Sheikhupura city is located in Punjab, Pakistan. famous for historical places known as Fort, Hiran-Minar, and Bara-Dari which were constructed in the Mughal era especially by Nooruddin Jahangir. It was a Mughal hunting ground in ancient times mentioned in Tuzk-e-Jahangiri.
Sheikhupura, A Mughal Hunting Ground
The archeology of Sheikhupura district shows the same result from any aspect that during the Mughal period, the area in the vicinity of Takht-e-Lahore was in the form of forests and vast agricultural lands and was the center of hunting grounds, resorts, and gathering places of the Mughal kings. Imperial figures often came here.
Aurangzeb's pet deer monument, the construction of the deer tower (Hiran-Minar) along with Bara-Dari, and the construction of the royal fort (Sheikhupura Fort) are the main reasons for the emergence of the common people here. And now this ancient hunting ground is inhabited in the form of a modern city.
Sheikhupura's Location & Importance
Now Sheikhupura as an agricultural and industrial district is playing a vital role in the economy of Punjab and Pakistan. Due to its location, Sheikhupura city is located between four major cities of Punjab such as Lahore, Sargodha, Gujranwala, and Faisalabad. Lahore is located 40 km southeast of here. Faisalabad South and Gujranwala North are about the same distance as Sargodha are 13 km south of here.
About 76 km west of the city of Sheikhupura is the ancient historic town of Singla Hill. Located right in the middle of Punjab, this small hill wonders how it came to be in the midst of hundreds of miles of plains.
While geologists have clarified the fact that there are mountains today, there must have been an ocean there. Surprised by terrestrial references, this Sangla Hill is no less astonishing than historical references.
Sangla Hill is said to have been the capital of Punjab in BC. And here in 325 BC Alexander the Great has fought the most difficult battles of his life. He or any of his generals or government deputies may have stayed here during this period.
Jandiala Sher Khan is a historical town located 14 km northwest of Sheikhupura city where the famous Punjabi Sufi poet Syed Waris Shah's shrine is located.
It is said that at one time there were only Junds here due to which it was called Jandwala which later deteriorated into Jandiala and when Sher Khan came here the name of this population became Jandiala Sher Khan.
Sher Khan belonged to the Pathan tribe of Ghazni and on the orders of his mentor, Sakhi Ahmad Darwish came to Punjab with his brother Fateh Khan to preach the religion and settled here.
King Jahangir used to come here to play scars. There are many historical and ancient buildings of the era, including a shrine, an ancient pond, and a deep well with stairs in it. There is also a Persian field on the deep well which gives its date of construction which is 1528.
Sheikhupur, A Mughal Hunting Ground
According to the Mughal emperor Jahangir's autobiography, Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, he was as keen on hunting wild animals as his parents. In his autobiography, he writes that he hunted very little this year or hunted a lot this year.
From the capital Lahore to Sheikhupura, the Mughal emperors used to come through a bridge over the Ravi. But along the Ravi River, there was a river between the two cities called Dag.
The source of this year-round river was in the hills of Jammu, from where it passed near Sialkot and Gujranwala, and joined the Ravi River.
An old story of Jahangir
It used to flood in the rainy season. In October 1660, King Jahangir went hunting with his wives and courtiers. Intending to return to Lahore from there, the royal caravan reached the river as soon as it started raining and it continued to rain for four consecutive days.
The river flooded, the ground swamped, the tents got wet and the return routes were closed due to rains and it was difficult to cross the river to Lahore. When the rain finally stopped, the royal caravan reached Lahore.
Bridge
The king ordered a bridge to be built over the river, and the architects set to work and after a few weeks of hard work, mapped the bridge. In 1621, when the spring rains had not yet begun, the bridge was completed.
The bridge is still located about one kilometer southeast of Kot Pindi Das village in Sheikhupura district and connects the villages to the road from Lahore to Sheikhupura.
Local pedestrians, cyclists, and brick or sand trolleys still cross the bridge, which consists of two separate sections. On the south bank of the river is a small section with two waterways. It would only be useful in a flood. About 30 meters away is a large part of the bridge under which there are four waterways.
All the corridors are arched and the bridge is made entirely of small bricks that were used during the Mughal period.
The plaster of this 400-year-old bridge has now fallen off in many places and its bricks have deteriorated in many places as well. However, there is still no crack in any of the arches of the bridge.
Sheikhupura Royal Fort
The Mughal Empire lasted from 1526 to 1857. The monuments of this 331-year-old government are still alive in the Indian subcontinent. Among these monuments is the historical fort of Sheikhupura. Due to this fort, the name of this city is recorded as Qila Sheikhupura in ancient papers.
The fort was built by the Mughal Emperor Nooruddin Jahangir in 1607. Emperor Jahangir remained on the throne from 15 October 1605 to 7 November 1627 and in Sheikhupura as he had vast means of hunting. So he ordered the construction of a fort for his stay here.
Construction of the Royal Fort, Its Features & Dimensions
According to Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, the fort was built under the supervision of Sikandar Moin. This magnificent fort covered an area of 64 kanals and 13 marlas during the Mughal style of construction, but later rulers continued to expand it.
When you enter the fort, you can see towers on both sides with basements under them, and there is stone latticework in the windows. On the left is a well. It is 8 feet wide and 58 feet deep.
Next to the tower were rooms for guards and soldiers, the only traces of which now remain. The roofs of the basements in the fort are dotted and dome-shaped. The width of these basements is 10 feet.
Beyond the entrance to the fort is a 14-foot-wide brick path. To the west of this path are staff rooms.
Parts of the royal palace in the fort, also known as Jahangir Palace, have fallen, but most of it still stands, and its grandeur, beauty, and splendor remain centuries later.
That is why tourists come from far and wide. There are still beautiful carvings on the walls and the Persian calligraphy on them is fascinating.
The paintings on the walls amaze the tourists. Adjacent to the Jahangir Palace is a women's quarters called the Queen's Palace. Above the Queen's Palace is a beautiful glass palace, which has a roof but the access road is blocked.
Discovery of Mausoleum
When the Punjab Constabulary settled here in 1950, a mausoleum made of white stones was discovered here, on the edge of which there is a Persian inscription on which it is written that the name of the mausoleum is Sakhi Shah Musharraf Masoom Badshah.
There is also a manuscript written in Persian. A tunnel is said to have led from the inside of the fort's northwestern tower to the Deer Tower (Hiran-Minar). Which faces the Deer Tower (Hiran-Minar).
Fortress, The Residence of Various Rulers
Apart from Emperor Nooruddin Jahangir, his son Shah Jahan also stayed in Sheikhupura fort. After the fall of the Mughals, the subcontinent remained in turmoil and during this time the fort became a hotbed of warring rulers.
About two hundred years after the construction of the fort, Amir Singh captured the fort but then Maharaja Ranjit Singh conquered the fort and became the ruler of Punjab.
After conquering the fort, Maharaja Ranjit Singh handed it over to his son Kharak Singh. Ranjit Singh's wife also stayed in it. Ranjit gained their loyalty by distributing uncultivated lands to farmers.
Hiran-Minar (Deer Tower) Sheikhupura
During the reign of Mughal King Jahangir, Jahangirabad was a lush forest adjoining the present city of Sheikhupura. 2 km southwest of the present urban population is the famous and historic Deer Tower (Hiran-Minar) in this forest which is very popular among tourists and tourists definitely come here to see it and enjoy its architecture.
Referring to the events of 1607 in Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, Jahangir wrote that on Tuesday while I was staying at my hunting ground in Jahangirpura 'present Sheikhupura' on my orders, built a deer tower (Hiran-Minar) on the grave of my beloved pet deer [Hansraj].
Sheikhupura, Hiran-Minar Features & Dimensions
This tower is 90 feet high and you have to climb about a hundred steps to go up. The tower is 33 feet in diameter from the base and about 23 feet at the top.
The entrance to the inside of the tower is from the east and the number of inner stairs is close to 100. The stairs are made of limestone.
Shekhupura Bara-Dari
There is also a baradari. There is a beautiful paved path from Baradari to Minar. The floor of this road and on both sides are 'tall and beautiful walls' made of special small bricks of Mughal style architecture.
Bara-Dari's Features & Dimensions
At the end of the path is Baradari. Around Baradari is a swaying pool of water. The platform on which the baradari is built can be descended into the water of the besieged pond through five steps from the five sides of the platform.
Baradari is the best masterpiece of Mughal-style architecture with sloping doors and windows.
It is said that in the Mughal period, water used to come here through a ditch to change the water of the pond around Baradari, but now the traces of this system have disappeared.
It is also a tradition that 13 years after the construction of Kahran Minar, on the orders of Emperor Shah Jahan, Jahangir's successor, in 1638, some important works were done in the pond and minaret which cost about Rs. 80,000 at that time.
However, Baradari, and the beautiful pond around it, a beautiful thick wall 10 feet high for the demarcation of this pond, and beautiful turrets above the wall, such a masterpiece of sophistication, and rare construction by constructing small platforms for tourists to sit and watch. Has been created. That today, while the defeats and accidents of the centuries have diminished the freshness, decoration, and original beauty of this historical heritage.
But even today, every tourist who comes here is imaginatively lost in the windows of the past.