Kartarpur ( Punjabi / ; ) is a town 102 km from

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in the Shakargarh Tehsil, Narowal District in Punjab, Pakistan. Located on the right bank of the

Ravi River The Ravi River is a transboundary river in South Asia, flowing through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, and is one of five major rivers of the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two oth ...

, it is said to have been founded by

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also known as ('Father Nanak'), was an Indian spiritual teacher, mystic and poet, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism and is t ...

, the first guru of

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

, who established the first Sikh commune there.

Geography

Kartarpur is located at . It is located in Narowal District,

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It has an average elevation of 155 metres (511 feet).

History

The first guru of Sikhism,

, founded Kartarpur in 1504 AD on the right bank of the

with money donated by Karori, a wealthy

Khatri Khatri () is a caste system in India, caste originating from the Malwa (Punjab), Malwa and Majha areas of Punjab region of South Asia that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Khatris claim they are war ...

convert. It was the site of the first Sikh commune. Guru Nanak settled there with his family. Following his death in 1539, Hindus and Muslims both said he was one of them, and raised mausoleums in his memory with a common wall between them. The changing course of the Ravi River eventually washed away the mausoleums. Guru Nanak's son saved the urn containing his ashes and reburied it on the left bank of the river, where a new habitation was formed, the

Dera Baba Nanak Dera Baba Nanak is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, in the state of Punjab (India), Punjab, India. It is the sub-district headquarters of Dera Baba Nanak (Sub-district), Dera Baba Nanak tehsil. It is 36 km away from Gurdaspur ...

. After Nanak's passing, the early Sikh community's headquarters was shifted from Kartarpur to the village of Khadur by his successor, Guru Angad. At the location Guru Nanak is believed to have died, the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib was built. It is considered to be the second holiest site for the Sikh religion.

Partition

Prior to the 1947

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

, Kartarpur was part of Gurdaspur District of

British Punjab The Punjab Province, officially the Province of the Punjab, was a province of British India, with its capital in Lahore and summer capitals in Murree and Simla. At its greatest extent, it stretched from the Khyber Pass to Delhi; and from th ...

, this district was subdivied into four

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

s Gurdaspur, Shakargarh, Pathankot and Batala. In 1947 this district (like the rest of Punjab) was divided between India and Pakistan. The

Radcliffe Line The Radcliffe Line was the boundary demarcated by the two boundary commissions for the provinces of Punjab Province (British India), Punjab and Bengal Presidency, Bengal during the Partition of India. It is named after Cyril Radcliffe, 1st Visco ...

awarded the Shakargarh Tehsil on the right bank of the Ravi river, including Kartarpur, to Pakistan, with Gurdaspur Tehsil (along with Pathankot and Batala) on the left bank of Ravi to India.

Kartarpur Corridor

On 9 November 2019, Prime Minister

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

inaugurated the opening of a cross-border Kartarpur Corridor allowing Sikhs and all other Indians to visit Pakistan without a visa. On the same day, the first '' Jatha'' (batch) of over 500 Indian pilgrims visited the shrine thanking Prime Minister Khan for "respecting the sentiments of India" towards the shrine across the border that marks the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev. Under the leadership of

Akal Takht The Akal Takht (; ), also spelt as Akal Takhat and historically known as Akal Bunga, is the most prominent of the Takht (Sikhism), five takhts (Seat (legal entity), seats of authority) of the Sikhs. Located within the Golden Temple, Darbar Sah ...

Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, the first Jatha traveled through the corridor into Pakistan to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur which included former Indian Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

. The delegation also included ex-PM's wife, Gursharan Kaur, Chief Minister of

, Captain

Amarinder Singh Amarinder Singh (born 11 March 1942) is an Indian politician, military historian, former royal and Indian Army veteran who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. His father, Yadavindra Singh, was the last Maharaja of the princely st ...

, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sunny Deol, and 150 Indian parliamentarians.

Demography

The population is primarily Punjabi.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

www.etpb.gov.pk/kartarpur-corridor
Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor official website
prakashpurb550.mha.gov.in
Indian website portal for registration * More Information and Updates
kartarpur.com.pk

Corridor of Light Photo Essay
India Today
pictures: Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur
Geo TV, 28 November 2018. Populated places in Narowal District Narowal District Sikh places