Rajanpur ( ur, ), is a city and the headquarters of
Rajanpur District
Rajanpur ( ur, ) is a district of the Pakistani province of Punjab, with its administrative headquarters the city of Rajanpur. Lying west of the Indus River, its inhabitants are mostly Saraikis and Baloch. According to the 1998 census, the ...
in the far southwestern part 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 ...
,
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 district lies entirely west of the
Indus River
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
. it is a narrow, to wide strip of land sandwiched between the
Indus River
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
on the east and the
Sulaiman Mountains
The Sulaiman Mountains, also known as Kōh-e Sulaymān ( Balochi/Urdu/ fa, ; "Mountains of Solomon") or Da Kasē Ghrūna ( ps, د كسې غرونه; "Mountains of Kasi"), are a north–south extension of the southern Hindu Kush mountain system i ...
on the west. Most of its inhabitants are
Saraikis
The Saraikis ( skr, ), are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group inhabiting parts of central and southeastern Pakistan, primarily in the southern part of the Pakistani province of Punjab
They are mainly found in a region of southern Punjab known ...
and
Baloch.
History
Rajanpur was founded in 1732-33 by Makhdoom Sheikh Rajan Shah,
from whom the city's name derives. Sheikh Rajan established Rajanpur in an area that he had captured from Nahar tribesmen.
The settlement remained a largely unimportant village until flooding in 1862 severely damaged the nearby district headquarters at
Mithankot
Mithankot ( ur, ) also known as Kotmithan, is a city in Rajanpur District in Punjab, Pakistan. Mithankot is located on the west bank of the Indus River
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South ...
- leading to the transfer of government offices to Rajanpur.
A small dispensary clinic was established in Rajanpur that same year.
Rajanpur was then constituted as a municipality in 1873.
References
{{Rajanpur District
Populated places in Rajanpur District