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

References

External links

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